Britons have most positive view of Muslims in study of eight European countries


Jamie Prentis
  • English
  • Arabic

British people have the most positive view of Muslims out of eight European countries, new research has found.

It found that those polled in the UK were more likely to be concerned with health and economic matters.

Despite this, the research commissioned by anti-racism advocacy group Hope not Hate found that 26 per cent of respondents in the UK had a negative perception of Muslims.

About 30 per cent of the Britons had a negative view towards immigrants, compared with 27 per cent who regarded them positively.

Almost a third were hostile towards immigrants in the eight European countries overall, with the sentiment particularly prominent in Hungary. Sweden had the most positive view.

Polling of more than 12,000 people in France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the UK was carried out by YouGov and DataPraxis at the end of 2020.

Researchers also looked at perceptions of the Roma community. More than a third of Europeans polled had a negative opinion, with the trend particularly pronounced in France and Italy.

The figures formed part of a wider report called State of Hate: Far Right in Europe,  Hope not Hate's widest analysis for the past year.

“Unsurprisingly, for the European far right both the global pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests were seen as opportunities,” said Joe Mulhall, senior researcher at Hope not Hate.

“Though much of the European far right has failed to exploit the pandemic as much as they hoped, it has ushered in a new age of conspiracy theories as people seek comfort in simple and monocausal explanations for a world seemingly out of control."

But the aims of the Black Lives Matter movement in highlighting racism and the discrimination faced by minorities did receive more support.

About half of those polled in most of the countries said they had sympathy with the movement’s aims.

Nick Lowles, chief executive of Hope not Hate, said some of Europe’s far-right parties in opposition were doing better in the polls than a couple of years ago.

Mr Lowles said the Brothers of Italy, the Swedish Democrats and France’s Marine Le Pen had improved in polls.

“Clearly Le Pen is benefiting from the current unpopularity of Macron, both in his handling of the pandemic but also wider economic and political issues,” he said.

But Mr Lowles noted a fall in popularity for Poland’s Law and Justice Party, even though member Andrzej Duda was re-elected as president last year.

The far-right failed to fully capitalise on the economic and social chaos of the Covid-19 pandemic, but it has not stopped a “sharp increase” in hate crimes and speech against Asians, Muslims and Jews, said Safya Khan-Ruf, a Hope not Hate researcher.

“Online, this has been evident through misinformation campaigns, stigmatising memes and conspiracy theories around Covid-19 and minority groups,” Ms Khan-Ruf said.

“The far-right have successfully repackaged hateful ideas within new Covid-19 conspiracy theories, such as Jews being responsible for creating the pandemic or Muslims spreading the virus intentionally."

Mr Lowles said hate ideologies were being internationalised "like never before".
"As the coronavirus pandemic has swept across Europe, we have seen some radical and far-right groups prosper and some flounder," he said.

"At a European level, it’s clear that conspiracy theories, many with anti-Semitic roots, are gaining in popularity and that a rising racial nationalism is accompanying the continued increase in far-right terror."

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Director: Jon Watts

Stars: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon 

Rating:*****

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

MATCH INFO

What: India v Afghanistan, first Test
When: Starts Thursday
Where: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengalaru

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if you go

The flights

Emirates have direct flights from Dubai to Glasgow from Dh3,115. Alternatively, if you want to see a bit of Edinburgh first, then you can fly there direct with Etihad from Abu Dhabi.

The hotel

Located in the heart of Mackintosh's Glasgow, the Dakota Deluxe is perhaps the most refined hotel anywhere in the city. Doubles from Dh850

 Events and tours

There are various Mackintosh specific events throughout 2018 – for more details and to see a map of his surviving designs see glasgowmackintosh.com

For walking tours focussing on the Glasgow Style, see the website of the Glasgow School of Art. 

More information

For ideas on planning a trip to Scotland, visit www.visitscotland.com

The Bio

Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity

Jordan cabinet changes

In

  • Raed Mozafar Abu Al Saoud, Minister of Water and Irrigation
  • Dr Bassam Samir Al Talhouni, Minister of Justice
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  • Falah Abdalla Al Ammoush, Minister of Public Works and Housing
  • Basma Moussa Ishakat, Minister of Social Development
  • Dr Ghazi Monawar Al Zein, Minister of Health
  • Ibrahim Sobhi Alshahahede, Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Environment
  • Dr Mohamed Suleiman Aburamman, Minister of Culture and Minister of Youth

Out

  • Dr Adel Issa Al Tawissi, Minister of High Education and Scientific Research
  • Hala Noaman “Basiso Lattouf”, Minister of Social Development
  • Dr Mahmud Yassin Al Sheyab, Minister of Health
  • Yahya Moussa Kasbi, Minister of Public Works and Housing
  • Nayef Hamidi Al Fayez, Minister of Environment
  • Majd Mohamed Shoueika, Minister of Public Sector Development
  • Khalid Moussa Al Huneifat, Minister of Agriculture
  • Dr Awad Abu Jarad Al Mushakiba, Minister of Justice
  • Mounir Moussa Ouwais, Minister of Water and Agriculture
  • Dr Azmi Mahmud Mohafaza, Minister of Education
  • Mokarram Mustafa Al Kaysi, Minister of Youth
  • Basma Mohamed Al Nousour, Minister of Culture