Tell MAMA

Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks) is a national project which records and measures anti-Muslim incidents in the United Kingdom. It is modelled on the Jewish Community Security Trust (CST) and like the CST it also provides support for victims, working closely with organisations such as Victim Support. The reception of the group by British Muslims is highly mixed, due to the relationship between Tell MAMA and the Jewish CST group (perceived negatively due to its support of Zionism).

Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks)
FounderFiyaz Mughal
TypeProject
Legal statusPart of Faith Matters CIC
PurposeTo ensure that anti-Muslim incidents and attacks in the UK are mapped, measured and recorded, and support provided for victims.
Location
  • United Kingdom
ServicesAnti-Muslim hate monitor and victim support service
Director
Iman Atta
Parent organization
Faith Matters CIC
Websitetellmamauk.org
Mission statement
To ensure that anti-Muslim incidents and attacks in the UK are mapped, measured and recorded, and support provided for victims.

Tell MAMA was launched[1] on 21 February 2012 by Eric Pickles MP, Secretary of State for the Department for Communities and Local Government and is co-ordinated by the interfaith organisation Faith Matters.[2] Faith Matters was founded by social entrepreneur Fiyaz Mughal OBE, a former adviser to the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, on Interfaith and Preventing Radicalisation and Extremism.[3] The organisation's statistics have been the subject of debate,[4] but were referenced by Theresa May when speaking at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors on 23 March 2015.[5]

The project was set up with government backing, and received start up funding from the Department for Communities and Local Government between 2012 and 2013.[6] In November 2012, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced a further £214,000 annual funding for Tell MAMA up to October 2013.[7][8][9] Tell MAMA was funded for an initial period of 2 years and was funded on the basis of being self-sustaining after two years.[10] Tell MAMA covers a range of issues and cases,[11][12] and also works with mosques across the country.

Tell MAMA has had significant press coverage on its work to monitor anti-Muslim hate after the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris in 2015.[12] It also reported on the rise of school-based anti-Muslim hate incidents that took place after the Paris murders,[13] as well as on continuing anti-Muslim hate incidents on both Facebook and Twitter.[14] Tell MAMA has additionally worked on some high-profile cases involving alleged anti-Muslim discrimination – for example at the Savoy Hotel, where the female worker in question who alleged the anti-Muslim discrimination was represented by Tell MAMA.[11]

The BBC programme Inside Out highlighted the work of Tell MAMA through a programme entitled "Behind the Veil".[15] It publicised the discovery that there was a 70% rise in Islamophobic hate crimes reported to the Metropolitan Police Service in the year July 2014 – July 2015, when compared to the same period the year before.[16]

Findings
Part of a series on
Islamophobia
No mosque
Issues
Status by country
Examples
Attacks on mosques:

Genocide:

Massacres, torture, expulsion:

Other incidents:
Media
Opposition

By end of November 2013, the organisation had recorded 1,432 cases of abuse since its founding in February 2012.[17] On 30 January 2014 the organisation released a graphic highlighting details of mosque attacks it had recorded between January 2012 to August 2013,[18] including three bombings which took place in June and July 2013 (connected to a self-confessed white supremacist, Pavlo Lapshyn).[19]

632 incidents were recorded in its first year of operation.[20][21] One in three attackers reported to the project had links to far-right organisations.[22] Of physical incidents reported in its first year, Tell MAMA founder Fiyaz Mughal said on BBC Sunday Morning Live that 70% were perpetrated against hijab or niqab-wearing women and the majority of attackers were white males, aged 20–50.[23] In June 2013 these findings were analysed and verified by a team of academics at Teesside University, revealing that English Defence League (EDL) figures were linked to one-third of online incidents; the data said that almost two out of every three incidents were not reported to police.[24]

Mughal, interviewed on Press TV in 2012, and writing for Hope not Hate,[25] claimed that such incidents were becoming more violent and aggressive. Mughal also called on the Commonwealth of Nations to do more to combat Islamophobia.[26]

Following the murder of British soldier Lee Rigby by two Muslim extremists, Tell MAMA recorded 83 incidents in 24 hours, and 212 over the week.[27] During the same period, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) recorded a 'spike' of 136 anti-Muslim incidents[28] which were directly reported to its True Vision hate crime reporting service.

