A bilingual and integrated Jewish-Arab school in Israel has won a global education prize in recognition of its efforts to heal longstanding divisions.

The Max Rayne Hand In Hand Jerusalem School – where Jewish and Arab students learn together in both Hebrew and Arabic – has been crowned winner of the T4 Education World’s Best School prize for overcoming adversity.

It comes as thousands of Israelis and Palestinians have been killed and hundreds of Israelis have been taken hostage by the militants in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war broke out nearly a month ago.

The leadership of the Max Rayne Hand in Hand Jerusalem School reflects the diversity of its student body, with an Arab elementary school principal and a Jewish secondary school principal.

There is also equal representation of Jewish and Arab staff, who work closely together to create an inclusive learning environment for all the students.

Dani Elazar, chief executive of Hand in Hand – which runs a network of bilingual, multicultural Jewish-Arab schools in Israel, said: “Winning an award as ‘the best school in the world’ would normally be a cause for celebration.

“With a war waging and thousands of precious lives lost, this is not the time for celebration. It is the time for resolution.

“We resolve to continue overcoming adversity, day by day, for the sake of a better future for all, Jews and Arabs alike. Overcoming adversity is precisely what the Max Rayne Hand in Hand School is doing at this very moment.

“We hope that the conferral of this award will raise people’s awareness that there is an alternative to hatred and fear. All children of this land deserve a better future. Together is the only way we will achieve it.”

Cadoxton Primary School in Barry, south Wales, reached the final three for the overcoming adversity category – but missed out to the school in Jerusalem.

The winners of the five World’s Best prizes – for community collaboration, environmental action, innovation, overcoming adversity, and supporting healthy lives – will all receive 50,000 US dollars (£40,000).

The Max Rayne Hand in Hand Jerusalem School intends to use the prize money to support its unique co-teaching model and to raise awareness of the values of shared society and equality among a wider audience.

Vikas Pota, founder of T4 Education, said: “My deepest congratulations to The Max Rayne Hand in Hand Jerusalem School. In dark times, you shine a light.

“By healing longstanding divisions between Jews and Arabs through the transformative power of education, you show that there is a path to understanding and with it peace.

“Educators across the world should look to the example of your school in the difference you have made to so many lives. And governments must look to the trailblazing work you have done as they seek answers to the great challenges we face today. Where you lead, they must follow.”

Last year, Dunoon Grammar School, a state secondary school in Scotland, was crowned winner of the global prize for community collaboration.

A total of 44 people have been arrested and 20 Israeli police officers were injured on a night of chaos in Jerusalem, as security forces clashed with Palestinians angry about Ramadan restrictions and Jewish extremists who held an anti-Arab march nearby.

Tensions have risen in recent days in Jerusalem, which has long been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and is home to holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims.

Residents braced for possible further unrest ahead of Muslim Friday prayers as police stepped up security measures.

Palestinians have clashed with Israeli police on a nightly basis since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The tensions began when police placed barricades outside the Old City’s Damascus Gate, where Muslims traditionally gather to enjoy the evening after the daytime fast.

Later on Thursday, hundreds of Palestinians hurled stones and bottles at police, who fired water cannon and stun grenades to disperse them.

Dozens of Palestinians were injured during the unrest.

Meanwhile, a far-right Jewish group known as Lahava led a march of hundreds of protesters chanting “Arabs get out” toward the Damascus Gate.

The show of force came in response to videos circulated on TikTok showing Palestinians slapping religious Jews at random. Other videos made in response to them appear to show Jews assaulting Arabs.

Police used metal barricades to halt the far-right protesters a few hundred yards from Damascus Gate.

Later, they used water cannon, stun grenades and mounted police to push them back toward mostly Jewish west Jerusalem.

Videos circulated online showed smaller clashes and fires elsewhere in the city.

One video showed what appeared to be a group of Palestinians beating an ultra-Orthodox Jew near Damascus Gate.

