The first European Islamophobia Summit will bring together U.S. and European political, academic and civil society leaders to come up with solutions to Islamophobia in Europe.
Days after Slovakia vowed to refuse entry to Muslim refugees, European and U.S. leaders will discuss ways to tackle the rise of anti-Muslim hate crimes and Islamophobic bigotry from June 24–26 in Sarajevo, Bosnia.
Among the participants will be former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Chairman of Bosnia?'s Presidency Bakir Izetbegovic, Founder of Médecins Sans Frontières Bernard Kouchner, international media anchor Mehdi Hassan Grand Mufti of Sarajevo Husein Kavazovicamongst, and representatives from across 17 European nations and different faith communities.
The goal of the summit is “to understand the phenomenon of islamophobia across Europe and North America and then to come up with some concrete proposals on how various governments across Europe and North America can work together to help resolve these issues,” said Muddassar Ahmad, director of the European Islamophobia Summit.
Photo Credit: www.islamophobiaeurope.com
Academic Advisor to the Summit Dr. Farid Hafez of Salzburg University said ?in a press statement, “Islamophobia represents a major challenge to European democracy, freedoms and its values of tolerance and pluralism."
“Against the backdrop of calls by US Presidential candidate Donald Trump to ban Muslims from entering the USA and Hungary’s Prime Minister and upcoming EU President and Slovak Prime Minister both stating Islam has no place in their countries, the need for a Summit uniting political, academic, media and civil society leaders against Islamophobia is timelier than ever,” said Hafez.
Summit moderator and Director of Development at the Center for Global Policy, Haroon Moghul, said, “Counter-Islamophobia efforts are crucial to counter-extremism efforts. ISIS attacks intend to divide western societies by establishing the ‘grey zone’; the destruction of peaceful co-existence between Muslims and non-Muslims. An Islamophobic reaction is precisely what ISIS terrorists and Far-Right Islamophobic activists hope for in order to realise their clash of civilisations narratives.”
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Key outputs to come from the summit include:
- establishing best practices to combat Islamophobia from across European countries — delivered by leading international academics
- delivering country-specific case studies on the extent of Islamophobia and suggested approaches to tackling it across 17 European nations
- an interfaith Ramadan Iftar dinner
- a panel discussion on how communities can work together to combat different forms of prejudice and bigotry
- the signing of a joint Istanbul-Sarajevo Declaration on Islamophobia, reflecting a renewed commitment and effort to tackling anti-Muslim hate crimes and bigotry by both cities
Other confirmed summit participants include:
- civil society organizations such as British counter-racism group Hope Not Hate, the European Forum of Muslim Women and Turkish Think-Tank SETA
- political figures, including Member of the European Parliament Afzal Khan and British MP Naz Shah
- civil society figures, including American basketball player Indira Kaljo and creator of Islamic superhero comic ?The 99? Naif Al Mutawa
- academic figures including George Town University Research Director Nathan Lean and senior Berkley University lecturer Hatem Bazian
For more information on European Islamophobia, visit www.islamophobiasummit.com.
Main Image Photo Credit: www.jawaab.org.uk
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