Tell MAMA, Our Achievements, Our Effectiveness & Ensuring Positive Change

December 27, 2016 Article

Changing the parliamentary debate on anti-Muslim hate, counter-extremism and Muslim communities

Throughout 2015 and 2016 our staff gave oral and written evidence to various Home Affairs Select Committees. This includes the countering extremism inquiry, the employment opportunities for Muslims in the UK inquiry, and the hate crime and its violent consequences inquiry.

Tell MAMA cited in the Casey Review

Dame Louise Casey was asked to undertake a review into integration and opportunity in our most isolated and deprived communities in 2015. The findings were revealed in a 199-page report. On issues of anti-Muslim hate crime, the report cites figures from our 2015 annual report. On intra-Muslim issues, the Casey Review mentions the rising number of anti-Ahmadiyya cases reported to our service in 2016. The growing violence and bigotry against the Ahmadiyya community is expanded upon in the Faith Matters report ‘Sectarianism, Extremism and Hate Crime, the Impacts on the Ahmadiyya Community’.

Supporting the safety of Muslim students in universities

The Universities UK report ‘Changing the Culture: Report of the Universities UK Taskforce Examining Violence against Women, Harassment and Hate Crime Affecting University Students’ draws heavily from our 2015 annual report and expertise when providing safety tips for Muslim students.

Launching the first ever awards to celebrate those who challenge hate

Tell MAMA and partners celebrate the first annual National Hate Crime Awards 2016. The first annual National Hate Crime Awards took place on November 17, 2016. It celebrated the ‘upstanders’ in our society who have taken a stand against all forms of hate, intolerance and prejudice nationwide. This was part of our wider #No2h8November campaign which has received support from the office of the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner and members of parliament – including Nusrat Ghani MP. Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, Parliamentary Under Secretary at the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), was one of the keynote speakers during the prestigious event. A full list of winners is available online.

Working with government & strengthening communities

In the forward for the government’s wide ranging Hate Crime Action Plan, Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), highlighted the work of Tell MAMA. Our data appears in the religious hate crime section of the Hate Crime Action Plan.

In the media

On July 11 2016, a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary titled ‘Racist Britain’ featured the work of Tell MAMA. The programme explored the rise in racism and xenophobia following the EU Referendum result. Several months later, this topic, and the increase of cases reported to Tell MAMA were also highlighted on the BBC’s flagship Crimewatch programme.

2015 annual report launch in parliament

We launched our annual report in Parliament on June 29. This ground-breaking report titled ‘The Geography of Anti-Muslim Hatred’, it revealed that Muslim women are more likely to be attacked than men in most settings. The largest proportion of perpetrators are white males. This means that the largest proportion of incidents involves Muslim women, usually wearing Islamic clothing – be it the hijab, abaya or niqab. Verbal abuse from men often carries misogynistic, racist and Islamophobic overtones.

Working with the Crown Prosecution Service

Our response to the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) consultation on social media has helped shape their revised guidelines.

Increasing partnerships work with police forces

As we close out 2016, Tell MAMA has partnership agreements in place with 18 separate UK police forces: Metropolitan, City of London, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Humberside, Northamptonshire, Hampshire, Kent, Surrey, Bedfordshire, Dorset, Warwickshire, West Mercia, British Transport Police and Police Service of Northern Ireland. As our Partnerships Officer Jeff Arnold said:

“Although Tell MAMA is a completely independent organisation, it is vital that we work closely with police forces so that we can improve their knowledge of anti-Muslim hatred, ensure that all hate crimes are taken seriously and help victims to access information about their cases when necessary.”

Our work in Europe

At a European level, our hate crime data continues to inform the OSCE/ODIHR on a yearly basis. Our staff contributed to the ‘Forgotten Women: the impact of Islamophobia on Muslim women’ project for the European Network Against Racism (ENAR). Our continued engagement at a European level has included various speaking engagements. This included the first European Union (EU) Annual Colloquium on Fundamental Rights on anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim hatred and hate speech on February 16.

