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Facing Hostility, Two-thirds of Muslims Consider Leaving UK
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One
in five Muslims said they or a family member have faced abuse or
hostility since the
London
attacks. (Reuters)
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LONDON,
July 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Nearly half a million Muslims
contemplated leaving Britain after the London terrorist attacks, with
one in five saying they or a family member have faced abuse or
hostility since the attacks, according to new a Guardian/ICM
poll published Tuesday, July 26.
Nearly
two-thirds of 1,005 adults aged 18+ interviewed by ICM had thought
about their future in Britain after the attacks, with 63% saying they
had considered whether they wanted to remain in the UK.
Older
Muslims were more uneasy about their future, with 67% of those 35 or
over having contemplated their future home country compared to 61%
among those 34 or under.
Britain
's Muslim population is estimated at 1.6million, with 1.1million over
18, meaning more than half a million may have considered the
possibility of leaving, said the Guardian.
Some
56% of Muslims are optimistic about the future of their children in
Britain
, while only three in 10 were pessimistic.
The
July 7
London
attacks have killed 56 people including four bombers, three of them
are Britain-born Muslims of Pakistani origin.
Increasing
Hostility
The
poll also shows that tens of thousands of Muslims have suffered from
increased Islamophobia, with one in five saying they or a family
member have faced abuse or hostility since the attacks.
Police
have recorded more than 1,200 suspected Islamophobic incidents across
the country ranging from verbal abuse to one murder in the past three
weeks.
On
Sunday, some 300 far-right protesters chanted racist slogans outside
the Central London Mosque near Regent's Park, which was hosting an
Islamic conference organized by the Islamic charity, Da'watul Islam
UK
, on combating extremism.
They
shouted insults and waved banners reading "
Britain
for the British" and "Keep Alien Wars Off Our British
Shores".
A
British Muslim of Pakistani origin was beaten to death by a gang of
extremists in Nottingham in northern
Britain
on Sunday, July 10.
Police
sources said that Raza, 48, had gone to a shop to buy some items and
while getting out, he was attacked by a gang of extremists until he
breathed his last.
Fears
of reprisals have been running high among British Muslims in the wake
of the
London
attacks.
At
least seven mosques have come under arson and racist attacks few hours
after the bombings.
The
Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, warned on Monday, July 11,
against making Muslims "scapegoats" for the
London
bombings.
Iraq
War
Nearly
eight in 10 Muslims believe
Britain
's participation in invading
Iraq
was a factor leading to the bombings.
Nearly
two-thirds of Muslims identify racist and Islamophobic behavior as a
cause compared to 57% of all Britons.
Former
British prime minister Sir John Major joined Monday, July
25, a
chorus of former officials and prominent writers who believe that the
Iraq
war had heightened the threat of terrorist attacks in
Britain
.
The
"ill-considered venture" of invading
Iraq
has turned into a "mess" fueling attacks around the world
and providing Al-Qaeda with sympathizers across the Muslim world,
award-winning British reporter Patrick Cockburn wrote Monday, July
25 in
the Independent.
An
ICM poll for the Guardian found on July 19 that two-thirds of
Britons believe the July 7 bombings in were linked to Blair's support
for the US-led invasion of
Iraq
.
A
recent report by the London-based Royal Institute of International
Affairs, known as Chatham House, said the
Iraq
war has made
Britain
more vulnerable to terrorist attacks.
Anti-violence
Fifty
seven percent of Muslims criticized scholars and leaders for failing
to root out extremists, compared to 68% of all Britons.
Half
of Muslims thought that they needed to do more to prevent extremists
infiltrating their community.
British
Muslim leaders pledged on Tuesday, July 19, active and effective
participation in the government's efforts to combat the poisonous
phenomenon of extremism for the welfare of British society.
Nine
in 10 Muslims interviewed believe violence has no place in a political
struggle, according to the poll.
A
small rump told ICM of their support for the attacks on July 7 and 5%
said that more attacks would be justified.
A
statement issued by over forty leading mosque imams, muftis and
scholars representing all sections of Muslims in
Britain
stressed that "there can never
be any excuse for taking an innocent life".
The
British Muslim Forum issued on July
18 a
fatwa signed by more than 500 British Muslim scholars dismissing
suicide bombings as "vehemently prohibited".
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