Antisemitism and Islamophobia: measuring everyday sensitivity in the UK

Abstract

This article examines sensitivity towards antisemitism and Islamophobia 1 within British Jewish and British Muslim communities respectively. It reports the analysis of data related to Jewish and Muslim respondents who were shown a series of statements and invited to report the extent to which the statements offended them. The study develops a growing body of empirical studies in two fields dominated by historical and theoretical perspectives. The analysis reveals differences between Jewish and Muslim respondents in terms of inclination to attach labels of antisemitism or Islamophobia respectively and their overall sensitivity. The analysis also reveals the differing effects of various demographic and socio-economic factors in determining sensitivity towards antisemitism and Islamophobia. The analysis focuses particularly on age, education and place of birth. It is the first known comparative study of antisemitism and Islamophobia to use statistics.