A group of Muslim women honored soldiers who died fighting for the UK by placing a wreath at the National Memorial Arboretum in England, according to the BBC.
The early July ceremony occurred on the anniversary of the death of Lance Cpl. Jabron Hashmi, the first British Muslim soldier to die in a Taliban attack in Afghanistan on July 2006.
The Armed Forces Muslim Association organized the event. Members said 500 Muslims are currently serving in the British armed forces. Muslims soldiers served the UK in World War I and World War II.
The women participated in the commemoration after incidents where Islamic extremists protested homecoming parade. In one parade demonstrators waved banners and jeered at soldiers, according to the BBC. Five demonstrators were later found guilty of behavior that could cause distress and using threatening or insulting words.
Tahmina Saleem told BBC that she was horrified by the protests and spoke to her friends about what they could do to support the troops to show there is a silent majority of Muslim who don’t speak out enough.
“I think that most people unfortunately get their impression of Islam and Muslim from the media…I think that people are happy to say that they completely disassociate themselves from extremists but it’s finding a voice in society to be able to do that,” Saleem told the BBC
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