They could be seen punching, kicking and throwing the man to the ground before police chased them off.

The police statement did not specify whether those arrested were Palestinian or Jewish and did not refer to any specific instances of violence.

Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 war and annexed it in a move not recognised by most of the international community.

The Palestinians want east Jerusalem to be the capital of their future state. Its fate has been one of the most divisive issues in the peace process, which ground to a halt more than a decade ago.

Thousands of Palestinians were expected to attend weekly prayers at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City later on Friday.

The site is the third holiest in Islam and the holiest for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount.

The sprawling hilltop holy site has been the scene of clashes on a number of occasions over the years, and was the epicentre of the 2000 Palestinian intifada, or uprising.

An Israeli court jailed an Israeli Arab poet for five months on Tuesday after convicting her of incitement to terrorism for a poem and remarks she posted on social media during a wave of Palestinian street attacks.

Dareen Tatour, 36, posted on Facebook and YouTube a video of herself reading out her poem “Resist, My People, Resist”, as a soundtrack to footage of masked Palestinian youths throwing stones and firebombs at Israeli soldiers.

Tatour published her poem in October 2015 during a spate of deadly Palestinian stabbing, shooting and ramming attacks on Israelis. She was arrested a few days later, and prosecutors said her post was a call for violence. She denied this.

Her case became a cause celebre for freedom of speech advocates in Israel and abroad. It drew attention to the advanced technology used by Israeli security agencies to trawl through social media to identify and arrest users suspected of incitement to violence, or of planning attacks.

Tatour said her poem was misunderstood by the Israeli authorities as it was not a call for violence, rather for non-violent struggle.

U.S.-backed negotiations on a Palestinian state in territory Israel captured in a 1967 war have been stalled since 2014.

Tatour was also charged with supporting a terrorist group. Prosecutors said she had expressed support for the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad’s call for an uprising.

“I wasn’t expecting justice to be done. The case was political from the start, because I am Palestinian and support freedom of speech,” she told reporters at the Nazareth Magistrate’s Court in northern Israel.

ARAB MINORITY

Tatour belongs to Israel’s Arab minority, which comprises mainly descendants of the Palestinians who remained on their land after the 1948 Arab-Jewish war that surrounded the creation of the state of Israel. Hundreds of thousands fled or were driven from their homes.

The court added a six-month suspended sentence to Tatour’s jail time, according to the official minutes distributed by the Justice Ministry. Her lawyer, Gaby Lasky, said Tatour would appeal both the verdict and the sentence.

Israel says the string of Palestinian attacks that began in 2015 was fuelled by online incitement and it has launched a legal crackdown to curb it.

Indictments for online incitement have tripled in Israel since 2014. Prosecutions by the Israeli military have also increased in the occupied West Bank – most of those charged are young Palestinians.

The campaign against alleged incitement has raised questions about the balance between security and free speech.

On July 18 the Israeli parliament was set to pass legislation that would have empowered the justice system to order Internet providers, such as Facebook and Google, to take down social media posts in Israel deemed as incitement.

But hours before the scheduled vote Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shelved the bill. An adviser to Netanyahu, Jonatan Urich, said the law was open to a too-wide interpretation that could allow cyber-censorship and harm freedom of speech.

President Donald Trump urged Arab and Islamic leaders on Sunday to unite and do their share to defeat Islamist extremists, making an impassioned plea to “drive out” terrorists while toning down his own harsh rhetoric about Muslims.

Trump singled out Iran as a key source of funding and support for militant groups. His words aligned with the views of his Saudi Arabian hosts and sent a tough message to Tehran the day after Hassan Rouhani won a second term as Iran’s president.

The U.S. president did not use his signature term “radical Islamic terrorism” in the speech, a signal that he heeded advice to employ a more moderate tone in the region after using the phrase repeatedly as a presidential candidate.

