Man shouting 'I want to kill all Muslims' shows rising Islamophobia in UK
by Daily Sabah with Wires
IstanbulDec 14, 2016 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Daily Sabah with Wires
Dec 14, 2016 12:00 am
With the threat from the extreme right growing in the United Kingdom, the capital city of London was hit by a violent Islamophobic act yesterday as a knifeman shouted "I want to kill a Muslim" before stabbing another man on a suburban train, the local media reported on Monday. He reportedly shouted "go back to Syria" and "Muslims...kill them all" before stabbing his victim. Eyewitnesses said the attacker was a black man and threatened a woman wearing a headscarf with a knife before the violent attack. Despite eyewitness statements, British police said the incident was not linked to terrorism.
Tell Mama, a British group that monitors anti-Muslim incidents, said that more than 100 mosques and Islamic organizations in the last three and a half years have been the targets of anti-Muslim attacks across the country.
In a separate development, the killing of U.K. deputy Jo Cox by a nationalist terrorist indicates growing "violent white supremacy" trends, violence from far-right extremism and neo-Nazi groups across the country.
In a shock referendum result, Britain voted on June 23 to leave the 28-nation European Union. Pro-Brexit supporters campaigned heavily on immigration and the need to regain control on Britain's borders, in a referendum battle fought against the backdrop of Europe's worst migrant crisis since World War II. As well as "intolerance," which it said was promoted by the U.K. Independence Party (UKIP), the report also noted criticism of Prime Minister David Cameron when he spoke in July 2015 about a "swarm" of migrants trying to reach Britain.
In response to increasing violence against Muslims and refugees across the country, the British government plans to ban an extreme right wing group, National Action under the Terrorism Act 2000 — the first time a right-wing organization has been banned under the legislation. A slogan used by Thomas Mair in court, "Death to traitors, freedom for Britain," appears in online results when searching for National Action.
There has been a surge in hate crimes across Britain in the wake of June's referendum, which saw Britons vote to exit the EU with immigration as one of the key issues. At its peak, there was a 58 percent increase in hate crimes and police recorded more than 14,000 such crimes in the period running from a week before the vote to mid-August.
Minority groups have suffered several verbal attacks throughout the country in recent days, and the National Police Chiefs' Council said it had detected a 57 percent rise in police reports.
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