Islamophobia

There are several definitions of this term from different organisations. The All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims states:

“Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.”

The Runnymede Trust states :

“It is a profound dislike or fear of Islam, leading to dread and hostility towards Muslims. It is a deeply embedded institutional racism.”

The Muslim Council of Britain states:

“It refers to prejudice, discrimination, or hostility directed at Muslims or those perceived as Muslim.”

The Labour party has a Code of Conduct which states:

Anti-semitism, Islamophobia and other forms of racism will be considered as prejudicial to the Party’s aims.

The APPG has been created so that peers and MPs can discuss important topics like Islamophobia and anti-Semitism where they look at characteristics, cultural traits and languages of semitic peoples from the Middle East including Arabs and Hebrews.

Where I lived in the South Of France for 14 years before the awful Brexit vote there were many Arabs. This was because the North African countries had been the colonies of France. There was racism in France. James Baldwin , a famous black American writer, one of my favourite writers, was fed up of the segregation in the USA so he and his partner emigrated to France because he did not perceive the French as racist. 

His arrival in Paris was a matter of deep joy. He talked about how he had called a taxi and it had stopped for him. He almost wept because that had never happened to him in America. Then he eventually moved to the South of France and discovered that the racism that existed was against the Arab Muslims who had emigrated to France from Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. He wrote that the North African Muslims living in France were “the niggers of France.”

I remember talking to a white French woman who told me that when she is shopping in the markets, she hears Arabic everywhere. I looked at her in astonishment and said, “when I am with my English friends in the markets, I talk English. When I am with my French friends I talk French. I would not talk French to my English friends as it would be ludicrous. So Arab people would talk Arabic to each other, surely.” She did not know what to say so we stopped talking and lost touch with each other.

The Muslim Women’s Network, based in Birmingham, works nationally to advance social justice and equality for Muslim Women and girls from different ethnic backgrounds such as Arab, Bangladeshi,Black African, Black Caribbean ,Indian, Pakistani, White etc. The network helps to keep them safe and to help them to exercise their rights, choices and voices.

When I looked at what British Muslims have achieved,it is extraordinary.There were so may business people who had worked hard and become millionaires such as Boohoo.com. There are bankers, politicians, the most famous, Sadiq Khan who has been Mayor of London for 10 years and has done great things for London. There have been sports people mainly in Boxing,Cricket, Football and Martial Arts. When people look at Muslims, they see fanatics with knives, stabbing people and so on. These are the rarities like the recent attacks on Jewish people.

The Centre for Media Monitoring was set up in 2018 to look at how the media report fairly about Muslims in Britain. The Muslim Council of Britain was responsible for setting it up. They analyse the journalists’ work and send complaints off if they think that the right wing press like Telegraph,Daily Mail and the Sun are being unjust. They want journalists to have evidence-based reporting. They fight to make sure that the newspapers correct the mistakes they make. They try to give the Muslims empowerment within their community.

This country is becoming very divided due to Racism and Nigel Farage with Reform.

Before Brexit we never had any trouble with boats because Europe was open for travelling and for living but since Brexit people have become very frightened and are trying to escape. Brexit has made our country worse. People believed it, a complete myth. We had so much more freedom as members of the European Union. As someone who travelled and lived in Europe I enjoyed my life and I had complete control over my life. I did not need Brexit to give that to me. I already had it. Over the years I learned to speak different languages and met so many different people who became friends. I am learning Welsh because I live here now.

I have had a great life, travelling all over the world and meeting so many different nationalities. Apart from those who became close friends, the other interesting people I met, I called them “Ships that pass in the night.” Those “ships” gave me wonderful memories which are still in my heart today. Being part of our world is a great thing. I know local people are proud of living in the same place and going to the same school but for me it is a way of closing your mind to other people’s way of life and learning about it .

A fair society does not pick and choose which communities are worthy of protection. We are supposed to protect them all including Jewish people and Muslims. We are supposed to care about our society and other societies as well. Let us do less of the hatred and more of the love. It is the only way forward for us, the path of love.