The post Tell MAMA, Our Achievements, Our Effectiveness & Ensuring Positive Change appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Categories: Crown Prosecution Service, Hate Crimes, News, Nusrat Ghani MP, ODIHR, OSCE, police forces

Specifications for Tender for Third Party External Validation Agency for the Tell MAMA Project

December 4, 2016 Article

Tell MAMA maintains a confidential service for victims of anti-Muslim hatred, though any member of the public can report a hate incident or hate crime to the national project.

Tell MAMA is now into its 5^th year of operations and has grown significantly with thousands of users who report in on an annual basis.

We are launching a tender process for an organisation or academic institution for the following activities to be undertaken for the national project and to ensure an external validation process.

The successful applicant will not receive client or victim data, and will received anonymised details of cases to ensure that the cases have been logged accurately as being anti-Muslim in nature and that cases reflect assessments made by Tell MAMA in their annual report for 2016 which will be released in 2017. The successful applicant should also provide further input and ideas around the data that should be included in the Tell MAMA annual report.

In summary, we are looking for the following activities to be conducted in early 2017 as part of this tender process:

Create and implement the assessment of all anonymised cases that have been received in 2016 and assess whether the draft Tell MAMA 2016 report reflects the anonymised cases and data. This will also involve the production of an internal report that will be provided to Tell MAMA as part of the advisory functions required.
Provide advice and guidance to Tell MAMA staff about further lines of commentary, trends or analysis that may be included in the annual report.
Highlight key headline issues that come up from the anonymised data and potential further lines of enquiry that can be undertaken from the anonymised cases.
Maintain an impartial approach in the assessment process and work towards ensuring the integrity around work focussing on anti-Muslim hatred, sometimes called Islamophobia.
Ensure that where required, scrutiny of the anonymised data is undertaken.
Look at additional ways that further data can be developed when supporting victims of anti-Muslim hatred.

As stated this work is to be undertaken in and completed in early 2017 and with further guidance being provided to the successful applicant. All tender documents will be scored on the following areas:

(i) The development of an assessment framework that will ensure that the categorisation and assessments made on the cases are anti-Muslim in nature.
(ii) What types of areas will be included within the internal report produced for Tell MAMA on ensuring whether the data is accurately represented in the Tell MAMA 2016 annual report?
(iii) Methods of ensuring that further data can be developed from support for victims and which will be used for service evaluation purposes and within the annual report, (on an anonymised basis).
(iv) Cost of the proposal with specific timescales.
(v) Previous experience in conducting such an exercise.
(vi) Specialist areas of research into hate incidents and hate crimes developed by the individual, civil society organisation or academic institution.

The deadline for this tender is 5pm on Friday the 23^rd of December 2016.

Tender documents should be sent to the Director of Tell MAMA, on info@tellmamauk.org and marked for Ms Atta.

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Categories: external validating body, hate crime analysis, News, tendering, validation process

A Step by Step View of the Paris Attacks Last Year. We Remember

November 13, 2016 Article

The new facade of the Bataclan concert hall is seen after months of renovations at the site almost one year after a series of attacks at several sites in Paris, France, France, October 27, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

The attacks in Paris on November 13, 2015 by gunmen and suicide bombers left 130 dead and hundreds wounded.
It began at 21:20 local time (20:20 GMT) with an explosion outside the Stade de France stadium. A routine security check, had, according to the Wall Street Journal, prevented the 20-year-old suicide bomber, Bilal Hadfi, from entering. Inside was an international football friendly between Germany and France. When confronted by security, the man decided to detonate his vest outside of Gate D, one of the main entrance’s. The resulting explosion killed himself and a bystander.

Ten minutes later, at Gate H, a second suicide bomber detonated his vest. A third suicide bomber targeted a branch of McDonald’s near the stadium.

It would emerge later that all three men wore the same sophisticated suicide vest. According to the Paris prosecutor, François Molins, the detonator contained nails to increase its lethality. The vests contained TATP, a peroxide-based and highly volatile explosive.

