to ask why people still do not believe that Islamophobia doesn’t exist and therefore doesn’t need an official definition?

I’d say most women feel intimidated being around drunk men, that’s isn’t a view held exclusively by Muslim women. In fact drunk women can be intimidating, and it depends what sort of pubs you’re referring to, but yes I agree with what you’re saying .

all the religions you mentioned have committed plenty of terrorist acts. but there is no point engaging with someone like you.
It's not name calling when it's fact.

absolutely agreed.

all the religions you mentioned have committed plenty of terrorist acts. but there is no point engaging with someone like you

In the UK in the last 20 years?

My point is that people aren’t scared of a current terrorist attack from a member of any of those religions. For good reason.

All religions have committed atrocities, but Islam actively promotes terrorist attacks against those who don’t believe what they do, hence the high number of Muslim terrorist attacks and precisely why people are scared of Muslim terrorist attacks.

Islamophobia is like antisemitism in that there's a line between legitimate criticism and bigotry, but people disagree where the line is.

Since 2000 in the UK there have been 97 terrorist (defined in law) murders. In 94 cases the murderers were Muslims.

Am I phobic about the kind of extreme Islamism that encourages terrorist activity? Hell yes, I'm terrified. Am I afraid or prejudiced against ordinary people who happen to be Muslim? No, they're just like me, they want quiet peaceful lives with their family and friends just like I do.

In the same way there are people who have no beef at all with Jews but strongly disagree with what Israel is doing to combat Hamas in Gaza. The latest Gazan death toll stands at 40,000 Palestinians. Are people right to be angry about that? Yes. But does that extend to denying Israel's right to be a state and protect its citizens? Well most decent people would say no, but some say yes, and that's where the line gets crossed.

So, it's complicated, is what I'm saying. Extremism is something we should all fear, but there are some few bad actors on all sides (British EDL, Israeli, Islamic) who are extreme and it's sad and frightening that us moderate people end up being whipped into a state of discord.

I think we should all try to stay moderate in our discussions on these subjects and not pander to extremism.

My culture does not actively promote and carry out terrorist attacks on the general public, which is exactly what we are discussing here.

Neither does any other religion. Only Islam does this, which is exactly why people assume these crimes are committed by Muslims… because they pretty much always are.

You can waffle on about peace and love as much as you want, but while Islam is committing terrorist attacks on innocent poeple on our streets, it’s absolute bullshit.

I think you need to acknowledge that there's a real problem amongst the wider Muslim community though.

The reason why people suspect it could be a Muslim is because for so long now, it's been terrorist attack after terrorist attack. People see patterns of behaviour. To deny that would be lying and dangerous.

The same with knife crime in London, yes there's profiling in the police for stop and searches but it's based on crime rates.

The best thing the Muslim community can do it address the hate issues that are bubbling within their own community. Don't turn it into an islamophobia debate; address the issue! Ensure your children are growing up with respect for other religions and cultures. That they have friends (of other religions too), are happy, healthy and not solely focused on their religion.

If terrorist attacks become few and far between, people will no longer instinctively think it could be one.

On point 3, why?
The school curriculum and life in general can’t just be dominated by religious studies, there are actually practical things which need to be taught and attended to as far more of a priority and I’m referring to the UK.

Same with point 4, why? What if I say I am too busy getting on with life to be forced to be involved with something I don’t feel applies to me. This is nanny state mentality

You say that non Muslims ignore and don't speak out. That's exactly how I feel about the Muslim community when there's a terrorist attack. There's never outrage from other peaceful Muslims.

Although you may practice a peaceful version of Islam, Islam itself discriminates against women and girls. You are not seen as equal to men. As a feminist I will never think this is ok.

Violence like we have seen in the last few days is abhorrent and should not happen.

However I do think that parts of Islamic culture are oppressive to women & don't have a place in British society. That's not racist to point that out.

It's not racist to want a society where women have equality & a healthy British society should not fear speaking out against oppression or inequality. No religion or cultural practices should be above criticism or closed to questions from 'outside'

Absolutely this. The focus has to be on stamping out extremism, not blaming everyone else for being terrified of it happening.

They’re legitimate fears.

I should add that other religions can be criticised without 'phobic' added to the end. I don't think Islam should be free from criticism.

well I can't remember when the last ira attacks were. but they have definitely committed them elsewhere. I can make a pretty long list
a Hindu extremist killed gandhi. Hindu extremists regularly kill Muslims and lower caste individuals in India. also see gujarat riots and other riots with mass killings.
Buddhists are currently murdering the rohingya. also Buddhist extremists are a major issue in Thailand.
zionist terrorism was a huge issue in palestine upto the formation of Israel when offshoots of the terrorist organisations coalesced to form the idf
even in uk/the US according to stats far right terrorism is hugely more problematic than so called islamic terrorism (because committing such an act takes that terrorist outside islam and they will burn in hell as far as islamic theology is concerned).

I tell you where so called islamic terrorist is a massive problem - Iraq, Afghanistan and parts of Africa. and it's Muslims they kill. they are psychotic bastards, most Muslims don't consider such people muslims

Don't bring Jews into this. The Jewish people is not Benjamin netanyahu. He's one man. And if you remember rightly, the war started with an islamic terrorism massacre on hundreds of young people in October. A retaliation, to eradicate terrorists from the country next to you (that has proven you're vulnerable) is different from multiple solo attacks by extremist Muslims on innocent people.

I don't agree with the war but let's not pretend it's the same thing.

Any official definition will prevent legitimate criticism of Muslims. You cannot become a protected religious group in this country. It would allow fundamentalism to become worse.

why do we have to criticise other people's faiths at all? I am a practising Muslim and never in my 40 years of life have I felt the need to criticise any other faith or lack of faith. why can't we just be happy to live and let live

Bullshit people are scared of attacks by Islamic extremists.

Wtf is a Muslim attack anyway, and attack on Muslims?

@GiveMeSpanakopita posted it for you above:

Since 2000 in the UK there have been 97 terrorist (defined in law) murders. In 94 cases the murderers were Muslims.

This is exactly why people are terrified of terrorist attacks from Muslims. This is exactly why people assume any terrorist attack is done by a Muslim.

It is a legitimate concern.

I agree with you entirely.
I've heard the story on the radio multiple times a day and I can only assume he's a white atheist because they have not mentioned his race or religion once!

If the boy was black/asian or Muslim it would have been included in the story!

This speak volumes to me and makes me very sad as the (white) mother to two mixed race Muslim boys.

I'm so sorry you're living like this, and some of the comments are appalling here too.

Also your replies are very angry and you aren't engaging in any of the points made by people. You started a thread and now are shutting down the concerns of others by calling them Islamophobes. This just isn't helpful.

The I'm peaceful and my 70 year old mum is peaceful is something that's stated a lot.

The peaceful majority are irrelevant in this context. When a determined few set out to execute a deadly agenda, the peaceful majority have never stood in their way.

you can't complain about lack of integration in communities and then not want to participate in solving the problem?
and 3. it's important for people to grow up understanding their friends and neighbours
again you can't complain about lack of cohesion and then bury your head like an ostrich and not want to know about others in society

having read your posts, it's very obvious that my point 3. would have been helpful and stopped you from having ignorant, racist opinions