In this blog we’ll talk about:
- the challenges young people face with antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred
- why there is no place for hateful views in our schools
- what to do if you have seen or heard something hateful
- teaching about mutual respect and reducing hateful views
The events of October 7th 2023, and subsequent escalation in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, raised serious concern around the world, including in our schools and colleges.
Following these events, the UK has seen a rise in both antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred impacting our Jewish and Muslim communities. In their 2023 Antisemitic Incidents report, the Community Security Trust (CST) reported that 2,699 of the 4,103 antisemitic incidents recorded occurred on or after October 7th, sadly this trend of increased antisemitism has continued into 2024 and incidents of young people being involved are also growing. Similarly, Tell MAMA reported 2,010 cases of anti-Muslim incidents following October 7th, with an an increase in anti-Muslim hate continuing throughout 2024 and increasing even further following the Southport riots this summer.
The increase in anti-Muslim hatred and antisemitism may raise a number of questions and concerns for those working in schools and colleges around how they can protect their students from hateful views, how to teach them about our shared fundamental British values of mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs, and how to raise concerns if they think that a child or young person is a victim of antisemitic or anti-Muslim hatred.
This is all the more important following the attack in Southport this summer and the rioting which followed. Violence coordinated by right-wing extremists, which was initiated after the spread of misinformation about the perpetrator of the Southport attack, resulted in violent, racist and Islamophobic attacks on our communities by extremists. Antisemitic tropes were then used by extremists across the spectrum to blame the Jewish community for the riots.
Back in October 2023, the Educate Against Hate team published a blog post providing guidance and signposting useful resources that can support you in discussing ongoing conflicts and holding difficult conversations with young people. One year on, the Educate Against Hate team have invited Jonny Newton (CST) and Iman Atta (Tell MAMA) to share guidance and advice to support you and your learners in tackling hateful views in our schools and colleges. We also want to share brand new resources from Solutions Not Sides designed to help teachers and school leaders navigate the 1-year anniversary of the attacks with their students.
What are the challenges that face young people when it comes to antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred – Jonny Newton, Community Security Trust (CST)
In 2023, CST recorded a sharp rise in school-related anti-Jewish hate and a worrying rise in the proportion of children perpetrating antisemitism – of the incidents recorded where the offender’s approximate age was provided, 18% involved offenders under the age of 18 (compared to 10% in 2020). This has continued into the first 6 months of 2024 where 19% of identified offenders were categorised as minors.
Young people learn about the world via social media and are much more likely to be informed by content on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, X/Twitter and a myriad of other online sources than via ‘mainstream’ (and therefore usually more responsible) sources such as the regulated broadcast or print media. Antisemitism, anti-Muslim hatred, hateful conspiracy theories, disinformation and misinformation are rife online, and not enough support is provided to learners to encourage critical thinking and disentangle fact from falsehood.
This is the key challenge that faces young people in this space – firstly the exposure to hatred through their ever-present smartphones, and then the threat of attitudes and behaviour being formed and manipulated by bad faith actors and irresponsible influencers.
And, of course, smartphones and social media provide a mechanism for learners to abuse and be abused.
One example, reported to CST last year, demonstrates all these facets and how online abuse can lead to offline harm, when a female Jewish learner was repeatedly sent pictures to her phone of Adolf Hitler by two other female learners. This escalated to offline action, when the same girls stood outside the target’s home calling her a ‘stupid Jew girl’ and urging other peers to message and call her the same.
It isn’t known what the background was to this. School learners fall out the whole time and friendship circles can face pressure and change for a multitude of reasons. But, abusing anyone based on a protected characteristic is unacceptable in any circumstance.
This case is likely to have led to the targeted girl feeling isolated within her school community, which is a frequent consequence of anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim prejudice within school settings. Schools should, and tend to be, safe space communities whereby all learners can focus on their academic, personal and collective development – a baseline that we can all agree and strive to maintain.
Furthermore, anti-Muslim hatred, for example, creates feelings of marginalisation, anger and counter-hatred that do not build better relations in schools or colleges and affect the learning environment in which students find themselves. It is imperative that all students have an environment in which they feel accepted, so that their learning journeys are ones based on exploration, empathy and curiosity.
Let’s Discuss – Extreme Right-Wing
Online Safety and Dis/Misinformation resources from Educate Against Hate
Why there is no place for hate in our schools and colleges – Iman Atta, Tell MAMA
There is no excuse for hate, bigotry, or discriminatory attitudes towards others, as instead of seeing what makes us different, let us instead ask: what do we share? What are the religious beliefs or cultures of others?
