The National Union of Students (NUS) has published its report ‘The experience of Muslim students in 2017-18’. The report highlights the obstacles Muslim students experience in higher and further education, including raising concerns about the effect of the Prevent initiative.
Events were held in cities around the UK to express solidarity with the Muslim community on ‘Punish a Muslim Day’. However, given the institutional and structural nature of Islamophobia, it has been warned one day of support is not enough.
The ‘Love a Muslim Day’ campaign encourages people to do nice things for Muslims and people in need, and has received mass support on social media. However, the reality of this supposed positive impact has been questioned and dismissed as complicit in a cycle which perpetuates intolerance towards Muslims in Western society.
While the ‘Punish a Muslim Day’ campaign appears to exclusively target British Muslims, CAIR has received concerns from American Muslims who wonder whether their families and communities might be similarly targeted, part of a trend of growing anxiety in the U.S. Muslim community about Islamophobia. CAIR has urged the community to increase security measures in response.
Suspicious packages received by four Muslim MPs have been linked to the ‘Punish a Muslim day’ campaign. After the incidents were raised in Parliament, the Home Office said a definitive definition of Islamophobia was not needed as Islamophobia is already clearly recognised and effectively monitored.
