
Activist and spokesperson for the Muslim Council, Miqdaad Versi’s Twitter thread has gone viral after he explained in painstaking detail why being Islamophobic is being racist, and he’s urging the government to reconsider its rejection of the recent all party parliamentary group’s (APPG) definition.
Change UK's Anna Soubry, who co-chairs the APPG called the government’s rejection of the recent proposed definition of Islamophobia a “revealing moment for the Conservative Party.”
Writing forThe Independentin a scathing column, she remarked: “The government should embrace it and then get on with rooting out Islamophobia in Britain. They could do no better than to start in rooting it out in the Conservative Party itself.”
The all party parliamentary group (APPG) on Muslims recently proposed the following definition:
Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.
It has been adopted by every political party (including the Scottish Conservative Party) bar the DUP and the national Conservative Party.
A government spokesperson said it would consider the change last year, but Theresa May is now expected to reject the definition, and police said the proposed definition would “underline counterterror operations and threaten free speech.”
In response, Versi outlined why the definition is important, arguing that there have been “bad faith attacks” on APPG’s definition.
“Let's start with the link to racism,” he began. ‘Islamophobia is a type of racism’: Islam is obviously a faith & Muslims come from a range of ethnic backgrounds. However, the way Islamophobia is manifested is like any form of racism as it is well established Muslims have become racialised."
What this means is that a white Muslim with a name like Muhammad, or a black Muslim woman wearing a headscarf or an Asian Muslim reading the Quran on a train, all may be treated by a racist ‘as a Muslim’ because the racist has a perception of what a Muslim is or believes
Of course a black Muslim may also suffer from anti-black racism because of being black; and a Muslim woman may also suffer from misogyny from being a woman - but this is about when they are targeted for their Muslimness - will come back to this later.
He continued in the thread:
Another way of understanding why Islamophobia is a type of racism, is thinking about how racism manifests – e.g. ra… https://t.co/8MBiMYCXtN— Miqdaad Versi (@Miqdaad Versi) 1557904809
He began by giving very clear examples of inherently "racist acts" committed against Muslims.
It should be clear that if a school is attacked and Islamic religious texts are burnt or cut up, that is not anti-M… https://t.co/HRBNYVEYlr— Miqdaad Versi (@Miqdaad Versi) 1557905522
It should be clear if British Muslim women are 71% more likely to be unemployed due to workplace discrimination eve… https://t.co/4wOnPbhpH9— Miqdaad Versi (@Miqdaad Versi) 1557905572
It should be clear that if you are less likely to get a flat because your name is Muhammad vs. Adam, this is not an… https://t.co/r9pqerU4mv— Miqdaad Versi (@Miqdaad Versi) 1557905595
It should be clear if someone uses anti-Muslim tropes such as calling all Muslims terrorists or rapists, that is no… https://t.co/GpqP4XlgXK— Miqdaad Versi (@Miqdaad Versi) 1557905623
And provided examples of times when Muslims were specifically targeted for their "Muslimness"
Now - we all know that people are targeted for a range of reasons – e.g. their gender, their skin colour, their eth… https://t.co/A0AZ76yGaa— Miqdaad Versi (@Miqdaad Versi) 1557905705
If a black Muslim man is targeted because they are black – this would not be Islamophobia. However, if the driver… https://t.co/Vk9Z5vmEgp— Miqdaad Versi (@Miqdaad Versi) 1557905728
Similarly, if a Shia Muslim was targeted for abuse because he/she is Shia, that would be sectarianism not Islamopho… https://t.co/dZ2egPwO2p— Miqdaad Versi (@Miqdaad Versi) 1557905769
Similarly if a Muslim woman is targeted for abuse because she is a woman, that would not be Islamophobia. But if… https://t.co/Rs6bxZWuB2— Miqdaad Versi (@Miqdaad Versi) 1557905790
And emphasised the importance of distinguishing different forms of discrimination with Islamophobia
It is very important to therefore distinguish Islamophobia from anti-black racism, anti-Asian racism, misogyny and… https://t.co/IUV01mL9Ah— Miqdaad Versi (@Miqdaad Versi) 1557905823
In addition, sometimes people are targeted for a number of reasons e.g. gender *and* one’s Muslim identity – this i… https://t.co/Y1O6I3Nwo9— Miqdaad Versi (@Miqdaad Versi) 1557905841
Versi also explained why "expressions of Muslimness" is an important part of the definition
The reality is that the target is anything that demonstrates the Muslim identity of the victim (e.g. name, sometime… https://t.co/cKA5Ooa0ul— Miqdaad Versi (@Miqdaad Versi) 1557906346
Consider also a Sikh in a turban being attacked because he is perceived to be Muslim – this is not anti-Muslim raci… https://t.co/ylDQcoT1a8— Miqdaad Versi (@Miqdaad Versi) 1557906497
And Versi concluded by saying the proposed definition has the support of the very community it is trying to protect
In conclusion, this definition encompasses what it should do & does not include what a definition should not includ… https://t.co/xK1F5eikb2— Miqdaad Versi (@Miqdaad Versi) 1557906647
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