The blasts were audible inside the stadium and the sounds immortalised by television cameras. President Francois Hollande was escorted from the stadium at 21:30 following the second explosion.

Manuel Colaço Dias, a 63-year-old chauffeur and Portuguese national was the first victim of the November attacks. He moved to France at the age of 18 to escape Portugal’s authoritarian regime. For the past decade, he had worked for a shuttlebus company, before retiring in 2012. That fateful Friday was a day he did not want to work. But he accepted the request of a group of spectators who were running late. Dias died on the spot from the suicide vest blast.

Dias adored Sporting Clube de Portugal. And the Portuguese club paid tribute to him on November 15. The club’s official English-language Twitter account tweeted: “For Manuel Colaço Dias, a lion who fell victim to the terrorist acts in Paris.”

On the club’s official website, a statement concluded: “Sporting Clube de Portugal would like to offer our most sincere condolences to the family and friends of all of those caught up in the attack on Paris.”

Yet, amid the tragedy came an act of heroism which saved many other lives. Salim Toorabally, a 42-year-old devout Muslim of Mauritian origin, is the security guard who stopped Hadfi from entering the stadium. In an interview with NBC News, he insists that he was ‘just doing is job’.

He caught one man trying to enter the stadium without a ticket. He told Hadfi: “If you don’t have a ticket, I’m not letting you in.’” He warned another guard not to let the man in when he attempted to pass through a second turnstile without a ticket.

Minutes later, Toorabally heard the explosion which continues to haunt him. His actions saved hundreds of lives. Nor will he forget the face of Bilal Hadfi. The man who killed himself and Manuel Colaço Dias. He reflected that he, and countless others could have been killed.

In March 2016, the French newspaper L’Equipe invited Toorabally to meet with the France midfielder Blaise Matuidi, who told him: “You are more than a hero.”

Meanwhile, in a different part of the city, at 21:25, gunmen opened fire at patrons of Le Carillon and Le Petit Cambodge with assault rifles. It left 15 people dead and 10 injured.

Days after the shootings, members of the Algerian family who own Le Carillon spoke of their grief. A popular destination in a trendy area by Canal Saint Martin.

Witnesses initially believed that firecracker had been set off, before the realisation that they were under fire from semi-automatic weapons.

Momo, a family member, told the Local France: “There was blood everywhere, people lying on floor, screaming and shouting. My cousin’s a doctor and came down stairs and started treating people. People were shouting for scissors to cut off clothes.”

One of the victims was Amine Ibnolmobarak, a 29-year-old teacher and architect from Morocco. He and his wife were dining Carillon terrace before the attacks began. and his French wife, Maya Nemeta, was shoot three times but survived. Other names of the dead included twins Charlotte and Emilie Meaud, aged 29.

The names of dead from the Le Petit Cambodge restaurant shootings included student Justine Moulin, 23. And 27-year-old Chloe Boissinot. She was from Château-Larcher in the Poitou-Charentes region, where 150 people held a silence in her honour.

Within a matter of minutes, witnesses recalled seeing the same black car, as gunfire outside of Cafe Bonne Bière and La Casa Nostra pizzeria in rue de la Fontaine au Roi, left five people dead and wounded eight. The cafe re-opened three weeks later.

At 21:38 gunmen opened fire outside the La Belle Equipe restaurant. Within two or three minutes, 19 were dead. One of the victims was 41-year-old Djamila Houd – who died in the arms of her husband Gregory Reibenberg – who owns La Belle Equipe. She was Muslim and he was Jewish.

Houda Saadi, the 35-year-old waitress and manager of LA Belle Equipe, of Tunisian descent, was another Muslim victim of the Paris attacks.

By 21:40 Braham Abdeslam had detonated his suicide vest at the restaurant Le Comptoir Voltaire on the Boulevard Voltaire. It left one person injured.

The deadliest attack began at 21:40 inside the 1,500-seat Bataclan hall, where the Californian rock band Eagles of Death Metal were entertaining a sold out crowd.

Three men wearing suicide vests entered the venue with assault rifles. Prosecutors state that the gunmen shouted “Allahu akbar” and made references to Syria and Iraq.

