Over 60 people attended the online meeting on Tuesday 6 August 2024. It was great to see so many from the Diocese, 25% of those who took part.
We heard the reactions of Muslim Women who feel very threatened by what is happening and are scared to go outside. Their honesty showed how utterly debilitating recent events have been. There was much respect and solidarity for those who share.
We had very helpful advice from a behavioural therapist, Layla Mofrad, for those who feel threatened due to their religion, race or status. She made three important points:
- Seek Signs of Safety:
- What makes you comfortable and grounded. Keep to a routine, avoid novelty.
- Information management:
- Seeking out more information can cause more uncertainty.
- Ask what do I need to know? What is reliable? How frequent do I need to access information?
- If possible, focus on what is going on in the wider world.
- Bridges to the future:
- How can you build realistic hope, bridging what the world is and what it should be. These are the steps of hope.
We discussed what we could do. The first point was that as an organisation Citizens UK (CUK) does not back any counter demonstration. CUK does not want to put anyone at risk of danger. Such counter actions like forming a human chain, as well as being dangerous, may be provocative.
We could reach out to anyone who is Muslim, a refugee or part of a minority group. Check out how they are at this time. Having 1-2-1 conversations is at the heart of community organising, so we were asked if there are people who could be feeling threatened and to have conversations with them.
We could visit a mosque or temple or centre for refugee with flowers and or cards to express your support.
Be willing to have difficult conversations with those who are accepting the misinformation doing the rounds on social media.
Those from Sunderland stated how wonderful and beautiful it was to see people help with the clean up the night after. If you would like to be on a list help with such ‘clean up’s please contact Claire Rodgerson at: Claire.Rodgerson@citizensuk.org.
Longer term, Citizens UK are planning to implement the findings from ‘Organising across Difference’ report and the Weaving Trust events, as a way to build stronger relationships between communities. Also, for those keen on long-term organising around migrant & refugee injustice, there is our Migrant and Refugee Organising team and you can speak our Organiser, Claire Rodgerson, about how to engage in that work.