A response to far-right attacks targeting Muslim Youth at the European Parliament

FEMYSO brought together a delegation of young people from over 14 countries to engage with key European institutions, in order to contribute to the discussions that affect our lives as young people in Europe.

Our delegates came from all over Europe, from Scotland to Albania, Gibraltar to Ukraine, Finland to Italy. The positive energy and excitement they brought to learn more about the European institutions and to provide concrete solutions is evidence of the power of young people to bring positive changes to our societies.

Unfortunately our efforts were aggressively undermined and attacked by the malicious actions of a far-right youth delegation at the European Youth Event (EYE).

These actions ranged from verbal harassment of vulnerable members of our delegation, ambushing our workshops with large mobs and aiming to dominate discussions around racism by shouting down at fellow participants.

 

This pattern of behaviour was reflected online with pictures of our participants uploaded with hashtags like #stopimmigration. With far-right Members of European Parliament inciting hatred towards our young people.

When these actions led to members of our delegation to feel unsafe, the senior leadership of FEMYSO carried out measures in coordination with the EYE organisers in order to guarantee the safety of our delegates.

We are thankful for the efforts of the European Parliament and the EYE team for their swift reaction to the numerous incidents.

We would like to reiterate, that the harmful rhetoric used by far right leaders have an impact on the lives of young Muslims, as it did today. We call upon the leaders, policy makers and decision makers of European institutions to ensure that Muslims feel safe in these spaces and that hate speech is not tolerated.

Undeterred by fascists, we will continue our work towards creating a more diverse, cohesive and vibrant Europe for all.

 

[ENDS]

Notes

1. FEMYSO (est. 1996) is a network organisation for 32 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.

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

FEMYSO remembers the terrorising consequences of 20 years after 9/11 on the European Action Day Against Islamophobia 

September 2021 marks not only the European Action Day against Islamophobia, but also 20 years after 9/11. FEMYSO, the leading voice of European Muslim youth and students, cannot but stress enough the sickness of the terrorising nature under which they often have to live, work, study and overall, just exist; as well as the sickness of all authorities lacking in ensuring Muslims’ fundamental rights, and in providing security and safety to all Muslims. 

 

With 9/11, Muslims’ faith and identity became a sort of exam which we are forced to take. An exam in the sense of persecution and mockery, and in the form of shame praising, i.e. being forced to comply to the imaginary picture enforced on us describing how we should look and live as Muslims. 

 

As Muslim women undergoing gendered Islamophobia, we say that we shall not remove our headscarves to comply with racist interpretations of ‘neutrality’. As Muslim students and employees, we shall not stop asking for our fundamental right to a safe space where we can perform our prayers. As human beings, we shall not stop fighting for the removal of hate speech in politics and in the public space. 

 

Today, FEMYSO presents to you a hybrid policy talks conference within the frame of project MEET, in which policy priorities for eliminating the discrimination suffered by Muslim women are discussed by high-level speakers. For more information, go here.

 

FEMYSO, together with all our Member Organisations, stay committed to a more diverse, cohesive and vibrant Europe, in which all is free and safe to live and believe as they wish. 

 

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 media-related information or requests please email media@femyso.org. 

Anti-Racism Action Plan (ARAP): 1-Year Anniversary Manifesto

It’s been a year since #BLM (Black Lives Matter) protests were successful in pushing the EU to create an EU Anti-Racism Action Plan. To truly start tackling racism over the next year, over 40 organisations have got solutions. We hope to work constructively with the European Commission to deliver change!

Rather than being protected by police, many racialised communities are victims of racist policing and violence.  The families of Stanislav Tomas, Adil or Ousman Sey are still waiting for justice, as are many more. We’re calling on the Commission to put an end to police brutality, discrimination and violence by extending the Race Equality Directive (RED) to cover law enforcement.

As President von der Leyen stated last year, it is time “to build a truly anti-racist Union – that goes from condemnation to action.” The Commission has promised to ensure that all Member States put forward National Action Plans Against Racism (NAPARs). With COVID-19 devastating our communities in some of the worst ways, we’re calling for these action plans to be finalised, and delivered by 2022. 