“Terrorism has spread all across the world. But the path to peace begins right here, on this ancient soil, in this sacred land,” Trump told leaders from about 50 Muslim-majority countries representing more than a billion people.

“A better future is only possible if your nations drive out the terrorists and drive out the extremists. Drive them out! Drive them out of your places of worship, drive them out of your communities, drive them out of your holy land and drive them out of this earth.”

The president’s first speech abroad provided an opportunity to show his strength and resolve, in contrast to his struggle to contain a mushrooming scandal at home after his firing of former FBI Director James Comey nearly two weeks ago.

He portrayed the conflict as one between good and evil, not between civilizations, and made clear in a forceful tone that Washington would partner with the Middle East but expected more action in return.

“There is still much work to be done. That means honestly confronting the crisis of Islamic extremism, and the Islamists, and Islamic terror of all kinds,” he said in his speech.

The advance excerpts of the speech had him saying “Islamist extremism.” A White House official blamed Trump’s fatigue for the switch. “Just an exhausted guy,” she told reporters.

The term “Islamist extremism” refers to Islamism as a political movement rather than Islam as a religion, a distinction that the Republican president had frequently criticized the administration of his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, for making.

As a candidate, Trump proposed temporarily banning Muslims from entering the United States. In office, he ordered temporary bans on people from several Muslim-majority countries, which have been blocked by courts that ruled they were discriminatory.

The speech in a gilded hall bedecked with chandeliers is part of an effort to redefine his relationship with the Muslim world. Trump’s “America first” philosophy helped him win the 2016 election and has rattled allies who depend on U.S. support for their defence.

Trump received a warm welcome from Arab leaders, who set aside his campaign rhetoric and focussed on his desire to crack down on Iran’s influence in the region, a commitment they found wanting in Obama.

“For decades, Iran has fuelled the fires of sectarian conflict and terror,” Trump said. “It is a government that speaks openly of mass murder, vowing the destruction of Israel, death to America, and ruin for many leaders and nations in this very room.”

Trump did not make overt mentions of human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia or the other Gulf nations in his speech. White House officials has said he did not want to lecture, something they believe Obama did, unsuccessfully.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif fired back at Trump in a tweet that Trump had attacked Iran in “that bastion of democracy & moderation” of Saudi Arabia and suggested he had “milked” his hosts for hundreds of billions of dollars in business deals.

JOINT FIGHT, ROYAL WELCOME

Introducing Trump, Saudi King Salman described their mutual foe Iran as the source of terrorism they must confront together.

“Our responsibility before God and our people and the whole world is to stand united to fight the forces of evil and extremism wherever they are … The Iranian regime represents the tip of the spear of global terrorism,” the king said.

Iran is a Shi’ite Muslim country. The groups the United States has been fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on Washington and New York are mostly Sunni Muslims, and enemies of Iran. Iranian-backed militia are also fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq.

The United States and Gulf Arab countries announced an agreement to coordinate efforts against the financing of terrorist groups.

Trump’s welcome in the region was put on display during a series of individual meetings with Arab leaders.

He praised Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, telling him: “You have done a tremendous job under trying circumstances.” The Obama administration had a difficult relationship with Sisi, who came to power after leading a military coup in 2013 during which hundreds of demonstrators were killed, and has since jailed thousands of opponents.

Trump promised to schedule a trip to Egypt soon, and he singled out the Egyptian’s choice of footwear, a pair of shiny black shoes. “Love your shoes. Boy, those shoes,” he said.

To Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, Trump declared that the two nations had a lot in common and “there won’t be strain with this administration.”

The king lauded the relationship and said it had led to “great stability in the region and prosperity.” Bahrain is home to the U.S. fleet in the Middle East. Its Sunni Muslim royal family rules over a majority Shi’ite population and was occasionally rebuked by the Obama administration for harsh treatment of opponents.

Trump’s Riyadh visit kicked off his first presidential trip abroad, with Saudi Arabia the first stop on a nine-day journey through the Middle East and Europe.

