LAST week was the anniversary of 7/7.  I’ve spoken many

times about how clearly Islam condemns those who target

innocent civilians.

But there seems to have been a purpose behind those terror

attacks, and it wasn’t just to murder and maim or cause panic

and fear. 

The terrorists wanted to divide our nation. They wanted

ordinary British people to turn against British

Muslims. 

They succeeded in the first aim – and, I think, are succeeding

in the second.

According to a recent ICM poll commissioned by Channel 4, 61

per cent of Muslims believe hostility towards them has

increased since 7/7. Twenty-

six per cent of non-Muslims believe the presence of Muslims in

this country is actually a security threat. Thirty per cent of

non-Muslims believe Islam isn’t compatible with British or

Western values. Twenty-one per cent of non-Muslims believe

Muslims have too much political power in Britain. Seventy per

cent of non-Muslims and 78 per cent of Muslims agree that there

is more religious prejudice against Muslims since 7/7.

How has the perception of my community gone from one known for

being law-abiding, peaceful, honest and hard-working to one

that poses a security threat to this nation?

In 2000, there were only 352 news stories about British Muslims

in the British press.

In the following years, the number of news stories per year

about British Muslims increased dramatically.

In 2006, there was a whopping 4,196.

What were those stories about? Were there any positive news

stories? Hardly.

Sixty-nine per cent of those stories presented the idea that

British Muslims were a source of problems. Terrorism or the

“war on terror” accounted for 36 per cent of the news stories.

Stories highlighting cultural differences between British

Muslims and other Britons made up 22 per cent. Twenty-six per

cent of the stories gave the impression that Islam is

dangerous, backward and irrational. Stories about Muslim

extremists made up  11 per cent

Abu Hamza is apparently the single most newsworthy British

Muslim.

But aren’t the British press simply reporting the news as they

see it? They aren’t making stories up – are they? 

Remember the story about  NHS nurses being made to turn

beds to face Mecca five times a day so Muslim patients could

pray?  It wasn’t true.

Remember news about a “Muslim hate mob” vandalising the home of

British soldiers returning from Iraq? It wasn’t true. 

Remember the story of NatWest Bank banning “piggy banks” from

their marketing for fear of offending Muslims? It wasn’t

true.

Surely, you remember the headline: “Christmas is banned, it

offends Muslims”? It wasn’t true.

Presented with such a skewed view of British Muslims, is it any

wonder  non-

Muslims have an increasingly negative view of my community and

faith?

Terrorists don’t distinguish between Muslim and non-Muslim when

carrying out attacks. Muslims have died, too.

But remember, every time there’s a hate crime against British

Muslims, or a brick’s thrown at a British mosque, or a British

Muslim woman wearing a hijab is verbally abused or spat at, or

a British Muslim man with a beard is attacked, we’re handing a

small victory to the terrorists.