It’s time racial justice is mainstreamed in ALL policy areas. Racism does not happen in a vacuum. It’s structural. Let’s include racial justice in climate, digital, economic, education, employment, foreign, defence, gender, migration and security policy. With the increased targeting, arrests and outright banning of anti-racism activists and organisations across Europe, we’re calling on the European Commission to closely scrutinise developments in the Member States and provide concrete support for anti-racist human rights defenders and organisations at risk.

We’re calling for the EU Coordinator on Anti-Racism to work together with civil society in the organisation of the EU Anti-Racism Summit under the French Presidency in March 2022 and to ensure a dynamic and interactive meeting with a focus on structural racism, as well as high-level participation including the President of the Commission and Heads of States.

We want to see the EU Coordinator on Anti-Racism ensure meaningful and regular dialogue between the European Commission and civil society organisations led by racialised groups, communities and organisations.

Finally, it’s time that racialised people are properly represented in the EU institutions and agencies. 

We’re calling on the relevant bodies of the various institutions to put forward its proposals on creating a safe positive environment and strategy that will increase the representation of racialised people and others from underrepresented communities. 

 

To read the manifesto and see the list of civil society organisations, go here.

 

This statement is in cooperation with ENAR (European Network Against Racism), Equinox (Initiative for Racial Justice) and ERGO Network (European Roma Grassroots Organisations Network).

The EU Court of Justice institutionalises sexism and Islamophobia again

Brussels, 16 July 2021  

At FEMYSO, we are utterly outraged at the political decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which once again gives a free pass to employers to ban the Islamic headscarf. This is nothing less than a blatant reduction of the rights of visibly Muslim women in the EU, and thus nothing less than the institutionalisation of Islamophobia.  

Disguised under a layer of ‘neutrality’, the judgement in the joined cases C-804/18 and C-341/19, Wabe and Müller, on the right to wear religious clothing (headscarf) at work, solely panders to the prejudices of customers and employers by favouring racism over the right to non-discrimination. Indeed, the ECJ prioritises the financial interests of employers and prejudiced customers as more important than the rights of those who are perpetually made vulnerable and kept in a vicious circle of discrimination. This case demonstrates that Muslim lives are a justifiable exception to otherwise robust anti-discrimination legislation in the EU.  

Instead of acting as a powerful voice for the social and human aspect of European integration and protecting the rights of those who are most marginalised in our “Union of Equality”, this ruling provides a legal basis for further discrimination against Muslim Women in the job market. In simple terms, the prejudices of some are being placed above the human rights of others.

This political act adds to the hostile environment that Muslim communities face across our region. The 

Impact of islamophobia on our lives both in a structural sense – of which this is an example – and everyday prejudice, cannot be understated, with Muslim women most often as the biggest victims who.

We call on the European Court of Justice to revise this judgement, and EU Member States to stop the obsession with Muslim women’s bodies. We call on the EU and all its institutions to recognise the impact of Islamophobia on its citizens and to work alongside civil society to tackle this disease.

 

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.  
  2. Graphic design credits: Limma Ali / Ali.Illustrate
  3. The Times, 15 July 2021 “Hijab can be banned at work, rules EU court” https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/hijab-can-be-banned-at-work-rules-eu-court-g8px0mlms?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1626347525  
  4. Al Jazeera, 15 July 2021 “Top EU court rules hijab can be banned at work” https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/15/top-eu-court-rules-hijab-can-be-banned-at-work  
  5. For more information or requests please email media@femyso.org.  

 

Remembering Srebrenica: Our Demands as European Muslim Youth

Brussels, 11 July 2021 

FEMYSO commemorates the gruesome Srebrenica genocide on Muslim men on boys in 1995 and honours all the victims. We at the FEMYSO family send our heartfelt condolences to all families and friends of the victims, and remain committed to our fight against the root causes of this massacre. 