Soon after Trump embarked on his trip on Friday, he was hit with more accusations that, with Comey’s firing on May 9, he was trying to squelch a federal investigation into his campaign’s ties with Russia last year.

Merseyside Police reached out to Tell MAMA following a violent and unprovoked assault on a Muslim woman in the Everton area of Merseyside.

The 38-year-old, who wears the hijab and is of Arab descent, had passed a children’s play area on route to a supermarket at around 8pm on February 11. She noticed two white men stood near to the junction of Ullswater Street.

One of the men shouted racist abuse at her which was anti-migrant in nature. The second man then approached the woman, grabbed her hijab and punched her repeatedly in the face. Both men then left the scene.

The vicious assault left the woman with bruising and swelling to her face. Her fractured cheekbone will require surgery to repair. The attack left the woman feeling dazed, hurt and in shock.

Staff from Tell MAMA continue to offer further support to the woman. Merseyside Police released a public appeal and e-fit of one of the suspects on February 19.

Tell MAMA and Merseyside Police have been working together to support the victim. We are pleased that in a case as serious as this she had the confidence to contact the police.

Although physical attacks such as this are somewhat rare, it is essential that they are reported to the Police or Tell MAMA so that the perpetrators are brought to justice.

If you have been targeted with anti-Muslim hostility you can call us in confidence on 0800 456 1226 or email us at info@tellmamauk.org.

Anyone with information about the assault can contact Merseyside Police’s SIGMA team on 0151 777 4078 or the confidential Crimestoppers line on 0800 555 111.

The post Merseyside Police investigate unprovoked racist assault on Muslim woman appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Many of you will never have heard of Miriam Shaded of the Esther Foundation in Poland. Recently the Esther Foundation, which seems to based on promoting a youthful and attractive persona based on Shaded herself, has been working with the Barnabas Fund to bring Syrian Christian refugees to Poland. Further information on one of the controversial founders and international director of the Barnabus Fund, Patrick Sookhdeo can be found here. (It should also be stated that the Barnabus Fund have stated that Sookhdeo was the international director and not employed by the Fund in the UK.)

Sookhdeo previously converted from Islam and has taken controversial positions on Islam and how the British armed forces work with Muslim populations in the field. We understand that the relationship has ended with a plethora of blogs raising the question as to why he was engaged with by the Ministry of Defence.

Let us come back to the issue of Miriam Shaded. A Christian whose father was Syrian, Miriam Shaded has become the mouthpiece for some of the worst inflammatory language that is peddled within Poland and through her social media presence. As a young personable female, she has become the touchstone on which people’s fears and bigotry about Muslims are projected. As a female of Syrian heritage, the assumption may be made by some that she must know what she is talking about when she is on television talking about Islam and Muslims. Yet, some of this rhetoric is far from realistic and plays to an extremist and nationalistic far right tendency that caricatures Islam, and thereby its followers, as a threat.

Take this for example. This is one of her Facebook posts on the 27th of February 2016.

“Seeking a expert lawyer in winning major issues on the territory of Poland and perhaps the EU, which will help me win the trial on outlawing Islam as a totalitarian system and the Koran, which preaches hatred, violence and legitimizes crimes.”

The text is pretty clear and she is looking for legal advice to outlaw Islam. Seems to be all of the rage right now if someone is looking to make a name for themselves and to possibly revel in a climate of anti-Muslim bigotry which is taking hold of some parts of the continent.

After that post, there seems to be a number of takers for her divisory call. This was her latest statement:

“Thank you all for your words of support and assistance as well as applications by the best lawyers in Poland and Europe. Due to the number of messages that I received, we will consider and interact with specialists from Monday. It is so important a matter that  we ask you to pray for wisdom and God’s guidance to select the best firm. I cordially greet and wish you a successful Sunday evening. Smile emoticon“

So much for the ‘smile emoticon’ when she is trying to restrict the freedom of belief, a fundamental tenet of human rights. This is what Shaded and her camera friendly smile, is intending.

