theguardian: by Michael Safi —

Survey of 600 Muslims finds they are three to five times more likely to experience extreme levels of bigotry compared with other Australians

Muslims in Sydney face high levels of racism, yet still believe Islam is compatible with Australian norms

Muslims in Sydney are three to five times more likely to experience “very high rates of exposure to racism” compared with Australians in general, a study shows.

But about 97% of the nearly 600 Muslims surveyed said relations between them and non-Muslims were friendly and that they felt “a very strong sense of belonging”, the report’s key author, professor Kevin Dunn, said.

The research, which revealed the workplace to be the most frequent site of anti-Muslim bigotry, was released to coincide with a conference in Sydney examining the links between Islamophobia and violent extremism.

Its keynote speaker, professor John Esposito of Georgetown University in Washington DC, said on Monday prejudice against Muslims played into the hands of extremists.

“One of the things that does wind up alienating some youth is the extent to which anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic diatribe, hate crimes, attacks on mosques make people feel alienated and marginalised from their societies,” he said.

About two-thirds of those surveyed said they had experienced racism “at least sometimes” in their workplaces, schools, online or when dealing with police, the survey showed.