Before taking this position, Chiamparino had been working on European policies on how to combat racism and xenophobia, for the last three years particularly on the area of tackling hate speech online. For him it is key that minority groups are heard and taken into account in the European Commission, baring in mind that there are around 26 million Muslims in Europe, many of them being European Muslims.

Chiamparino organized a workshop held recently in Madrid together with the Spanish government where around 120 actors from civil society and public officials came together to discuss about synergies and good practices on tackling Islamophobia in the European Union. His team helped to bring together a diversity of actors from all over the EU, ranging from human rights associations, Muslim associations or academe to government officials or police officers tackling hate crime. He spoke to Salam Plan for this interview just after the one and half-day workshop, in which this website against hate was also invited to take part.

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What does your position as head of the European Commission’s unit to tackle Islamophobia mean?

The key role of the coordinator to combat anti-Muslim hatred is to ensure that the different Commission services are involved from different angles which might be relevant to fight against intolerance, discrimination and hatred against Muslims. That could be from the side of hate crime, potential responses, on the side of education with the tools that we have, types of funding, for example, or other areas which might be relevant. So, ensuring a mainstream; also the need to protect the rights and to tackle forms of racism and intolerance.

The other main role that I have is to be a sort of contact, for both society organizations from the ground, to transmit messages from things that are happening on the ground to the political sphere of the European Commission, as well as for national authorities and local authorities, when it comes to how to bring together the relevant actors to tackle intolerance, discrimination and hatred against Muslims.

So, in short, it is a facilitator role in a way, trying to bring together all the different actors into this fight.

“There is a general societal challenge, in terms of dominant narratives and how we can promote alternative, positive narratives to those who spread intolerance, hatred, rejection”

More than 100 actors gathered in Madrid to speak about strategies and the needs and challenges to fight Islamophobia. What do you take with you from this meeting?

You might say numbers are not important, but I think having a full room of people in a workshop, in a meeting that was held in a Government building and hosted by public authorities and the fact that these people were coming from the large majority of the Member States, and they were coming from both grass roots organizations working on the ground and from national or local authorities… they were in the same room, they were in the same groups discussing about how to cooperate or to find ways to work together. That was in itself a key achievement of this meeting: having people in the same room talking about concrete forms of cooperation.

The outcomes are homework for everyone, including the Commission of course, and other public authorities to convene platforms open to civil society actors on how to find responses in the different areas. For example, training the police to recognize islamophobic hate crime or how to work together with the equality bodies and to ensure a mechanism of cooperation between civil society and political bodies and prosecution of cases.

During this workshop, Muslims’ associations and also other civil society associations showed on Islamophobia being also in the political discourse. What can the European Commission do in that respect, especially given the new spectrum in the European Parliament?

I think there is, on the one side, a general societal challenge, in terms of dominant narratives and how we can promote alternative, positive narratives to those who spread intolerance, hatred, rejection, etcetera.

What we can do is to continue to work in an area where we have been working a lot on, for example in the online sphere, so how to promote positive narratives of tolerance online.

In addition, the challenge is to transmit the message that this is not a fight that we need to take for one group: for Muslims, for Jews or Roma people or LGBT people, but we need to do it for a model of society that we want. In that sense, I think there might be several allies among the political community as well about a common message: that it is about a model of society based on non-discrimination, tolerance -that is at stake and we need to promote and protect in the future.

“We are all part of the same, plural society. I am personally non- Muslim, but I value a society where Muslims, or other groups, are living next to me and that the school of my children reflects such a mix”

Working specifically on Islamophobia, what do Muslims mean to you? What would you tell non-Muslim people who are afraid or spread hate?

For me it is quite simple: we are all part of the same, plural society. I am personally non- Muslim, but I value a society where Muslims, or other groups, are living next to me and that the school of my children reflects such a mix. The fact of not being part of the community makes me feel an even stronger responsibility: I devote my work to help transmitting the voices of groups that often are not heard, that often don’t have spaces in which they are represented and that don’t have access to policy making… hoping my work will soon not be needed anymore: it will mean more diversity, more tolerance.

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La entrada European Commission against Islamophobia: “This fight is not for one group: it is about the society that we want, based on non-discrimination” se publicó primero en Salam Plan.

While being Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, the socialist politician has expressed on more than one occasion his interest in tackling hatred and prejudice against Muslims, be it the 25 million Europeans who, it is estimated, follow this religion, or foreigners. There are two key statements he has made in this regard this year, which offer a hint to what his approach might be in regard to Islamophobia as the new head of European diplomacy:

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1. “Islam did not arrived in a rubber boat (…). It is part of European culture,” he said at the opening of a series of conferences entitled “Dialogue on open societies”, promoted by his Ministry in Casa Árabe, a Spanish public institution whose missions include the fight against Islamophobia.

The minister underlined that day, on January 14 of this year, that Spain is the part of Europe where Islam has been most lasting and remains “alive in language, in architecture, in Spanish demography.” In Spain, Muslims make up 4% of the population, with about 2 million Muslims and 43% of these being Spanish.

For Borrell, it is the presence of more than seven centuries of Islam in Spain that grants its country part of its character of “exceptionality” that is adduced in Europe. He stressed: “We must integrate the Islamic factor in an appropiate measure. Yes, there is an Arab [and Muslim] pillar in the European culture.”

Borrell said in that conference as well that “in the face of closed and xenophobic visions, we must bet on an open society” and regretted that in Spain “there are emerging parties that want Muslims to be considered enemies who must be expelled from the country.”

2. “We are studying – because it seems reasonable to us [the Spanish Administration]- that Islamophobia, like anti-Semitism, is considered a manifestation of hatred towards other human beings and receives the same kind of condemnation.”

This was Borrell’s response to Salam Plan in a press conference, when this website asked him about the possible specific classification of Islamophobia in the Spanish Penal Code or the separate registration of Islamophobic hate crimes in the statistics, in line with what United Nations and international experts ask for. It was during a press conference offered by the Spanish Foreign Minister after meeting with the Secretary General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, in Madrid last March.

“Together we have to share a fight against the messages of xenophobia, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism … in general against hate messages. Join our struggles against terrorism and extremism, common enemy, “he had previously declared.

The need to legally reflect Islamophobia separately is clear to both the UN and the OSCE or the editors of the European Report on Islamophobia. “It would be necessary to know in how many cases have been prosecuted hate crimes against the Muslim community [to] know the seriousness and extent of this problem,” UN special rapporteur on the rights of minorities, Fernand de Varennes, explained after visiting Spain in January.

The breakdown by ethnic and religious groups in statistics of hate crimes for him is “indispensable”. The rapporteur, did not want to give an opinion on the need or not to penalize specifically Islamophobia in the Spanish law on that date, as he recognized he needed to study the Spanish situation more in depth before drawing a conclusion on that respect.

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La entrada New head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell against Islamophobia: “Islam did not arrive in a rubber boat: it is part of the European culture” se publicó primero en Salam Plan.

She is cofounder and chair of Muslim American Leadership Alliance (MALA), which works to empower these US citizens within their communities by sharing their stories and “normalizing” that one can be Muslim and American at the same time. Bottom line against stereotypes is as well: Muslims are not a “monolith”. MALA is the first organization to collect oral histories of Muslim Americans, which are then archived in the Library of Congress of the United States.

