The event is free and will be live-streamed and recorded! Suggested donation of £10 to support our work.

Share widely and hope to see many of you there!
/end

How the liberal acceptability of racist and colonial ideologies in mental health care produces violence for all staff and service users. /4

How the repression of Palestinian solidarity operates on both counter-terrorism and anti-racist frameworks. Repression then occurs through existing racist healthcare structures (i.e. Prevent policy) but also affirmed in spaces like EDI under the guise of “anti-racism.” /3

How mental health care places Palestine outside of acceptable politics, as opposed to other issues. The result is an atmosphere of threat towards expressions of Palestinian solidarity. /2

thank you for reading!

Also: here's the full, terrible account of the adolescent that was grilled by the police for displaying Palestinian solidarity, by Nandini Naira Archer

www.opendemocracy.net/en/counter-t...

End/ Read the full report here:
www.runnymedetrust.org/publications...

11/ Conclusion: The fight against Islamophobia isn't just about mental health, it’s about addressing the structural violence behind it. Without justice and systemic change, mental health care risks upholding the very oppression it seeks to alleviate.

10/ Mental health responses alone cannot resolve racism. Accountability and justice must precede care. Islamophobia, rooted in broader systems of violence and exclusion, requires systemic resistance to dismantle.

9/ The future of Muslim mental health depends on resisting the trend to individualise and depoliticise remedies. True care must align with justice and systemic change, not just cultural sensitivity or Muslim representation in mental health settings.

8/ Grassroots orgs like CAGE, Maslaha and @healingjusticeldn.bsky.social provide vital support by recognising the political roots of marginalisation. They affirm dignity and resist dehumanisation--these are essential for real healing.

7/ The mental health sector risks depoliticising structural problems like Islamophobia. Individualising Muslim distress ignores systemic causes like racism, poverty, and xenophobic policies. This misdirects accountability.

6/ Islamophobia in mental health is growing more concerning. Mental health professionals are being embedded within police to diagnose referrals of Muslim “radicalisation”, often without meeting those referred. This is an explicit, racist weaponisation of mental health structures.

5/ Self-censorship among Muslims, driven by fear, is a pervasive yet understudied mental health issue. Surveys show many avoid activism or political expression to dodge accusations of "bad Muslim." In my research, I attend to the anxiety underlying self-censorship.