Urgent meeting request: San Diego Islamic Center attack

Brussels, May 23rd 2026

Dear Anti-Muslim Hatred Coordinator, Ms Marion Lalisse,

We are writing in the aftermath of the deadly terrorist attack targeting the Islamic Center in San Diego, which claimed the lives of three victims and left deep trauma across the wider Muslim community.

While this attack took place outside Europe, the conditions and narratives that enable such violence are not confined to one country or context. Anti-Muslim hatred, exclusionary rhetoric, and the normalisation of Islamophobia continue to rise across Europe and beyond, with devastating consequences for the safety, dignity, and belonging of Muslim communities.

It could collectively be acknowledged that this attack is not an isolated incident. It reflects a broader global climate in which Muslims are increasingly portrayed as threats, outsiders, or disposable communities. Such narratives are amplified not only by extremist actors, but too often by political discourse, media platforms, and public institutions that fail to meaningfully engage Muslim communities as equal stakeholders in democratic life.

As a representative network bringing together more than 30 organisations across over 20 countries, we have worked for many years to combat anti-Muslim hatred, racism, discrimination, and exclusion in all their forms. Since 2015, we have maintained a long-standing record of engagement with the European Commission and successive Coordinators on combating anti-Muslim hatred. Throughout this period, we have consistently advocated for policies grounded in fundamental rights, equal citizenship, and meaningful participation of Muslim communities in decisions affecting them.

Our work has included numerous impactful initiatives aimed at addressing Islamophobia and strengthening social cohesion, including projects such as IMAN, EADAI, ADVISE, and MEET, among others. These initiatives have focused on monitoring discrimination, empowering Muslim youth, countering hate narratives, building institutional capacity, and fostering inclusive democratic participation across Europe.

Meaningful engagement with Muslim communities cannot be symbolic, selective, or conditioned on political convenience. Muslim representative organisations and youth-led initiatives must be treated as legitimate partners in shaping policies intended to address anti-Muslim hatred and social exclusion. Marginalising representative Muslim voices and not meaningfully engaging with them risk reinforcing the very exclusionary environment that enables anti-Muslim hatred to grow.

The European Commission has both a political and moral responsibility to engage meaningfully with organisations such as Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organisations (FEMYSO) and broader Muslim representative networks. Failure to genuinely include Muslim youth and communities in policymaking processes does not constitute neutrality; it risks contributing to the continued rise and normalisation of anti-Muslim hatred and Islamophobia across Europe.

In light of the San Diego attack and the broader rise in anti-Muslim hatred internationally, we would welcome the opportunity to urgently meet with you to discuss concrete steps the European Commission can take, together with the civil society, to prevent similar attacks from occurring in Europe. Such a meeting would provide an important opportunity to exchange expertise, discuss emerging risks and challenges facing Muslim communities, and strengthen meaningful institutional engagement based on partnership, trust, and the principle of “nothing about us without us.”

We remain committed to constructive engagement and to working together toward policies that uphold justice, inclusion, and the safety of all communities.

Sincerely,

Hiba Latreche
FEMYSO President

FEMYSO CONDEMNS THE TERRORIST ATTACK TARGETING THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY IN SAN DIEGO

The Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organisations (FEMYSO) expresses its profound grief and unequivocal condemnation following the terrorist attack targeting worshippers at the Islamic Center of San Diego, California.

This horrific act of violence is far from a one-time incident, it comes amid a continued rise in anti-Muslim hatred, dehumanising and demonising rhetoric, and the normalisation of Islamophobia across public and political discourse. Muslim communities continue to bear the consequences of an environment in which hatred against Muslims is tolerated, amplified, and insufficiently challenged.

Places of worship, faith-based educational institutions and community gathering places must never become sites of fear, violence, or mourning. Yet once again, Muslims have been targeted while gathering in a mosque. Such attacks leave deep and lasting wounds not only on the directly affected community, but on Muslims globally, who continue to witness increasing hostility and insecurity.

We extend our deepest condolences to the loved ones and families of Amin Abdullah, Nadir Awad and Mansoor Kazziha, and the wider Muslim community in San Diego. We also express our solidarity with all those impacted by this devastating attack, including community members, students, educators, and families connected to the mosque and its surrounding institutions.

Unfortunately, the ideology and narratives that fuel attacks such as this have become increasingly widespread far beyond the United States. Across Europe and elsewhere, islamophobic rhetoric has been amplified by political actors, media figures, and extremist movements that portray Muslims as outsiders, demographic threats or incompatible with society. In recent weeks, public marches and political campaigns in the UK have openly targeted Muslim communities, while some public officials and politicians have called for mass expulsions and exclusionary policies directed at Muslims and migrants.

FEMYSO calls on political leaders, institutions, media actors, and digital platforms to take meaningful action against Islamophobia, hate speech, and extremist violence. Statements of condemnation alone are not enough. Concrete measures are urgently needed to protect Muslim communities and confront the systems and narratives that enable such violence to persist.

This attack once again demonstrates the urgent need for sustained efforts to combat Islamophobia in all its forms and to ensure that Muslims are able to live, gather, and worship in safety and dignity.

[END]

Notes:

FEMYSO (est. 1996) is a network organisation for 32 Muslim youth and student organisations across 22 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.

For more information or requests please email media@femyso.org.