MEND STATEMENT on RECENT GLASGOW ATTACKS

A woman attacked with a glass bottle, a young man stabbed and a far-right mob attack on an innocent by-stander; these a just some the Islamophobic hate incidents which have taken place across Glasgow in recent weeks.

On Wednesday 22nd July, a woman was attacked by a group of racist thugs who tore off her hijab and smashed a glass bottle over her head. On Saturday 25th July, a far-right mob marched through the city centre, and widely circulated video showed an attack on a delivery driver going about his work. In the early hours of Tuesday 28th July, a man cycling along Clyde Place was stabbed after being told to “go back to your home country”. While we welcome the arrest of a suspect in connection with the disorder on the 25th of July, as far as we are aware, no one else has been apprehended.

Police Scotland recovered weapons after the Glasgow Green rally and said this pointed to people arriving with the intention of causing premeditated disorder, violence and intimidation. Attendees were filmed performing Nazi salutes. This was not a protest that turned ugly. It was organised and the men who organised it are still organising.

Monica Lennon MSP put it plainly at a press conference last week when she demanded that the Scottish Parliament be recalled to address the unfolding emergency: “It’s only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or even killed. So, I don’t know what the Scottish Government are waiting for.” The Scottish Government was invited to that press conference but no representatives were sent.

Sadly, there is clear evidence that Islamophobic violence is spreading across the country. The attacks in Glasgow come at time of anxiety across the Britain. In recent days, data from the UK Government’s counter-terror programme, Prevent, has highlighted an alarming rise in referrals related to extreme right-wing concerns, which have increased by 42% over the past year. MEND has long criticised how Prevent operates in Muslim communities, and we note that the government’s own programme is now recording precisely the threat Muslim communities have been warning about for years.

Families in Glasgow are asking whether it is safe to walk home, to wear a hijab and to work a delivery shift. They deserve an answer, not another round of condemnation. We are calling on Police Scotland to state publicly whether these attacks are being examined together and what protection is in place for Muslim residents, mosques and businesses. We are calling on the Scottish Government to stop treating this as a policing matter it can watch from a distance. Communities across Scotland are calling for swift action to end this wave of violence.