As of October 2013, Tell MAMA had recorded 34 attacks against mosques since the Woolwich incident. Most cases involved graffiti, though others included arson, offensive DVDs, petrol bombs, smoke bombs, a suspected nail bomb, use of a pig's head, and threats and abuse of worshippers.[29] Of particular significance was the bombing campaign carried out by Pavlo Lapshyn, which began shortly after the murder of Lee Rigby. This was preceded by the murder of pensioner and grandfather Mohammad Saleem by Lapshyn.[30] Tell MAMA has since maintained an updated map of all mosque attacks in England, Wales and Scotland.[31]

Tell MAMA's 2015 annual report[32] highlighted the following key points about anti-Muslim hate crime in the UK:

  • There was a total of 801 anti-Muslim incidents documented by Tell MAMA in 2015, 437 of which were classified as offline, and 364 of which were classified as online.
  • The number of offline incidents of anti-Muslim hate crime had increased from 146 in 2014 to 437 in 2015, representing a 200% increase.
  • There is a clear gendering of anti-Muslim hate crime, whereby Muslim women are more likely to be attacked than Muslim men in most settings. 61% of victims (whose gender could be ascertained) were women, 75% of whom were visibly Muslim. This suggests that the relative visibility of Muslim women's Islamic attire is a significant factor in anti-Muslim hate crimes.
  • Due to the fact that anti-Muslim hate crimes occur most frequently in public areas, transport networks and places of business, anti-Muslim hate crime has the effect of restricting the mobility of Muslims in Britain. Many become afraid to leave their homes, use public transport or travel beyond the neighbourhoods in which they feel safe.

Press coverage

Tell MAMA has received significant press coverage in relation to the surges in anti-Muslim incidents that follow Islamist terrorist attacks. This was the case following the Charlie Hebdo attack, where Tell MAMA reported on issues such as mosques receiving death threats,[33] and the rise of school-based anti-Muslim hate incidents in the aftermath. Most notably, a Muslim student in Oxfordshire was reportedly slapped and called a 'terrorist' by classmates after a teacher raised the murders of 12 people at the French magazine and suggested that Muslims should be 'challenged' by the display of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.[34]

Reception from British Muslims

Inayat Bunglawala, founder and chair of Muslims4UK and a former media secretary at the Muslim Council of Britain, questioned Tell MAMA's links to the CST, which he linked to Zionism and neoconservatism.[35] Former Hizb ut-Tahrir member, and now Senior Fellow at ICSR, King's College London, Shiraz Maher wrote in The Jewish Chronicle that:

Tell Mama is new and, though gauche in many respects, it is badly needed. It was established by Fiyaz Mughal, who led the "Muslims Against antisemitism" campaign. Unlike most Muslim groups, Tell Mama also records intra-Muslim sectarian attacks. More importantly, it replaces the Muslim Safety Forum, an extremist group dominated by Islamists who support Hamas.[36]

Support has ranged from British Muslims for Secular Democracy[37] through to the Council of Mosques in Calderdale where Tell MAMA was launched in West Yorkshire.[38]

Tell MAMA founder Fiyaz Mughal was criticised by conservative Muslims in 2014 for inviting gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell to be a patron of Tell MAMA.[39][40]

Controversies

Andrew Gilligan's pieces in The Sunday Telegraph

Andrew Gilligan in The Sunday Telegraph (1 and 9 June 2013)[4][41] wrote that 57% of incidents recorded by Tell MAMA in the week after the Woolwich murder were online incidents. Other incidents – with the exception of mosque attacks in Grimsby and Essex – were "relatively minor, such as window-breaking or graffiti".[4] Seventeen incidents involved assault on a person, although 11 of those were attempts to remove Islamic dress and none required medical treatment. According to Gilligan, Cressida Dick of the Metropolitan Police said that her force, which is one of the few forces which monitors anti-Muslim incidents, had seen fewer anti-Muslim incidents than after the 7 July bombings in 2005.[42]

