By Noor Abdul Rassoul Ali

There are 5 million orphans in Iraq, and the Iraqi government is currently only able to assist 1 million of them. This leaves 4 million vulnerable children in a war-torn country living in extreme poverty. They have little hope of schooling or a future, and provide easy prey for violent gangs. How should we, as a community in Britain react to this, and indeed, should we be active at all from here?

By Yasmin Alasady

Having endured three brutal wars in less than thirty years, exacerbated by more than twelve years of UN sanctions, Iraq has witnessed both its physical and civil infrastructure crumble, leaving behind a humanitarian crisis of an unimaginable scale.

By Dr Hasna Kadem

For more than twenty years I had lived in Britain and it felt like home. I enjoyed the freedom, the broad opportunities for education and, moreover, the multicultural society I lived in. Every single day was a new chance for acquiring knowledge and experience.  Although I initially struggled to adapt to the new life and new society, gradually I started to appreciate the values of tolerance and acceptance amongst people from different cultures from all over the world. So when my country got rid of the dictatorship, I decided to go back to make use of the skills I gained here in Britain where it was most needed in Iraq. The events of the past few years made me feel the importance and attachment, both as an Iraqi and a Briton.

By Tijen Horoz

As we entered Western China it began to dawn on me that we were no longer in China at all. This was East Turkistan, home of the Uyghurs, a Turkic people who have inhabited this terrain since 840 CE. I knew all of this before I joined a three month, ‘back to roots’, tour of the Silk Road, (I am half Turkish), but nothing could prepare me for just how openly Turkish and Muslim Uyghur China (otherwise known as Xinjiang Province) meet. In fact, it could easily be mistaken for central or Eastern Turkey. The people look distinctly Turkish, Turkish music blares out onto the streets from homes and shops and the shelves of Uygur supermarkets are stocked with many Turkish brands. Sweet and sour pork, stir fried vegetables and noodles make way for lamb kebabs (halal of course), spiced naan bread and pilaf (just like my grandmother makes). The women wear brightly coloured headscarves and the men sport beautifully embroidered ‘Central Asian style’ skull caps.

Reflections by Dr Phyllis Starkey MP

Unfortunately there are many conflicts around the world, but the continuing conflict in Palestine is particularly important because it:

• Is an affront to international law and United Nations resolutions
• Is a source of instability in the Middle East and beyond
• Reinforces the notion of a “conflict of civilisations”

By Saif Ahmad

The world today is at a crisis point, where humanity suffers from disease and hunger.  Gross inequality exists between rich and poor. The potential of the vast majority of the world’s population isn’t merely unexplored, it is curbed.  People are no longer born free, in the literal sense.  The majority of them are, in fact, born with a huge burden of debt, which belongs not to them but to their parents or the nation they are born into.

Editorial

After last week’s exploration of Universal Values on the national level, we now turn to an exploration of those same values, and more, that have been formulated and defined around the world.

Evidently, the phrase ‘universal values’ has entered daily discourse more frequently in recent times. But how does this increased usage in verbal discourse translate into global action? What effect (or lack of effect) do these words have in developing countries around the world? And how in turn does that impact our own progress and experiences here in Britain?

By Hilary Aked

In the run up to 2010, what direction was Britain moving in and how can we progress in the next decade of the 21^st century?

In October 2009, the BBC allowed Nick Griffin of the BNP to claim on television that ‘Islam is an evil religion’. Judging from the rather muted reaction this comment received, it was as if this wasn’t a particularly outrageous statement to make.

About a month after this, on November 5^th 2009 three Muslim students from City University in London were badly hurt in a violent attack by a mob of about 30 people armed with metal poles and bricks. The attackers are said to have shouted ‘get the Muslims’ and ‘terrorists’.

By Akeela Ahmed

“Who can you turn to when no one else will hear? Like when you can’t tell your parents. Your siblings. And none of your friends will understand? I mean, I know Allah’s always there for us and yes He helps me, but who do you talk to?” (quote from a user of www.Muslimyouth.net).

Unfortunately, this is something I hear everyday  – a stark reality for thousands of young  people who have reached out to organisations like the one I work for, Muslim Youth Helpline, for help. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. If we look at the statistics on young Muslims in the UK, the outlook seems bleak. Young British Muslims are not doing well compared to their counterparts across the spectrum from underachieving at schools to higher rates of poor mental and physical health, unemployment, and over-representation in prisons.

By Mohammed Dhalech

I want to use this short piece, not to highlight one perspective over another, but to raise some questions and initiate a discussion on youth work and young people and I hope to engage both young people, first and foremost, and professionals in the field of youth work.