From left to right: Dr Amani Hassani, Dr Kawtar Najib, Professor Enes Bayrakli, Afzal Khan MP and Lord Wajid Khan
Dr Kawtar Najib, from the University's Department of Geography and Planning, presented her latest findings on Islamophobia in France at a panel discussion in the House of Commons that was held on Tuesday 17 June 2025.
The panel on the European Islamophobia Report (EIR) was hosted by Afzal Khan MP, Vice-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims.
Dr Najib is a human geographer whose research expertise focuses on Islamophobia and social and spatial justice. She writes an annual report on Islamophobia in France for the European Islamophobia Report.
Dr Najib discussed her latest findings for the year 2023 alongside Professor Enes Bayrakli (Turkish-German University) who explained the general mechanisms of Islamophobia at work in Europe, Professor Aristotle Kallis (Keele University) and Dr Amani Hassani (Brunel University) who respectively discussed the situation in the UK and Denmark.
Dr Najib highlighted three major events that have marked and influenced the evolution of Islamophobia in France: the murder of Nahel Merzouk (a French-North African Muslim teenager) by a police officer on 27 June; the implementation of the abaya ban policing the dress of young Muslim students on 7 September; and the criminalisation of the pro-Palestinian solidarity following the 7 October attack in 2023.
Dr Najib said: "The situation today in France is extremely alarming, as we observe a clear shift from institutional Islamophobia to murderous Islamophobia, with many violent attacks (supported by far-right politics) causing the killings of innocent Muslims, especially in the last two months.
"There was agreement across the discussion that Islamophobia has increased after 7 October 2023 and is negatively influencing mainstream media and political discourses.
"I highlighted how Islamophobia is everywhere, and that global Islamophobia has a local impact on the everyday lives of Muslim populations.
"However, if there is an 'Everywhere Islamophobia'; then there is also an 'Everywhere Resistance'."
Lord Wajid Khan (Minister for Faith and Communities) also participated in the panel discussion alongside the Turkish Ambassador to the UK Osman Koray Ertaş, MP Naz Shah and Lord Qurban Hussein.
The Parliamentary Select Committee on Gendered Islamophobia has also published Dr. Najib's written evidence on spaces of gendered Islamophobia in the UK.