Facing Hostility, Two-thirds of Muslims Consider Leaving UK

Facing Hostility, Two-thirds of Muslims Consider Leaving UK

One in five Muslims said they or a family member have faced abuse or hostility since the London attacks. (Reuters)

LONDON, July 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Nearly half a million Muslims contemplated leaving Britain after the London terrorist attacks, with one in five saying they or a family member have faced abuse or hostility since the attacks, according to new a Guardian/ICM poll published Tuesday, July 26.

Nearly two-thirds of 1,005 adults aged 18+ interviewed by ICM had thought about their future in Britain after the attacks, with 63% saying they had considered whether they wanted to remain in the UK.

Older Muslims were more uneasy about their future, with 67% of those 35 or over having contemplated their future home country compared to 61% among those 34 or under.

Britain 's Muslim population is estimated at 1.6million, with 1.1million over 18, meaning more than half a million may have considered the possibility of leaving, said the Guardian.

Some 56% of Muslims are optimistic about the future of their children in Britain , while only three in 10 were pessimistic.

The July 7 London attacks have killed 56 people including four bombers, three of them are Britain-born Muslims of Pakistani origin.

Increasing Hostility

The poll also shows that tens of thousands of Muslims have suffered from increased Islamophobia, with one in five saying they or a family member have faced abuse or hostility since the attacks.

Police have recorded more than 1,200 suspected Islamophobic incidents across the country ranging from verbal abuse to one murder in the past three weeks.

On Sunday, some 300 far-right protesters chanted racist slogans outside the Central London Mosque near Regent's Park, which was hosting an Islamic conference organized by the Islamic charity, Da'watul Islam UK , on combating extremism.

They shouted insults and waved banners reading " Britain for the British" and "Keep Alien Wars Off Our British Shores".

A British Muslim of Pakistani origin was beaten to death by a gang of extremists in Nottingham in northern Britain on Sunday, July 10.

Police sources said that Raza, 48, had gone to a shop to buy some items and while getting out, he was attacked by a gang of extremists until he breathed his last.

Fears of reprisals have been running high among British Muslims in the wake of the London attacks.

At least seven mosques have come under arson and racist attacks few hours after the bombings.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, warned on Monday, July 11, against making Muslims "scapegoats" for the London bombings.

Iraq War

Nearly eight in 10 Muslims believe Britain 's participation in invading Iraq was a factor leading to the bombings.

Nearly two-thirds of Muslims identify racist and Islamophobic behavior as a cause compared to 57% of all Britons.

Former British prime minister Sir John Major joined Monday, July 25, a chorus of former officials and prominent writers who believe that the Iraq war had heightened the threat of terrorist attacks in Britain .

The "ill-considered venture" of invading Iraq has turned into a "mess" fueling attacks around the world and providing Al-Qaeda with sympathizers across the Muslim world, award-winning British reporter Patrick Cockburn wrote Monday, July 25 in the Independent.

An ICM poll for the Guardian found on July 19 that two-thirds of Britons believe the July 7 bombings in were linked to Blair's support for the US-led invasion of Iraq .

A recent report by the London-based Royal Institute of International Affairs, known as Chatham House, said the Iraq war has made Britain more vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

Anti-violence

Fifty seven percent of Muslims criticized scholars and leaders for failing to root out extremists, compared to 68% of all Britons.

Half of Muslims thought that they needed to do more to prevent extremists infiltrating their community.

British Muslim leaders pledged on Tuesday, July 19, active and effective participation in the government's efforts to combat the poisonous phenomenon of extremism for the welfare of British society.

Nine in 10 Muslims interviewed believe violence has no place in a political struggle, according to the poll.

A small rump told ICM of their support for the attacks on July 7 and 5% said that more attacks would be justified.

A statement issued by over forty leading mosque imams, muftis and scholars representing all sections of Muslims in Britain stressed that "there can never be any excuse for taking an innocent life".

The British Muslim Forum issued on July 18 a fatwa signed by more than 500 British Muslim scholars dismissing suicide bombings as "vehemently prohibited".

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