She avoids pointing at anyone specific with the finger but acknowledges that bigotry and hate not only against Muslims, but also against other minorities, has risen in recent years in the US. This week she is visiting Spain to share her experience at Madrid’s Casa Árabe and at Barcelona’s Blanquerna Observatory.

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What does being both Muslim and American mean nowadays?

Being Muslim and American is a chance and a space right now. We’re in interesting times. From my perspective, I was born and raised in the United States, both of my parents are Muslim, I identify as a Muslim, but I also come from a background where my siblings are married to a Catholic or a Hindu. I’ m first generation, I grew up with American values, but also with a strong sense of my Muslim heritage, culture and identity.

I think one of the things being Muslim and American right now is that we are living in one of the best countries, where there is freedom, there is ability to practice, to pick up your identities, to assimilate, whether you are first generation, whether you are refugee, whether you are immigrant or if you are fourth generation of converts.

I think the challenge right now in the United States is that there is discrimination, there is bigotry… With over 750 stories that we have collected in MALA over five years, one of the things which does come up is discrimination, issues with assimilation, dual identity or multiple identities, trying to find belonging, within your community and outside… The whole purpose of having pride in being Muslim and American is the cornerstone of our work, so that people can speak freely and openly about their own experiences, whatever it may be, whether you are secular, whether you are orthodox…

“Having pride in being Muslim and American is the cornerstone of our work”

Is it usually not possible to speak freely about one’s religion? Do people feel frightened to do so?

I don’t think they feel frightened. I think they feel more that, it’s almost like that’s just not my only layer of identity. I don’t just want to be known as a Muslim, I’m also Iranian, Turkish or Bosznian, and I’m also a female, and a mum… Muslim Americans, especially, are not a monolith. They’re one of the most diverse groups in the United States: socially, politically, economically… it’s the broadest social demographic [group].

Your siblings are married to a Catholic and a Hindu. With the current atmosphere, sometimes it seems this together living of different religions or beliefs is not possible, but they are a clear example that it is.

There is actually a quite large number of stories that we have collected of people of mixes heritage. One of the things that I have seen from my experience it that diversity and coexistence of Muslim Americans is phenomenal, wonderful, and it’s possible.

I have the impression that in previous years Muslims rather stayed silent and hid from telling others what their beliefs are. But this seems to be reversing now and Muslims are going public, like going out of the closet. Was there a need for it?

That’s actually a wonderful observation, and to be honest, when we started MALA we would get two types of people, that would be like ‘well, I’m Muslim, [but] I don’t want that label and I don’t want to identify myself, just because of all the baggage in the media, because I don’t want to be associated with this stereotype or this stereotype’.

I think that people now are a lot more at ease, because there is community cohesion, support, social media [and] people’s voices and representation is heard. People are a lot more forthcoming and also have, still, pride in saying that they are Muslim, which is beautiful, because you can be Muslim, American… you could have multiple layers of identity and you could still exist and that’s who you are, that’s who I am.

Zainab Khan presents herself as a “human being” who is Muslim, among many other things. © Salam Plan

Is it also, may be, the reaction to the hate speech of politicians like Donald Trump against Muslims?

I think that in the United States there is a very polarizing social-political climate. Hate crimes have been under increase, and not just for Muslims, but for Jewish people, for people of faith and for people of minority backgrounds.

There is a lot more need for representation in politics and public policy, in civic engagement… It’s wonderful to see Muslim Americans run for office and to see the richness of the diversity of elected officials that we have in the United States compared to other countries. But we still have a long way to go to continue to build bridges, to continue to show solidarity and social cohesion, and also to celebrate our differences and our similarities. When we look at both, I think that’s when we are able to really see that this is how we live together: with shared values.

“You can be Muslim, American, have multiple layers of identity and still exist”

Islamophobia is becoming the new normal, isn’t it?

Hate is never supposed to be the norm. And any type of bigotry, prejudices… that is something that we have to really grab by the horns and address it. The rhetoric around minorities, groups, communities… are labelling. Putting Muslim Americans as a monolith… These are all harmful towards society.

We can continue by showcasing the diversity, the leadership, the incredible amount of recognition and what communities have done… The Muslim American communities… it is a community of very highly educated resilient people.

What is the main prejudice you are tired of listening to and that you feel it is the main issue we all need to address?

That all Muslims are a monolith. That because you are a Muslim, you must be x, y and z. You must be ultra-rigid, or you must be an immigrant, or you must be a refugee, or you must be uneducated, or you must be close-minded. These are all prejudices that we hope to dispel and continue building bridges.

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La entrada Zainab Khan, mentor of Muslim Americans: “Muslims are not x, y and z. We are not a monolith” se publicó primero en Salam Plan.

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Ramia Chaoui does not want to go alone to the demonstration of this International Women’s Day in her city, Barcelona (Spain). But not only because it is more pleasant to attend in good company, but because she knows that she will be exposed to contempt or worse by some non-Muslim women. This happened last year to other Muslims like her who took to the streets to demand equality for women.

This time they have organized themselves in advance to go together and create what Chaoui calls a “safe space”. “Among all the things that affect me as a woman, like the rest, I also want to claim my presence on the streets and my space and my place”, this insurance consultant and Youtuber, better known as Ramia Schannel on social media, explains.

“Feminism is not having one [unique] conception of being a woman but rather granting women the ability to be anything they want and to give them the opportunities to make the choices for themselves”

— Hajar El Jahidi, European Forum of Muslim Women

“Feminism is not having one [unique] conception of being a woman but rather granting women the ability to be anything they want and to give them the opportunities to make the choices for themselves”, says the advocacy coordinator of the European Forum of Muslim Women based in Brussels, Hajar El Jahidi.

This Canadian-Morrocan woman makes clear that the situation described by Ramia Chaoui is not an exception: “There are feminist groups that often forget or exclude minority groups such as women of color or religious minorities.” Jahidi assures that “we are impacted by gender inequality the same way as other women”, in addition to facing discrimination because of their faith.

“The feminist movement in Greece has tried to impose another oppression, telling us what we should do and what not”

— Anna Stamou, Muslim Association of Greece

Anna Stamou is director of an export and import company in Athens. She is also the marketing director of the Muslim Association of Greece. “All women, regardless of their religion or ideology, have been discriminated against the men priority,” she recalls and asks for unity for women.

Stamou does not feel identified with the feminist movement in her country, though, because she says that “they have tried to impose another oppression, telling us what we should do and what not. The feminist movement in my country considers Muslim women oppressed, brainwashed and unable to form their own opinion.” Even so, this 8th of March she will participate in the mobilizations and the strike for the International Women’s Day, to stand up for women’s equality rights.

>>> You may also read: Muslim and feminist? These women show it is possible<<<

Neither submissive nor stupid

It is the demand for equality that Muslim women ask not only towards men, but towards some non-Muslim women who insult them or believe that they can not be feminists. They repeat for the umpteenth time that the veil or hijab is a personal and religious option. They do also condemn those policies in countries where women are forced to wear it.

The recently appointed High Representative of the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), Miguel Ángel Moratinos, even highlighted this week on Twitter that in his fight for equality for women he will also include “the perception of Muslim women.”

