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Report on Muslims in Britain

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VC heads Runnymede Commission

A major report published yesterday on attitudes to Islam has concluded that hatred of Muslims in Britain is becoming "more explicit, more extreme and more dangerous." Vice-Chancellor, Gordon Conway, chaired the commission which undertook the enquiry on behalf of the Runnymede Trust, the independent think-tank on race relations and cultural diversity. This is the first investigation of its kind and it is already provoking a great deal of attention from the media - itself a significant source of anti-muslim prejudice according to the report's authors.

The report identifies a range of features of anti-muslim prejudice and examines the growing phenomenon of islamophobia - dread or hatred of Islam and of Muslims - and the dangers which this poses. Islamophobia, it concludes "is an ingredient of all sections of the media and is prevalent in all sections of society."

According to the report, there are a number of key features of islamophobia. These include the portrayal of muslim cultures as monolithic, intolerant of pluralism and dispute, patriarchal and misogynistic, fundamentalist and potentially threatening to other cultures. A further, and particularly disturbing feature of islamophobia is its apparent acceptability. As the report claims, "the expression of anti-Muslim ideas and sentiments is increasingly respectable."

The membership of the Commission, which was set up last year, represents a wide range of expertise and diverse outlooks from a broad range of faiths. Members include the Reverend John Webber, Rabbi Julia Neuberger, Trevor Phillips, Professor Akbar Ahmed, of Selwyn College Cambridge and Ian Hargreaves editor of the New Statesman. Its report will be distributed widely for comment and identifies potential areas for action. According to Professor Conway, "Islamophobia stereotypes Muslims. It inhibits British Muslims taking part in national debates and prevents their concerns and aspirations being voiced and heard. We need a better understanding of British Muslim communities and we must put a stop to islamophobia wherever it occurs in the media."

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Friday February 28th 1997