LONDON: Anti-Muslim feeling within Britain’s governing Conservative Party continues to be a problem at both an individual and local association level, an independent investigation concluded on Tuesday.
The center-right party has been dogged for years by accusations of Islamophobia that have been levelled against figures including Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
“Anti-Muslim sentiment remains a problem within the party. This is damaging to the party, and alienates a significant section of society,” the investigation led by Swaran Singh, a former commissioner at the Equality and Human Rights Commission, found.
The independent probe said since 2015 the “bulk” of discrimination complaints had been made over anti-Muslim allegations.
Of 1,418 complaints relating to 727 incidents of alleged discrimination, more than two-thirds of the incidents — 496 cases — related to Islam.
While the report found “there were examples of anti-Muslim discrimination by individuals and groups at local association level,” it said those problems fell short of claims of “institutional racism.”
The report also found there was no evidence that complaints related to Islam are treated differently from those related to other forms of discrimination.
Incidents including a column written by Johnson before he became prime minister about Muslim women had suggested to respondents “a party and leadership that is insensitive to Muslim communities.”
In the 2018 article written in the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Johnson described Muslim women who wear the burqa as looking like “letterboxes” and “bank robbers.” He was cleared of breaking the party’s code of conduct by a separate independent panel.
Johnson told Singh’s probe he was “sorry for any offense taken” and added he would not use “some of the offending language from my past writings” now that he was prime minister.
The report also considered accusations made by the campaign of 2016 Conservative mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith claiming his Muslim Labour rival Sadiq Khan associated with extremists.
Goldsmith told the investigation the accusations showed “poor judgment in the way his campaign was conducted” and he denied “harboring anti-Muslim sentiments or using such sentiments for political advantage.”
Singh said he believed the report was “going to be very uncomfortable for the party,” adding he hoped it would “spur them into action.”
He recommended a single code of conduct in keeping with the 2010 Equality Act be established across party membership in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Anti-Muslim sentiment still problem for UK’s Conservatives: probe
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Anti-Muslim sentiment still problem for UK’s Conservatives: probe
- Independent probe said since 2015 the "bulk" of discrimination complaints had been made over anti-Muslim allegations
- Of 1,418 complaints relating to 727 incidents of alleged discrimination, more than two-thirds of the incidents, 496 cases, related to Islam
Suspect arrested after a fire damages a historic Mississippi synagogue
- The 160-year-old synagogue, the largest in Mississippi and the only one in Jackson, was the site of a Ku Klux Klan bombing in 1967
- The synagogue will continue its regular worship programs and services for Shabbat, likely at one of the local churches that reached out
Congregants and leaders vowed to rebuild a historic Mississippi synagogue that was heavily damaged by fire and an individual was taken into custody for what authorities said Sunday was an act of arson.
The fire ripped through the Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson shortly after 3 a.m. on Saturday, authorities said. No congregants were injured in the blaze.
Photos showed the charred remains of an administrative office and synagogue library, where several Torahs were destroyed or damaged.
Jackson Mayor John Horhn confirmed that a person was taken into custody following an investigation that also included the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
“Acts of antisemitism, racism, and religious hatred are attacks on Jackson as a whole and will be treated as acts of terror against residents’ safety and freedom to worship,” Horhn said in a statement.
He did not provide the name of the suspect or the charges that the person is facing. A spokesperson for the Jackson FBI said they are “working with law enforcement partners on this investigation.”
The 160-year-old synagogue, the largest in Mississippi and the only one in Jackson, was the site of a Ku Klux Klan bombing in 1967 — a response to the congregation’s role in civil rights activities, according to the Institute of Southern Jewish Life, which also houses its office in the building.
“That history reminds us that attacks on houses of worship, whatever their cause, strike at the heart of our shared moral life,” said CJ Rhodes, a prominent Black Baptist pastor in Jackson, in a Facebook post.
“This wasn’t random vandalism — it was a deliberate, targeted attack on the Jewish community,” Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of The Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement.
“That it has been attacked again, amid a surge of antisemitic incidents across the US, is a stark reminder: antisemitic violence is escalating, and it demands total condemnation and swift action from everyone,” Greenblatt said.
The congregation is still assessing the damage and received outreach from other houses of worship, said Michele Schipper, CEO of the Institute of Southern Jewish Life and past president of the congregation. The synagogue will continue its regular worship programs and services for Shabbat, the weekly Jewish Sabbath, likely at one of the local churches that reached out.
“We are a resilient people,” said Beth Israel Congregation President Zach Shemper in a statement. “With support from our community, we will rebuild.”
One Torah that survived the Holocaust was behind glass not damaged in the fire, Schipper said. Five Torahs inside the sanctuary are being assessed for smoke damage. Two Torahs inside the library, where the most severe damage was done, were destroyed, according to a synagogue representative.
The floors, walls and ceiling of the sanctuary were covered in soot, and the synagogue will have to replace upholstery and carpeting.
“A lot of times we hear things happening throughout the country in other parts, and we feel like this wouldn’t happen in our part,” said chief fire investigator Charles Felton “A lot of people are in disbelief that this would happen here in Jackson, Mississippi.”