“I do not accept that other women educate me, because I believe that I have enough tools, knowledge and critical thinking for me to rethink myself the questions of how I choose to lead my life and my spirituality,” explains Chaoui, from Barcelona.

“I do not accept that other women educate me, because I believe that I have enough tools, knowledge and critical thinking for me to rethink myself the questions of how I choose to lead my life and my spirituality”

— Ramia Chaoui, assurance consultant

The chairperson of the Citizen Platform Against Islamophobia and CEO of the Halal Institute in Spain, Isabel Romero, says that “of course” she takes part in the feminist strike and will be demonstrating. She asks “to leave us alone with what we wear or what we do not wear. If there are Muslim women who decide to cover themselves with the hijab, because they think that is part of their religious commitment, they are not hurting anyone.” By the way, she does not wear a headscarf.

Not dressing with a veil, the discrimination suffered by Romero is minor, she admits. But the tables turn when others learn about their faith: “I have been a professional for many years and at the moment in which I identify myself as a Muslim woman, it seems that I can only comment from that axis (and) it seems that I cannot give an opinion on economy, society or anything, just because I am Muslim.”

“I have been a professional for many years and at the moment I identify myself as a Muslim woman, it seems that I cannot give an opinion on economy, society or anything”

— Isabel Romero, Citizen Platform Against Islamophobia

Faced with the image of a submissive woman, Romero emphasizes that different rights of women such as divorce or inheritance have already been established in the Quran. The Islamologist and professor of the University of Barcelona, ​​Dolors Bramon, who is not a Muslim, also considers that the sacred book of Islam was revolutionary for women’s rights. She explains it in her book Ser mujer y musulmana (Being a Woman and Muslim)  (Ed. Bellaterra) and explained it HERE on Salam Plan.

Aurora Ali is secretary general of the Muslim Association for Human Rights, based in Spain. “Muslim women are not clothes”, she answers to those who believe that headscarf and feminism are not compatible. “Wearing the hijab right now is an act of bravery, a feminist claim, because ‘it is my faith and I am going to wear it and I decide on my body’, ” she claims. Like Romero, she recognizes that on the street she has the “privilege” of not being an object of hatred because she is Muslim, since she has chosen not to wear hijab.

“As soon as they see that you are a Muslim woman the hate speech is directly the typical one of: ‘your country’, ‘in Saudi Arabia’, ‘in Iran’ … Then the attacks follow and then the terrorist insult, after [calling you] ‘submissive'”

— Aurora Ali, Muslim Association for Human Rights

She says that she has suffered the so-called “gender Islamophobia” on social media. “As soon as they see that you are a woman, you are a Muslim, then the hate speech is directly the typical one of: ‘your country’, ‘in Saudi Arabia’, ‘in Iran’ … Tatata, tatata”, she lists with glut. And she adds: “They start with this, then the attacks follow and then the terrorist insult usually comes, after [calling you] ‘submissive’. And this happens to virtually every woman who is visibly Muslim in their social networks. ”

She confesses that it is precisely that comparison of Muslims to terrorists the insult that has hurt her most, but not when getting it on Twitter or Facebook, but from the Administration in training courses against violent radicalization and terrorism. She cannot go into detail on this, due to a confidentiality clause she signed.

Double glass ceiling

Equality, equality, equality. It is the concept cited by all these women when asked about their claim this International Women’s Day. They also fight for the empowerment of women, the end of the so-called “patriarchy“, against glass ceilings to reach high positions or the discrimination in the labor market, in society … struggles equal to those of other feminists which for Muslim women sometimes become double as difficult, though.

The most common discrimination that visibly Muslim women -meaning the ones who wear a headscarf- face twofold is found in the labor market, according to several interviewees of this article and data which confirm that.

“The real fight for social justice exists when we fight for another human’s rights even if we don’t agree with or understand them”

— Hajar El Jahidi, European Forum of Muslim Women

Women wearing a headscart in the photo of their CV only received an invitation to a job interview in 3% of cases in Germany, according to a study on “Forgotten women” carried out in 2016 in eight European countries by the European Network Against Racism (ENAR). In Belgium, 44% of employers admitted that wearing a hijab could negatively influence the candidate’s selection.

Faced with incomprehension or rejection of Islamic feminism, the spokesperson of the European Forum of Muslim Women Hajar El Jahidi asks not to be marginalized: “The real fight for social justice exists when we fight for another human’s rights even if we don’t agree with or understand them.”

“It’s time for women especially to come together a lot more, to stand together in solidarity against all of these issues and not just speak but to act together and stand up for each other,” executive director of the Islamic Society of Britain, Julie Siddiqi, has asked on a video released by the British NGO Tell Mama. European Muslim women also want equality… and inclusion in the feminism movement.

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La entrada Muslim European women claim their place in feminism se publicó primero en Salam Plan.

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They will stay in the Spanish capital only for some weeks, due to the birth of the baby, as Alicia’s family lives there. But the couple’s home is in Luxembourg, where both work in the financial sector. When they met, did they think they would end up like this: married, with a daughter and living in the Grand Duchy? , the journalist asks. They look at each other and laugh. Their’s is a real story of love at first sight. Although the plan was to stay in Morocco, where they met and where Aladdin is from.

Alicia is from Madrid (Spain) and was in Casablanca (Morocco) finishing her master’s degree in banking and financial markets that she studied there. Her former professor Maite called her one day and asked whether she had something to do, recalls Alicia. Luckily enough, she did not have any plans for that evening, because otherwise she would not have been able to go to the dinner that her teacher organized that day with more alumni, and she would not have met Aladdin.

Alicia’s professor asked her whether she had something to do. Luckily enough, she did not, because otherwise she would not have met Aladdin

He was a student of the first class of that master’s degree she was completing six years later. As soon as they were introduced, the crush between each other began. Alicia’s smile conquered him… also her French accent, the language they share. She was fascinated by the serenity and maturity of a man who gave her good advice when she was lost about which traineeship to choose. “I advised her to stay in Morocco,” Aladdin laughs. He asked her phone number to Alicia and they started to go out together.

Almost four years later they continue laughing without stop, accomplices. Alicia López is now 29 years old and Aladdin Bennouna is 34. She is Catholic and he is Muslim.

When they were starting to know each other, Alicia remembers that she “liked to ask” things about Islam “to know where she was getting herself into”, because she was not an “expert” of her partner’s religion and did not trust things she found on the Internet.

Alicia’s smile conquered Aladdin… also her French accent. She was fascinated by the serenity and maturity of a man who gave her good advice when she was lost

“We gradually got to know each other on that aspect, too. Both are religions that can be complemented, that have points of convergence. I realized the important thing was what I felt for Aladdin, the values​ he has, which are very similar to mine. To be together, God willing, all your life, you need to find your soul mate and, look, it has been precisely with a person of another religion, from another country, but I am delighted, ” she says.

“Respect for the parents and family”, solidarity, not lying, God as a creator and protector… are some of the values cited by of them as their bond. They also share more mundane things, of course. They love to go to a good restaurant from time to time and enjoy travelling together. They recommend Peru and Chile, the destinations of their honeymoon.

