The weekend of 13-15 October 2023 saw the election of a new Executive Committee of our organisation by its Member Organisations. With that, we say goodbye to our current executive team after two years of service.
We would like to thank our outgoing team for their commitment to this organisation over the mandate:
Hande Taner – President (The Netherlands)
Hiba Latreche – Head of Internal development (France)
Aida Rizk – General Secretary (United Kingdom)
Anes Cherigiu – Head of Fundraising (Sweden)
Nadia El Faroukhi – Head of Member Organisation Relations (France)
Vullnet Selmani – Head of Finance (North Macedonia)
Burak Barut – Head of Training (Germany)
Ibtihelle Ben – Head of Services (France)
Yusuf Hassan – Head of Media (United Kingdom)
Nourhene Mahmoudi – Head of Campaigns (Italy)
Saturday the 14th of October saw the election of the incoming FEMYSO Executive Committee:
Hania Chalal – President (France)
Vacant – Head of Fundraising
Ahmed Moujoud – Head of Finance (Italy)
Omar Abu Qalbain – General Secretary (United Kingdom)
Hamda Mohamed – Head of Communication and Marketing (United Kingdom)
Aida Rizk – Head of Internal Development (United Kingdom)
Chayma Bouchafra – Head of Training (Spain)
Nourhene Mahmoudi – Head of Media (Italy)
Abdulsami Arjumand – Head of Campaigns (United Kingdom)
The European Action Day Against Islamophobia (EADAI) is an annual event on the 21st of September and marks a major opportunity to raise awareness on the issue of anti-Muslim hatred. It was established by the advocacy and campaigning of FEMYSO together with other organizations and institutions. EADAI creates the opportunity to share facts, lived experiences, and tools to address Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred in Europe. To mark this day, FEMYSO organized a conference hosted at the European Parliament, Brussels, to bring together young Muslims from across the continent with stakeholders at an EU institutional level. In 2023, EADAI is more critical than ever as we witness the rise in Islamophobia in most European countries and its normalization by governing institutions.
The conference hosted approximately 40 young Muslim youth leaders from across Europe and featured two panels with Q&A sessions after each. FEMYSO’s Vice-President Nadia El Faroukhi opened the Conference and highlighted the importance of the event in the current political landscape. Her words were followed by a keynote speech by the honourable MEP Brando Benifei who has always been an incredible ally for the cause of Muslim youth.
The first panel was titled ‘Islamophobia in 2023: Shrinking of the civic space, and top-down vs. bottom-up challenges’ and was chaired by James Kanter, political commentator and host of the podcast EUScreams. Attendees heard from academics, journalists, and human rights advocates on the current European context and anti-Muslim hatred. The panelists were Shada Islam, political commentator and analyst, Eve Geddie, Director of Amnesty International’s EU Office, and Farid Hafez, co-editor of the annual European Islamophobia Report). After the session, several participants asked pertinent questions and there were contacts exchanged between speakers and attendees to continue the conversations beyond the event.
The second panel’s title was forward-looking, and covered “Safe-guarding future-policies, 2024 EP Elections and Muslim European Voters”. Areeq Chowdhury, Head of Policy at the Royal Society and Labour Party Councillor from the UK, shared his expertise and answered questions on the issue of discrimination in AI. The contributions of Hania Chalal, activist and the former president of Muslim Students of France (Etudiants Musulmans de France – EMF), were insightful for the situation of French Muslim women and advocacy in the aftermath of the French abaya ban in schools. FEMYSO was pleased to host the Director of the European Network Against Racism, Kim Smoulter, and the Director of Policy and Advocacy for the European Youth Forum, Ozgecan Kara.
The role that institutions have in upholding and spreading anti-Muslim sentiment, is a topic especially poignant to FEMYSO, due to the shocking revelations this year from the smear campaign that FEMYSO and other major organizations faced. As revealed in a year-long joint investigation by European Investigative Collaborations, this campaign aimed to destroy FEMYSO’s reputation and marginalize the young people we represent in public life. It has resulted in increased censorship and the removal of our representatives from important events and youth advisory bodies and has hindered the historical cooperation between European institutions and FEMYSO. FEMYSO, therefore, is calling for clear and effective European strategies to tackle the growing issue of systemic Islamophobia.
