A few days before the world marked Refugee Week (17 – 23 June), I was at the Good Food Show in Birmingham with a gal pal. Tasting samples and browsing a range of home-made products, I saw out of the corner of my eye a woman in a headscarf at a cheese stand. And then it clicked… The Syrian couple in Yorkshire! Yep, I’d heard about a Syrian couple who’d sought refuge in the UK and set up a cheese business in the UK but not learnt much about it. And here they were! Dama Cheese – founded by Razan Alsous and Raghid Sandouk – is not just a cheese business. It’s an award winning one – with a very ins ..read more

By Laura Marks With the tragic conflict continuing to rage in Israel and Palestine, threatening to tear communities here in the UK apart, it has never been more important to bring people of different faiths and beliefs together to build understanding. However, in my 20 years of working in this space, I can safely say I have never seen such forceful efforts by people on different sides to willingly denigrate these initiatives quite so brazenly. The consequences, if their efforts are successful, should worry us all. As the founder of the Jewish-Muslim women’s network Nisa-Nashim, I truly believe ..read more

February 6 marks International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). On this day, we rise up and declare clearly: we stand against FGM and those that practice, endorse and promote it. A harmful longstanding practice, FGM involves the cutting off and/or sewing up of a female’s genitalia (known as infibulation) in a bid to control her sexuality. Practiced in various forms (there are 4 types of FGM), it’s mostly carried out on young girls – from the age of infancy to 15. Why? Well, a girl is “cut” in a bid to retain her virginity, deny her right to sexual pleasure (e.g. in th ..read more

20 December 2023. Less than a week to go till Christmas. Just under a week since the Jewish festival of Chanukkah ended.   And over two months since the October 7 massacre by Hamas in Israel, setting off an intense war between Israel and Gaza. It’s all a bit depressing, bittersweet and well… unsettling, isn’t it? It’s a special, reflective and sacred time of year for many, yet it’s all come together in a horrible blur of hate… Speaking to a Jewish friend yesterday, I discovered how in a predominantly Jewish area of London, annual Chanukkah celebrations have been somewhat “dimmed” this yea ..read more

Peace. It’s a word that we’ve heard a lot lately. With the recent outbreak of conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and Russia, the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, along with the continued conflict in Syria and Yemen, it’s clear that peace – or the lack of – is a global issue on many people’s minds. According to research by Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), the global picture is not looking good. In their latest global peace report (2023) – in which they provide a review of 163 countries – we saw the “ninth consecutive yea ..read more

By Elizabeth Arif-Fear A few months back I had the pleasure of meeting Tomer Aldubi and was delighted to find out how much we had in common! A queer Israeli, Tomer has committed himself to fighting antisemitism – and embracing the arts! Writing his own (first!) play, he’s critically raising awareness of the plight of queer Palestinians in the West Bank and their journeys seeking asylum in Israel. Sharif: in the closet to outside his home His debut play “Sharif شريف” is quite unique. It’s a moving drama portraying the real life struggles that LGBTQ+ Palestinians face. Written and directed by T ..read more

By Matt Pointon This blog is part of a series where I look at various faiths and explore where they have inspired me and where I have questions/struggles. Although I am Christian, I believe that God wants us to explore and learn from other traditions as part of our spiritual journey. This is my journey, no one else’s, and this series of blogs merely record how I see things. They are not intended to offend or convert, nor do I expect you to agree with me. I do however, appreciate feedback, friendship and further learning. Thank you! Other blogs in this series: My interfaith journey (p ..read more

By Matt Pointon This blog is part of a series where I look at various faiths and explore where they have inspired me and where I have questions/struggles. Although I am Christian, I believe that God wants us to explore and learn from other traditions as part of our spiritual journey. This is my journey, no one else’s, and this series of blogs merely record how I see things. They are not intended to offend or convert, nor do I expect you to agree with me. I do however, appreciate feedback, friendship and further learning. Thank you! Unlike many journeys of exploration, I can pinpoint exactly wh ..read more

By Abda Khan Here in the UK, domestic abuse is rife. In England and Wales for example, the police receive a domestic-abuse related call every 30 seconds. However, the reality is much deeper. With only 24% of cases of abuse are reported to the police, we know that more and more people (of all genders) are suffering. There is, however, a massive gender disparity, with 84% of victims identifying as female and 93% of perpetrators identifying as male. Domestic abuse tears apart lives, with long term – even deadly – consequences. For example, affected women are twice as likely to face depression and ..read more

By Fiyaz Mughal Islam’s history contains some glorious periods, spanning Andalusia, Baghdad and the seats of learning and art that they created. I am proud to be attached by birth to this part of our cultural heritage. However, over my life I have come to understand that Islam initially grew from a zealous desire to spread the faith out of Arabia and across parts of Africa and the Middle East. Like any religion, it has its bloody history. Muslims have never seriously debated the really hard questions, such as whether Islam’s supremacy over other beliefs is simply based on man-made legitimacy a ..read more