If you are Muslim.

[Masher]

Hopefully this doesn't come across as insensitive. It is to do with the photograph of the lady in the brown headscarf walking across Westminster Bridge after the attack. I thought she looked terrified, distraught, and very, very shaken. The photographer has just confirmed this.

One thing that crossed my mind I think, is that if I was muslim and caught up in such an act I would really fear for my safety. I would be scared the people there may turn against me, I would be scared that I would be accused of being involved, and I would be scared the security services may do both of these things too.

It got me thinking about how I would feel in everyday life in Britain. I just wondered whether you all feel safe here, or if it changes through various regions and depends on where you are?

If you don't feel safe, or there are times when you don't feel safe, what can I do that would make it better? I live in London if that helps.

You just don't know how you will react in that situation.

If the headscarf isn't an 'aid' to foster cohesion, it's on the onus of the person who finds it so obstructive to adjust their mentality , surely ? I've got a degree in English from a red brick university. I don't think I need to do anything differently to integrate . Will people not even try to see past my headscarf?

My goodness I hadn't seen the photo of the lady walking away until this post. Has she been identified? I feel so sorry for her she's doing exactly what I would do if there were already plenty helping the injured. I would be getting the hell out of there as fast as I could.

And to the poster who said about the photo doing the rounds of an ira bomb and we didn't think all Irish were in the IRA, why then were there posters in bars, hotels and lodging houses with the no blacks, no Irish, no dogs signage on them? Genuine question, I assumed it was because racist English people did in fact think all Catholic Irish were involved in the IRA.

Afo I may be wrong but I think it was because the English were plain racist and nothing to do with the ira

Could be kanga! People have short memories if they think the Irish in England were treated well in the past. I see knife grinder has already said this far better than I did missed their post!

No, I wouldn't be worried the security services are going to 'turn on you' or 'accuse you of being involved' for being muslim. They aren't stupid.
When in London I take buses and tubes every day. They are full of every creed and colour and nobody bats an eyelid generally. It's normal life round here as it should be.
Just as there are some idiot radicalised scumbags there are some idiot racist scumbags. I also know there are some people who are not racist but rather wary of groups in their area - not just muslims - who don't integrate, speak their own language, etc etc, and that worries people - but that's the fear of the unknown, and they would never act on anything or treat these people badly, but that fear is there because these people are seperating themselves. If any person going about their daily lives in Britain feels unsafe due to their skin colour or religion, it's very sad.

My dc go to religious schools. I find it's easier for them as there's no expectations on them to 'fit in' or integrate they already do.

The school works very hard to foster relations with local schools for events and competitions and open days and exhibitions etc.

I've found it's helped them to become confident happy adjusted young women who believe nothing is beyond them so long as they work hard. They're supported and encouraged to join eg the Duke of York award, they're encouraged to volunteer within the community (by which I mean everything charity shops, help clean streets, visit old people's homes etc not religiously affiliated everything), my dc want to go into medicine and veterinary practice because of this. I think it has helped them enormously to be be valued as individuals instead of being seen as the other or different especially during their formative years.

They have a life time of being looked at askance and being made it feel like outsiders. I'm thankful for their religious school, the ethos emphasise kindness and excelling in whatever you put your mind at.... they also go to comicon each year (with the bookclub), which eldest especially really looks forward to.

At a point in the future I expect my dc to be valued members of society who put in more than they've ever taken.
I do not think there schooling has been anything but an amazing support and experience for them. There is a massive emphasis on helping neighbours and being involved in the community within the school.

As a muslim, my only request would be that if you see someone being racist then call them out on it. I've never experienced racism where I live, it's very multicultural and a tourist hotspot, but occasionally there'll be people who are rude and swear for no reason.

Last time I was in Iceland with my kids, a woman started talking to me like I couldn't speak English and F-ing and blinding at me because of how the queue had formed. I couldn't retaliate because I had my children with me. She was called a "fucking idiot" by a man covered in tattoos Wearing a leather jacket stood behind me. When I turned around, he said "some people are idiots". That man made me feel safe.

Afo - the No blacks, no Irish, no dogs signage predated the Troubles. My mother remembers those signs when looking for accomodation in London in the early to mid 60's. Obviously, anti-Irish sentiment increased in the 70's and 80's. I had friends living in England in the 80's who definitely experienced it.

Actually my understanding of it is Muslims are actually a critical part of the war against terrorism. They are relied on to report when they suspect something of someone and they do and their help forms a strong part of our prevention ability. Many attacks are foiled because other Muslims stepped in and proactively reported their concerns.

