British Muslims Launch "Islam is Peace" Campaign
Our friends at the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environment Sciences (IFEES) in Birmingham made us aware of an important public awareness campaign launched by British Muslims to educate the general public about the peaceful message of Islam. ECI gladly helps to spread the word about this inspiring initiative that addresses some of today's core challenges to intercultural and interreligious understanding: the widespread misconceptions about Islam in Western media as well as the hijacking of the sacred texts of Islam by a small group of extremists that tries to legitimize its violent conduct in religious terms.
In the face of these challenges, advertisements will be placed on the tubes, trains, stations and airports that project the lives and views of ordinary Muslims, demonstrating how British Muslims are part of the fabric of ordinary, everyday society.
On Monday 8th of October, the ‘Islam is Peace’ campaign launched the London underground segment of its campaign. The first underground posters launched inside tube carriages show images of the Muslim broadcaster and TV Chef Michael Barry and Diane Reeves, a local Police Community Support Officer (PCSO). The Islam-is-Peace campaign was launched on Monday 1st October with London buses carrying the message "Proud to Be a British Muslim; ISLAMISPEACE.ORG.UK"
Michael Barry featured on one of the underground posters said, "The central point is that the person who might be selling you your milk or delivering your letters or helping your child who may have had an accident in hospital, may be Muslim. The idea that we're in some sort of stockade, and wearing funny clothes and behaving in a way that is not part of British Society, is simply not true.”
Through images of Muslims in various fields and professions, from medicine to the police service and from art to football, the adverts seek to emphasise that British Muslims are proud of their identity whilst playing their full role in making Britain a more united and prosperous society.
Find out more about the campaign at http://www.islamispeace.org.uk