Large numbers of Muslims remain subject to hate-motivated social and political attitudes created by the media and politicians which impact adversely on their everyday lives. Following the attacks of 9/11 Muslim profiling has become legitimised through legislation such as the Patriot Act and NDAA making suspicion the main prism through which Muslims are perceived. The normalisation of discrimination is also worrying as it has helped make more and more Americans comfortable with profiling. An IHRC survey in California (2012), often touted as the most liberal and progressive state in the US, showed a staggering 88% ofMuslim respondents reporting negative experiences in everyday life, media, political discourse and policy.A staggering 29% of respondents stated they had experience violence as a result of being (or being perceived to be) Muslim. FRANCE In a widening of the scope of its hijab ban in state schools and public service posts France also banned the public wearing of the face veil The dress laws in particular have had drastic consequences for Muslim women effectively excluding a large proportion of them from state employment. The bigotry aroused by the subject of Islamic dress has incited attacks on Muslim women wearing the headscarf Muslims and their places of worship continue to be attacked at an alarming rate. In July, France also became the first country in the world to ban pro-Palestinian protests. IHRC's survey work in 200 — 2010 showed 11% of respondents reported violent attacks and some three quarters felt that political discourse was to blame for the discrimination and hatred they faced. UK Muslims are highly critical of the media believing that it portrays the community in a negative light and together with disparaging comments made by politicians creates a social climate in which acts of hate are encouraged. Physical attacks against Islamic places of worship and members of the Muslim community, some of them fatal, have continued to occur. The British government continues to treat the Muslim community as a security problem continuing to apply anti-terrorism measures disproportionately against Muslims, and proposing to enact still more. The past year has also witnessed an aggressive government witchhunt targeting the right of Muslims in Birmingham to govern Muslim majority schools, instigated by a right-wing minister using the Islamophobic tropes of misogyny and extremism as a pretext to remove Muslim school governors from their posts. NETHERLANDS In 2014 the annual Sinterklaas Festival became a testing ground for the status of ethnic minorities and their attempts to influence what it means to be Dutch. The issue revolves around the helper(s) of St. Nicholas in the festival known as "Black Petes", who are clownish and Thank you