Gilligan wrote that the group's government funding was axed following concerns about its methods raised by Don Foster, the Minister for Communities. Gilligan's report said that the decision was made before the Woolwich attack and was based on perceived discrepancies between the group’s statistics and ACPO and police records. Gilligan said "hate crime in mainly Muslim areas has fallen in the past 10 years".[41] Gilligan also mentioned two cases in mid-May, before the Woolwich incident, where Tell MAMA had "been using its budget to threaten members of the public with libel actions for criticising it on Twitter": one was against a Jewish activist who criticised the group in Twitter postings.[43][44] Atma Singh, Former race advisor to the then Labour Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, who had been sacked from his position for creating a commercial company offering consultancy services for profit in March 2005 while still an employee of the Greater London Authority, was also threatened with action by Tell MAMA after he tweeted that the organisation "gives a platform to Islamists".[41]

Tell MAMA response

Tell MAMA responded to Gilligan's criticism by stating that online attacks were worth recording and had links to real-world incidents and wider communal tensions.[45] It disputed the rest of Gilligan's main accusations.[46] On funding, it said that Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg confirmed in November 2012 that the project's funding of £214,000 was for one year only.[47]

Government advisor and academic expert on Islamophobia, Dr Chris Allen, suggested that there was likely to be significant under-reporting of anti-Muslim incidents, based on a large 2009 EU-wide survey.[48] Expert on far-right politics, Dr Matthew Feldman of Teesside University, contended that the nature of the data collected by hate-monitoring projects naturally differs to that collected by police, due to the nature of self-reporting.[49][50]

A BBC News report said that the data is somewhat "patchy" but noted a number of "very serious" incidents which took place in the summer of 2013, including a number of attempts to set fire to Islamic schools and mosques. It also noted that Tell MAMA "has produced an online map of alleged attacks".[51]

Other media articles

Charles Moore, also writing in The Daily Telegraph in June 2013, followed Gilligan's report by stating:[52]

"...you frequently find that Muslim groups like Tell Mama get taxpayers' money (though, in its case, this is now coming to an end)...And you notice that many bigwigs in Muslim groups are decorated with public honours. Fiyaz Mughal, for example, who runs Tell Mama, has an OBE. Obviously it would be half-laughable, half-disgusting if activists of the EDL were honoured in this way: yet they are, in fact, less extreme than some of those Muslims who are."

Writing in the New Statesman magazine, academic Matthew Goodwin, of Nottingham University, an expert on British far-right politics, criticised Charles Moore and Andrew Gilligan, who he said were "proved wrong" in trying to "dismiss a documented rise in attacks against Muslims following the [Woolwich] attack." Goodwin went on to say:

"Moore's view of the EDL as "the instinctive reaction of elements of an indigenous working class" now sits uneasily alongside its founder's admission this week that – as we suspected all along – his creation is overrun by neo-Nazis and extremists, while both police and academic reports confirm that there was a significant spike in anti-Muslim attacks."[53]

Sadiq Khan and Mohammed Amin response

Criticising the approaches of Gilligan and Moore, senior Labour frontbench MP Sadiq Khan, said:

"For decades, the British Jewish community has had to contend with the belittling of anti-Semitic attacks, whether they be on headstones in cemeteries or to Synagogues or schools. While we cannot be complacent, there is, rightly, a zero tolerance to anti-Semitism whether it be oral, viral or physical. Would we be comfortable with a respected journalist writing about the Community Security Trust the way Tell Mama has been written about? Or aspersions being cast on a politician due to their Jewish faith? Would we accept the Jewish community being talked about the way the Muslim community are? The piece would be roundly criticised, and rightly so."[54]