Let us facilitate dialogue that encourages those of many identities to talk about who they are, what they believe and what commonalities we all share and build towards collective understanding and empathy.
We encourage teaching staff to facilitate spaces for dialogue, to invest time in learning about the beliefs of their students and show (where possible) ways to accommodate the needs of students when fasting during Ramadan to ways they and other minority students can help challenge stereotypes. By ensuring that everyone has an equal stake, we can re-forge bonds which means also looking out for others. Did someone you know say something bigoted or racist? How can we challenge that? All the while ensuring that students feel supported by their peers to report bullying and racism.
Feeling like stakeholders in how the curriculum reflects our diverse communities will further help foster understanding, and self-reflection and help students from under-represented backgrounds see themselves reflected in the histories we share and the modern ways we talk about who we are in society.
Let’s Discuss – Fundamental British values
What to do if you have a concern that one of your learners is being affected by anti-Muslim or antisemitic hatred – Jonny Newton, Community Security Trust (CST)
As with all types of bullying any form of bias, discrimination, harassment or hatred based upon a learner’s protected characteristic within school settings needs to be dealt with quickly and sensitively – and, of course, schools should already have guidelines instituted to deal with these cases.
The initial response should be victim focussed and led – so, taking the allegation of the victim or witness at face value and listening to concerns raised in good faith, in an appropriate setting, with an appropriate staff member in attendance and recorded and logged in the manner dictated by school guidance.
Hatred can be easy to identify, but it can also be difficult to recognise. From CST’s perspective, anti-Jewish hatred and attitudes can occasionally be lost within the perception of where the limits of free speech and expression lie, in particular around criticism of Israel and interpretations of Zionism. The UK Government has adopted the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism which can be used as a useful guide to understanding how anti-Jewish racism can manifest, and includes examples which ‘taking into account the overall context’ could be antisemitic.
It may be the case that this is all that is needed at this stage. Depending on the context, the learner may be satisfied with this as the response, or a particular incident may not warrant much further investigation, support or sanction (for the perpetrator/s).
But, sadly, this often isn’t the case and disciplinary procedures, escalations, interventions, parent/guardian involvement, and external support and referrals may need to take place.
CST and Tell Mama are both responsible Jewish and Muslim based organisations where both referrals of antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred can be respectively made, and who can provide expert confidential advice, guidance and support for learner’s, families and schools in complex cases.
Education is always key, and an excellent (and free) programme signposted to on the Educate Against Hate website is Stand Up! Education, which brings Jewish and Muslim educators into the classroom to facilitate informal conversations around hate and discrimination.
Solutions Not Sides – resources for discussing Israel and Palestine in schools
How do I teach my learners about the importance of mutual respect and reducing hateful views? Iman Atta, Tell MAMA
Mutuality helps us see the differences between others on an equal and shared footing, grounded in mutual respect that prioritises care and respect for others. One way to consider this is to create a space for students to talk openly about their identity, speaking about their Islamic faith and challenging stereotypes whilst learning about the beliefs and cultural identities of others, in a spirit of commonality that bestows them with agency and confidence to talk openly about who they are with their peers.
Engaging students as educators on a deeper level about who they are can help build confidence and crucially trust, especially if they need to report bullying or harassment. Furthermore, providing guidance and encouragement on the rights of people to be ‘who they want to be’ through self-expression sends a message to students that there is a zero-tolerance approach to racism, harassment, and bigotry. We should not underestimate the power of empathy when challenging stereotypes about Muslims and other minorities and this in turn creates a counter-culture of empathy in those communities affected by hate. As part of the ongoing work of Tell MAMA, this is a fundamental principle that we uphold.
We must also add that the conditions for these conversations need to be actively created, not as one-off events but with a series of events that build the skills, experiences and identities of students towards shared goals and aspirations about the society that they wish to see.
Within the work of Tell MAMA we stress the fact that hate and racism is not just targeted at one group of individuals and we actively work with students to highlight, understand and process the personal experiences that students have of anti-Muslim hate. We also explore their experiences of structural anti-Muslim bias and how they may be able to voice their concerns in a non-aggressive and non-confrontational manner.
Solutions Not Sides: Guide to Responding to Conversations about Israel-Palestine
Solutions Not Sides: Guide for schools on memorials for Oct 7th and one year of war in Gaza