Official report warns of record level of attacks on mosques in UK

British Muslims face a worrying rise in anti-Muslim hatred. According to the first report from the government-commissioned British Muslim Trust (BMT), at least 27 attacks on mosques were recorded between July and October across the country. Arson in Peacehaven, broken windows, projectiles, crosses and flags planted on buildings, graffiti and hateful slogans: places of worship were targeted in what the BMT describes as “a sustained and intensified wave of attacks”.

These attacks coincided with the nationalist campaigns “Raise the Colors” and “Unite the Kingdom”, which used flags, crosses and Christian references to intimidate the faithful. Nearly 4 in 10 incidents involve the use of British flags or religious slogans such as “Christ is King”. More than a quarter of attacks involve violence or destruction, while acts of online harassment or hate speech worsen the climate.

For Akeela Ahmed, director of the BMT, “the evidence from this summer is irrefutable: anti-Muslim hatred in Britain is increasing in visibility and severity — and mosques are being targeted on a staggering scale.” The report calls for an urgent response: better protection of mosques, faster police responses, coordination between authorities and civil society, as well as education programs to counter prejudice.

The increase in these attacks cannot be dissociated from the British political and media context. The trivialization of stigmatizing speeches, often relayed by certain public figures, creates fertile ground for acts of violence. The gap between the scale of the incidents and the slowness of institutional reactions fuels, in the opinion of religious leaders, a feeling of abandonment among Muslims. Implicitly, the report points to a deeper phenomenon: the entrenchment of an identity-based nationalism which redefines national belonging by excluding a part of the citizens. A dangerous shift which, without rapid change, risks further normalizing anti-Muslim violence.

While official figures already record a 19% increase in hate crimes targeting Muslims, the BMT warns: “something has changed for the worse, and the country must correct it.”