Shaded is possibly driven by some form of Christian mission and zeal and may believe that demonizing Islam and defacto, the followers of Islam, is the strategy she wants to employ. Yet, she is savvy enough to realise that cannot be outwardly hostile to Muslims and so may be skirting around this by targeting Islam. Yet, let us not underestimate the pull of a young female who is part Arab and who in the eyes of many in Poland, who have never met Muslims, apparently knows what she is talking about.

We have recently written about the history of Islam and Muslims in Poland before, through our sister site, Faith Matters. These articles can be found here and here. What is particularly troubling about people like Shaded is that their history and rhetoric starts from ‘ground zero’, effectively when they want it to start. In doing so, they simply choose to ignore the rich history and heritage of Poland and the fact that Muslims have shaped its growth and its history. That, we are sure is something Shaded will not mention and that alone should raise alarm bells for those who want to have a holistic and fulsome assessment of their country. Shaded and her rhetoric are never the answer, but they may well be part of a turbulent future if they gain any political traction.

The post Meet Miriam Shaded of the Esther Foundation in Poland & Her Desire to Outlaw Islam appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Many of you will never have heard of Miriam Shaded of the Esther Foundation in Poland. Recently the Esther Foundation, which seems to based on promoting a youthful and attractive persona based on Shaded herself, has been working with the Barnabas Fund to bring Syrian Christian refugees to Poland. Further information on one of the controversial founders and international director of the Barnabus Fund, Patrick Sookhdeo can be found here. (It should also be stated that the Barnabus Fund have stated that Sookhdeo was the international director and not employed by the Fund in the UK.)

Sookhdeo previously converted from Islam and has taken controversial positions on Islam and how the British armed forces work with Muslim populations in the field. We understand that the relationship has ended with a plethora of blogs raising the question as to why he was engaged with by the Ministry of Defence.

Let us come back to the issue of Miriam Shaded. A Christian whose father was Syrian, Miriam Shaded has become the mouthpiece for some of the worst inflammatory language that is peddled within Poland and through her social media presence. As a young personable female, she has become the touchstone on which people’s fears and bigotry about Muslims are projected. As a female of Syrian heritage, the assumption may be made by some that she must know what she is talking about when she is on television talking about Islam and Muslims. Yet, some of this rhetoric is far from realistic and plays to an extremist and nationalistic far right tendency that caricatures Islam, and thereby its followers, as a threat.

Take this for example. This is one of her Facebook posts on the 27th of February 2016.

“Seeking a expert lawyer in winning major issues on the territory of Poland and perhaps the EU, which will help me win the trial on outlawing Islam as a totalitarian system and the Koran, which preaches hatred, violence and legitimizes crimes.”

The text is pretty clear and she is looking for legal advice to outlaw Islam. Seems to be all of the rage right now if someone is looking to make a name for themselves and to possibly revel in a climate of anti-Muslim bigotry which is taking hold of some parts of the continent.

After that post, there seems to be a number of takers for her divisory call. This was her latest statement:

“Thank you all for your words of support and assistance as well as applications by the best lawyers in Poland and Europe. Due to the number of messages that I received, we will consider and interact with specialists from Monday. It is so important a matter that  we ask you to pray for wisdom and God’s guidance to select the best firm. I cordially greet and wish you a successful Sunday evening. Smile emoticon“

So much for the ‘smile emoticon’ when she is trying to restrict the freedom of belief, a fundamental tenet of human rights. This is what Shaded and her camera friendly smile, is intending.

Shaded is possibly driven by some form of Christian mission and zeal and may believe that demonizing Islam and defacto, the followers of Islam, is the strategy she wants to employ. Yet, she is savvy enough to realise that cannot be outwardly hostile to Muslims and so may be skirting around this by targeting Islam. Yet, let us not underestimate the pull of a young female who is part Arab and who in the eyes of many in Poland, who have never met Muslims, apparently knows what she is talking about.

