So here’s my first blog, as much as I would have preferred to write about something less horrific, I am a firm believer that at the end of every tunnel there is light, and that it is better to light a candle than to curse the dark.

07/07/2005 has now become our 09/11/01, the events of that day horrified me as much as every other Londoner, I was busy shaving when my brother called me from abroad asking me if I was ok, I hadn’t cut myself yet so my natural response was yea, he then subsequently hung up so as not to run up a bill. I then left my house to catch a train to Reading where Sian and me were doing Manifesto to Action training. When I got to the station I discovered what had happened, it was then that my phone started running frantically with reporters asking for statements, having no clue of the details I decided to switch my phone off - not a good idea as Gemma, Joe and Kat were trying to find out if I was ok. (Big Thank You to them for ensuring all were well and good). When we arrived in Reading, the mood was fairly somber and people were just absorbing what had just happened, naturally many of the London S.U’s were unable to attend.

When news stated getting to me I couldn’t help but feeling that all the work that had been done over the last few years in integrating the Muslim community, challenging prejudice and positively engaging in all aspects of society had been reversed by the disgraceful actions of a few. It was because of 9/11 that I got involved in politics and the student movement, it was this that convinced me I had to engage, I had to dispel myths and indeed I had a responsibility as did every other citizen of the world to make it a better place.

Thankfully my pessimism was short lived, I became more aware that unlike 9/11 there was more unity across the all sections of the community, Britain was not the U.S, people came together in condemnation of these attacks and in support of the Muslim community against any possible backlash. So where does this leave us now, it has become more apparent that there is a great deal of work needed to be done by all sections of the community - not only to recover, but in order to cure terrorism. Initially I was encouraged by the response of our government, however the comments made by Blair recently have not only disheartened me but disgusted me.

I never linked 7/7 to Iraq as I respected people’s emotions and the shock we all felt I understood that a responsible reaction would be to utterly condemn the atrocities and to offer sincere condolences to all those affected. However Blair’s attempts to pass the buck onto the Muslim community over the past 48 hours is disgraceful. Of course the Muslim community has a responsibility to educate its youth on what Islam is, on how terrorism has no place in Islam, on how to register dissent or frustration. However the Government also has a responsibility not to wage unjust wars, not to lock up innocent people in Belmarsh, not to commit human rights abuses in Abu Ghraib, not to fund state terrorism. The media has a responsibility not to vilify respected Muslim scholars such as Tariq Ramadan or Yusuf Qaradawi, not to promote the voices of fringe extremist elements such as Abu Hamza or Omar Bakri. Why hasn’t anyone heard of Finsbury Park Mosque lately? Because the Muslim community removed Abu Hamza and now the mosque runs anti-drug programs, adult learning schemes, meets regularly with its MP etc.

So the light at the end of this very long and dark tunnel, is that we are the student movement, we have always been at the front of positive change and revival, the winds of change and tides of hope will always come from us - this leaves us with an opportunity to cure ignorance through education, break barriers through dialogue, and work for a better future. As abstract as this may seem, one thing that brings it closer to home - I may have very well been on that tube had it been term time, changing the world should no longer be rhetoric, every day we meet new people educating them and being educated by them is a good place to start.

Against Terrorism
Against Racism
Against War

In unity and determination

Jamal

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