“I realized the important thing was what I felt for Aladdin, the values​ he has, which are very similar to mine”

— Alicia

“I’m not gonna change you. I’m not going to force you to change to my religion, that’s not Islam either”

— Aladdin

Aladdin had no doubts about the difference in religion. “No, because I’m not gonna change you. I’m not going to force you to change to my religion, that’s not Islam either, ” he explains. “I respect her religion a lot, when she prays at home or goes to church I go with her and there’s no problem.” At home everyone prays separately and Aladdin likes to see his wife “close to God”.

The marriage proposal was a traditional one, in the presence of both families. “The surprise effect came (before), when he asked me ‘what ring do you like the most?'” , laughs Alicia. Knowing why they were going to meet did not make the moment less emotional: “Aladdin gave a speech in front of everyone and we all ended up crying,” recalls his wife. And that despite the fact that he improvised what he said.

Alicia and Aladdin’s wedding celebrated joining two cultures together. Family pictures

Alicia says that her parents have always granted her the power to make her own decisions and had no problem at all with the wedding. “My parents have been living a lot in Arab countries. My father (also) was assigned (as a diplomat) in Mauritania, Senegal, Morocco … I think that contributes a lot to open minds, ” she says.

Aladdin’s parents were also happy with the wedding. “And yes, look: there is a difference in religion, but in our religion you can marry a woman who believes in a ‘religion of heaven’, who is not an atheist or a Buddhist … Because in the Muslim religion you also have to believe [in a certain way] in the other religions, ” he explains.

“The mistake is to mix politics and religion. (And) of course migrants are to adapt to the laws of the country. Nor should these laws favour one religion over another”

— Aladdin

They married in 2017. The civil wedding was in Spain, and the most festive part was in Morocco, sharing “the richness of Moroccan culture” with the guests, says Alicia.

She believes that hate speech coming from politicians such as those of the Spanish Vox party are mainly due to what she calls a “climate of instability” at the border areas of Morocco and Spain because of what she considers a mismanagement of illegal immigration. “The mistake is to mix politics and religion. (And) of course migrants are to adapt to the laws of the country. Nor should these laws favour one religion over another, ” Aladdin suggests.

He likes to speak to her baby-daughter about politics when he gets to sleep her, because singing is not his thing, he admits. “I tell her: ‘let’s see, what do you want to talk about’? Brexit? “, he laughs. “Sometimes she does not like it and we change the subject,” he continues laughing. Lullabies are left to the mother.

“Amelia is Muslim, but she will grow up in an environment where nobody will say: ‘This is not that way’. There will be an atmosphere of respect and understanding of the two religions”

— Alicia

Little Amelia is Muslim, something that her parents already had talked about when they decided to start a family. But Christmas and the Festival of Sacrifice will be celebrated in their house equally, because they belong to the traditions and cultures of his grandparents, her mother explains. “She will grow up in an international environment, where nobody will say: ‘This is not that way’. There will be an atmosphere of respect and understanding of the two religions,” says Alicia.

Amelia has not woken up during the entire interview, nor when her parents have taken her in their arms to appear with them on some pictures. She is quiet and calm, while her caring parents cannot help but doting lovingly on her.

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The happy couple goes for a walk with their baby in Madrid. © Salam Plan

La entrada Alicia and Aladdin, the beautiful love story of a Catholic and a Muslim se publicó primero en Salam Plan.

Ramia Chaoui shows and speaks about all kind of things there: from make-up or how she got to know her husband to sharing the traditions of her other homeland, Morocco, or the problems Muslim people -like her- face in Spain.

She was recently invited to open a high-level meeting to counter Islamophobia, organized by the European Commission in Brussels. “We need to stop asking people like me how to integrate, because we don’t need to integrate in our own home”, she requested in front of the Justice European Commissioner, Vera Jourova, and other politicians representing European countries.

“We need to stop asking people like me how to integrate, because we don’t need to integrate in our own home”

She speaks with Salam Plan on the phone from Barcelona before going to work. For all those afraid of Muslims, Ramia points out “Islam is totally compatible with democracy, it just needs to be well understood”. For her, “being Muslim is trying to be a better person for oneself and for the others and everything that surrounds us”.

In your videos, you always greet by saying “salam zyonat”. What does that mean?

“Hi, beauties”. “Zeyn” is like beauty. I liked to open with something in Arabic, which also represents another part of my identity and my culture. I like to say hello that way, because it defines me. “Salam” means “peace” and is part of the Muslim greeting, and than all my videos are in Spanish, which is my mother tongue and the one I can better express myself in.

What made you open your own YouTube channel?

The lack of representation in mass media, searching for a place where I could express myself and talk about the issues where nobody listened to us, to have there my version of events without it being sweetened or censored.

Also, a little bit from an educational perspective. I listened to many questions around me about things I thought people knew well, stereotypes. Whenever I talked to new people who were hardly in touch with Muslims, I was very surprised to see the image they had about that part of the society.

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On Ramia Schannel you talk about all kind of things. What are the issues you like to speak more about?

At the beginning I made a lifestyle and entertainment channel, about how to combine the spiritual life with the non- Muslim Western normal life like any other girl of my age.

Now I have changed the focus to separate it a bit from the personal sphere and take it more to the activist field [against Islamophobia], but in a lighter way, not so hardcore. I have young followers and don’t want to be preachy.

I try to make the videos entertaining but at the same time with a message or moral of the story, or to explain something about Muslims, a Muslim festivity… so that people have a window to look into the life of a Western Muslim person and how our life is.

Earlier you said that one of the reasons to star your channel was tackling stereotypes about Muslims. Which ones would you highlight?

To get turned into a foreigner, that is one of the things which annoys me the most. For example, me living in Catalonia, that people speak to me in Spanish or slowly so that I can understand them… Those kind of things which people may do with good intentions, but I belong to the people who think that we’ve been here for a long time already and migration is nothing recent.

The fact that people are surprised that you have a degree, that you speak well the language, that you don’t have any accent…

And what affects me the most is the issue with the lack of equal opportunities and the discrimination, especially in the labour field for Muslim women.

“One of the things which annoys me the most is to get turned into a foreigner. Me living in Catalonia, that people speak to me in Spanish or slowly so that I can understand them”

In fact, there is a video in your channel where you explain that you are considering to take off your hijab.

It’s something you always bear in mind. Not now, but it’s true that all these years I have been wearing it, you ask yourself and weigh up: “Wow, it is really affecting me”. But well, than you remember why you put it on in the first place and what it means to you and you try to look ahead.

But that doesn’t mean you don’t have moments of doubts and difficulties… and understanding that other women face the same difficulties and finally take it off due to social pressure.

What difficulties have you encountered due to the hijab?

Mainly, being able to do job interviews and getting a job. They will choose someone who doesn’t wear it if you are equally qualified, or not so equally: you may be a bit more prepared or may be speak more languages. Nevertheless, the scales seems to tip to the other side.

The issue about doing a traineeship to get your degree, I get many messages from girls. Many of them see themselves forced to take it off or not doing the traineeship. I think Education should come first. Later in the labour market, I can understand that a company may be free to choose who it hires. But if a company chooses to offer traineeships to the students, it shouldn’t make a difference: they’re not your workers, they’re people who come to learn and will leave.

