Worshipers pray at a mosque in London. Photo: Mohsin via Wikimedia Commons.

Antisemitism remains a widespread phenomenon among Muslims in the UK, especially among those who live in communities where comparatively few non-Muslims reside, a new report has revealed.

Published by the global affairs think tank The Henry Jackson Society (HJS), the study showed that one particular antisemitic trope — the “dual loyalty” charge that UK Jews are more loyal to Israel than to Great Britain — was pronounced among Muslims.

Among Muslims who attended a mosque at least three times a week, 55 percent expressed agreement with the statement that “British Jewish people tend to be more loyal to Israel, a holy place for their religion, than to the UK.”

A full 47 percent of university-educated Muslims agreed with the same statement.

“Contrary to an oft-assumed belief that education alone is a solution to prejudicial attitudes, British Muslims with university degrees are more likely to believe in Jewish dual-loyalty,” the report observed.

A significant portion of respondents reacted favorably to more hardline antisemitic statements. 41 percent of regular mosque attendees agreed that Jews had “too much power over the global banking system,” while 39 percent of Muslim university graduates concurred with the claim that Jews had “too much control over the global political leadership.”

However, the report also found that Muslims with Jewish friends were 12 percent less likely to hold one or more antisemitic views, compared to 44 percent of Muslims who did not live in diverse areas.

A total of 750 British Muslims were surveyed by polling organization Savanta-ComRes for the report.

The report’s author — Rakib Ehsan, a research fellow HJS — said that it was past time for the Muslims to counter the presence of antisemitic views in their communities.

“When British Muslims such as myself have attempted to raise concerns over antisemitism within our communities, we have all too often been greeted with abuse by co-religionists,” Ehsan said in a statement that accompanied the report. “But these survey figures must act as a catalyst to take on those who wish to suppress our voices on the matter of British Muslim antisemitism.”