Zarah Sultana participated in the Debate
on Definition of Islamophobia in the British Parliament
Zarah Sultana said, “It is a pleasure to serve with you in the chair,
Mrs Murray. I would like to begin by congratulating my hon. Friend the Member
for Bradford West (Naz Shah) and the hon. Member for Peterborough (Paul
Bristow) on securing this important debate.
She mentioned, “Before I was elected, I was nervous about being a Muslim
woman in the public eye. Growing up, I had seen the abuse that prominent
British Muslims were subject to—I knew I would not be in for an easy ride.
Today, I would like to say that I was wrong to be worried. When young Muslim
girls ask me what it is like, I would like to say that there is nothing to worry
about, that they would face the same challenges as their non-Muslim friends and
colleagues. However, in truth, I cannot say that, because in my short time in
Parliament, that is not my experience.”
Zarah Sultana first read out a few examples. She said “One person wrote
to me to say, and I quote, “Sultana, you and your Muslim mob are a real danger
to humanity.” Another wrote and said that I was a “cancer” everywhere I go, and
soon, they said, “Europe will vomit you out.” A third called me a “terrorist
sympathiser” and “scum of the earth”—and that is sanitising their
unparliamentary language.”
She also mentioned, “I have discovered that to be a Muslim woman, to be
outspoken and to be left-wing is to be subject to this barrage of racism and
hate. It is to be treated by some as if I were an enemy of the country that I
was born in—as if I don’t belong. It was summed up by these words, in a
hand-written letter, “If you can’t stand the racism, perhaps you would be
happier going back to your country of origin—foreigner.” It is worse when I
speak up for migrants’ rights, speak in support of the Palestinian people, or
criticise Tony Blair for the war in Afghanistan. One abusive letter said, and I
quote, “Our cities are full of Muslims. Send them to Pakistan.” Another
suggested that I must support the Taliban—all because I am Muslim and against
endless war.”
Speaking about Islamophobia, Zarah Sultana mentioned, “This Islamophobia does not come from a vacuum. It is not natural or engrained; it is taught from the very top. These fires are fanned by people in positions of power and privilege. When a far-right online account targeted me with racist abuse, suggesting that Muslims were an invading army, a Conservative MP replied, not by calling it out for its racism, but by insulting me instead. When our England football stars were subjected to vile racism, in the Chamber I highlighted that the Prime Minister had fanned those flames by ridiculing Muslims and black people. At the Dispatch Box, the Minister told me to watch my tone.”
She said, “Although none of that is nice, the worst effects of
Islamophobia and racism are not just abusive language, but policies and
political decisions. This Saturday marks the 20th anniversary of 9/11. That
horrific act of mass murder cast a long shadow. The war on terror, launched by
George Bush and Tony Blair in its wake, set a narrative that too many readily
embraced. Muslims, wherever we are, were portrayed as a security threat in need
of discipline and suppression. Abroad, that was the background to disastrous
wars in the middle east. False links were drawn between Iraq and the 9/11
attacks, providing false legitimacy to a war that had more to do with oil than
the safety of British citizens.”
Zarah Sultana continued, “At home, it meant the erosion of the civil
liberties of all and the targeting of Muslims in particular, with policies such
as the Prevent programme, which countless studies and human rights groups have
demonstrated discriminates against Muslims, from young girls being referred to
the programme simply for choosing to wear a hijab to a Muslim teen being
questioned by anti-terrorism officers for wearing a “Free Palestine” badge. I
knew about that at university, so I, too, feared speaking out in class. I held
back where I might otherwise have criticised Blair and Bush for illegal wars.”
“Europe and Islam is one of the greatest, most terrifying problems of
our future.”
That appointment led dozens of human rights organisations, including the
likes of Amnesty International and Liberty, to boycott the review, saying that
it was just there to rubber-stamp the discriminatory programme.”
Zarah Sultana continued, “Closer to home, things are not good either. My
party has seemingly welcomed back a man who said that Muslims
“see the world differently from the rest of us”,
and that we are a “nation within a nation”. It has been silent after a
Muslim colleague was cleared following vexatious claims and endured 18 months
of horrendous Islamophobia. In a recent by-election, it supposedly had a senior
source pit Muslims against Jews, demonising whole communities.”
Zarah Sultana concluded her presentation, “I have always known what it
is like to face racism, and through my political life I have come to understand
this bigotry better—to see it in its different forms and to recognise the need
to confront and challenge it wherever it is found. Islamophobia is very real in
Britain today. It is something that I know too well, but it cannot be
defeated in isolation. The people spreading this hate target not just Muslims
but black people, Jewish people, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities,
migrants and refugees. There is safety in solidarity, and it is only through
uniting our struggles that we will defeat racism.”
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