Introduction

There have been a number of events in the UK in 2010 that have contributed both context and background to incidents of anti-Muslim hatred, verbal and physical, as well as instances of anti-Muslim hate crimes.

As in previous years, the security agenda and counter-terrorism policies continue to influence and shape public and political discourse on British Muslims with debates on social, economic and political integration of minorities eclipsed by wider debates on countering radicalisation among young British Muslims.

Politics and the electoral cycle has informed events of 2010 with a general election in May of that year and the first ever challenge to the victory of an elected MP on grounds of election materials that breached the Representation of the People Act 1983.

As details of the horrific crime committed in Woolwich yesterday emerge and preliminary evidence suggests the involvement of a man motivated by an Al-Qaeda inspired narrative, we wish to bring to your attention the utter and universal condemnation expressed by Muslim leaders and organisations across the UK of this barbaric act of violence.

The Muslim Council of Britain issued a statement, as have members of the Woolwich Mosque. The Faiths Forum for London has also issued an interfaith statement from representatives of London’s many faith communities denouncing this cruel violation of the sanctity of human life in all religions in a ‘barbaric assault’ on a young man.

The inexpressibly brutal murder on the streets of south London by someone claiming to have a grievance against the British state cannot be justified or excused by any reference to Islam or to its noble teachings. The exploitation of the ‘poisonous narrative of extremism’ by the English Defence League, and initial reports of attacks on mosques in Essex and Kent, shows that this narrative infects those inspired by extremisms of different kinds.

As our Prime Minister has stated today, this heinous crime is “a betrayal of Islam – and of the Muslim communities who give so much to our country.

“There is nothing in Islam that justifies this truly dreadful act.

“We will defeat violent extremism by standing together” and “by challenging the poisonous narrative of extremism on which this violence feeds”.

The Prime Minister’s words echo the statements issued by British Muslim leaders. They reiterate those sentiments which unite us all in our fight to defeat terrorism, that we must stand together in challenging the toxic teachings of those who deny our common humanity.

Our thoughts remain with the victim and his family at this time.

The Maidenhead Advertiser and BBC News both report on the court appearance of two men in connection with criminal damage andvandalism of a mosque in Holmanleaze, Maidenhead.

“Lee Hunt, 26, and Gary Nuth, 22, were charged with two counts of racially or religiously aggravated criminal damage.

“They were also charged with criminal damage and theft”.

The men will appear before Slough Magistrates’ Court on July 12.

The mosque in Holmanleaze was repeatedly attacked in the days following drummer Lee Rigby’s murder in Woolwich. Its windows were smashed on Wednesday 22 May. Its entrance path was spray painted with the words 'England till I die' on Sunday 8 June and on Monday 9 June, staff arrived at the mosque to find an envelope stuffed with bacon on the doormat.

Insp John McKee, from the Thames Valley force, said: "The Holmanleaze mosque is highly respected locally.

"We've received much support over the years from them for various community events and issues.

"I find it deeply saddening that such genuinely nice people could be abused in this way."

At ENGAGE, we regularly monitor print, broadcast and social media to record and challengemisrepresentations and inaccurate reporting of Islam and Muslims in the UK.We have in our parliamentary briefing paper on Islamophobia, enclosed herewith, argued for closerscrutiny and better self-regulation of the UK media in order to make it more responsive to badpractices, journalistic bias and the prevalent practice of exaggerating the influence of fringe Muslimgroups to demonise the wider British Muslim population.We have approached the PCC on a number of occasions to lodge complaints on coverage we havedeemed to be inaccurate, unfair or discriminatory. A summary of these complaints is elaborated on insection one below providing details for the complaint (inaccuracy, misrepresentation, discriminatoryreportage) together with the responses from the respective newspaper or the PCC to our complaint.Section two elaborates on cases lodged by third parties which reflect inaccuracy, poor reporting ordiscrimination. Section three concludes with our ongoing concerns on the modus operandi of theEditors’ Code of Practice and its limitations with specific reference to media reporting of Islam andBritish Muslims.

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