United Kingdom: British secret services warn of anti-Muslim hatred and risks of attacks
In the United Kingdom, hatred of Muslims is no longer limited to speeches. It is now pushing certain right-wing extremists to consider attacks. This is the warning launched Tuesday October 13 by the boss of MI5, the British secret services, according to The Guardian.
Ken McCallum, director of MI5, is concerned about a particularly dangerous development: individuals known for their hostile positions on immigration and Muslims are gradually moving from hatred to plans for terrorist violence. According to him, this is even the most significant trend observed by his services over the past year. Potential targets include reception centers for asylum seekers, but also Muslims directly targeted because of their religion.
Another subject of concern: the increasingly early radicalization of young people. MI5 notably investigated a teenager aged just 13. Its director also recalled the case of a 16-year-old boy, convicted after preparing an incendiary attack against a Muslim center in Greenock, Scotland. This alert is all the more worrying as it comes directly from the British secret services. It shows that anti-Muslim hatred, long expressed in speeches and on social networks, can also lead to real terrorist projects.
This rise in anti-Muslim violence cannot be separated from the climate that has been taking hold in public debate for several years. By presenting Muslims as a threat, by multiplying the amalgamations between Islam, immigration and insecurity, certain political and media discourses contribute to trivializing hatred. If these speeches do not automatically lead to violence, they can fuel a climate in which the most radicalized feel supported in their ideas and sometimes encouraged to take action. By designating a part of the population as a problem, it should not be surprising that some end up considering it as a target. A terribly worrying observation, in a country where acts of hatred targeting Muslims are already on the rise.