Me personally, I have seen myself obliged to accept another king of jobs, because I couldn’t choose the same way my fellow students did. I thought that was the way it goes. Although it might not have convinced me, I took the job to have one.

“The issue about doing a traineeship to get your degree… I get many messages from girls who see themselves forced to take the hijab off “

You have more than 38,000 followers. What kind of profile do they have?

They’re mainly female, 80% approximately. Spaniards and from other European countries, also from Mexico. Between 18 and 30 years old.

What kind of questions or comments do they have?

More than that, I think they see me a bit like an inspiration. If you see you’re not the only one facing problems or suffering, you don’t feel so lonely.

What happens sometimes is that these things stay in the community or within the family, you don’t speak about them that much. And you think it isn’t happening to nobody else and that you are the unlucky one.

I think that sharing and speaking about it, helps to fight against it. I try to motivate. There are girls who have even asked me why they should study if they’re not gonna get a job anyway. Loosing motivation like this is worrying.

I try to change the approach of the youngest girls. Feeling ashamed of your culture, of your religion, because they’re always speaking bad about it, because you don’t see positive examples, no examples of people who overcome [the problems]… But to see someone who -achieving more or less- follows her dreams, trying to change a bit -as much as possible-, I think it is good for our young ladies.

“There are girls who have even asked me why they should study if they’re not gonna get a job anyway”

You just mentioned something key, I think: that some people feel ashamed due to what is happening around them.

I have seen girls in their first adolescence years telling their mothers not to pick them up from school because she wears the veil and they don’t want to be seen with them.

Or now I see my little sister, who is very proud of her culture, but I remember that when I was little, I felt ashamed and didn’t want to go to school after our holidays in Morocco with henna on my hands. I tried to wash it off, because the kids told me it was pooh and laughed at me.

On the contrary, I now see generations, the youngest, who are very proud of their culture, with henna on their hands, wearing the veil… I think we should appropriate our culture again and be proud of who we are. Because it’s true that sometimes we have tried to hide to get unnoticed, without causing a stir: go to work, feed our children, sleep and back again to the beginning.

And it’s our generation now who is vindicating more the richness of having a diverse identity, a diverse origin, being from here but also from there and being a richer person thanks to that.

“Sometimes we Muslims have tried to hide to get unnoticed, without causing a stir: go to work, feed our children, sleep and back again to the beginning”

You recently shared your experience opening a high-level meeting in front of the Justice European Commissioner, Vera Jourova, and other politicians of the EU countries. There were also other Muslim activists and civil representatives. Do you think it was useful?

I am always very optimistic. I don’t know if I’m so optimistic that I’m naïf, but I want to think that it was indeed. And if it is useless from the political point of view, I think that the civil society there are loads of things being done. I was very happy and proud to see that representation, mainly a female representation, in that meeting. Whenever I see Muslim ladies, so trained and ready to fight, I feel proud as if it was a personal achievement. Whether it is useful or not, I have learned a lot.

Ramia Chaoui holding the opening speech at a high-level meeting in Brussels. © Salam Plan

That meeting was in the European capital. There are Europeans afraid of Muslims not respecting democracy. What would you tell them?

I’d tell them that Islam is totally compatible with democracy; it just needs to be well understood.

I think there is much misinformation or confusion around terminology related to Islam. Nobody studies it in depth, the only interest is to take those paragraphs or alleyahs [Q’ran verses] out of context which may benefit someone politically to sow fear and get votes. In the end, it’s this manipulation and using Islam as a weapon to get personal benefit.

In fact, a well understood Islam promotes democracy.

“A well understood Islam promotes democracy”

Why?

For example, if we simply focus on the prophet Muhammad’s life, we can see that he always consulted people surrounding him, he always asked for advice, and that being -as we understand it- God’s envoy. One of the main pillars of democracy is the public query, what the majority thinks.

In the recent regional elections in Andalusia (southern Spain), Vox’s party got 12 seats and Muslims are a key part of their politics. In their election platform, they devote a chapter to Muslims under the title “Defence, Security and Borders”.

[She laughs slightly]. Ok, how funny, how nice. I prefer to think that the majority of people doesn’t read the election manifesto nor is very well informed of what they vote, because otherwise, we wouldn’t drift in the current direction.

The defence of Spanish unity doesn’t need to go hand in hand with harming and loosing civil rights nor with more confrontation. I believe people who voted for Vox voted for Spanish unity.

Vox stands for issues like “shutting fundamentalist mosques” or the “expulsion of imams who spread fundamentalism, the despise of women or Jihad”.

With “expulsion” I guess they mean foreign imams, but there are Spanish imams. What do we do with that? And “despise of women”, it’s them who want to repeal the bill on gender violence. I think it is a cheap, simplistic and superficial populism.

How do you think Islamophobia Will evolve in the next years in Spain?

I think there is more consciousness and people are getting to know more about Islamophobia. I think it will keep that direction. I hope politicians will be more careful in their discourses. I hope the situation will get better: the integration of so many women with veil who are already working, including me; that normalization of seeing Muslim women in each and every sphere of society.

Your channel is also for non- Muslim people who want to know more. If you were to explain in just a few words what it means to you to be Muslim, how would you describe it?

Being Muslim is being like any other person, but having in the centre of his or her daily priorities -or values- to try to be a better person for oneself and for the others and everything that surrounds us; also being beneficial and contribute to society.

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La entrada Ramia Schannel, the Muslim YouTuber from Spain who advised the European Commission se publicó primero en Salam Plan.

Bosch is head of the Attention and Assessment Unit for People Affected by Terrorism (UAVAT) in Spain, which includes psychologists, psychiatrists and lawyers. Since it its foundation last February, they have treated around 170 people affected by the attacks in Catalonia (Spain), which occurred one year ago. All of them Spanish victims, but there were also many victims of other countries. 16 people died, more than 100 were injured and many more were hurt psychologically, according to Sara Bosch. 90% of victims are survivors and 80% of all the victims still suffer a psychological injury, she says.

On the ‘International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism’ this 19^th of August her advice may be useful to all of the victims of terrorists around the world and people around those who suffer.

Are there victims of the attacks in Catalonia one year ago starting to ask you for help now?

Sure! Of course, of course. (When we started contacting last February) all the people who had gone to the emergency services of the attacks, there were people who had not yet received psychological attention. They had been holding themselves, struggling to cope with a psychological situation and waiting for time to heal them. But we are seeing people who still have a lot of psychological affectation, who have not received any treatment yet.

What needs do victims have or what problems do they face?

In the first place, when we think of victims, we all think first of the ones who were murdered, and therefore we quickly connect with the relatives of the deceased. After that, the physical wounded. Later, we began to think that there were many people there who might not have had an impact on the body, but that it is a traumatic experience and it is very likely that these people are emotionally affected.

At the beginning, we also understand that there is a lot of psychological affectation in a large number of people, but that somehow that will later heal on it own. A bit like when we get a punch. The bad thing is that sometimes we don’t recover as expected, and than we start considering: “what if there is something broken in me?”

People who receive that psychological punch, at first cannot sleep, they see the images continuously (on their minds), the sounds of the sirens, they are hypersensitive, they are afraid, have anxiety crises, they cry, they are disconnected from their day to day, they behave very strange … The (initial) psychological affectation is a chemical reaction: there is an explosion of neurotransmitters at the cerebral level, which are the ones that generate those symptoms. Therefore, it is something physical too.

