Motion Calling on Hackney Council to Adopt the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims definition of Islamophobia.
Hackney has a long history of being a welcoming borough. It is a diverse place, where people from all backgrounds-different nationalities, religions and sexualities live side-by-side and where over 14 percent of the population is Muslim.
The council notes: Hackney is committed to tackling all forms of hate and discrimination, and has a history of doing so.
· In November 2016, Hackney Council voted in support of a motion condemning hate crime, and committed to develop a hate crime strategy.
· We appointed a Hackney No Place for Hate Crime Champion in 2017 and began highlighting the work of tackling hate crime. A Hackney Faith Network was also established involving Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders.
· In January 2018, the Cabinet approved Council’s strategy for tackling hate crime 2018-2020
· This council expressed alarm at the rise of antisemitism and as Hackney has the second highest Jewish population in London, Hackney Council passed a motion adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism in February 2018
· In March 2018, the council consulted on its draft strategy for tackling hate crime and published Hackney: No Place for Hate – Hackney Council’s Strategy for Tackling Hate Crime 2018-22
· In March 2019, Hackney Mayor, Speaker and Councillors took a stance against the recent terrorist attacks in New Zealand on Mosques in Christchurch, attending an interfaith solidarity event organised jointly by Hackney’s Muslim community, North London Muslim Community Centre, Clapton Mosque (Madina Mosque Trust) and the Cazenove Road Mosque (Masjid-e-Quba), attended by Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders along with others.
Following an extensive consultation, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for British Muslims formulated a working definition of Islamophobia.
“Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness”
Contemporary examples of Islamophobia in public life, the media, schools the workplace , and in encounters between religions and non-religions in the public sphere could, taking into account the overall context, include, but are not limited to:
· Calling for, aiding, instigating or justifying the killing or harming of Muslims in the name of a racist fascist ideology, or an extremist view of religion.
· Making mendacious, dehumanizing or stereotypical allegations about Muslims as such, or of Muslims as a collective group, such as, especially but not exclusively, conspiracies about Muslim entryism in politics, government or other societal institutions; the myth of Muslim identity having a unique propensity for terrorism and claims of a demographic ‘threat’ posed by Muslims or of a ‘Muslim takeover’.
· Accusing Muslims as a group of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Muslim person or group of Muslim individuals, or even for acts committed by non-Muslims.
· Accusing Muslims as a group, or Muslim majority states, of inventing or exaggerating Islamophobia, ethnic cleansing or genocide perpetrated against Muslims.
· Accusing Muslim citizens of being more loyal to the ‘Ummah’ (transnational Muslim community) or to their countries of origin, or to the alleged priorities of Muslims worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.
· Denying Muslim populations the right to self-determination.
· Applying double standards by requiring of Muslims behaviours that are not expected or demanded by any other groups in society (e.g. loyalty tests).
· Using the symbols and images associated with classic Islamophobia (e.g. Muhammed being a paedophile, claims of Muslims spreading Islam by the sword or subjecting minority groups under their rule) to characterize Muslims as being ‘sex groomers’, inherently violent or incapable of living harmoniously in plural societies.
· Holding Muslims collectively responsible for the actions of any Muslim majority state, whether secular or constitutionally Islamic.
· This list is not exhaustive but forms guidelines to recognise markers of Islamophobia in today’s context.
“Islamophobia is rooted in racism, and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness”.
This Council resolves to:
· Speak out against Islamophobia and its rise in recent years across the UK and around the world.
· Condemn all bigotry and any discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, religion, denomination or any characteristic protected by the Equality Act.
· Endorse and adopt the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims’ definition of Islamophobia.
Proposer: Cllr Humaira Garasia
Seconded: Cllr Caroline Woodley
Decision:
RESOLVED:
Hackney has a long history of being a welcoming borough. It is a diverse place, where people from all backgrounds-different nationalities, religions and sexualities live side-by-side and where over 14 percent of the population is Muslim.
The council notes: Hackney is committed to tackling all forms of hate and discrimination, and has a history of doing so.
· In November 2016, Hackney Council voted in support of a motion condemning hate crime, and committed to develop a hate crime strategy.
· We appointed a Hackney No Place for Hate Crime Champion in 2017 and began highlighting the work of tackling hate crime. A Hackney Faith Network was also established involving Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders.
· In January 2018, the Cabinet approved Council’s strategy for tackling hate crime 2018-2020
· This council expressed alarm at the rise of antisemitism and as Hackney has the second highest Jewish population in London, Hackney Council passed a motion adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism in February 2018
· In March 2018, the council consulted on its draft strategy for tackling hate crime and published Hackney: No Place for Hate – Hackney Council’s Strategy for Tackling Hate Crime 2018-22
· In March 2019, Hackney Mayor, Speaker and Councillors took a stance against the recent terrorist attacks in New Zealand on Mosques in Christchurch, attending an interfaith solidarity event organised jointly by Hackney’s Muslim community, North London Muslim Community Centre, Clapton Mosque (Madina Mosque Trust) and the Cazenove Road Mosque (Masjid-e-Quba), attended by Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders along with others.
Following an extensive consultation, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for British Muslims formulated a working definition of Islamophobia.
“Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness”
Contemporary examples of Islamophobia in public life, the media, schools the workplace , and in encounters between religions and non-religions in the public sphere could, taking into account the overall context, include, but are not limited to:
· Calling for, aiding, instigating or justifying the killing or harming of Muslims in the name of a racist fascist ideology, or an extremist view of religion.
· Making mendacious, dehumanizing or stereotypical allegations about Muslims as such, or of Muslims as a collective group, such as, especially but not exclusively, conspiracies about Muslim entryism in politics, government or other societal institutions; the myth of Muslim identity having a unique propensity for terrorism and claims of a demographic ‘threat’ posed by Muslims or of a ‘Muslim takeover’.
· Accusing Muslims as a group of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Muslim person or group of Muslim individuals, or even for acts committed by non-Muslims.
· Accusing Muslims as a group, or Muslim majority states, of inventing or exaggerating Islamophobia, ethnic cleansing or genocide perpetrated against Muslims.
· Accusing Muslim citizens of being more loyal to the ‘Ummah’ (transnational Muslim community) or to their countries of origin, or to the alleged priorities of Muslims worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.
· Denying Muslim populations the right to self-determination.
· Applying double standards by requiring of Muslims behaviours that are not expected or demanded by any other groups in society (e.g. loyalty tests).
· Using the symbols and images associated with classic Islamophobia (e.g. Muhammed being a paedophile, claims of Muslims spreading Islam by the sword or subjecting minority groups under their rule) to characterize Muslims as being ‘sex groomers’, inherently violent or incapable of living harmoniously in plural societies.
· Holding Muslims collectively responsible for the actions of any Muslim majority state, whether secular or constitutionally Islamic.
· This list is not exhaustive but forms guidelines to recognise markers of Islamophobia in today’s context.
“Islamophobia is rooted in racism, and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness”.
This Council resolves to:
· Speak out against Islamophobia and its rise in recent years across the UK and around the world.
· Condemn all bigotry and any discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, religion, denomination or any characteristic protected by the Equality Act.
· Endorse and adopt the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims’ definition of Islamophobia.
Carried by unanimous agreement