| Salma Yaqoob |
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BACKGROUND Salma Yaqoob born in 1971 , is the head of the Birmingham Stop The War Coalition and the vice- Chair of RESPECT The Unity Coalition . She is also a spokesperson for Birmingham Central Mosque . She was born in Bradford to Pakistan i parents and grew up in Birmingham . She is a trauma Psychotherapist by profession. She is married to a General Practitioner and has three children. She is to date the only female representative of a Mosque in the United Kingdom . ACTIVISM Yaqoob became an Anti-war campaigner after being spat at in the street shortly after the September 11, 2001 Attacks and attending an anti-war meeting at which she was struck by hearing non-Muslims voice concerns about the upcoming war on Afghanistan . It has been suggested that she played a crucial role in inviting Muslims into an anti-war movement previously dominated by Marxist s. She has argued against the idea, put forward by Religious Fundamentalist s and Sectarian Left-wingers , that Muslims and non-Muslims cannot work together as well as with those within the Muslim community that have argued that Muslims should keep their heads down. Salma had very little experience of politics prior to September 11 although she had been involved in the 'Justice for the Yemen Seven' campaign after her family became embroiled in the proceedings. This campaign was to support seven (later, eight) British Muslims who were accused by the Yemeni authorities of terrorist activities in Yemen's capital Amman during Christmas. Protests and lobbying in Britain eventually resulted in release of most of the British suspects following pressure from the British Home Office and the support of Labour MP Roger Godsiff . POLITICS In 2005 General Election , she stood as the Respect candidate for the Birmingham Sparkbrook And Small Heath constituency against Labour's Roger Godsiff MP, with the backing of the Muslim Association Of Britain . She finished in second place, ahead of the Liberal Democrat and Conservative candidates, and with 27.5% of the total vote. Yaqoob is currently standing as a candidate in the Sparkbrook ward of Birmingham City Council for the 2006 UK local elections. REFERENCES
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