Anti-Muslim hate has increased since 7-10

Actually, in many areas of the public sector, it's considered good practice to have interpreting services available and free at the point of use for people whose first language is not English, even if they have some understanding of English.

In healthcare, for example, providing a medical history in your 2nd, 3rd or even 4th language isn't going to be nearly as detailed as it would be in your native language, and there can be culturally distinct elements to how someone presents - missing those means a less thorough and accurate assessment.

In law, it's much harder to follow legal proceedings in a 2nd, 3rd, 4th language. Having access to an interpreter helps counterbalance those disadvantages.

As I've said before, it's hard to learn and communicate in multiple languages. Using an interpreter doesn't mean someone hasn't tried.

Expats are not immigrants as they have no intention to stay and normally have visas closely tied to their work (generally for international companies).

I've never heard such rubbish. Where do people learn to make up this stuff? Tell it to the English settled in Spain, for example, retired and with no intention to return.

We all know white people who have no idea that when they go to live abroad, they are immigrants there too. They think they can't be, as they're white. As a white person myself, I have actually heard people say things like, "oh I'm moving abroad, too many immigrants here!". They see no irony. (They don't usually go, either, unfortunately).

I do think that the traveller community still faces a lot of stigma and abuse in England. And usually look ‘white’.

I agree in part with the fact that individual families or community may have had nothing directly to do with that decision, but conversely when other individuals or families object to the decision they are disregarded or insulted and labelled as racist, rather than told that financial or supply issues are the reason.

Where I work, there's a lot of this too - mostly young men using knives while under the influence. It's pretty common across urban areas of the UK.

There is a business model based on demand and supply. There is a market for halal meat, and it is profitable to sell it, so it is more widely available than it used to be when there was less demand for it.

If someone doesn't want to eat it, they don't have to. Just like if I'm somewhere that serves non-halal food, I don't have to eat that. I have a relative who doesn't eat halal meat and it's not exactly difficult for them to find options either.

If you're opposed to halal meat, then it's simple enough to ask before you order or buy something. Just as it's simple enough for me to ask before I do.

Which area do you live in with a "lot of knife crime done by British young kids", and do you mean white, rather than British?

I don't think largely that these acts are done by Muslims, I think they are done by Islamists, which is why I think it's vitally important to draw a distinction.

I love that you continue to stretch. If you are white in England, you are not marginalised. If you don’t want to be called racist or islamaphobic, fix your behaviour. Nobody told you to come on a public forum and spout shit.

Most other countries don't provide paid for interpreters for those who don't learn the native language. Are you suggesting public services in most other countries are a disaster?

"If there are people who can only eat pork sausages due to religious/dietary restrictions and there are no possible substitutes," - there are plenty of substitutes for halal meat, widely available, so perhaps we don't need to provide halal meat?

‘Yes, but I am not aware of any multi-faith schools which have switched solely to Kosher meat.’

Do you think that an aggressive Muslim contingent demanded this? Or did the school respond to market forces which I think is slightly different. It probably saw that there was not much uptake of meat in areas with a large Muslim population so they considered it better value to use a supplier which would suit more families. Or halal meat was the cheapest option available, which is often the case.

You will probably be shocked at how many restaurants and takeaways use halal meat because it is often a more affordable option. I bet you never ask. Of course it is fine to question the quality of halal meat, that is not an issue. What I do find problematic is when a certain kind of person gets up in arms about halal meat being used in schools , without realising that the individual families or community may have had nothing directly to do with that decision.

I can't quote from your original post because it's been deleted, but to paraphrase "80% of the world's famine is in Gaza" which is disingenuous as even the report states "Currently, Gaza is not classified as a full famine because its population only meets the first criteria, he said, but the population is on the way there. Roughly a quarter of the population has already reached the “famine” classification", so around 150,000. Given that millions of people in Yemen already face famine, the small number of Gazans quoted by one single report don't suddenly change the global landscape. Ask Hamas why they have allowed this to happen; why Hamas aren't starving, why the elected government in Gaza has the obliteration of Israel as a stated goal, and why they spend more on arms than they do on looking after their citizens.