The attackers threw grenades and opened fire on the crowds. This wave of violence left eighty-nine dead. At least 99 people were eventually taken to hospital in critical condition. Some escaped the developing hostage situation. Some escaped by accessing the roof. Others did their best to hide.

Just after midnight the police assault ended the siege. Two of the attackers died by detonating their suicide vests.
The names of the dead included Anne and Pierre-Yves Guyomard, who hoped that after two years of marriage that children would soon follow. Cecile Martin, a 33-year-old clinical psychologist. Christophe Mutez, a 48-year-old employee of the software firm PROS France. Gilles Leclerc, a 32-year-old florist who attended the concert with his girlfriend, who survived the attacks. Helene Muyal, was a 35-year-old makeup artist who leaves behind a husband and their 17-month-old son. Eric Thome was a 39-year-old photographer and graphic designer. He was to embrace fatherhood for a second time in the weeks ahead. Nick Alexander, from Colchester, was at the Bataclan selling band merchandise.

Police later identified their killers as Omar Ismail Mostefai, 29, Samy Animour, 28, and Foued Mohamed-Aggad, 23.
Three hours of sheer terror would have lasting impacts in France and beyond.

At Tell MAMA, we did record a tripling of incidents. Our 2015 annual report noted that in the three weeks during and after the attacks there were 82 anti-Muslim incidents recorded. This short-term spike of 328 per cent confirmed an earlier estimate given to the Independent newspaper.

Cases reported to our service following the attacks again demonstrated gender bias. In one such example highlighted on November 18, 2015. A member of the public reported: “I saw a man behave inappropriately and make racist comments to a young woman on the tube where a white man wouldn’t sit next to a young girl with a hijab on. He called her a ‘dirty P***’ and [told her] to ‘f*** off back to Syria because girls do not wear hijabs in England’.
“I wanted to say something but was quite scared as none of the commuters did anything and looked away. She did speak back to him politely, and said: ‘I’m a British-Pakistani and am not forcing my faith on you or anyone else’.
Other examples of abuse included slurs which singled Muslims out as ‘terrorists’. Some had the indignity of a stranger shouting ‘ISIS’ in their direction.

Another high profile Tell MAMA case included the abuse directed at a Muslim couple in the Greater Manchester area. The unnamed couple had completed their shopping and were returning to their car when the abuse began. The female perpetrator went on to accuse the couple of being ‘terrorists’. She then attacked the woman due to her hijab and had unsuccessfully tried to tear it off. This. however, was not the end of the ordeal. A member of the public who had witnessed the attack sided with the perpetrator. It served to compound their outrage and humiliation.

Our 2015 annual report found that hotspots of anti-Muslim hate occur when Muslims use public and private transport networks, walk in public spaces of cities, and where they do their shopping. Muslim women are more likely to be attacked than men in most settings. The number of offline incidents have trebled from 146 in 2014/15 (12 months to March 2015) to 437 ‘offline’ incidents in the 2015 calendar year. This shows an increase of 300 per cent and there was an increase over time on the previous reporting period by 200 per cent.

One such incident typifies this trend: A Muslim woman out with family was confronted by an aggressive male who gesticulated about ‘killing them all’. The perpetrator had been silent and gave no early indication about motive. They felt targeted due to their religious identity. This incident occurred less than a week after the Paris attacks.
In the news media, Tell MAMA published an open letter to the Daily Mail, after a cartoon in the wake of the Paris attacks inferred that refugees and Muslims pose a violent threat to Europe.

Nor was the spike in anti-Muslim hate crimes and incidents restricted to Tell MAMA. The Metropolitan Police had also recorded a tripling of Islamophobic hate crimes and incidents. In the two weeks before the November 13 attacks, the Met recorded 24 Islamophobic crimes. Two weeks later that figure jumped to 76. In response to the rising hate crime, the Met increased its patrol and had more than 900 dedicated hate crime officers.

