Cardiff City Hall has hosted a launch event for community-funded organisation Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND).
Held on Sunday, 22 November, the event aimed to discuss Islamophobia in Britain, with an emphasis on the media and the Government. Part of Islamophobia Awareness Month, the evening began with an exhibition, followed by a selection of speakers discussing a variety of topics, including portrayal in the media and challenging myths about the religion.
Statistics at the exhibition included a 2013 Cambridge University finding: “For every one moderate Muslim mentioned, 21 examples of extremist Muslims are mentioned in the British press.”
Azad Ali, head of community and development at MEND, said, “What we want to do is get the message across that Islamophobia is real, but we can do something about it together. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel, we just need to be open to each other and challenge the bigotry.”
