Anti-Muslim hate has increased since 7-10

It receives unbalanced coverage. Why would media give time and space to things like charitable work undertaken by Muslim organisations, successful interfaith projects, etc? That doesn't generate nearly the same amount of interest as they could get with stories of injustice, fear or controversy.

I suspect that, in most places, if people reached out across cultural and religious divides, they would find far more in common with each other than not, if they approach it with an open mind and heart.

@usernamealreadytaken your understanding of racism is so basic I don’t even know where to begin. When racism or any other kind of prejudice is talked about on a national level individual interactions are only a very very small part of what is being discussed. How this manifests at an institutional level and affects life outcomes is much more relevant. Health inequalities, levels of unemployment, rampant Islamophobia in the press etc. Even if every Muslim person in the UK had a prejudice against white people (which they do not) it is highly unlikely that you would experience this to the same extent.

I am dying at your pork sausage argument. Do we provide cannabis to people from nations in which it is legalised because that something that they choose to partake in? You must live in a different UK to me because last I checked we don’t even give refugees time to find accommodation when they're accepted, a lot of them end up homeless on the street.

You can lay blame for the rise of “parallel societies” firmly at the feet of your own people. Multiculturalism was enshrined in policy for decades. Similarly, you can’t blame immigrant communities for the white flight which has resulted in areas which are overwhelmingly populated by one group.

Few racists? According to you, you aren’t one of them and yet a lot of people on this thread would beg to differ. Somehow, I don’t think you are qualified to determine who is, and who is not racist.

I'm sorry but we can't say the same thing about Spanish people here (well not in the last 500 years). I'm not talking about ghettoising but explicitly violence and abuse.

You wouldn't see "moderate Muslims" tackling it though, would you? It takes a generation or two for changes to filter through organically, but the changes do happen. Plus, there will be a ton of behind the scenes stuff that you (and me!) as an outsider won't see.

There will also be extremist stuff happening behind the scenes in certain places, and that needs to be dealt with as it's encouraging illegal activity. Just like white supremacists need to be dealt with.

I personally think it's a language thing - if the Qur'an was written in English instead of Arabic people wouldn't care half as much. They're scared of the unknown.

So it's all made up?

'People living normal diverse lives next to each other' doesn't sell newspapers.

Not sure which country you're referring to which is currently committing genocide - would that be Myanmar(against the Rohingya), or China (against the Uyghur)? You know, the actual genocides not just the media ones. Can't recall the weekly marches in support and solidarity with those who are actually facing genocide, can you? I wonder why the Palestinian non-genocide genocide is so different - clue, it might be down to the religion of the people who retaliated to the slaughter, rape and torture of over 1400 of their own citizens.

Perhaps if you're interested in a discussion about comparisons of rights between cultures, countries and faiths, that might be more appropriate in another thread. Unless you're suggesting that your concerns for the rights of women justify hate crimes and discrimination against Muslims, including Muslim women.

And what "small adjustments" do majority Muslim countries make so that everyone can live happily? One of the points I'm making is that some Muslims do not want to live in majority Muslim countries, but then do expect their host countries to make adaptations for them, which they are well aware their home nation would not do for immigrants. If Muslims don't want to live in majority Muslim countries because of the way they are run, perhaps they could address that, rather than leaving?

There's a growing Muslim population in this country who is not willing to live happily alongside us and respect our customs though and we've seen plenty of evidence for this over recent years, that is where the concern stems from. Unfortunately I don't see many moderate Muslim's tackling this from within.

Not sure what relevance largely wealthy and highly skilled or well-educated ex-pats (white, or any other colour) have on this conversation - ex-pats tend to be short-term residents specifically for work purposes, or are self supporting. To extend your argument, are Dubai and Bahrain welcoming of white ex-pats who lose their jobs, who can no longer support themselves? Do they allow them to wear any clothes they choose to, and do they ensure that pork sausages are available if that's what those ex-pats choose to eat? Do they generously support those poor souls, and invite them to bring their entire extended families to stay, and allow them to live in nice little white enclaves? Do they buggery. The current conversation relates to citizens and immigrants, and the accommodations made or not made for them.

The UK is frequently portrayed as a racist country, although there are few racists. Muslims are largely peaceful and lovely people, but there are a few Islamist extremists and therefore they are treated in exactly the same way as the peaceful and welcoming Brits - tarred with the brush of the vocal and visual minority.

The bald faced hypocrisy of some posters on here complaining about the rights of Muslim women, when the UK is selling arms to a country committing a genocide in which 70% of the victims are women and children. Don’t pretend you give a shit about Muslim women or their rights. You’re just racist.

Of course countries should have to make a few small changes to their culture to accommodate the change in population. When I was a child there were 2 billion fewer people in the world. It's not reasonable to expect people to stay where their families are from indefinitely. The people who move and the countries who take them in both need to make a few adjustments so everyone can continue to live happily and without some kind of weird forced conversion of immigrants. None of this is new, the religious make up of this country has changed several times over the centuries.

Anyone care to address women’s rights?

"Literally millions" in recent years, @Coyoacan? Any actual source for your figures?

Genocide of Palestinians? Are you aware that the Palestinian population has increased almost every single year since records began, and life expectancy has also increased? Sounds like the most inept genocide ever. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_State_of_Palestine

I am failing to see the point of this post. Firstly, let me assure you that white expats are generally treated very well everywhere. Take Bahrain and Dubai, for example. They are often invited to assume highly paid roles with obscene benefits. Some roles will even blatantly only be available to white candidates. None of this however, should have any bearing on how we treat people in the UK.

So are we to understand according to your thinking, because there is a small minority of prejudice Muslims, it is acceptable for there to be widespread Islamophobia? And it’s acceptable for you to make this very shameful point, because you have one whole Muslim friend… does she know you’re using her like this?

This is an example of why language matters.

We used to talk about extremists using quite specific descriptors.

Then it moved to 'Islamist'.

Now it's 'Islamic'.

The language gets broader and vaguer, more innocent people get associated with the idea and hating and fearing Muslims in general becomes more acceptable.

The language we use matters.

There are many spaces in which issues such as face covering policies, education opportunities, food standards, etc can be discussed and debated. Verbal and physical abuse, discrimination, stigmatisation and hatred are not discussion and debate. They're hate crimes.

Changing parliamentary procedure because of apparent threats from Islamic extremists.

Halal slaughter, allowing students to leave classes for prayer sessions, allowing face coverings for religious purposes but not other (eg petrol stations refusing to serve motorcyclists if they do not remove their crash helmets), provision of long term interpreter services because people do not learn the native language, being labelled racist for objecting to any of these very few examples.

Not exactly helped by this Government, either.

I'm not sure what you mean there, @usernamealreadytaken , are you saying that because prejudice is an issue in a lot of places that we shouldn't challenge it here in the UK?

Do you think that about other groups, or is there something specific about Muslims for you?