Perfect, given that my family were from an ethnic minority who were persecuted, I guess that covers me, and I'll remember your definition when somebody calls me a racist for disagreeing with them. Or does marginalisation die out over a generation, depending of course on your skin colour?

Yes, but I am not aware of any multi-faith schools which have switched solely to Kosher meat.

Because when militants use this as an excuse to demand different treatment and take legal action, I see it as a problem.

It's a legal requirement to wear a crash helmet, it's not a legal requirement or apparently even a religious requirement to wear a face covering - it's a choice.

You're right, and your faith isn't defined by your colour either. This thread suggests that people can tell a Muslim by the colour of their skin and are targeting hate at them, when, in reality, lots of white people are Muslim, and lots of non-white people are not Muslim. Perhaps the issue is language, and quite rightly we should separate racism from religion.

Well quite. I can find things to criticise in most religions. But I wouldn’t hurl abuse at someone from a religion or treat them badly because of that. People seem to be struggling to understand the difference.

I have no idea what you are going on about SaffronSpice, you sound like a complete daily mail reading Bigot to me. My children are raised Muslim and we do not teach them that women are inferior. Nor does any other Muslim that I know.

Islam is not a race where there is no link between the beliefs of one person of a specific race and another. Muslims have a specific belief/ideology - Islam - in common. It is not about people immigrating, it is a belief system, a belief that many of us absolutely do have issues with. It is not a hate crime to criticise Islam. To say I do not want my daughters to grow up in a country where they are considered not equal to men.

Quite. There isn’t some sort of hierarchy here about who should feel most discriminated against! It’s all wrong!

There are many of us leading happy and content multicultural lives. Eg My daughter has had the same three friends since the age of three. One Muslim, one Hindu, one Jewish and one Christian/atheist girl. Our families are good friends. We eat out regularly (finding somewhere where everyone can eat something). This is not an isolated example. It doesn’t make the news headlines.

It is extreme idiots that stop people living peacefully alongside each other.

It is literally a part of your wellbeing to be part of a community, one which has a history and grounding and a common shared set of values - and saying that is nothing, and you should just bow down and give up on your community and bend your values is naive at best and disgustingly offensive at worst.

Oh and this mixed group of friends I have is my (multicultural) community and makes for great wellbeing. Your last comment says a hell of a lot about you btw.

I know. I said temporary. But I have never heard the term expat used for them. It’s a term of privilege.

I find I have some fundamental disagreements with Islam. Not only with the way in which women are viewed, but also the Holy War element of Jihad which I have interpreted (and seen) to be something that does not sit especially well alongside Western Christian values. (there are also the views on homosexuality, adultery, Sabbath breakers etc. that fundamentally clash with a lot of my western beliefs)

It seems to me that Muslims and Non-Muslims will find it very difficult to live equally and peacefully together given what the scriptures actually say - the clash of values is a big one. And this appears to be playing out. We have had many years of people being tolerant and accepting, waiting for integration but I do fear the gap is too wide to repair permanently. Yes, Brexit was a sign that people are fed up of the experiment of multiculturalism, and I don't think that make you a bigot necessarily, it makes you someone who wants to retain some of your historical familial culture - as do all humans across the globe - so not something unique to white british people. It is literally a part of your wellbeing to be part of a community, one which has a history and grounding and a common shared set of values - and saying that is nothing, and you should just bow down and give up on your community and bend your values is naive at best and disgustingly offensive at worst.

This obviously doesn't sit entirely comfortably with me. I understand that the multicultural experiment is none of our faults, and we have done it now, and we will have to learn to deal with it better because as the OP has pointed out, I am very sure that there is a rise in anti-Muslim sentiment and that is not good. I just think it is inevitable given the acutely different sets of beliefs between Muslims and non-Muslims and politicians should never have been so naive as to put us all in this position.

Which part of my post is not true?

They aren’t immigrants either.