What is Happening in Britain?

We all remember Britain's exit from the European Union, which came as a disaster and a misfortune for all the advocates and builders of the European Union and for all those who believe in the principles of European unity and cooperation among neighbors. 

The United Kingdom has been a great power for centuries, establishing the foundations of elections and democratic representation before even renowned countries like the United States or France had them.

What happened years ago, causing the then Prime Minister David Cameron to resign, left European institutions in panic and weakness, and shook strategic alliances, including the US-British and the US-British-European alliances, was that the sovereign national dimension buried the unitary, cooperative, and participatory dimension. 

The country that took this approach was not Portugal or Hungary, but the strongest European country and one of the strongest in the world. 

Neither the calls from the then US President, who urged the British people from the heart of London to exercise wisdom, nor the election of a Muslim mayor in London, one of the world's most powerful capitals, could persuade the speakers of Shakespeare's language to prefer the unionist dimension over the national one. 

The British have a strong sense that they are a chosen people of history, belonging to a powerful state with roots that stretch back through the centuries. 

They believe that European institutions have no right to impose laws or restrictions on their country or to give them lessons on how to coexist with others or how to deal with different societal groups.

However, what happened in recent weeks, with the outbreak of racist and xenophobic violence, confirms that hatred, xenophobia, and societal disparities afflict all Western countries, including Britain, where the issue of social peace is always at risk.

These disturbances occurred after a stabbing attack on July 29 in Southport, northwest England, which claimed the lives of three girls during a dance class. Rumors about the suspect were cleverly spread by influential far-right accounts on social media, claiming he was a Muslim asylum seeker. 

The rest is history: shortly after, violence swept the streets of dozens of British cities, targeting mosques and migrant shelters across the United Kingdom. Over 900 people were arrested, with many charged with acts of violence or incitement to hatred online. 

It was only later that the police revealed the identity of the suspect, Axel Rudakopana, a 17-year-old born in Cardiff to a Rwandan family, the majority of whom are Christian.

When Britain sought to leave the European Union, its decision-makers argued that their country was unlike other nations, with a different perspective on immigration and social peace, and that it was a global capital of acceptance of others, regardless of their background, and a model in the field of pluralism and cultural development. 

However, the recent disturbances and what was said and written by party representatives during the last elections confirm that the issues surrounding immigration are similar to those in other Western European countries and the United States, and that problems of social peace are also similar. 

Thus, political exploitation and speculation at the expense of immigrants, especially Muslims, increase, making them hostages to security policies. 

There is a tendency to conflate immigration with terrorism, drugs, and crime. Huge sums are spent to combat illegal entry into European countries, even though this problem affects only 10% of illegal immigration, most of which results from the extension of legal entry into illegal residence. 

The southern Mediterranean countries share this security approach, having developed anti-immigration policies and tightened controls, which has led migrants to take more difficult and dangerous routes (such as the Sicilian Channel instead of the Lampedusa and the Canary Islands instead of the Strait of Gibraltar).

Research indicates that the more open the borders, the easier it is for migrants to pass through (as was the case in Central and Eastern Europe since 1991). 

Conversely, the more closed the borders, the more smuggling increases, and migrants tend to settle irregularly when they lack the necessary documents due to their inability to leave or return later. This is what Britain suffers from today despite its exit from the European Union.

When the British government witnessed the enormity of what was happening in its cities, it discovered the power of social media, especially the "X" platform, used by far-right extremists and anti-immigration and anti-Muslim activists who spread misinformation to inflame tensions. 

This is similar to what is happening in other European countries and is just one example of the relationship between online disinformation and politically motivated unrest.