The Battle of Ideas Festival: London 19th October 2024 - Islam vs Islamism vs Islamophobia

The Battle of Ideas Festival is an annual event held in Church House, Westminster. It is over a weekend, but I was only able to go on Saturday 19th October. It is well worth attending, with around 9 different debates to choose from in each time slot.
This debate was on Islam and Islamophobia. Judging by the reaction of the audience, I think it is a debate that is long overdue and hopefully it will be the first of many. At the Together event, Claire Fox did say she had great trepidation about hosting it, and many of the people she approached to speak thought it was a good idea but were not willing to take the risk of participating in it. I think those who did show willing and put themselves forward for this debate deserve our appreciation for that, whatever anyone thinks about what they say.
The chairwoman was Inaya Folarin Iman of the Equiano Project, who also allowed me to record the debate, for which I am very grateful. As with the previous debate, there is an official recording which will be better than mine, and which can be found at the links below.
The speakers were Aaqil Ahmed, Mohammed Amin MBE, Peymana Assad, Dolan Cummings and Taj Hargey. Dr. Taj Hargey is trying to promote a version of Islam that is rooted in the Qur'an and is also compatible with the British way of life. He is the founder of the Oxford Institute for British Islam which hopes to anchor the Islamic faith "firmly within the British environment so that it is part and parcel of this country, not something foreign and remote." Information on this project can be obtained by emailing: info@oibi.org.uk and the website can be found here:
https://oibi.org.uk/
The Equiano Project can be found here:
https://www.theequianoproject.com/
Information regarding the Battle of Ideas can be found here:
https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/
and
https://www.academyofideas.uk/