Survey: What British Muslims Really Think

Trevor Phillips, former head of Britain’s Equality and Human Rights Commission, is the man responsible for the insufferable term, “Islamophobia” which made its debut in a report he commissioned twenty years ago. Now, he’s the man behind a 615 page survey of British Muslims that was made into the documentary, “What British Muslims Really Think,” which aired on April 13.

Among the shocking discoveries:

• More than 100,000 British Muslims sympathize with suicide bombers and people who commit other terrorist acts.
• Moreover, only one in three British Muslims (34%) would contact the police if they believed that somebody close to them had become involved with jihadists.
• In addition, 23% of British Muslims said Islamic Sharia law should replace British law in areas with large Muslim populations.

Phillips wrote that the poll reveals “the unacknowledged creation of a nation within the nation, with its own geography, its own values and its own very separate future.” He added: “I thought Europe’s Muslims would gradually blend into the landscape. I should have known better.”

Phillips was referring to his role in commissioning the 1997 report, “Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us All.” Also known as the Runnymede Report, the document popularized the term “Islamophobia” in Britain and had a singular role in silencing criticism of mass immigration from the Muslim world. Twenty years later, Phillips now concedes that he has had a change of heart.

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