FEMYSO condemns the San Javier Mosque Attack (Spain)

FEMYSO is appalled by the violent attack against a mosque in the small town of San Javier in Spain on the early morning of 21 February 2021. “Death to Islam” was sprayed and the attackers tried to burn down the mosque through the use of explosives. Thankfully this was prevented by the local police and no one was injured.    

FEMYSO would like to note the traumatising effect attacks like this have on the Muslim community of San Javier, and within the wider Muslim community in Spain and Europe. FEMYSO extends its heartfelt solidarity to the local community of San Javier. 

This attack on Islam and Muslims in San Javier is part of an escalation of crimes committed against individual Muslims, mosques and Islamic organisations, within a context of heightened hatred towards the “other” in our European societies. This attack also takes place within the wider context of further institutionalised Islamophobia, where public officials condone and occasionally encourage Islamophobic hate speech by public figures, officials, and individuals. Such behaviour is one of the root causes of such violent attacks on our mosques and members of the Muslim community.  

FEMYSO would also like to point out the duty of media to report equally on all acts of hate crime and hate speech. FEMYSO notes the underreporting of this event and calls for more overt displays solidarity for and amongst minority religious groups in Europe. 

As an organisation representing thousands of young European Muslims, we will continue our efforts to prevent further division and hatred in our societies. We remain undeterred in our mission to strive for a more diverse, cohesive and vibrant Europe. 

 

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Notes 

  1. FEMYSO (est. 1996) is a network organisation for 33 Muslim youth and student organisations across 20 European countries, and is the leading voice for European Muslim youth, developing and empowering them, and working to build a more diverse, cohesive and vibrant Europe. 
  1. For more information or requests please email media@femyso.org 

Application call: Active Citizens

With the current rise of the far-right, it has become clear that Muslim youth can be disregarded from engaging within civic spaces, creating structural barriers and eliminating them from becoming part of the conversation, thus resulting in disengaged youth. Now, more than ever, it has become crucial to educate and empower youth to establish creative initiatives within the area of community organising, through establishing techniques and strategies in social entrepreneurship and cross-community collaboration, while resisting community obstacles and enhancing minority rights.

Active Citizens Study Session is a non-formal educational training on social entrepreneurship and community collaboration, aiming to equip participants with key skills to be active in combating social issues using institutions and resources afforded to them.

The overarching aim of this study session is to empower young European Muslims to participate in active citizenship, by driving impactful community initiatives. We would like to upskill youth from minority backgrounds in the area of community activism, placing a focus on awareness and importance of intercommunity work, including the effective engagement of european stakeholders and institutions to achieve their objectives. Furthermore we aim to equip participants with the social entrepreneurship skills necessary to lead active citizenship within their communities. We intend to educate participants on their basic human rights, and how to address the potential infringement of these rights, upon their becoming changemakers and community organisers.

One of our goals is to equip participants (and by extension their organisations) with tools needed for them to access spaces that promote youth engagement in civil society. This will aid them to access conversations where misconceptions can be dispelled, and create new conversations around perception, community building and shared values of peace and justice.

We aim to build and centralise resources to develop this work, such as community organising strategies, to be utilised by participants in their localities and help promote cross-alliance networks. There is a focus on effective use of social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, etc., which have potential to expand the reach of minority community voices, and build spaces amongst and between minority communities and other marginalised groups.

We want participants to utilise social entrepreneurship skills, initiate inter-community conversations, sustained through regular follow-ups. Empowerment will be a driver of this goal, as we intend to create a toolkit to help participants organise in their locality. Also, to continue a monitoring network to help build specialised guidance structures regionally. This will enhance the ability of participants to expand reach within their localities producing a multiplying effect.