Tower Hamlets Inter Faith Forum hosted an event to celebrate Inter Faith Week 2019 on Thursday 14th November at St Margaret’s House in Bethnal Green. The aim of the event was to raise awareness of faith hate and to encourage people to sign Tower Hamlets Council’s No Place for Hate pledge – as a way for people to show that they are against all forms of hate and prejudice.
Attendees enjoyed informative presentations from:
- Dr Daniel Nilsson DeHanas, Senior Lecturer in Political Science and Religion at King’s College London, who spoke about the rise of populism and how this involves religion and its implications for faith hate.
- Benedicta Dikeocha, No Place for Hate at Tower Hamlets Council, who gave a general overview of hate crime and spoke about the strategic priorities for Tower Hamlets Council and their partners. She also gave information about how individuals and organisations can support the No Place for Hate Forum. (Download Benedicta’s presentation)
- Fiyaz Mughal, Muslims Against Anti-Semitism, who spoke about the important work of MAAS and the importance of Muslims standing with Jewish people.
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- Dr Daniel Nilsson DeHanas
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- Benedicta Dikeocha
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- Fiyaz Mughal
The event also hosted various stall holders from organisations across Tower Hamlets, who came with lots of literature and giveaways highlighting their work and projects:
- The Hate Crime Team at the Met Police
- Muslims Against Anti-Semitism
- No Place for Hate at Tower Hamlets Council
- Real Disability
A break in the middle of the event gave guests some time to eat the delicious buffet that was on offer. Various faith organisations, community groups and residents attended the event, so there was a good opportunity to network and to look around the stalls.
Attendees then took part in groups discussions centred around community cohesion. The discussions were facilitated by Community Researchers from Tower Hamlets Council, who were interested in finding out people’s views about community in Tower Hamlets: both the good and bad points, as well as what would help bring people together. The discussions will feed into the Council’s community cohesion consultation plan. If you would like to contribute to the plan, you can have your say here.
At the end of the event, people signed the No Place for Hate pledge, joining the 2800+ people who have signed so far, to show that Tower Hamlets is committed to tackling hate crime.
Some comments about our event
“Thank you for organising such an uplifting program. The event had a warm and welcoming feeling.”
“Opportunities to give views are important.”
“Thank you and keep up the good work.”
