Redbridge Equalities and Community Council organised Citizens’ Assembly on Islamophobia

Bangla Mirror Desk:

Redbridge Equalities and Community Council (RECC) organised a Citizens’ Assembly on Islamophobia which was held at Redbridge Central Library in Ilford on 10th June 2023.
The purpose of the meeting was to raise awareness about Islamophobia; educate & empower community members and share information and support available for victims of anti-Muslim hate crimes.  The event was organised in association with Islamophobia Awareness Month, Redbridge Trade Union Council, Redbridge Faith Forum, Islamophobia Response Unit, Redbridge Islamic, Educate Against Islamophobia and other voluntary organisations.
The event started with welcome and  introduction by the Chair of RECC Khaled Noor and Mayor of Redbridge Councillor Jyotsna Islam followed by the Workshops and Q&A.
Ilford South MP Sam Tarry  joined the event via a video message. Other speakers included Faiza Mukith of Islamia Response Unit; Tasnim Zaki of Islamia Aweness Month; Bismha Afzal of Educate Against Islamophobia; Mohammad Omar of Redbridge Faith Forum; Imam of Ilford Islamic Centre; and RECC Trustee Noorjahan Begum and David Landau of Choices Hackney. The event was jointly hosted by Mai Anwar and Cecelia Rufus.
In his introduction Chair of RECC Khaled Noor said:

In short Islamophobia is anti-Muslim racism. All Party Parliamentary Group on Islamophobia (AAPG) defined Islamophobia as “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expression of Muslimness or perceive Muslimness”. However, this definition has not been adopted by the government. At present there is no unified and legally binding definition of Islamophobia. Therefore “there is no specific law prohibiting Islamophobia”. He highlighted that it important to have a legally binding definition on Islamophobia to tackle rising trend of anti-Muslim hate crimes.
He said it is reported that “around 42% and 23% of religious hate crimes recorded by police in 2021/22 were Islamophobic. In 2022/23, there was a 20% increase on the previous year in the number of Islamophobia hate crimes recorded by the police in London..”
Noor Jahan Begum stated ” RECC is committed to building community cohesion and tackling all forms of prejudice  through its Hate Crimes & Advice Services  and Reaching Communities Project. Feedback from this event will inform RECCs work going forward and contribute to further social policy work.”
A large number of local residents, academics, faith and community leaders and local Councillors and representatives from Sam Tarry MP were in attendance. “