This is the shocking video of a Muslim woman in Moelenbeek who was run over on Saturday. Moelenbeek has become a rallying point for demonstrations and counter-demonstrations and has also drawn in far right groups to the area.

The victim was left unconscious as she was hit by the vehicle as she carried her shopping across the road. She appears not to have life threatening injuries.

The Daily Mail has stated that the individual driving the vehicle even took pictures as the car drove towards the Muslim female and the incident took place after a far right rally in the area. The Mail initially suggested that the perpetrators may have links to far right groups. However, according to Belgian police, the perpetrators are two local residents of North African or Arab heritage.

The post Muslim Woman Deliberately Run Over in Moelenbook, Brussels. appeared first on TELL MAMA.

This is the shocking video of a Muslim woman in Moelenbeek who was run over on Saturday. Moelenbeek has become a rallying point for demonstrations and counter-demonstrations and has also drawn in far right groups to the area.

The victim was left unconscious as she was hit by the vehicle as she carried her shopping across the road. She appears not to have life threatening injuries.

The Daily Mail has stated that the individual driving the vehicle even took pictures as the car drove towards the Muslim female and the incident took place after a far right rally in the area. The Mail has initially suggested that the perpetrators may have links to far right groups. However, according to Belgian police, the perpetrators are local residents of Moelenbeek of Arab heritage and two individuals have been arrested.

The post Muslim Woman Run Over in Moelenbook, Brussels. appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Since Jack Straw’s comments exactly a decade ago, the Niqab has been in political debate which at times have become heightened. Currently, there are reports that the Prime Minister is considering a ban on the veil in schools, courts and other public institutions. No doubt, the Niqab will become the subject of much debate over the coming months.

In light of this, very rarely do women who wear the veil have the chance to speak about the impacts of people’s prejudices against them. How many newspaper reports, when reporting on political developments about the Niqab, have then interviewed women who choose to wear the veil. Very few have and in fact, we can’t recollect seeing a Niqab wearer being approached by news outlets when discussing the topic recently.

We want to highlight the other side of the coin – the fact that women who wear the Niqab are subject to prejudice, aggression and open hatred at points. It is also important to note that over the last 4 years of work within Tell MAMA, it is clear that women who wear the Niqab suffer more incidents of anti-Muslim hatred and more aggressive incidents of anti-Muslim hatred, including assault.

These are the words of a Muslim woman who wears the Niqab and who recounted her experiences for us.

“I’m worried about the day my 7 year old daughter suddenly tunes into the daily abuse, realises it’s her mother that these respectable-looking strangers – maybe parents of her schoolfriends during pick-up or drop-off, maybe the people behind us in the supermarket queue – are talking about / to.

“And what do I tell her? I’ve brought her up to believe people of all faiths are equally worthy of respect; the majority of her schoolfriends are Hindu or Christian. How can I explain to her that these people hate me because of the visible clues to my faith – particularly my outfit? Me, who taught my little girl that she should never care what other people thought about her appearance, to be proud of her mixed-race looks and unique dress sense (we’re talking Cinderella ball gown with trackie bottoms, or Batman cape over Hello Kitty dress).

“What if she’s ashamed to be seen with her mother? What if she’s angry with these strangers for hating on her mother, starts believing non-Muslims are abusive bad people who hate Muslims? What if she develops a fear of white strangers instead of her beautiful trademark confidence and friendliness? What if she’s present when the trolley-shoving, the jostling, the swearing, escalates into a more vicious kind of physical violence? There’s only so much verbal abuse and sly jostling/ shoving I can take passively before I turn round and tell them to have some manners.

“I’ve had women my mum’s age making explosion sounds at me and calling me ISIS, men my age telling me I’m disgusting, women younger than me telling me to f*** off back to Saudi. I’ve been called terrorist, dirty scum, f***** freak, Islamic whore, brown c********, Arab f****, Jihadi b*****…… All in front of my 7-year-old daughter. I had a trolley rammed into my belly when I was pregnant; it was after a bunch of skinheads made knife gestures at me that I stopped going out by myself until I gave birth and no longer felt like a walking target as a pregnant niqabi. I’m pretty confident that I could defend myself but I couldn’t risk the life of my unborn baby.

“If I’m out with my husband I get dirty looks and hissed insults at most; people only become audibly abusive or openly confrontational when I’m out without my husband – unfortunately the presence of my little girl doesn’t seem to silence them in the same way.”

