The Guardian:
Since the militarisation of the Syrian revolution, there has been much reporting in the UK of British Muslims going to fight in Syria and now Iraq. The recent spike in coverage follows the publication of a video by Isis, in which three British Muslims appeal for others to join their cause…………..
Given the attention, one would be forgiven for thinking there is an exodus of British Muslims going to fight in the Middle East. This is far from reality, however. The government puts the number at about 500 – that constitutes less than 0.02% of the 2.7 million Muslims in this country. Inadvertently or otherwise, the pervasiveness of such media coverage has a strong and negative influence on British public perceptions of Muslims.
