FOOTBALL BEYOND BORDERS STATEMENT 03/06/2013: UNITE AGAINST RACISM
"Football Beyond Borders was set up in 2009 as a response to
the aggressive British foreign policy in the Middle East. We objected to the
scapegoating of whole communities and the rise of Islamophobia in the UK. As a
young group of men we decided to take a stand to try and combat this bloodshed
and mutual hostility by engaging with other people who may come from different
backgrounds but who shared our love of football and the desire for peace and
unity. This has resulted over the past five years in a series of international
projects spanning four continents which have tackled discrimination and a sense
of powerlessness by championing diversity and giving recognition to others.
These aims remain steadfast and are central to the Football Beyond Borders’ ethic
and to all the work we do.
Recent events in the UK have seen racial
tensions increase, much to our dismay. In response to the shocking shocking
incident in Woolwich and the subsequent media hysteria we have decided
to take action within both our own local and global communities, rather
than passively standing by and watching whilst tensions increase in our
society. We will thus be participating in a series of events aimed at
uniting people of different communities, faiths and cultures. Firstly, we
will be hosting a football tournament called 'Love Football: Hate
Racism" on Sunday the 9th of June which will
bring Muslims and non-Muslims together in London for a day of football and fun.
This will be followed by our participation in a multi-faith football tournament organised by the Faith Regen
Foundation on the 22nd of June, where we hope to
show solidarity with a broad range of faiths and communities. We have also
agreed this week to embark upon a partnership with the United Religions
Initiative, who promote grassroots bridge-building
between different communities. In doing so we hope to improve our reach and
also to learn valuable strategies for achieving our goals. Lastly, this summer
we will be taking a mixed-gender football team to the Balkans to try and combat ethnic segregation, gender
discrimination and racism. We hope that all these actions will play a part in
strengthening inclusion and in diffusing tensions between different
communities.
Let us take a stand AGAINST racism, discrimination and extremism.
Instead, let us stand together and SUPPORT diversity, respect and inclusion. Football
Beyond Borders aims to act as a vehicle for young people to develop their
understanding of the world and their ability to initiate positive social change
- as it has already done for those of us who have participated in its projects
over the last 5 years. Our experiences have led us to believe that we all have
a duty to play our part in carving out a society that we are proud to call home
- and we hope that others will join us in our work."
To find out more about our projects and how you can get involved,
please email info@footballbeyondborders.org, or follow us on twitter @Fbeyondborders
UPDATE 07/06/2013
Yesterday
a vigil was held in Muswell Hill, North London, to show solidarity towards the
local Somali community whose Islamic community centre was recently burnt down in
a suspected EDL arson attack. One of our members lives less than 5 minutes down
the road from the centre and went down to the vigil to represent FBB & show
support.
It was
incredibly moving to see how many people of diverse races and religions attended, from the local community and from around
London, and spoke out strongly against fascism and racism. You could
see how much this all meant to members of the local Somali community, who were
visibly moved by the occasion. Let us hope this tragic event helps strengthen
the community bonds in the area - this was certainly a very good start!
Many of
the calls echoed the words of our recent statement above.
The FBB
ethos is all about bringing communities together, so it was great to see that
philosophy in action at the Vigil, and to play some football with kids from the
local community in the park afterwards, in true FBB fashion! :)
For reports
on the vigil, see:
