IHRC held the ‘Institutional Islamophobia’ conference focusing on tackling state racism and social engineering of the Muslim Community on Saturday 13 December 2014.  Find links to the videos, of the day, reports and other material here.

The focus of the event was to analyse institutional and structural forms of prejudice and hatred with some focus on recent events, particularly surrounding education, political activism, the criminalisation of dissent, the role of the media and the Prevent agenda.

The last few years have seen exceptional increase in public discourse around Muslims, perpetuating bigotry towards Muslims and resulting in an intensified climate of fear that prevents people from expressing their ideas and beliefs. The extreme marginalisation of Muslims is an issue that affects everyone – it is an issue of democratic deficit where all citizens must look to the adverse effects.

The aim of the conference is not simply to rehash and configure what Islamophobia entails, but to instead discuss strategies and solutions with systematic approaches and bridging together ways to move forward.

The speakers were: Hatem Bazian 9Co-founder of Zaytuna College, UC Berkeley), Malia Bouattia (Black Students’ Officer at the National Union of Students), Marie Breen-Smyth (author and academic, University of Surrey), Ramon Grosfoguel (author and academic, UC Berkeley), Les Levidow (Campaign Against Criminalising Communities and Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods; Open University), Richard Haley (Chair of Scotland Against Criminalising Communities), Arzu Merali (Head of Research at Islamic Human Rights Commission), Salman Sayyid (author and academic, University of Leeds), AbdoolKarim Vakil (Chair of the Research and Documentation Committee of the Muslim Council of Britain; King’s College London), Lee Jasper (Co Chair of Black Activists Rising Against Cuts & National Black Members Officer for the Respect Party).

The Supporting Organisations were An-Nisa Society; Bandung 2; CAGE UK; Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC); Council of European Jamaats (COEJ); Free Talha; Indian Muslim Welfare Society; Islamic Centre of England; Islamophobia Watch; Lewisham Islamic Centre; Muslim Association of Britain; Muslim Council of Britain; Muslim Directory UK; Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND); NUS Black Students; Scotland Against Criminalising Communities (SACC); Stop the War Coalition; World Federation of KSMIC.