These extremists are not representative of the Muslim community and I'm beyond appalled innocent people are being abused in the street because of them.

In this world those who are most likely to have been impacted by Islamic terrorism are Muslims as these are the areas in which these depraved individuals have been the most active. E.g. Syrians, Iraqis, Pakistanis, Afghans etc. etc. While I can understand the sentiment of people wanting to get a justification from Muslims, it seems unfair at best. Furthermore, to these depraved people, anyone - Muslim or not- is a target if they do not agree with their worldview.

An estimated 80,000 people have died in Pakistan since 2004 as a result of so-called Islamic terrorism.

Marking yourself out by wearing different clothes, is not going to aid intergration. I think it does create a "you are not like me" culture.

I certainly would not stop women (or men for that matter) covering their faces etc but yes it does not help integration.

By the way this is a very interesting programme which I have been watching over lunch which I think was on last night www.channel4.com/programmes/the-men-with-many-wives/on-demand/57897-001

Headofthehive I don't agree or disagree with you re the wearing of different clothes but I understand why France has gone down the secular route eg to ban headscarves, crucifix, Star of David jewellery etc. I am not saying that headscarves or other religious symbols in jewellery should be banned or not in the UK.

This is a really sad thread. What has being Muslim got to do with terrorism? The terrorists hide behind religion; it's happened across pretty much all religions. I don't recall anyone asking how to react to their catholic / Christian friends. Surely we should just all carry on as normal. Why look to Muslims because of this?

Fwiw, I also didn't agree with the extensive news reporting either. Yes it's horrific, yes it's devastating for those involved but surely this type of coverage only feeds the egos of those who subscribe to this type of terrorism. Report it and move on, don't keep fanning the fires.

Marking yourself out by wearing different clothes, is not going to aid intergration. I think it does create a "you are not like me" culture.
Maybe we should have a British uniform, to make things easier for everyone. Like a hoodie, worn with either jeans or tracksuit bottoms that show your arsecrack? Then everyone would be clear about what's required to assimilate into our superior culture.

Oh dear, not again!!! Since I have absolutely normal very British interactions with three quarters of the people I meet, and abuse from one quarter of the people I meet, should we assume that it is my attire that causes the enmity and so called lack of "integration", or should we assume that it is the attitudes and values of the people who think that it is ok to be impolite or offensive to women based on their appearance??

How can anyone walk past when something so appalling has just happened and you must have had an idea of the scale, in this instance? And why that damned mobile phone thing?

This reminds me of when a bomb went off on Oxford Street years and years ago. The police arrested an Irish man soon after it went off as he was running away from the scene... (It was when the IRA etc were active).

Afterwards, it turned out he was completely innocent and just another unlucky individual in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Talking to him and the police afterwards, they were trying to work out why he had been arrested. Turns out that he heard the bomb go off, was from Ireland and so was more used to bombs going off and the fact that there could be a second bomb that went off soon afterwards so his life experience kicked in and he just thought I need to get out of here asap, so ran as fast as he could away from the blast.

Everyone else heard the bomb and not being used to being in the immediate vicinity of a bomb or the possible remaining dangers, thought ooh, a bomb blast, let's go and have a look (and this was in the days before mobile phones!) so ran towards the blast. The policemen that happened to be there saw one person 'running away' and lots of people running towards the blast so switched into a mentality of the person must have been doing something different because they were guilty otherwise why wouldn't they run with the crowd (and thus show a 'normal' response). When they spoke to him and discovered he had an irish accent, that was enough for them to assume he must be guilty. They didn't stop to think that actually his response - to run away from danger - was the right one and it was everybody else that was odd running into it...

Wtaf at some of these posts.

Enormous I used to work in a solicitors office where on of our solicitors was Iranian and specialised in dealing with Iranian clients. As I partly worked on reception I got quite used to meeting and speaking to iranian men and women but also women in headscarves and all sorts of face coverings. A lot of them are accompanying men and therefore keep quiet on the whole but sometimes (more often than not) a woman with a hijab or other covering would come for legal advice (usually immigration), but i have to admit i rarely saw women with face coverings ask about legal matters, for themselves.

OP, nice of you to ask. Not patronising at all. I'm not Muslim but always end up being in the end of some racist abuse after one of these attacks. It does increase racial tension. It helps that there are a lot of people like you who will act no differently

(this is the one on last night [a]www.channel4.com/programmes/three-wives-one-husband/on-demand/61760-001[/a] - men wanting their cake and eating it world wide in all fundamentalist religions and elsewhere I suppose)