The English Defence League’s ‘rational Islamophobia’ is a racist discourse, but it is not confined to the EDL

The emergence of the English Defence League in 2009 led to renewed discussion of the extent and nature of Islamophobia in British society. George Kassimeris and Leonie Jackson have studied the discourse and ideology of the EDL based on the organisation’s public statements. They find that the ‘rational Islamophobia’ espoused by the EDL does constitute racism, but of a socially acceptable form that is also common among the media, politicians and intellectuals.