Dear all, peace be upon you,

May this find you all well and in good spirit.

It was during our FOSIS NEC meeting in Cardiff, on December 27th, that we were to hear the first of an atrocity, which was to stretch for weeks to come. The innocent people of Gaza endured what no human should have to, anywhere. The tragic events, no doubt, served as a wake up call, to the rest of the world - for the suffering of the Gazans, which has been ongoing and ever increasing in its scale of injustice for too long.

As deeply upsetting, frustrating and unsettling the suffering and helplessness of the Gazans was, while a significant force of the international community remained silent; I was inspired to see the rapid response to this cause of so many, from across all walks of life. Action was taken on all levels to raise awareness, call for accountability and exert efforts in supporting the cause of the Palestinian people, through aid, prayer and the calling for justice. Seeing the issue be covered with sound rigour across various modes of the media, and having academics speak out made for a refreshing change. Watching the student activism revive to realize its potential again was inspiring. And observing the general public overcome their apathy, to call for those in power to act with immediacy, provided a sense of hope. A plethora of information and truth surrounding the plight of the Palestinians has come to light in recent weeks, and it is down to us now to be visionary people, who think long term, plan strategically and work beyond the heat of the moment, for the cause of justice.

The NEC meeting which took place in a Cardiff was primarily to review the work that has been conducted across the many and varied FOSIS committees over the last half of the year, while providing an opportunity to think and plan ahead, for the latter half of the year. Through a strategic review of our aims and objectives, our shortcomings, strengths and weaknesses, we were able to arrive at some constructive action points for the remainder of the year, to ensure efficiency and fluidity in our work, while still maintaining a forward-planning approach. Thus was borne the proposals document, mapping out the entire of FOSIS – alhamdulillah, a great stride for the federation! If anyone is interested in finding out more about the work that we do, feel free to drop me an email, head.communications@fosis.org.uk. There is more than plenty to be involved in, and scope for lots more to be initiated!

With ISoc’s planning away and hosting their busy, colourful and dynamic Islam Awareness projects, now more commonly named ‘Experience Islam week’(s), the ISCC committee have been hard at work producing resources that can act as guides in enabling you to take your work to another level of success. Do browse around the website for these. All the very best to ISoc’s with all their plans on this front :-)

Communications will be sending a centralized FOSIS email to all ISoc’s on a monthly basis as of next month insha’Allah, filled with updates from across the various committees, so watch this space!

[Barker]

Let us be people of vision and action, in all that we strive to do

With prayers and best wishes,

Arzoo

Head of Communications