More than half of the British judge Islam incompatible with the values of the country, according to a survey

A majority of British considers that Islam is incompatible with the values of the United Kingdom, according to a Yougov survey commissioned by the Ahmadiyya community. 41 % of those questioned believe that Muslim immigration has had a negative impact on the country, and almost a third think that Islam encourages violence. The question of the veil, posed for the first time this year, also reveals persistent prejudices: 49 % believe that Muslim women are forced to wear it. These results are part of a long -term trend, analyzed by journalist Zoe Williams, columnist at Guardian Known for his positions committed to social and political issues.

In comparison, only 13 to 15 % of respondents have a negative vision of other religions such as Judaism, Hinduism or Sikhism. This shift, according to Zoe Williams, is the result of a dominant discourse which has gradually amalgamated Islam and extremism, until they make hostility towards Muslims a social norm. This latent Islamophobia nourishes, according to her, a political climate where the abuses of minority rights, the tightening of immigration laws and the stigmatization of refugees find broad support. It also underlines the irony to oppose “British values” to Islam, even though a number of Islamic principles – such as respect for the most vulnerable – are ignored in the country’s current policies.

For the columnist, these results are the fruit of years of anxiety -make, media controversies and political campaigns which have gradually made spelled of former marginal opinions towards the heart of the public debate. The trivialization of Islamophobia, it alerts, weakens the democratic principles which it claims to defend.