Attacks on Muslims, be it verbally or physically, did not just happen on the streets or social media. At around 2:15am on November 17, someone attempted to burn down the Bishopbriggs Cultural Centre in Auchinairn Road in the East Dunbartonshire town. The building is listed as a mosque on the Glasgow Muslims website.

Firefighters contained the blaze. Some damage resulted in financial loss but no-one was hurt as a result of the blaze. Police Scotland arrested a 41-year-old in connection to the blaze on October 20, 2016.

Hate crime spikes are not always easy to predict. In the case of both Paris attacks, we found that elevated number of reports came into Tell MAMA. Not all cases will directly cite the event – yet they represent how a climate of fear can impact cohesion. Others drawn into extremist right-wing narratives have long continued to exploit these tragedies for political gain. This sometimes extends to non-violent extremist hate speech online. Or, sadly, street based incidents. Not all perpetrators demonstrate far-right proclivities. Yet it speaks to how entrenched certain anti-Muslim narratives have become. Yet, an upsurge in reports also demonstrates that Muslims are more aware of the importance of reporting incidents. This includes confidential third party services like Tell MAMA or the police.

The post A Step by Step View of the Paris Attacks Last Year. We Remember appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Categories: Amine Ibnolmobarak, Bilal Hadfi, Foued Mohamed-Aggad, Francois Molins, Justine Moulin, Manuel Colaço Dias, News, Omar Ismail Mostefai, Opinions, Paris attacks, Salim Toorabally, Samy Animour, terrorism

Statement from Tell MAMA on the Conservative Party Conference

October 5, 2016 Article

Today is a key day for the Conservatives with the Prime Minister making a key-note speech which will affect each and every one of us in our country in the future. The Prime Minister is someone who has also championed work on tackling hate crimes and has done much to ensure that fairness and equality in issues like hate crime work and stop and search is championed. Today is her day and for the future of the Party and we value the incredible amount of work she has done in these areas as the Home Secretary.

This is why we believe that we do not want to become the story which affects this Party conference and there are far more important things that are stake. This does not however, mean that the behaviour shown to us by Conservative conference and G4S staff will be set aside when we had booked and tried to gain access to our fringe yesterday.

In particular, to register, book, turn up and be denied access to our own fringe event and to have G4S staff placed around our staff and insult them, whilst openly making homophobic comments against an LGBT member of staff is unacceptable and these comments were heard by senior managers within Tell MAMA. Furthermore, to be then threatened with violence by two G4S staff and to be denied access to our fringe when we are there to inform people about anti-Muslim hatred, does not bode well.

Our work is difficult enough as it is challenging some groups within Muslim communities who sell a view that Muslims are perpetual victims. We have to constantly challenge that destructive view. There are others beyond Muslim communities who believe that Muslims should not be seen nor heard. There are also those who believe that anti-Muslim hatred does not exist and that Muslims ‘bring it upon themselves’. In the middle of these toxic views, we try and undertake our work and under a barrage of abuse, threats and intimidation over the last 5 years, both from groups selling the perpetual victim narrative and those on the extreme far right.

Our work forms a central plank of the Hate Crime Strategy of this Government.

Yesterday, if we can be honest, it seemed that the very dignity of victims that we try and preserve through our work, was stripped from our staff.

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Categories: anti-Muslim hate, Conservative Party conference, fringe, News, Teresa May

We Welcome Luke Holland Onto the Tell MAMA Team

August 11, 2016 Article

Luke Holland has been appointed as our West Midlands Organiser

This week we welcome Luke Holland to the Tell MAMA team. Luke has been appointed as our West Midlands Organiser and will be focussing on working with grass-roots engagement in the West Midlands in tackling anti-Muslim hate or Islamophobia.

Luke is an energetic, outspoken individual who has a passion for tackling Islamophobia and all forms of prejudices. Luke has been working hard in Birmingham over the last few years in tackling Islamophobia head on and will work hard in the Midlands to combat anti- Muslim hatred.

