UK government pledges funds to protect Muslim communities

By Mehmet Solmaz

BIRMINGHAM, England (AA) - The British government on Monday announced more than £117 million ($150 million) in funds to protect mosques, Muslim schools and community centers in the UK from hate attacks over the next four years.

The move follows Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s pledge in late February to provide more than £70 million to protect Jewish schools, synagogues and other facilities used by the Jewish community.

The government said the funding was allocated to reflect the number of community sites used by each faith, with British Muslims making up 14 times more of England and Wales’ population than British Jews.

Sunak and his ruling Conservatives have been under heavy criticism for enabling Islamophobia to rise in the country.

Islamophobic incidents more than tripled since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas incursion, according to Tell MAMA, an organization monitoring anti-Muslim sentiment and abuse in the UK.

Speaking on the new funding pack, Home Secretary James Cleverly said: “Anti-Muslim hatred has absolutely no place in our society. We will not let events in the Middle East be used as an excuse to justify abuse against British Muslims.”

Tell MAMA says the steep rise in anti-Muslim attacks was caused by various far-right remarks in the past five months, especially following former Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s attack on pro-Palestinian protesters who demanded a cease-fire in Gaza. She had described them as anti-Semitic “hate marchers.”