“The initial psychological affectation is a chemical reaction which has to calm down with time, but in a 60% of cases that doesn’t happen and people suffer a psychological injury”

That chemical explosion has to calm down, but there are people where that doesn’t happen. There is a percentage of those people, which can be perfectly 60%, that will break down (, like a sportsman). They are going to suffer some psychological injury, which is when those reactions remain: they cannot sleep -insomnia is very characteristic-, they are still very afraid, they still have a state of anxiety that doesn’t go away, they have not sit down in a terrace again to have a beer, they have not gone back to the cinema, they do not want to enter a supermarket, they have not taken the tube again…

What does the first anniversary of the attack mean to them?

They know that there is a lot of media attention and that there is also a social memory, it is a call to their memory. It is something that they are getting through with the help of professionals, trying not to be harmed more from the outside. But it still means getting through an experience that is very slow and very painful to digest and suddenly there are reminders, images … especially in the media, with that nightmare. They do not remember, they experience it (again).

Therapeutically we are always going to recommend facing that memory, so that it becomes something that can be emotionally tolerated and that instead of reviving it, it may remain a painful memory.

Victims do not remember the attack, they experience it again

There are people who have done that process and are relatively capable of being exposed now to that homage and there are people who are still in a very early process and avoid seeing those images, because it would be an overdose for them. It’s each person the one who chooses.

What practical advice do you give to the victims at this point, bearing in mind that each person and each circumstance is different?

Basically, we make them aware that they can choose, that they do not feel obliged to anything. Sometimes, it’s a bit of giving them permission to do those things that can make them feel better.

Without that permission, do they feel guilty?

Yes, they feel guilty. Especially towards their relatives, because there are many who, when time has passed, don’t understand why you are not feeling well: “nothing happened to you, you were not injured, you are alive” (, they would tell the psychological victims, the survivors). It’s not that they do not want to forget, it’s that they cannot. They feel misunderstood.

Even they themselves do not understand why they are not OK and consider it a sign of weakness, for example. And it is not a sign of weakness, nor is it stubbornness of not wanting to overcome something.

Do not force yourself to feel OK, respect that you are not OK. It has nothing to do with being weak or not wanting to get over it

There is a lot of incomprehension, as much as of the victims towards themselves, as of the relatives, the close friends, the bosses … We tell them: do not force yourself to feel well, understand if you are not OK, respect that you are not OK. This is a slow process. Look for what can make it as easier as possible to feel calm and, above all, if you have not yet started a treatment, go to a professional – basically a psychologist – to help you go through this whole process, because it is a psychological injury. It has nothing to do with being weak or not wanting to get over it.

And what can the people who love them do to stop messing up when they are trying to help?

Accompany them in their feeling, the same way we tell the relatives of the deceased that we join with them in their grief. We need to do the same with those who got injured. Therefore, if they prefer not to talk, then we do not speak. If they feel bad, we do not have to tell them anything, hugging them is enough.

“Do not question the victims, do not to judge them and do not give them advice. There is no magic phrase. Simply, be there and hug them”

Let us remind them that we are there, that we are in a safe place, and we do not need any special phrase. And try to be available to what they may need, without asking them how they are all the time. Supporting them with empathy.

Do not question them, do not to judge them, and do not give them advice. It is simply being there, at their disposal, and not looking for the magic phrase, because the advice does not help. They advise themselves.

And the media and politicians, who perhaps are the ones who treat this issue the most in the public sphere? What can we or they do to not make it more painful and help as much as possible?

Media, on the one hand, have the need of giving information and therefore it is true that these images of the van (at the attack in Barcelona) … is a repeated image. But it is true that if we consider respecting the victims or not hurting them, we should not issue them.

There are victims (for whom) talking about their experience (helps them) or they have a message to give us. I would ask media to say the full message of those affected, just as the victim wants to express it. Because what has been happening is that many of them do the interview, (that) has been an extra effort for them but they had the expectation that it would serve something. And when they see it later, they tell you: “They have not said that; I told them it was very important to me.” Then: “They have only put my drama, they have only published the gruesome part.”

I believe that on the one hand it is true that it is very difficult not to give that message that they will see as morbid, but as we talk to the victims, allow them to give another message that they need to tell us.

“I would ask media to say the full message of those affected, just as the victim wants to express it”

And politicians … Errrrr, wow, how much time do we have? In a terrorist attack, unlike other crimes, a message of solidarity is generated with incredible speed and impressive magnitude. They are continuously told by politicians and everyone: “We are with you, for whatever you need …”. That generates both an expectation of support, and when it is not there later, after months, or when they begin to process their needs with the Administration… that solidarity does not disappear, it is directly the opposite: denials, denials.

What type of refusals? Of treatment, or information …?

Yes, right. Denial of treatment, fundamentally, and denial of recognition as a victim. For example, when there is an attack which has the power to grant recognition of victims of terrorism, the Ministry of the Interior in Spain will have a list of people, which will be collected from the wounded and deceased (…). For the Ministry all these people are the victims of the attack, they will be able to see exercised their rights of compensation for injuries, they can go to a psychologist if they need it … there will be no problem.

“Politicians: do not transform your initial solidarity message in denials”

The ones that worry us are those that are not in that list, because many psychological wounded do not go to the doctor. Many go to their homes and after three, four, five or six months those people cannot take it anymore, they break.

What should we never tell a victim of terrorism and what is most likely to help?

When it is about someone who has lost a beloved one, I think you should especially not give them any advice. You have to be there for what they need and offer help in practical things.

Like solving paperwork or buying food, if they do not feel strong enough.

Exactly. And allow them to feel their pain, even if we do not like to see it.

And in the case of psychological victims, the survivors?

Do not remind them that “fortunately nothing has happened” to them. Do not ask them to make efforts, because when a person has a psychological injury she does many more efforts than we think.

“Do not remind survivors that ‘fortunately nothing has happened’ to them. Do not ask them to make efforts, because when a person has a psychological injury she does many more efforts than we think”

Also, you need to understand that they can be very fluctuating. Maybe there are days that are worse than others. Let them know that if one day they are not feeling well, you are there to complement them. And do not try to make them explain how they feel or stop conferring them attributions that hurt them even more: “you are so and so”, “you don’t do whatever”, “don’t take it that way” … Try not to make attributions of that type, because they tend to blame themselves very easily.

Listen to them when they want and do not force them to talk.

I suppose that in the end these tips for people who are psychologically wounded are equally valid for everyone, also the physically wounded.

Sure. And something important as well about people who have a psychological affectation: it is important to help them to get back to a (certain) routine, because many of them can be in a somewhat chaotic state.

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La entrada Never say this to a victim of terrorism <br>and the best ways to help se publicó primero en Salam Plan.

He took part in a panel of scholars to present a program of interreligious dialogue among lawyers worldwide called “Abrahamic Forum”. Asked by Salam Plan whether he thinks Donald Trump is “ready for dialogue with Muslims”, Destro answered:

“Yes, I do. Part of the problem is there is so little knowledge of Islam. I work with Muslim groups in the United States all the time, almost every day. And certainly, the White House understood that when they asked me to do this job, so I see no contradiction whatsoever”. The professor denied further comment.