On his appointment Luke said:

“I’m delighted to have been appointed as the West Midlands Organiser for Tell MAMA. Tell MAMA works so hard to tackle Islamophobia and I’m proud to be part of an organisation that is at the forefront in tackling this vile stain on our society. The West Midlands is such a diverse multi-cultural region and I’m proud to call it my home. I’m looking forward to the challenge and I’m hoping to make some real change.”

Tell MAMA founder Fiyaz Mughal said:

“Luke is precisely the young person that we need challenging and working to ensure that anti-Muslim hatred is tackled. He understands that hatred, intolerance and prejudice is a cancer that causes deep divisions in communities and his values on tackling all forms of hatred collectively are in line with our values. This means standing with other communities and ensuring that prejudice within communities is challenged. We welcome Luke to the team and look forward to working with him.”

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Categories: anti-Muslim hatred, Luke Holland, News, West Midlands Organiser

Response to Dispatches ‘Racist Britain’ Programme Lifts the Soul

July 12, 2016 Article

Yesterday evening, Channel 4’s Dispatches aired the following programme, entitled ‘Racist Britain.’

The programme highlighted the racist and anti-Muslim hatred which blights the lives of some people who are targeted by perpetrators with openly racist and bigoted views. The programme provided an insight into bigoted activities in our country which deserve nothing but contempt and strong action from us all by challenging, condemning and reporting in the perpetrators.

During the course of the programme, staff at Tell MAMA received abusive and threatening phone calls from 8 pm to 9 pm and with threats and racist and anti-Muslim abuse being left on our voicemail messaging services. These were logged and sent to the police.

Yet, we also received some of the most beautiful messages from members of the public and we wanted to highlight just one of the many we received. There are many within our country who simply will not accept such hatred and intolerance and this story is in honour of the silent majority who go about their daily lives and who challenge and question the hatred of others in a desire to build a more integrated, harmonious and cohesive country.

Response from member of the public to Tell MAMA, 11/07/2016

Sir,

Having just watched C4Dispatches, I am writing to TM from a different perspective in terms of prevailing perceptions.

I am white, English, public school educated and privileged. Now in my 60s, as I child I grew-up in Singapore. It was there that a lifelong enduring memory of honesty, decency, loyalty, and warmth of love was seeded. It was seeded by a humble taxi driver, ‘Osman’. Every school day for three years, unhesitatingly Osman ferried me to and from my school and my home in his taxi, of which he was exceedingly proud. He cared. He was generous of heart and action. He counselled. He joked. He laughed. He moaned. He was one of the most decent human beings I have known. He was also a proud Muslim. He had undertaken Hajj three times. He told me about his pilgrimage experiences. I was in awe as he regaled me of its time, distance, numbers and method. He always wore his faith, with pride. For many, many years after, Osman was, to me, the epitome of the Muslim faith. He still is. Osman died many years ago and when I found this out, I cried. The tears seared as they ran. Therefore, when today I witness the mayhem of hate, confusion, vitriol, bitterness, and loss, and when I see fingers pointing at the Muslim faith, I think of this humble taxi driver, and I know that as a representative of your faith, Osman is its truth and its reality. Society needs more ‘Osman’ – a subliminally respectful preacher and teacher, and a goodly, humble man.

This is my enduring impression of the Muslim faith. All should thank Osman.

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Categories: anti-Muslim hatred, Brexit, Channel 4, Eastern European, Opinions, Racist Britain, Rotherham, taxi drivers

Success: Circulate the ‘Burn Your Local Mosque’ Graphic and You Will Be Arrested

April 16, 2016 Article

We have just received information that a case which Tell MAMA reported in, regarding the on-line circulation of a graphic entitled “burn your local mosque,” will lead to an arrest.

We have seen this graphic circulated previously by a number of people and we have been informed that the graphic image which depicts a mosque in flames, will lead to arrests.

We were notified that a police force took away the computer equipment of the perpetrator, who admitted to the crime offence of ‘publishing and distributing a Facebook post which is threatening, abusive or insulting to stir up and incite racial hatred.’ This is contrary to Section 19 of the Public Order Act 1986.

The perpetrator has been bailed and will appear in court for sentencing.