It is exactly twenty-six years ago on this day that the worst human massacre took place on European soil after World War II. It was a crime solely driven by a hatred for Bosnian Muslims and enabled by a blatant institutional failure of UN Peacekeeping forces. Human beings were singled out for their faith, whose name sounded ‘Muslim’ while not being religious, to suffer great inhumanity and in the end, to be brutally murdered. Men and boys were separated from their families, women and girls were subjected to rape and torture.  

The brutal murder of more than 8000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica however does not seem to have left a necessary mark to #NeverAgain. As we see the spike of mainstreamed and normalised Islamophobia amongst public and political speeches, rapidly disseminated by traditional and social media, and finally implemented by legislations, we must remain ever committed to fight this injustice while protecting all racialised minorities. 

This is why at FEMYSO, we call for: 

  • Mandatory education of the Srebrenica genocide in history classes 
  • National and EU wide commemoration events by national and EU authorities
  • Mandatory education about anti-Muslim hatred and Islamophobia 

We will continue our fight against any form of racism and our work for a more diverse, cohesive and vibrant Europe. 

 

#WeRemember

 

[End]   

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. 

FEMYSO sends its condolences to the victims of the London, Ontario Islamophobic attack

At FEMYSO, our hearts go out to the loved ones of the victims and wider Canadian Muslim community following the Islamophobic attack in London, Ontario on Sunday evening. We are appalled and deeply saddened that this murderous hit and run took the life of four family members and left the youngest member of nine years old an orphan. 

This was a targeted terrorist attack on a Muslim family because they visibly looked Muslim. Based on police reports, the fact that the suspect does not have a criminal record nor belongs to a hate group, shows the deadly and radicalising nature of Islamophobia. It also shows the even greater need to tackle the institutional and systemic manifestation of Islamophobia, particularly in media where defamatory and unrepresentative narratives around Muslims and Islam are disseminated. Studies have shown that such dehumanising narratives can lead to attacks on entire communities, as seen in London, Ontario and Christchurch, New Zealand. 

As the far right continue their march unchecked on our shores and abroad, spreading hate and radicalising ordinary citizens, Muslim communities across the world constantly live in fear of terrorist attacks like that of Sunday in Canada. This is the real-life impact of the societal disease that is Islamophobia when it is not appropriately addressed by those who hold leadership positions. 

We demand not only justice for victims in Canada but demand that the European Commission, European Parliament and all European states take concrete measures to combat Islamophobia in all its manifestations. 

We ask the most High to accept the victims and provide them with His utmost mercy. May their loved ones find peace during this incredibly difficult time. إِنَّا لِلَّٰهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ Verily we belong to Allah and to Him return. 

 

[End]   

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. Reuters, 8 June 2021 “Man suspected of killing Canadian Muslim family was motivated by hate – police” https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/four-killed-by-car-were-victims-anti-islamic-hate-crime-canada-police-2021-06-07/. 
  1. BBC, 8 June 2021. “Muslim family in Canada killed in ‘premeditated’ truck attack” https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57390398. 
  1. For more information or requests please email media@femyso.org. 

FEMYSO reaffirms its commitment to #BlackLivesMatter

A year on from the murder of George Floyd which inspired a global movement to tackle racism, the Forum of European Muslim Youth and Students Organisations launches our Action Plan to address the realities of racism in our organisation and communities.  

FEMYSO’s 24th General Assembly passed a motion titled ‘Black Lives Matter’ mandating FEMYSO to make an active effort to uplift and support initiatives to tackle anti-black racism both externally in wider society but also internally within Muslim communities, mandating our Executive Committee to produce an Action Plan in order to proactively address anti-blackness and racism.  

A working group was convened, and an Action Plan was put in place to ensure the topic is addressed internally, while simultaneously working to initiate the conversation and awareness within our Member Organisation and amongst Muslim youth across Europe.  

As a first proactive step, a comprehensive anti-black racism awareness training will be a compulsory requirement for the Executive Committee and all project and team leads – these training sessions will be open to all members of Team FEMYSO, with attendance encouraged. In these sessions, we will explore definitions, privilege and responsibilities, racial biases and micro-aggressions – providing guidance to identify specific forms of racial discrimination in all settings.  