“Part of the problem is there is so little knowledge of Islam. I work with Muslim groups in the United States all the time, almost every day. And certainly, the White House understood that when they asked me to do this job, so I see no contradiction whatsoever”

Currently, Destro is waiting the approval of Congress to be Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, the post for which President Trump nominated him one month ago.

He is Director of the Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies and Law professor at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC. He is specialized in freedom of religion as well as civil rights, among other topics.

“Respect requires that we first understand each other as we are not as we wish the other one should be”

The “Abrahamic Forum” in which Destro takes part, is a program, where lawyers of different faiths -mainly Christian, Muslim and Jewish- and worldwide come together to debate and understand each other. They work on specific topics, like “the care of refugees”, and meet usually twice a year to discuss their findings.

“The goal is not to reach an agreement, but trying to understand each other,” he explained in his conference. “Respect requires that we first understand each other as we are not as we wish the other one should be”. The final goal is to “prevent and punish genocide”.

“When something goes wrong, you need to be able to pick up the phone and say: ‘Ali, what is happening over there?’”

Destro also pointed out that the reason for this forum is that “when something goes wrong, you need to be able to pick up the phone and say: ‘Ali, what is happening over there?’”. So, Trump can apparently rely on that if Robert Destro’s nomination is confirmed. The decision of Congress is expected to be taken in August.

WOCMES takes place every four years in a different city. This year it has been organized in Seville by the Three Cultures of the Mediterranean Foundation and about 3,000 researchers and experts from around 91 countries have registered to take part in this academic summit which will last until Friday, the 20^th of July.

In this very Congress there was a panel held by other US experts on Wednesday where they analysed “what is really new about the Trump era for Arab and Muslim Americans”, as the panel title reads. Salam Plan was also there. You may read more about that by clicking HERE.

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La entrada Trump is ready for a dialogue with Muslims, future Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights assures se publicó primero en Salam Plan.

Wiretapping Muslims and Arabs in a generalized way for considering them “potential terrorists” happened for the first time in the 60’s of last century, professor Louise Cainkar of the Catholic Jesuite Marquette University in Wisconsin explained. At that time, Arab visiting students were interviewed and controlled by agencies like the NSA. They were “threatened” with deportation if they acted for Palestine in the context of the Six-Day War of June 1967.

“With Richard Nixon, the profiling program of Arabs and Muslims got institutionalized”

— Louise Cainkar

With Richard Nixon as president of the US, the “profiling program got institutionalized”, Cainkar said. The so-called “Operation Boulder”, was “a program that scrutinized the activities of Arab Americans and profiled visa applicants with Arab sounding names”, Sarah Laskow explained in the Columbia Journalism Reviewin 2013. The ‘Declassification Engine’ built up by history professor at Columbia University Matthew Connelly revealed it. In 1972 an article in the Washington Post informed about 2,000 students found “deportable” and 400 students had left their country on their own, the Marquette professor highlighted.

‘Operation Boulder’ was one of the first governmental moves to islamophobia, according to the panel at WOCMES.

“The discourses, representations and policies shifted after the Iranian Revolution. From Arab to this much wider group of Muslims”, she said. That was when the “Middle East” concept came into place. While ‘Arab’ and ‘Muslim’ do not mean the same thing, American policies seem to have treated both as synonymous. In fact, professor Erik Love from the Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, defended during the panel in Seville that “islamophobia is racism, [as] it fits neatly into American’s tradition of white supremacy”.

Trump’s “age is an intensification in anti- Muslim animus but not a turning point; it has reached a new watermark”, Jameel Haque summarized. This History professor at Minnesota State University describes himself as well as Muslim activist in the US. “My authority as an expert is continuously challenged as are historic facts [I present]”, he complained about one of the challenges he faces in his work.

“Trump’s age is an intensification in anti- Muslim animus but not a turning point”

— Jameel Haque

To him, “what is new in the Trump era is that the federal government is complicit” and gives a “microphone” to hate groups. He feels he always has had to challenge what he calls “islamofiction”, but at present there are two new aspects into it: a “Muslim ethnic and racial significance” and that “Muslim natives of the US are viewed as foreigners and suspicious”.

In this respect, he recalled the episode on Barack Obama’s birth certificate and his alleged Muslim faith as a matter of suspicion. Not only there was an anti-Muslim discourse there by Donald Trump, but Obama always challenged this by “affirming his Christian faith”. For Jameel Haque this was “implied islamophobia”, the same as maintaining the Guantanamo camp.

Love reminded of another episode in the past election campaign during the debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump with questions of the audience include. One woman asked: “With Islamophobia on rise, how will you help people like me not to be seen as a threat?”. Trump answered with more security and Clinton “accepted the premise” of relating Muslims to security issues with what Love defines as a “softer islamophobia”. She answered: “We need American Muslims to be part of our Homeland security”.

Haque stated US textbooks have always included “misconceptions” about Muslim and Arab people, like speaking about the “Reconquista” against Muslims, who are never called Europeans but referred to by their faith. Haque believes an “update of our [educational] curriculum should be a forward step towards understanding”.

He also proposes activists to build a community of diverse minority groups, not only ethnic, cultural or religious groups but also others like LGBT, for example. He believes a unified work would help them have their own political voice more represented.

WOCMES takes place every four years in a different city. This year it has been organized in Seville by the Three Cultures Foundation and about 3,000 researchers and experts from around 91 countries have registered to take part in this academic summit which will last until Friday, the 20^th of July.

** Since you are here … we want to ask you a small favor. Share the work of Salam Plan so that more and more people get to know this journalism against hate, without propaganda, without sensationalism. Also, you can follow us on Twitter or Facebook. Pass it on. THANK YOU!

La entrada Is Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim policy really something new in the United States? se publicó primero en Salam Plan.

Elisa prefers not to get her last name published in this story. Seven years ago she converted to Islam and considers that being a Muslim of Spanish parents is “an extra challenge, because it is not usual”. “The stereotype pulls a lot, both on the Muslim side and on the non-Muslim side,” says the 39-year-old teacher.

Festive decoration fills the streets of Muslim-majority countries these days, because Ramadan is – above all – a celebration, one in memory of when they believe that the Quran was revealed to Muhammad. In fact, at the end of this lunar month next week, gifts are given at the Eid al-Fitr celebration.

In Europe it is difficult to find a place where public spaces show any sign of this special month for 5% of its population. One of those corners is in Ceuta (Spain). Special street lighting is installed in their streets to wish happy Ramadan to the Muslim population.

The lawyer and town councillor from Ceuta, Fatima Hamed ​​Hossain (40), says the atmosphere in her city is what she likes best at this time of the year. “Fortunately, the fact that almost half of the Spanish people here keep the fasting in the month of Ramadan encourages interaction, coexistence and mutual knowledge”.

“The community spirit is what I like the most about Ramadan. It’s like a month-long festival”

— Tez Ilyas, stand-up comedian

The “community spirit” is also what the British stand-up comedian Tez Ilyas (35) likes most about Ramadan. “It’s like a month-long festival,” he smiles. Although Ramadan is usually known to non- Muslims as the fasting month, for the Muslims Salam Plan has spoken to that aspect is almost the least important.