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The post Success: Circulate the ‘Burn Your Local Mosque’ Graphic and You Will Be Arrested appeared first on Faith Matters.

Categories: arrest, burn, Burn Your Local Mosque, crime, graphic, hate crime, mosque, News, online, Public Order Act 1986

Vacancy – Caseworker Role within Tell MAMA

March 22, 2016 Article

Tell MAMA – Caseworker Post Vacancy

Role Responsibilities

The main roles and responsibilities of the Case Worker include:

Assist callers into the Tell MAMA hotline and implement effective case management and recording systems, serving as first point of contact
Offer a ‘listening ear’ for all callers and provide advice and signposting to further sources of support or justice where beyond the remit of the project
Implement and adhere to strict data protection procedures in accordance with the Date Protection Act and organisational policy
Review existing cases and ensure that they are actioned and closed.
Work together with the wider programme team to assist in the preparation of a variety of briefings, reports and research documents
Work together with the wider team to prepare and deliver informative workshops and outreach sessions to build community awareness and confidence
Maintain internal and external communications relative to the post including developing and maintaining relationships with external stakeholders and ensuring stakeholders are kept informed.
Work together with the wider team to assist in the development and implementation of training sessions for volunteers and other team members as required
Periodically attend relevant training and development sessions and conferences.
Participate in team review sessions, one to one sessions and in audits that funding bodies may undertake.

In addition to any other duties as required.

Person Specification

Essential:

Excellent English communication (verbal and written) skills
At least 12 months’ experience in a similar role
Understanding of and empathy with victims of crime
Ability to sensitively provide services to beneficiaries with differing language, cultural and religious backgrounds within a multicultural environment.
Experience of liaising with statutory and non-statutory service providers on behalf of beneficiaries
Ability to liaise with and work in partnership with other agencies, interpreters and volunteers
Demonstrable commitment to equal opportunities and diversity
Well organised with experience of working under pressure, prioritising workloads and meeting targets/deadlines.
Excellent IT skills, including use of Microsoft Office packages
Ability to work on own initiative without supervision and the ability to work as team member.
Understanding of social media platforms

Desirable:

Fluency in a community language (e.g. Bengali, Punjabi, Hindi and/or Urdu)
Experience of working with Muslim communities
Experience within and understanding of the field of anti-Muslim hate and Islamophobia

Terms and Salary

Hours: Full time, 37.5 hours per week

Contract: 12 months fixed-term contract (subject to extension)

Salary: £25K (gross)

Location: London (occasional travel within the UK may be required)

How to Apply and Next Steps

To apply, please submit a CV and Covering Letter (outlining your interest in the role and the ways in which you meet the essential and any desirable skills, competencies and experience required) to info@tellmamauk.org by 31^st March 2016

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Categories: anti-Muslim hate, Caseworker, job vacancy, Opinions

You Cannot Pick & Choose on Issues of Equality; Appeasing Such Groups is Just As Bad

October 25, 2015 Article

Through the work that we do in Tell MAMA, it is clear we have been blessed with many people who are committed to tackling anti-Muslim hatred. Many of these people do the work selflessly and with commitment to tackling prejudice, bigotry and hatred. We honour and value them.

On the rare occasions where there are concerns, they come about due to individuals acting beyond their capacity in an advisory role to Tell MAMA and potentially affecting the values and ethos on which we are built. This cannot be allowed to happen.

We recently highlighted an example of those who have sought to undermine the reputation of Tell MAMA by. These links can be found here and here.

A collective decision made within the structures of Tell MAMA means that we cannot work with such groups and those who try to go beyond existing structures within Tell MAMA, with a view to engaging such groups with any of the senior leadership team of Tell MAMA, cannot in our collective view, continue with us.

There are core values that we are built on within Tell MAMA which mean that those who pick and choose on issues of equality at the expense of others, are people and organisations we will not work with or engage with. There is no ‘picking and choosing’ on issues of equality. It is as simple as that.

We wish Mohammed Amin the best.

