Worshippers arriving at Edinburgh Central Mosque found it defaced with hate graffiti. Police in Scotland are treating the incident as a hate crime, and local residents have spoken out, calling the act sickening and refusing to let it go unchallenged.

Their response matters. When a community refuses to normalize hate — when neighbors show up and say plainly that this is not who we are — it makes a difference. United Voices stands with those neighbors, and with the Muslim community in Scotland whose sacred space was violated.

“Attacks on mosques and other religious institutions are an attack on the basic principles of religious freedom, safety, and human dignity,” United Voices said. “We commend local residents who have spoken out against this bigotry and urge law enforcement to thoroughly investigate and hold those responsible accountable.”

This attack on Edinburgh Central Mosque is part of a pattern that United Voices has been tracking across Europe. In recent months alone: two mosques in Hannover, Germany were defaced with pro-genocide graffiti. A Muslim woman was murdered in Germany. A mosque was destroyed during anti-immigrant riots in Spain. An attempted arson targeted a Muslim prayer room in France. An alleged terrorist plot to destroy a mosque was uncovered in Galway, Ireland. A mosque in the Netherlands faced violent threats.

Each incident is reported, condemned, and then — too often — folded into a background noise of “rising tensions” that fails to name what is actually happening: a sustained, continent-wide targeting of Muslim communities that is being fed by political rhetoric, media framing, and the deliberate amplification of anti-Muslim narratives by those who benefit from keeping communities afraid and divided.

United Voices is calling on Scottish and UK authorities to investigate thoroughly, pursue charges against those responsible, and ensure enhanced protection for Muslim communities across Scotland. We are also calling on political and media leaders to reckon with their role in creating the climate that makes these attacks possible.