Khan's words were echoed by deputy head of the Conservative Muslim Forum and Tell MAMA patron, Mohammed Amin, writing on the prominent Conservative Party blog, ConservativeHome:

"Given that Tell MAMA has adopted the methodology of the CST; and that the pattern of incidents that it is reporting is similar to the patterns reported by the CST – with incidents ranging from verbal abuse, internet abuse, to relatively rare cases of extreme violence – will these journalists be attacking the CST’s next report the same way? Because, as far as I can see, there is little difference between the evils of anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim hatred, or the way in which both bodies which monitor such hatred function."[55]

Tweet trial

A Liberty GB radio host, Tim Burton, was arrested, charged and prosecuted for comments he tweeted about Tell MAMA founder Fiyaz Mughal in the wake of the Islamophobia reporting controversy.[56] Tim Burton was acquitted on 8 April 2014.[39]

In 2017, Tim Burton was once again arrested, charged and prosecuted for a number of abusive emails and tweets directed at Mughal. He was found guilty of religiously aggravated harassment on 28 March 2017, and was given a custodial sentence of 12 weeks. Judge Alex Gordon said of Burton's campaign of harassment: "It was pre-meditated, it was determined, it was deeply unpleasant, and it was part of a campaign by you and your associates to tar all Muslims as Islamists."[57]

Burton subsequently resigned from his position as radio officer for Liberty GB.

Patrons

Patrons of the Tell MAMA project include Jonathan Bloch, the Reverend Mark Oakley, John Esposito, Canon Dr. Giles Fraser and Lord Sheikh of Cornhill.[58]

In April 2014, former head of the Community Security Trust, Richard Benson, was announced as the new Chair of Tell MAMA.[40] More recently, former Government Minister Shahid Malik was appointed as Chair on the Tell MAMA project.