With the endemic stigmatization and exclusion of Muslims from all areas of life, FEMYSO wants to create a space to discuss future-looking policies and how these are likely to affect the lived experience of young Muslims in Europe. With the known concerns of bias in artificial intelligence systems, and how this risk impacts young people in the job market, in their access to education, or simply existence in public spaces; upcoming European Elections, and the expected rise in Islamophobic rhetoric; FEMYSO believes that it is vital that diverse stakeholders are brought together to discuss policies on these critical issues.
On Thursday 21st of September 2023, FEMYSO was proud to have hosted an event that explored the different manifestations of Islamophobia, with specific attention to youth. Different institutional representatives and civil society organizations working on youth, education, and discrimination presented their inputs and findings to ensure an inclusive and effective approach to addressing Islamophobia. In line with our human rights to freedom of faith and right to security, it is essential that young Muslims are free to practice their faith and in their rights as individuals in Europe today. We look forward to welcoming more attendees at next year’s conference, EADAI24.
Please find the recording of panel discussions using the following links:
Following the truly shocking revelations outlined in a yearlong joint investigation by European Investigative Collaborations with articles published today in NRC, Mediapart and De Spiegel, our organisation would like to call for accountability and immediate action.
As one of the oldest European youth organisations, our credible track record backed by years of partnership and collaboration was completely disregarded by the very institutions which should have protected us. Volunteer-led organisations, live and die by their reputation, this multi-year 5-million-euro campaign aims to destroy our organisation and drive the young people we represent out of public life.
As outlined in the article, this smear campaign led to increased censorship towards our organisation by European institutions notably the European Commission and Council of Europe, including the removal of our representatives from the agendas of events they were due to address and removal from youth advisory bodies with no ability for dialogue provided.
Our organisation was left with very few allies as we became a toxic brand, however, leaders like Commissioner Helena Dalli and director of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency, Michael O’Flaherty, and organisations like the European Youth Forum must be applauded as they were willing to show solidarity and be on the right side of history.
It is deeply concerning when any foreign entity tries to influence our leaders and politics. What separates Europe from the rest of the world is our thriving civil society, this campaign aimed to destroy this, and this is why we call on the European Ombudsman to investigate the impacts of this campaign on the engagement of EU institutions with our organisation.
We categorically refute and condemn any attempts to link our organisation to any political or ideological party, group or movement. We have proven throughout the years that our sole objective is to work for a diverse, cohesive and vibrant Europe.
FEMYSO (est. 1996) is a network organisation for 31 Muslim youth and student organisations across 21 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.
Following the release of an investigatory expose by The New Yorker Magazine, the origins of myths constantly used to attack our organization have finally been exposed as being part of a 5.7 million Euro campaign funded by a foreign entity.
Whilst this information is not new to our organization, the willingness of a mainstream outlet like the New Yorker to publish this story is a clear indication of the legitimacy of the points we have been making for a number of years.
In the article it is revealed that as part of an orchestrated campaign against FEMYSO, a Swiss PR agency ALP executed several targeted actions. ALP created the character Tanya Klein, a fictional journalist and hired a freelance writer to create content under this alias. “Klein” published several articles outlining the myth that FEMYSO was part of the Muslim Brotherhood. Some of these articles were featured or cited by reputable news outlets and have now been deleted from the record without acknowledgment of the fictitious nature and the harm done through their publication – see an example below.
2019
Today
The conspiracy theory propagated by Klein which implies that our organisation is the youth wing of the Muslim Brotherhood relies heavily on the work of Lorenzo Vidino – a right-wing academic funded by ALP. The New Yorker article raises questions as to whether he placed financial incentives above academic rigor. As such, questions must be also asked about how such a figure is still engaged with seriously by our policymakers. Unlike our policymakers, several colleagues have severed ties with Vidino since the publication of the article.
FEMYSO President Hande Taner said: “The plan was simple; it was to bury our organization and make it a pariah which could not be engaged with. For what reason, we simply do not know, given that FEMYSO is a fully volunteer-led organization empowering minority youth and campaigning against Islamophobia and other forms of racism.