Muslim communities organize activities such as the soccer championships or long walks in the Spanish town of Melilla. They often also meet in group dinners for the celebration of Iftar, when they break fasting at sunset. Sometimes these meetings are even interreligious to encourage dialogue, like the ones that Arco Forum and Casa Turca (‘Turkish Home’) have been organizing in Madrid for the past six years. Or like “The Big Iftar” that took place this week for the first time in the British Parliament.

That is so, because Ramadan is also to share “moments of exchange and fraternity,” Iaad Ben Diah (26) explains. He is from Toulouse (France), although he has been living in Paris for three years now. He is studying a PhD in mathes and chairs the association of Muslim Students of France (EMF). He assures that neither in his city nor in the French capital has he ever had any problem to celebrate Ramadan, despite the growing Islamophobia and the many supporters Marine Le Pen reaps in the country.

“There is the France of media and the France on the ground. I live very well as a French citizen of Muslim creed (…). France is a country of freedom and tolerance where everyone can live their faith and religious festivities with all serenity,” he argues. “Mrs. Le Pen has no impact on my daily personal life really.”

Asif Arif (30), a Parisian lawyer and regular contributor to various French media, agrees: “Not everyone in the outside world understands the spirit of Ramadan. The most difficult part is also the media controversy surrounding Islam. But we live in France, a free country, where people respect each other and understand that we must live together.”

A flexible at work schedule is appreciated, nothing more is needed

Tez is a comedian who usually jokes about his own circumstances as a British Muslim and the prejudices against those who profess Islam. “For those of you who don’t know that much about us, you might recognize us from such hate TV shows as the news,” he said in one of his shows on BBC.

But he does not mention any bad experience when answering Salam Plan‘s questions about Ramadan in the United Kingdom, at work neither. “In my experience, employers are usually very accommodating,” he says. In his opinion, it would basically be to allow a flexible schedule during this month.

“Starting later and having a shorter lunch break to make-up for the last time and maybe being a little conscientious about food and water near desks,” he suggests.

Ceuta lawyer, Fatima, has trouble these days paying attention to the alarm clock and that’s why she takes advantage of lunch time to take a “little nap”. She also “hardly” perceives difficulties in her working environment for Muslims to celebrate their month of shared spirituality. Fatima is self-employed and can organize herself, but she has not detected problems for employed persons either.

“What people usually do in several companies is changing shifts, holiday periods etc. to make things easier for other colleagues. The same is done at Christmas”

— Fatima H. Hossain, lawyer and town councillor

“What people usually do in several companies is changing shifts, holiday periods etc. to make things easier for other colleagues. The same is done for example at Christmas, where those who do not celebrate try to cover our peers who do,” she explains.

Elisa agrees that her usual schedule is the main difference during Ramadan. “We get up early, so I try to leave a while free to rest in the afternoon, since there are also many hours of light.” As a teacher, her work does not allow her to vary anything on her time scheme, but she can in another practical aspect: “I have to talk a lot and I cannot refresh my throat, as I usually do, so I have to avoid wearing down”.

In Germany, Naima Niazy (28) cannot help but getting irritated by a co-worker who asks each year again if fasting also includes not being able to drink. “This question and lack of comprehension occur so often, that sometimes I want to print out a T-shirt that reads: ‘Yes, cannot drink either,'” she admits.

At the same time, this postdoctoral researcher in molecular biology admits that what she likes best about Ramadan in Germany is the interest shown by non-Muslims: “They inform themselves and take it into account, simply because they like me (…). Conversations arising from curiosity and without prejudice enrich me and help me to learn new perspectives, regardless of whether in the end I have the same opinion or not.”

Iaad, the representative of the Muslim students of France, assures that “those who fast have a totally normal life during Ramadan. My fast should not be imposed on anything about my coworkers or the university world.”

Asif, the Parisian lawyer, says he always tries to be “more calm” and “temper the nerves” at work, as part of that “attempt to evolve towards more spirituality” during Ramadan.

Do not get angry and other top goals in Ramadan

“I actually enjoy the hunger and the thirst. It reminds me how lucky I am that I live in a part of the world where I can generally eat what I like whenever I want,” Tez says. “It’s a really special time where everyone is pulling in the same direction to be a better person.”

Elisa emphasizes that “fasting involves an entire attitude, which goes beyond stopping eating and drinking.” This includes, for example, “to avoid getting angry or talking badly; it is always that way, but during this period, with more reason”.

That positive attitude is what prevents Naima from carrying out her desire to print out that T-shirt. She believes that this other aspect of Ramadan often does not get the necessary importance: neither to get angry, nor to bother others nor to carry out “meaningless discussions”. “We all say things that are not especially kind or we exchange the latest gossip with our colleagues. It is something that becomes part of the daily life and does not kill anyone, so it is good to be aware of it and work on it,” she says.

Interreligious Iftar organized by Arco Forum and ‘Turkish Home’ in Madrid. © Salam Plan

Another maxim in Ramadan is to help the needy. The British comedian says that “it’s also a month where we really think about charity, Muslims dig really deep in our pockets in this month to help those less fortunate than us around the world.” Naima points out that charity can also consist in helping acquaintances or neighbours or “simply smile to another person”.

Asif believes that the altruistic aspect is the least known of Ramadan among non-Muslims. He also explains that it is not only about sharing material aspects with others, but also about “debating and getting better together”. For him, this month has an important “dimension of freedom, choice and altruism”.

It is not torture, but this is what costs the most

“Ramadan is not an insurmountable test that is summarized in refraining from eating and drinking,” Iaad emphasizes. It serves to “reconnect with the essential (…), the piety” towards God. That’s why he goes to the mosque every night and the day usually ends around 1 in the morning, he says with a smile.

The few hours of sleep are an aspect that is repeated among Muslims who participate in this story, as much or more than the lack of food and drink during the day. And when Ramadan falls in summer, the short European nights sometimes demand fasting during 19 hours, highlights Tez, the British comedian.

“The night time prays (Tarawee) at the mosque” are the hardest for him. ” Over the month the Imam prays the entire Qur’an in congregation. It’s tiring and takes about an hour every night,” he explains. The next day, Muslim believers will have to get up before the first sun rays appear to eat and do the first of the five prayers of the day. Some people go back to bed, others feel too sated to sleep.

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Loneliness during dinner is what is most difficult for Naima these days, as it is normally a time to celebrate and to share with a group, either with the family or other people. She does not live with anyone and, although she recognizes that she could meet for Iftar with other believers in a mosque, she does not want to. It is the family the ones she misses.

For Elisa, the Spanish teacher, the most difficult thing to celebrate Ramadan in Europe is that “the usual working and social calendar is ongoing and sometimes it is not easy to combine with.” But at the same time she emphasizes that she “enjoys it with a lot of freedom”. She adds: Ramadan is “a practice that produces immense joy; It is not torture.”

For all these European citizens Ramadan is an opportunity to devote more time to their faith and their relationship with God, as well as to work to become a better person and spend more time in community. The essence does not seem so different from the meaning of Christian festivities such as Easter and Christmas. By the way, Muslims also believe in Jesus as an “envoy” of God.

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La entrada This is how Ramadan goes for Muslims from Europe: much more than fasting se publicó primero en Salam Plan.