As a next step the awareness training will be offered to the Member Organisations of FEMYSO to ensure that these learnings can be implemented at the grassroots level.  

As an organisation, we will also endeavour to ensure that our online platforms are utilised to uplift and disseminate narratives which seek to address anti-black racism in a public sense, our online programming will actively prioritise the issues of racism and prejudice. 

We will also continue to push for change within European institutions and bodies, advocating for the adoption of policies that actively challenge the systemic exclusion and oppression of black communities in society – centring and providing space for voices from black communities in these efforts. We commend the efforts of the European Parliament’s Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup (ARDI) and its MEP co-chairs, as well as the European Network Against Racism of which we are proud members.  

FEMYSO stands with communities and organisations fighting for human rights, fundamental freedoms and human dignity. We will continue to work for a more diverse, cohesive and vibrant Europe. 

#BlackLivesMatter 

Photo by Guillaume Issaly

 

[Ends]   

  

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. FEMYSO, 3 June 2020. “Black Lives Matter – a message of solidarity and a call for action” https://femyso.org/black-lives-matter-a-message-of-solidarity-and-a-call-for-action/ 
  1. FEMYSO, 21 June 2020, “FEMYSO welcomes the European Parliament’s declaration of Black Lives Matter” https://femyso.org/femyso-welcomes-the-european-parliaments-declaration-of-black-lives-matter/ 
  1. For more information or requests please email: media@femyso.org 

While celebrating ‘Eid, our prayers are for Palestine and Afghanistan

On the Islamic holiday of ‘Eid al-Fitr, FEMYSO stands by the victims of the Al-Aqsa Mosque violence, the forcefully displaced and dispossessed Palestinians in Jerusalem, and the victims of the Kabul school attack. While this should be a day of celebration and joy, Muslims around the world continue to suffer from tyrannical oppression and continuous violence in their homes.

We are deeply appalled by the violent attack on peaceful worshippers at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Worshippers in the Al-Aqsa mosque were hit by stun grenades, tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets which caused more than 250+ injuries, while immense damage was caused to Islam’s third holiest site. This violence followed a continuous process of forced displacement of Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem by Israeli settlers, who left Palestinians without any opportunity to protect their fundamental human rights and their human dignity. During these forceful evictions, more than 840 Palestinians were injured. These are clear acts of violence irreconcilable with international law and human rights, which we firmly underline.

Unfortunately, during Ramadan we also observed the horrific murder of 68 people, of which 50 were young girls, at a bomb attack outside a school in Kabul, Afghanistan, which also left 165 injured. This reprehensible act of violence must not go unnoticed. FEMYSO extends its heartfelt condolences to all victims and their families, and its support to the medics treating the injured.

We call on the Council of Europe, the European Commission, European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and Member States to fulfil their obligations to condemn these acts of aggression and terror against civilians. The rights of the Palestinian people to keep their houses in Sheikh Jarrah, and reaffirm the rights of individuals to peacefully and freely worship at the holy site of the Al-Aqsa mosque which must be unequivoically respected and protected.

The last days of Ramadan, the most blessed time for all Muslims in the world, end in deep sadness, trauma, horror, disappointment and fear. We share these emotions and the painful suffering of millions of Muslims across the world. 

Whilst praying for the victims of terror in Palestine and Afghanistan, FEMYSO wishes all Muslims around the world a safe, peaceful and blessed ‘Eid al-Fitr. We hear you, we stand by you and we pray for you.