With important elections due to take place over both sides of the Atlantic in the coming 18 months, our policymakers need to get serious about tackling misinformation, regardless of the financial incentive to remain quiet. Our democracies must not and cannot be bought.”
We would like to offer the ability for dialogue with those that took part in the mass disinformation campaign in the form of private or public meetings to discuss specific accusations and next steps. Furthermore, our easily available FAQ page can provide further clarifications on our organization and its governance.
We call upon our European leaders to investigate this matter in full and without any delay. In the face of all that seek to prevent our mission, we remain committed to working towards a more diverse, cohesive and vibrant Europe for all.
In the Islamic tradition education is seen as a responsibility for each and every individual as a key facet of their lives.
ٱقْرَأْبِٱسْمِرَبِّكَٱلَّذِىخَلَقَ
Recite in the name of your Lord who created –
خَلَقَٱلْإِنسَٰنَمِنْعَلَقٍ
Created the human being from a clinging substance.
ٱقْرَأْوَرَبُّكَٱلْأَكْرَمُ
Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous –
ٱلَّذِىعَلَّمَبِٱلْقَلَمِ
Who taught by the pen –
عَلَّمَٱلْإِنسَٰنَمَالَمْيَعْلَمْ
Taught the human being that which he knew not.
(Al Quran 96:1-5)
As an organisation a pillar of our work is training: we are proud to have trained over 240 Muslim youth from across Europe on topics ranging from active citizenship, advocacy, sustainability, mental health awareness and much more.
However, Muslims students often face unequal access to educational resources and high-quality education due to institutional and structural racism that segregates students, leaving them with fewer and lower-quality education than their counterparts.
“At current our education system is simply not fit for purpose, this must change in order to harness the potential of all people across our region. The curricula must be updated and representative in order to provide the young people of today the necessary skills which will allow them to function in an economic system that unfairly disadvantages them, racialised youth face an even greater challenge.” Hande Taner, President, FEMYSO
To ensure that all students have equal access to educational resources, European institutions and national governments must continue to strive towards closing the education gap and promoting legislation that seeks to address unequal access to high quality education.
As FEMYSO we will continue our mission to advocate on behalf Muslim students to help create an education system which works for all regardless of background or faith – on our journey towards a more diverse, vibrant and cohesive Europe.
FEMYSO considers the topic of mental health as a key issue and this is why mental health education on a cross-societal level is one of our thematic priorities. It is a necessity to dismantle specific stereotypes that impact young people from minority backgrounds and marginalized groups that not only have to handle their mental well-being and tackle institutional barriers, but are also faced with the lack of access to resources and taboos surrounding mental health.
Research examining the consequences of COVID-19 on racialized communities highlighted the substantial negative impact on wellbeing and mental health outcomes (CAI, 2021). This is why we have every intention to focus on normalising this discussion in our communities and wider society and debunking misconceptions around mental health in general.
In this spirit, FEMYSO organized a one-week training course in collaboration with the Council of Europe, the Mind the Gap Study Session which resulted in the production of a Mental Health Booklet.
This booklet due to be published in the coming weeks seeks to be an introduction to various topics associated with mental health in our communities and organizations as activists. Our hope is to reach different Muslim communities and organizations in Europe to raise awareness, offer support through effective examples of good practice and start a long-overdue conversation.
We call upon European authorities on a local, national and international level to implement the following:
Promote equal mental health care for all.
Protect, raise awareness and promote mental health issues, particularly those concerning minority groups.
Provide more accessible and affordable mental health support through easy access to information and to in-person services.
Professionals should have a better understanding of cultural and faith beliefs of minority ethnic communities and how these impacts on beliefs and behaviours around mental health
Training on unconscious bias and stereotyping for school counsellors and psychologists to be able to address the issues that students from racialized communities, including Muslims face adequately.
As FEMYSO we will continue our mission to recognize the needs and advocate on behalf of those often forgotten and stigmatized, in order to fulfil our mission of working towards a more diverse, vibrant and cohesive Europe for all.
In occasion of the European Action Day Against Islamophobia, FEMYSO is organizing an important in-person conference on 21 September 2022. This is an annual event commemorating the victims of Islamophobia, reflecting on gaps and good practices in Europe when it comes to tackling Islamophobia, and agreeing on joint actions with relevant stakeholders. All of this within the specific dimension of youth.
