CAIRO – Muslim students at Lammas School in Waltham Forest have made their voices heard by producing an anti-terrorism rap video in response to December’s Tube station attack, in which one person was seriously injured.
“I showed what I had written to my teachers and they encouraged me to work on the writing and record a music video while we were on a trip to Parliament to learn about British values,” fiFifteen-year-old pupil Abdalla told Waltham Forest Echo.
Abdalla decided to write a set of lyrics in response to last year’s stabbing at Leytonstone Station, which followed shortly after the Paris attacks.
The video, called Cold as ISIS, was filmed during a Lammas School trip to the Houses of Parliament to challenges the “barbarism” of terrorist groups , as well as far-right anti-Muslim extremism.
Cold as ISIS opens with the lyrics “I’m a Muslim not a terrorist” and continues: “I’m practicing to be a Muslim, not a killer”.
Along with Abdalla, 15-year old Maaz, raps in the video, and 14-year-olds Samira and Naima, provided melodies for the song.
The young student said that hate attacks directed at them was also another reason for producing the video.
“People judge 1.6 billion Muslims on the disgusting actions that ISIS commits every single day,” Samira said.
Naima agreed, saying she has felt the backlash directly herself.
“A stranger walked past me and called me a terrorist,” she said. “I felt so angry and judged.”
The video was praised by the school headteacher Shona Ramsay, who urged teachers to help Muslim students by offering a platform for them to speak freely.
“A core responsibility of all teachers is to help students understand their world so that they can be involved in shaping its future and giving students a platform to speak and be listened to is crucial,” she said.
“This film demonstrates the power of the words written and spoken by Lammas students as they react to recent terrorist atrocities.”
Britain’s 2.7 million Muslims have taken full brunt of anti-terror laws since the 7/7 attacks in 2005.
They have repeatedly complained of maltreatment by police for no apparent reason other than being Muslim.