When I first had the honour of visiting Palestine many years ago, a friend told me very clearly to speak about what we, as guests, had witnessed and to never stop talking about Palestine when we return to our homes. At the time, this seemed like something that was self-evident, and more than that, a duty on those of us who had the privilege of free speech. But as a case worker at Prevent Watch we are now seeing how these rights are being eroded, especially when it comes to speaking about Palestine. Please donate now to keep Prevent Watch going – we are entirely funded by you!  More than that, some parents are now questioning if Palestine is something our children can talk about? This became an even more urgent question after October 7th. One of the first parents I spoke to at the time was a father of […]

After last week’s newsletter, many of you asked to hear about more of our cases. Some of these cases still make me reflect today, not only because of what happened, but because of the lessons they teach. This week, I want to share one of my first Prevent cases. It involves a single mother with several children. She held normative Islamic beliefs that triggered, not one, but multiple Prevent referrals. During one of our conversations, she said: “It wasn’t Prevent – it was how family and friends turned on me after the referral, believing the smears and excluding me and my children from social gatherings. One person even said, ‘I didn’t know you were like that.” Although it shocked me at that moment, it would take some years before I realised the full significance of these words.  In those years, like all oppressive policies, Prevent expanded.  And in time, remarkably, we started to receive calls for help […]