We have recently written about the history of Islam and Muslims in Poland before, through our sister site, Faith Matters. These articles can be found here and here. What is particularly troubling about people like Shaded is that their history and rhetoric starts from ‘ground zero’, effectively when they want it to start. In doing so, they simply choose to ignore the rich history and heritage of Poland and the fact that Muslims have shaped its growth and its history. That, we are sure is something Shaded will not mention and that alone should raise alarm bells for those who want to have a holistic and fulsome assessment of their country. Shaded and her rhetoric are never the answer, but they may well be part of a turbulent future if they gain any political traction.

The post Meet Miriam Shaded of the Esther Foundation in Poland & Her Desire to Outlaw Islam appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Many of you will never have heard of Miriam Shaded of the Esther Foundation in Poland. Recently the Esther Foundation, which seems to based on promoting a youthful and attractive persona based on Shaded herself, has been working with the Barnabas Fund to bring Syrian Christian refugees to Poland. Further information on one of the controversial founders and international director of the Barnabus Fund, Patrick Sookhdeo can be found here. (It should also be stated that the Barnabus Fund have stated that Sookhdeo was the international director and not employed by the Fund in the UK.)

Sookhdeo previously converted from Islam and has taken controversial positions on Islam and how the British armed forces work with Muslim populations in the field. We understand that the relationship has ended with a plethora of blogs raising the question as to why he was engaged with by the Ministry of Defence.

Let us come back to the issue of Miriam Shaded. A Christian whose father was Syrian, Miriam Shaded has become the mouthpiece for some of the worst inflammatory language that is peddled within Poland and through her social media presence. As a young personable female, she has become the touchstone on which people’s fears and bigotry about Muslims are projected. As a female of Syrian heritage, the assumption may be made by some that she must know what she is talking about when she is on television talking about Islam and Muslims. Yet, some of this rhetoric is far from realistic and plays to an extremist and nationalistic far right tendency that caricatures Islam, and thereby its followers, as a threat.

Take this for example. This is one of her Facebook posts on the 27th of February 2016.

“Seeking a expert lawyer in winning major issues on the territory of Poland and perhaps the EU, which will help me win the trial on outlawing Islam as a totalitarian system and the Koran, which preaches hatred, violence and legitimizes crimes.”

The text is pretty clear and she is looking for legal advice to outlaw Islam. Seems to be all of the rage right now if someone is looking to make a name for themselves and to possibly revel in a climate of anti-Muslim bigotry which is taking hold of some parts of the continent.

After that post, there seems to be a number of takers for her divisory call. This was her latest statement:

“Thank you all for your words of support and assistance as well as applications by the best lawyers in Poland and Europe. Due to the number of messages that I received, we will consider and interact with specialists from Monday. It is so important a matter that  we ask you to pray for wisdom and God’s guidance to select the best firm. I cordially greet and wish you a successful Sunday evening. Smile emoticon“

So much for the ‘smile emoticon’ when she is trying to restrict the freedom of belief, a fundamental tenet of human rights. This is what Shaded and her camera friendly smile, is intending.

Shaded is possibly driven by some form of Christian mission and zeal and may believe that demonizing Islam and defacto, the followers of Islam, is the strategy she wants to employ. Yet, she is savvy enough to realise that cannot be outwardly hostile to Muslims and so may be skirting around this by targeting Islam. Yet, let us not underestimate the pull of a young female who is part Arab and who in the eyes of many in Poland, who have never met Muslims, apparently knows what she is talking about.

