The Three Hijabis’ Post

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Three Hijabis statement and call for anti-racism action and solidarity, during the ‘Summer of Sport’ 14th June 2024 ⚽️ The ‘Summer of Sport’ kicks off today (Friday 14th June) with the Euros in Munich, with Germany v Scotland, and later next month, the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, as France goes into a snap general election in an attempt to stem the tide of the far-right. The latter , a symptom of widespread division, discontent and devastation across the world. And then there’s the transformative power of the beautiful game, football and sport. An antidote bringing people and communities together - to harness hope and change, and to remind us of what we, human, are capable of. The Olympics are being held in France, a country where Muslim women who wear the hijab are banned from participating in sport, public and political life, in the name of protecting France’s secular values. So when the powers that run global sport tell you that “sport isn’t political”, don’t believe them. Sports and the Olympic Games are deeply political and speak to the power imbalances and legacies of colonialism, loot and plunder that have shaped Europe and the Western world. We also know that throughout history, sport has empowered people and enabled collective healing in and across disenfranchised communities. So, what should anti-racist and pro justice football fans expect from the Euros in particular? If the media coverage of the England v Iceland game is anything to go by, we are expecting a further mainstreaming of racism and specifically anti-Blackness and Islamophobia. Look at the shameful abuse of Saka after England lost 1-0 to Iceland. Saka was a substitute coming on to play for for 25 mins before the end of the game. Despite this - sections of the infamous UK newspapers ran hysterical racist headlines blaming Saka for England’s defeat leading to ex-footballer lan Wright writing on X: https://lnkd.in/e8cbWkFW This is of course the same Saka who along with Sancho and Rashford, was subjected to grotesque on and offline racist abuse at the last Euros in 2021, delayed by covid and held in London in the backdrop of a global pandemic, with a reinvigorated global Black Lives Matter movement, following the racist murder of George Floyd at the hands of a servicing US police officer. Floyd was killed on camera, his final breaths telling the world “I can’t breathe” as a white police officer pushed down his knee on his neck. The footage was broadcast to a stunned world. In 2021, we launched a 1.2M strong signature petition calling on the Football Association, tech companies and the government to ban racists from football for life. Read our full statement here: https://lnkd.in/e7sTuKzH #euros24 #olympics #sport #antiracism Amna Abdullatif (She/her/hers) Huda Jawad Shaista Aziz

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Marwan Elfallah

Senior Lecturer at University of East London , School of Education and Communities

4mo

Not one word of Germany supporting the genocide. 

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