Shock and concern have been voiced online over an apparent lack of attention and care for the Muslim victim injured in London’s knife attacks on Wednesday, with some Islamophobic opportunists even trying to link Islam to the attack.
Essa Suleiman, 45, has been charged with the attempted murder of three people, including two Jewish men in Golders Green and Ishmail Hussein in south London.
Prosecutor Emma Harraway told the court that Suleiman had attacked Ishmail Hussein at his home in Southwark. He had then travelled to Golders Green, in north-west London, arriving shortly after 11am, where he attacked two Jewish men.
Prosecutors said he first set upon Shloime Rand, 34, before attacking 76-year-old Norman Shine. They said both men were clearly identifiable as Orthodox Jews by their clothing.
They said another member of the public, who was not named in court, saw the attack on Shine and tried to disarm Suleiman. Further charges are being considered in respect of Suleiman’s alleged actions towards that man.
Prosecutors said Suleiman had been arrested after officers used a stun gun, adding that he had a “medical episode” while on the ground that required hospital treatment.
It has been reported that Suleiman, who worked as a security guard in Swindon, had a history of “serious violence and mental health issues.”
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However, onlookers have noticed a bizarre trend of media and political figures appearing to ignore the Muslim victim, focusing solely on the Jewish victims, as well as appearing to downplay the importance of his mental health issues instead fixate public attention on his ethnicity and Islam.
Omitted details
Sky News became a prominent example when their coverage of the news of Suleiman’s court appearance in a post on X appeared to misrepresent what was happening.
“BREAKING: Essa Suleiman, 45, has been remanded in custody, having been charged with two counts of attempted murder over the Golders Green stabbings,” Sky news reported on Friday.
Their post went viral, with many complaining about the lack of reporting on the 3rd victim, a Muslim called Ishmail Hussein.
Birmingham MP Ayoub Khan sought to correct Sky News on X: “Three charges of attempted murder, and it appears that this was both an antisemitic and Islamophobic attack. Why is the media ignoring the attack on the Muslim victim, though? This disparity is disturbing, to say the least.”
Journalist Owen Jones also expressed his dismay over the coverage: “What? He’s been charged with THREE counts of attempted murder. The third alleged victim is Ishmail Hussein. What is the editorial justification for not even stating that it’s three counts of attempted murder?”
Politicians also appear to be engaging in an effort to focus only on the Jewish victims of Suleiman’s alleged role in the rampage.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has expressed solidarity and support for London’s Jewish community but has not made the same effort towards the Muslim community.
On X, Starmer said: “Yesterday’s terror attack wasn’t an isolated incident; it was the latest attack on the Jewish community for being Jewish. Today I spoke with volunteers and first responders from Shomrim and Hatzola to thank them for their bravery. I know that this is a deeply worrying time for the whole community.
“My government is taking immediate action. We’ve increased funding for police patrols and protective security, and we’re fast-tracking legislation to deal with malign state actors. My message to Jewish people is this: you belong here, and we will do everything we can to keep you safe.”
Terrorist attack vs an altercation
The origins of this trend of apparently relegating the Muslim victim to a lesser status of importance and attention can possibly be traced back to a police statement following Wednesday’s attack.
On April 29, the London Metropolitan Police released a detailed statement explaining what had happened in London on the day of the attack.
They described the knife attacks in Golders Green as a “terrorist incident.” Golders Green is a heavily Jewish populated area in north London were the two Jewish men were targeted.
However, later in the same statement, the police described the attack against a Muslim in south London which happened earlier on the same day as a mere “altercation.”
5Pillars understands that the victim Mr Hussein is also, like the attacker, of Somali heritage. 5Pillars has also been made aware of disappointment and dismay within the British-Somali community who are expressing concern over the language used when referring to Jewish victims and a Muslim victim of the same attacker.
The police continued to focus on the Jewish victims in later comments including an X post published on May 1 which said: “A man will appear in court today charged following a Counter Terrorism Policing investigation into two men stabbed in Golders Green.”
This prompted Tayib Ali, a respected Solicitor Advocate to comment. He posted on X: “At a time of heightened tensions why would Met Police purposely mislead with this headline. This man is charged with 3 attempted murders. One of the victims is apparently Muslim Why hide that from the headline. Why not be clear he attacked people from more than one community.”
Attempts to blame Islam & Muslims
Elsewhere, attempts to blame Islam or the wider Muslim community for the attacks in London on Wednesday have been witnessed.
On April 30, at a pro-Israel rally in London, a GB News broadcaster was filmed “calling out” Islam, accusing the religion of promoting hate and murder in relation to the incident at Golders Green.
Josh Howie railed on stage to a crowd waving Israel flags that “hadiths of hate” have built up a “train of hate coming to destroy us (Jewish people).”
He also said: “We have to be able to call out what is the problem,” adding that: “I don’t want to call out Islam because I don’t want to be murdered, I’m scared .. but if we don’t call it out we are all going to be f**king murdered anyway!”
Before this, Reform UK leader, MP Nigel Farage, was filmed giving a talk in Golders Green where he attempted to link the Muslim Brotherhood and the Iranian paramilitary group, the IRGC, to the incident, calling for them to be proscribed as terror groups in the UK.
On Friday, the Stop the War Coalition labelled additional attempts to link the Golders Green attack with pro-Palestine marches as “false” and “unacceptable,” as speculation mounts that the UK authorities will try to ban anti-genocide demonstrations going forward.
Jonathan Hall KC, the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, has called for a “moratorium” on pro-Palestine marches as a result of the attacks.
Speaking on Times Radio after the incident, Hall said: “We are now at a point at which the government needs to start taking more risks as to what it’s prepared to do. It’s not simply enough to offer thoughts and prayers and to support the police investigation.”
Hall added: “It pains me to say this, but I think we may have reached a point where we need to have a moratorium on the sorts of marches that have been happening. It’s clearly impossible at the moment for any of these pro-Palestine marches not to incubate within them some sort of antisemitic or demonising language.”
Some pro-Palestinian demonstrations could be stopped, the prime minister has warned, as the UK’s most senior police officer said the threat to the Jewish community was greater than it had ever been.
Keir Starmer indicated he wanted the language expressed on some protest marches to be subjected to “tougher action” as he sought to allay the fears of British Jews after a series of attacks on their communities in recent weeks.
“When you see, when you hear some of those chants – ‘globalise the intifada’ the one that I would pick out – then clearly there should be tougher action in relation to that,” Starmer told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
I’d say it’s getting less attention, because it didn’t happen.
Let’s be honest, it’s not the first time Muslims play the victim after Jewish people get attacked is it?