The post With the Niqab Being a Political Football, Let’s Listen to the Voice of One Who Wears It appeared first on TELL MAMA.

This is a case that came into Tell MAMA a few days go. Nazleen (the identity has been altered), wears a Niqab and an Abaya, (the black body over-garment) worn by more socially conservative Muslim women. Nazleen is 22 years old and she was travelling on a bus when a white female, aged around 40 plus years of age, started to look at Nazleen in an aggressive manner. She then started to say something to Nazleen, who took off her headphones, and the female perpetrator stated, “you wearing that Niqab is going back to the traditions of the Victorian era. We women fought hard for women’s rights, so why would you do this?” The perpetrator also went onto state, “you could be hiding a gun under your garment.” The abuse continued with the perpetrator stating that she felt scared by Nazleen and that she felt intimidated by her. She also stated that Nazleen looked like she was a ‘ghost’.

The intimidation and abuse of young Nazleen continued as the female perpetrator then said that Nazleen probably could not read or write and that she was being manipulated by men.

As Nazleen went to get off her stop, in a moment of empathy a passenger asked her if she was ok and Nazleen alighted from the bus.

In contacting Tell MAMA Nazleen stated, “I’m not hurt or upset by this incident. I’m used to it to be honest but with the rise in Islamophobic attacks I thought to report it so more awareness is created of incidents like this.”

The post “You Wearing That Niqab is Going Back to Traditions of the Victorian Era,” Says Perpetrator appeared first on TELL MAMA.

This response was received today from a Muslim woman and mother and who was harassed and racially and religiously abused for over 4 years in the Midlands. The abuse and the anti-Muslim hate placed enormous pressures on the family and on the family and brought the family to the edge of desperation. Today after our long term intervention in this case, this is what we received and this response exhibits why we do this work – to work with the voiceless and those who are vulnerable. (All personal details have been altered).

“Dear Tell MAMA,

I hope you are all well.  We last communicated at the end of July, just before I departed for Pakistan for six weeks.

Since returning to the country I have learnt that my neighbour has now moved on.  However, upon moving on he has damaged all the fence, which ACME Council are rebutting in his defence stating unless I have any evidence they will not accept my complaint.

After 4 years of suffering by the grace of Allah swt, we finally as a family can start our lives.

This has been a very difficult journey knowing that the Police and ACME Councils bias and discriminating attitude towards me and my children.   On many occasions being treated like a criminal, intimidated, threatened and belittled by both the Police and Council officials.

MashAllah we have started to rebuild our lives and want to take the opportunity to thank you and your staff for your assistance and support. “

The post This is Why We Tackle Anti-Muslim Hate. To Help the Voiceless. appeared first on TELL MAMA.

We received a report today from a Muslim female which outlined the shocking and openly bigoted statements that are being made to some Muslims in our country today.

A Muslim female reported in that she was walking to the Birmingham City Centre HSBC branch this month with her teenage daughter and as she was walking a stocky heavy built man walked past her and as he walked past her, he picked up his phone and whilst glaring at her, uttered the following words:

“I wish I was still in the army, so I could kill the f****** lot of them.”

He then put the phone back down and a Muslim girl in her late teens was stood a few feet away from the woman who reported this in. The perpetrator glared at her and again picked up his phone and made comments to the young Muslim woman which she did not take notice off.

The victim went onto state:

“I was relieved both my daughter and this girl did not notice or hear him, as it’s a horrible feeling. I was born and bred here and I have never ever faced any racist abuse, this was a shocker and definitely an eye opener as to how public opinion is changing. I did not report the incident to the police as this man quite clearly put his phone to his ear and made it seem like he was making a phone call, it would be my word against his.”

The post “I wish I was still in the army, so that I could kill the f****** lot of them” appeared first on TELL MAMA.

The Our Faiths and Our Shared Futures booklet is the culmination of 1 years work with imams, priests and rabbis in Derby. The booklet looks at scriptural narratives that underscore the need for (1) the respect of difference (2) the protection of life (3) countering extremism.

The booklet is made up of the work of many within the City and is a local narrative against division and extremism and against those who want to separate communities. Faith Matters worked with local religious leaders in looking at relevant religious texts in relation to the themes above and also facilitated interfaith meetings. The text was then edited by local young people in Derby and Faith Matters faciliated and supported local Derby young people in putting together the booklet. This is a booklet developed by local residents in Derby to tackle issues of extremism. Truly Big Society in Action!

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