Categories: MyBlog

The Maintainers of Segregated Mindsets – Meet The New Breed of Isolationists

October 4, 2015 Article

There are those who think that calling individuals ‘House Muslims’ who are in the public domain and who work on issues affecting Muslim communities, a perfectly normal and acceptable statement. There are those who believe that by Muslims trying to give people the best opportunities through equality, they automatically become Muslims who serve the ‘white master’ and who promulgate the ‘slavery’ of Muslims.

Yes, there are such people within small sections of Muslim communities, (no doubt there are others in other communities), who promote this statement actively on social media and who then take offence, when they are told that if they promote a ‘them and us’, a ‘white and black’ style of thinking, then they should leave the UK and go back to places of their cultural ancestry. For them, the most offensive issue is the latter with no consideration of the divides which they promote and when they effectively call other Muslims, ‘House N…..s’. This is what we are dealing with in modern day Britain.

One can be forgiven for thinking that such commentary probably took place in the United States in the 1960’s as movements like the Black Panther movement took off, partly driven by police brutality and a sense of deep injustice about the legal, social and civil status of African American communities in the United States. Yet, we are talking about individuals making such statements today in modern day Britain.

So here is the issue at hand. Having sat on a Committee that looked at the balance between free speech and diversity in the University of Westminster, in the wake of concerns about extremism on its campuses, the findings of the committee were highlighted in this report which they recently released. The resulting abuse on social media directed at me included the following:

The work undertaken in Faith Matters and Tell MAMA does not get funded by Prevent, which is the usual smear thrown about by some small sections of individuals in Muslim communities, as though the Government is the most significant threat to Muslim communities. But to hear a young Asian man, probably born and brought up in this country, call another individual a ‘House N…..r’ is pretty shocking. Yet, he is not the only one. Other public figures who happen to be Muslim and who have stood up and got involved in complex issues around tackling extremism, radicalisation and integration have also been labelled, effectively as the House Slave of the ‘White man or woman.’ Furthermore, these are not isolated incidents and in 2015, it is deeply worrying to see people who believe that working within the mainstream is being a slave to ‘white power structures,’ as they imply an association between ‘House Muslim’ to ‘House N…..r’. These are young men who believe that mental separation, segregation and alienation is perfectly acceptable, yet they live here in the UK and in this instance, in East London.

My response to such an individual on my Facebook page was to say that if he did not like the UK, (and by default other communities), then he should go back to Bangladesh and Pakistan. Maybe the response was flippant, I accept that, but it does not take away from the very basic fact that we have people living in the heart of our capital and in our country, who regard wider communities as subjugating them, when they themselves promote a state of division. It seems that the people with a closeted and imprisoned mind-set are these young men who think that they live in a state of perpetual separation and as though anyone beyond the circle of whom they find acceptable, is a cultural, societal or even religious threat.

What I am demonstrating here, is the fact that there are some within Black and Minority Ethnic communities who believe this and who believe that there is a state of subjugation which they themselves self-perpetuate to some degree. Racism and prejudice exist, I know that from the heart of the work we do in Tell MAMA and bigotry affects lives and economic chances. I know that on a daily basis and we have countered those who deny anti-Muslim hate, on many occasions with little or no support from others. But the key point is this. This corrosive thinking can become all-encompassing and self-perpetuating and we need to highlight this, acknowledge it and counter it.

Let’s be clear. White men and women are not ‘the problem’, nor is any race, culture or religion. Power structures are and if we go back to the very basis of the root of the discussion, to the Westminster University report, the findings show a power structure within the Islamic society that went against pluralism and diversity. The subsequent response by a small minority of Muslims on social media is to re-enforce a ‘them and us’ mentality and in some ways, perversely accept those power structures as if they are the moral guardians of what is right and wrong, good or bad.

We have a long way to go on integration it seems, so next time someone raised the issue of ‘House Muslim’ in the public arena, don’t forget what they are saying. They are perpetuating, in their own way, the very segregation and separationism that is a cancer and blight on communities.

Categories: anti-Muslim hate, Hate Crimes, MyBlog, News