We have recently written about the history of Islam and Muslims in Poland before, through our sister site, Faith Matters. These articles can be found here and here. What is particularly troubling about people like Shaded is that their history and rhetoric starts from ‘ground zero’, effectively when they want it to start. In doing so, they simply choose to ignore the rich history and heritage of Poland and the fact that Muslims have shaped its growth and its history. That, we are sure is something Shaded will not mention and that alone should raise alarm bells for those who want to have a holistic and fulsome assessment of their country. Shaded and her rhetoric are never the answer, but they may well be part of a turbulent future if they gain any political traction.

The post Meet Miriam Shaded of the Esther Foundation in Poland & Her Desire to Outlaw Islam appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Many of you will never have heard of Miriam Shaded of the Esther Foundation in Poland. Recently the Esther Foundation, which seems to based on promoting a youthful and attractive persona based on Shaded herself, has been working with the Barnabas Fund to bring Syrian Christian refugees to Poland. Further information on one of the controversial founders and international director of the Barnabus Fund, Patrick Sookhdeo can be found here. (It should also be stated that the Barnabus Fund have stated that Sookhdeo was the international director and not employed by the Fund in the UK.)

Sookhdeo previously converted from Islam and has taken controversial positions on Islam and how the British armed forces work with Muslim populations in the field. We understand that the relationship has ended with a plethora of blogs raising the question as to why he was engaged with by the Ministry of Defence.

Let us come back to the issue of Miriam Shaded. A Christian whose father was Syrian, Miriam Shaded has become the mouthpiece for some of the worst inflammatory language that is peddled within Poland and through her social media presence. As a young personable female, she has become the touchstone on which people’s fears and bigotry about Muslims are projected. As a female of Syrian heritage, the assumption may be made by some that she must know what she is talking about when she is on television talking about Islam and Muslims. Yet, some of this rhetoric is far from realistic and plays to an extremist and nationalistic far right tendency that caricatures Islam, and thereby its followers, as a threat.

Take this for example. This is one of her Facebook posts on the 27th of February 2016.

“Seeking a expert lawyer in winning major issues on the territory of Poland and perhaps the EU, which will help me win the trial on outlawing Islam as a totalitarian system and the Koran, which preaches hatred, violence and legitimizes crimes.”

The text is pretty clear and she is looking for legal advice to outlaw Islam. Seems to be all of the rage right now if someone is looking to make a name for themselves and to possibly revel in a climate of anti-Muslim bigotry which is taking hold of some parts of the continent.

After that post, there seems to be a number of takers for her divisory call. This was her latest statement:

“Thank you all for your words of support and assistance as well as applications by the best lawyers in Poland and Europe. Due to the number of messages that I received, we will consider and interact with specialists from Monday. It is so important a matter that  we ask you to pray for wisdom and God’s guidance to select the best firm. I cordially greet and wish you a successful Sunday evening. Smile emoticon“

So much for the ‘smile emoticon’ when she is trying to restrict the freedom of belief, a fundamental tenet of human rights. This is what Shaded and her camera friendly smile, is intending.

Shaded is possibly driven by some form of Christian mission and zeal and may believe that demonizing Islam and defacto, the followers of Islam, is the strategy she wants to employ. Yet, she is savvy enough to realise that cannot be outwardly hostile to Muslims and so may be skirting around this by targeting Islam. Yet, let us not underestimate the pull of a young female who is part Arab and who in the eyes of many in Poland, who have never met Muslims, apparently knows what she is talking about.

We have recently written about the history of Islam and Muslims in Poland before, through our sister site, Faith Matters. These articles can be found here and here. What is particularly troubling about people like Shaded is that their history and rhetoric starts from ‘ground zero’, effectively when they want it to start. In doing so, they simply choose to ignore the rich history and heritage of Poland and the fact that Muslims have shaped its growth and its history. That, we are sure is something Shaded will not mention and that alone should raise alarm bells for those who want to have a holistic and fulsome assessment of their country. Shaded and her rhetoric are never the answer, but they may well be part of a turbulent future if they gain any political traction.

The post Meet Miriam Shaded of the Esther Foundation in Poland & Her Desire to Outlaw Islam 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.