Britain: Incidents of Islamophobia increased 375 percent after Johnson article

Boris Johnson, the current UK prime minister, who wrote about Muslim women wearing the niqab a year ago, has increased the incidence of Islamophobia in the country by

Boris Johnson, the current UK prime minister, who wrote about Muslim women wearing the niqab a year ago, has increased the incidence of Islamophobia in the country by 375 percent, a British NGO said.

In its annual report, Tell Mama, an organization that monitors Islamophobia, said there were two incidents that caused a rise in Islamophobia in Britain in 2018.

It said the first incident was related to the launch of the Muslim Punishment Day campaign on April 3, 2018, when 37 unprecedented incidents related to Islamophobia were reported on the streets of Britain. On that day, negative messages against Islam were sent to a number of Muslims, as well as parliamentarians. 

The second, and more important, according to the organization is Boris Johnson’s article against veiled Muslim women as foreign minister.

In August 2018, Johnson described Muslim women wearing the niqab as resembling “mailboxes” and “bank robbers.”

According to the British organization, the incident increased the incidence of Islamophobia from eight cases in the week before the article was published, to 38 in the week following his article.

Twenty-two of the 28 incidents targeted Muslim women wearing headscarves.

In the context of the report, “Tel Mama” also concluded that the majority of incidents of Islamophobia occurred in public places; suggesting that anti-Muslim feelings have become “more widespread and receptive.”