The European Action Day Against Islamophobia represents a major opportunity for Muslim youth that FEMYSO helped to create with EU institutions to bring the attention of stakeholders on the issue of islamophobia in Europe, sharing key facts with them as well as tools that they can bring in their fields of work to tackle islamophobia.
The gradual increase of islamophobia at all levels has led to the aspirations of young European Muslims to be deeply affected and as of now, a clear and effective European strategy is lacking to tackle this issue.
The event to be organized for the European action day against islamophobia will represent a pivotal opportunity to raise awareness and foster follow-up actions as well as relations and contacts with stakeholders with which cooperative actions can be implemented on the ground and at the policy level.
FEMYSO is a pan-European network of national Muslim youth and Muslim students’ organizations covering more than 20 European countries. Our vision is to be the leading voice of European Muslim youth, empowering and serving them through networking, campaigns, trainings, and representation. FEMYSO aims to ensure that Muslim youth are included in relevant decision-making processes and that they are consulted on issues pertaining to Muslims and European Youth.
FEMYSO has been representing and advocating for the rights of European Muslim Youth for 26 years and the fight against Islamophobia has always been at the core of the work that we deliver. With the unfortunate rise in discrimination against Muslims, the online hate speech targeting Muslims and Muslim activists, and also the increased numbers of Islamophobic events and hate crimes, a firm and solid reaction from the EU and Member States is needed now more than ever.
With the continuous rise of islamophobia alongside the stigmatization and exclusion of Muslims from all areas of life, in the job market, in their access to education, or simply in public spaces, there is the necessity to recognize this serious phenomenon and ensure that policies protecting against islamophobia are put in place.
On the 21st of September, our event in Brussels will explore more in depth the different forms through which Islamophobia can occur, with a specific attention to the “youth” component. Different institutional representatives and civil society organizations working on youth, education, and discrimination will be present to take part in the discussion and share their inputs and findings to ensure an inclusive and effective approach to addressing Islamophobia.
Twenty-seven years on from the worst human massacre on European soil after World War II, the currents of political conflict rage on in the east of our region. The crime against humanity committed in Bosnia in 1995 was solely driven by a hatred for Bosnian Muslims and enabled by the blatant institutional failure of UN Peacekeeping forces.
These institutional failures remain present in the complete dereliction of duty that numerous governments and multilateral institutions have shown in the lack response to recent actions taken by Republika Srpska. Recent sanctions by the Unites States and United Kingdom against Srebrenica genocide denier and ethno-nationalistic leader Milorad Dodik are encouraging, but more must be done.
On this day FEMYSO has chosen to launch #WeRemember95, a campaign focused on peace and on advocating for Bosnians committed to peace who find themselves in the midst of an environment which could lead to another horrific conclusion if leaders continue to be silent on this issue.
FEMYSO President Hande Taner said ‘The Srebrenica genocide saw the brutal murder of more than 8000 Muslim men and boys, rampant sexual violence, and the displacement of over 1.1 million people over the course of the conflict. As a pan European network organisation of Muslim youth organisations, we are mandated by our membership to commemorate this anniversary, and this is why we are launching this campaign as we believe more must be done in this crucial moment.
As the voice of Muslim youth in Europe this campaign calls for:
Take all necessary actions to prevent a conflict that would inevitably spill over to other countries in the Balkans and in the wider region;
Mandatory education of the Srebrenica genocide in history classes;
National and EU wide commemoration events by national and EU authorities.
The Srebrenica genocide, alongside the Prijedor (Bosnia) massacre that saw the killing of over 3000 Muslim civilians in 1992, portray unforgettable bloody stains in European history concerning ethnic cleansing. Therefore, solid and firm action must be taken to avoid what could be another extermination of innocent individuals on European soil. As for FEMYSO, we will continue our fight against any form of racism and our work for a more diverse, cohesive and vibrant Europe.
Notes:
FEMYSO (est. 1996) is a network organisation for 33 Muslim youth and student organisations across 21 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 media-related information or requests please email media@femyso.org.