[End]  

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. 
  2. Al Jazeera, 7 May 2021. “Scores of Palestinians hurt as Israel police storm Al Aqsa: Live.”https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/7/jerusalem-dozens-of-palestinians-hurt-in-al-aqsa-clashes 
  3. Amnesty International, 10 May 2021. “Israel/ OPT: End brutal repression of Palestinians protesting forced displacement in occupied East Jerusalem” https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/05/israel-opt-end-brutal-repression-of-palestinians-protesting-forced-displacement-in-occupied-east-jerusalem/ 
  4. Reuters, 9 May 2021. “At least 68 killed in Afghan school blast, families bury victims” https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/afghan-school-blast-toll-rises-58-families-bury-victims-2021-05-09/ 
  5. For more information or requests please email media@femyso.org

FEMYSO condemns the German Bundesrat’s religious symbols ban through the back door

FEMYSO strongly condemns the Federal Council of the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrat) for a vote which could lead to the erasure of religious symbols from the public sphere. As a pan-European Muslim youth NGO embedded in interfaith and intercultural action, we are appalled by this attack on rights of religious minorities in violation of fundamental freedoms.

On 7 May 2021, Germany marked an unprecedented development by voting in favour of adopting the Clothing Act for Civil Servants (“Erscheinungsbild von Beamtinnen und Beamten”). While this act does not include a specific mention of religious symbols as such and instead defines “symbols reducing trust in their neutrality”, this is in fact nothing less than a loophole on banning religious symbols. It provides a legal mechanism to federal and state authorities to bar public servants from wearing headscarves and kippahs. The decision blatantly disregards the more than 150,000 signatures gathered by German citizens outlining the dangerous nature of this act.

This law comes at a time where Muslims find themselves in the midst of a range of attacks on their freedoms across Europe. In France,we have seen Muslim women and organisations actively being targeted by the French state through the so-called anti-separatism bill, which also entrenches the ban on religious symbols in the public. It would be foolish not to see this move by German legislators as an active effort to mimic tactics used by their French counterparts, weaponizing discrimination against minorities in order to gain politically.  

We are deeply concerned over the far-reaching consequences of this decision which could signal the removal of the presence of Muslims, Jews and other religious minorities from the public sphere – which is at odds with the open and inclusive society we all desire. Therefore, we call on the German legislators to revise their decision and particularly invite the German President not to sign and pass this legislation. Both should explicitly protect the wearing of religious symbols by public servants according to the fundamental right of the freedom of religion.

FEMYSO will continue working towards a diverse, cohesive and vibrant Europe.

[ENDS]  

 

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.

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

 

FEMYSO celebrates Earth Day 2021 – Restore Our Earth

Sustainability and taking care of our earth has been a priority of FEMYSO since our organisation’s existence. Today on the 22nd of April 2021 FEMYSO once again joins the global community in observing Earth Day.

This day represents a movement by people for people. Raising awareness around environmental issues which have a significant influence on many communities all over the globe is one of Earth Day’s main objectives. It is important to remember that the people who suffer most due to climate change are not living in the developed world, but rather in developing countries. The climate change hits already struggling communities hardest with its extreme weathers. It cannot be negated that climate change which causes severe damage to the earth is caused by human interventions.

“Do not pollute the earth after it has been so wholesomely set in order” (Qur’an 7:56). It is an obligation for Muslims to look after the earth that was given to us and to prevent it from getting polluted. It was subdued by God to humans for enjoyment as well as productive use. Hence to treat the earth in a sustainable way is believed as a duty upon humans, for the sake of the earth being God’s creation and for the sake of allowing this generation and the generations to come to harness and appreciate all that earth has to offer.

Fortunately, more and more young people have been prioritising the inclusion of climate action in the political sphere. To support these young individuals FEMYSO is holding an International Climate Action Activity titled “Step-Up and Take Action”. More than 30 young Muslim activists will be taking part in a week-long training to enhance their skills and knowledge on climate advocacy, as well as developing new creative youth-led initiatives. This will empower young people to take the lead in the dialogue with policy- and decision-makers in topics concerning the protection of the earth.

We at FEMYSO strive to equip young individuals with the necessary tools required to have a positive and sustainable impact on the preservation of the earth. We hope to see the hard work of these activists yield fruit, and benefit all of humanity and our environment.

 

[ENDS]

 

Notes

 

  1. FEMYSO (est. 1996) is a network organisation for 32 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.
  2. For more information or requests please email media@femyso.org.