See also

References
  1. Mughal, Fiyaz. "Tell MAMA offers hope for overcoming hate crime in the UK". Common Ground News. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  2. Fiyaz, Mughal. "Launch of the Tell MAMA project". Tell Mama. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  3. "Lib Dem's announce new BME advisors". Manchester Evening News. 19 April 2010. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  4. Gilligan, Andrew (1 June 2013). "The truth about the 'wave of attacks on Muslims' after Woolwich murder". The Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  5. "A Stronger Britain, Built On Our Values – Speeches". GOV.UK. 23 March 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  6. "House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 30 Apr 2014". Parliament UK. 30 April 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  7. Clegg, Nick. "Deputy Prime Minister extends funding to tackle hate crime against Muslims". Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  8. "Clegg: Let's end 'abhorrent' prejudice against Muslims". Manchester Evening News. 8 November 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  9. Don Foster, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (12 November 2012). "Town Centres". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons.
  10. "House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 30 Apr 2014 (pt 0001)". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  11. Matt Watts (6 July 2015). "Teenage waitress: I was humiliated by Savoy staff for wearing a hijab – London – News – London Evening Standard". Standard.co.uk. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  12. "London mosques 'sent death threats and drawings of Prophet Mohamed' after Charlie Hebdo attack". London Evening Standard. 18 January 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  13. Cahal Milmo (23 January 2015). "British Muslim school children suffering a backlash of abuse following Paris attacks – Education News – Education". The Independent. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  14. "Facebook, Twitter Allowing Islamophobia to Flourish: Report". NDTV. 3 January 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  15. "Inside Out – Behind the Veil". BBC iPlayer. 7 September 2015.
  16. Sehmer, Alexander (7 September 2015). "Hate crimes against Muslims in London 'up by 70%', police figures show". The Independent. Independent Print Ltd. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  17. "Police 'failing to investigate anti-Muslim abuse'". BBC News. 24 November 2013. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  18. "Timeline Map of Mosque Incidents & Attacks Between 2012–2013". Tell MAMA. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  19. Whitehead, Tom (23 October 2014). "Ukrainian white supremacist avoids life sentence over murder and mosque bombings". The Telegraph. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  20. Nye, Catrin (11 March 2013). "632 anti-Muslim hate incidents recorded by Tell Mama". BBC. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  21. Copsey, Nigel. "Anti-Muslim Hate Crime And The Far Right" (PDF). Teesside University. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  22. Image, Asian (11 July 2012). "Muslims being physically attacked and harassed because of their faith". Asian Image. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  23. Mughal, Fiyaz (8 September 2012). "Depressing Picture Emerges of Muslim Women Under Increasing Harassment From White EDL Supporters". Huffington Post UK. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
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  26. Grundy, Trevor (27 June 2012). "Commonwealth urged to fight discrimination against Muslims in Britain". Archive.is. Originally published by Commonwealth Journalists Association UK. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  27. Elgot, Jessica (24 May 2013). "Woolwich Attacks: 'Massive Spike' In Anti-Muslim Attacks Including Death Threats And Vandalism". Huffington Post UK. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  28. "True Vision Sees increase in Anti-Muslim Hate reports". ACPO. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  29. Mama, Tell. "Mosque attacks 22/05/13 – 17/10/13". Tell MAMA. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  30. "Mosque bomber Pavlo Lapshyn given life for murder". BBC News. 25 October 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  31. "Mosque attacks, May 2013–2017". Tell MAMA. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  32. "The Geography of Anti-Muslim Hatred" (PDF). Tell MAMA. 29 June 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  33. "London mosques 'sent death threats and drawings of Prophet Mohamed' after Charlie Hebdo attack". The Evening Standard. 18 January 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  34. Milmo, Cahal (23 January 2015). "British Muslims school children suffering a backlash of abuse following Paris attacks". The Independent. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  35. Bunglawala, Inayat (26 February 2012). "'Tell MAMA': Not Off to a Good Start!". Inayat's Corner. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  36. Maher, Shiraz (30 June 2013). "A new face of British Islam is rising. It needs your help". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  37. British Muslims for Secular Democracy
  38. West Yorkshire
  39. "Radio host cleared over 'scumbag' tweet jibe to Musilm [sic] campaigner" 4 May 2014 by Mike Lockley Birmingham Mail
  40. Jeory, Ted (6 April 2014). "Muslims attack helpline for victims of anti-Muslim hatred". The Express. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  41. Gilligan, Andrew (9 June 2013). "Muslim hate monitor to lose backing". The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  42. Travis, Alan (4 June 2013). "Fewer anti-Muslim hate crimes after Woolwich murder than feared". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  43. "UK Muslim group says it will sue Jewish activist | The Jewish Chronicle". Thejc.com. 14 June 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  44. "Mrs Ambrosine Shitrit – 'I am not anti-Muslim…….'; Tell MAMA". www.tellmamauk.org. 14 June 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  45. "Anti-Muslim Incidents On Twitter And Facebook Are Not Minor Attacks, Tell Mama Says". Huffington Post UK. 3 June 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
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  49. Feldman, Matthew. "Comment: Centre-right columnists are legitimising the EDL". Politics.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 June 2013.
  50. "Anti-Muslim Hate Crime and the Far Right; Teesside University" (PDF). www.tellmamauk.org. June 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
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  53. Goodwin, Matthew (14 October 2013). "The myth of the academic "anti-fascist industry"". New Statesman. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  54. Khan, Sadiq (20 June 2013). "Why Charles Moore is wrong about British Muslims". The Telegraph. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  55. Amin, Mohammed. "Don't shoot the messenger who reports on anti-Muslim hatred". ConservativeHome. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  56. "Right-wing radio host jailed for 'vile Islamophobic' trolling of anti-racism campaigner". The Independent. 28 April 2017. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  57. Wilford, Greg (28 April 2017). "Right-wing radio host Tim Burton jailed for 'vile Islamophobic' trolling of anti-racism campaigner". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  58. MAMA, Tell. "Patrons of the programme". Tell MAMA. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
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