Tuesday 27-11-2018 - 16:49

Bristol SU, JSoc and Brisoc stand together against anti-semitism and islamophobia

Bristol SU’s Equality, Liberation & Access Officer, Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Network and the University of Bristol Islamic Society (Brisoc) work together year-round to tackle all forms of racism and discrimination on campus, including Islamophobia.

They teamed up to host this year’s #IAMBristol (Islamophobia Awareness Month), including the event ‘My Scarf, My Choice’, a panel discussion on Islam, feminism and the right to choose.

Last week, students raised concerns with #IAM organisers about an antisemitic tweet from one of the panellists. This tweet was deeply antisemitic and played into offensive tropes about Jews. We strongly condemn this rhetoric.  

This morning, #IAM organisers met with members of the Brisoc, and the University of Bristol Jewish Society (JSoc) to ensure both Jewish Students and Muslim students were heard on this issue. We jointly took the decision to postpone the event.

We still believe that it is incredibly important to have an event that discusses the choices and experiences of Muslim women in regards to wearing headscarves, and includes representation of niqabi women. Hence, we will be rescheduling this event to take place at a future date.

 We have asked for an apology from the speaker before she can speak at our event, and members of JSoc have offered to meet with the speaker to encourage dialogue around antisemitism.  

We also want to challenge some of the islamophobic public responses to our event (an article in Epigram and a public statement from several student societies), which have promoted division, not unity, and made many Muslim students feel vulnerable. These statements used inflammatory language and cited questionable sources to undermine Muslims who are tackling Islamophobia. The panel event was about women’s rights to choose, and were incorrectly conflated with extremism.

The Epigram Editor was part of our meeting this morning and apologised for his article. Bristol SU and Epigram have committed to working together, alongside faith societies, to ensure safer reporting on issues affecting Muslim students in the future.  #IAM Organisers will also be reaching out to student societies who made a public statement to invite them to meet and discuss our concerns further.

We believe that antisemitism and Islamophobia must not be pitted against each other, but rather tackled together as two forms of oppression. Jsoc and Brisoc have a proud history of working together in the spirit of interfaith and will continue to host events and discourse that reflect this unity.

#IAM will continue to raise awareness of islamophobia and tackle racism on campus - our “Ask A Muslim” stall will take place on Wednesday, 12-4 Tyndall Avenue and we would encourage all students to come along for a free drink, snacks and great discussion!

If you have any further concerns, feel free to ask us.

Sally Patterson- ELA Officer and  #IAM organiser

Eva Larkai - BME Network Chair and #IAM organiser

Khadija Meghrawi - Brisoc Interfaith Officer and #IAM organiser

Afrida Hussain - President of Brisoc

Gideon Ezra - President of Jsoc