RESIDENTS from Conor Rise at the corner of the Stewartstown Road and Shaws Road have come together in a bid to tackle racism locally.
The event, attended by the PSNI, Ark Housing and residents, was organised by Conor Rise Residents' Association. It comes after resident Nacer Saoudi was subject to racist abuse and was spat it in the street.
"I went to the Conor Rise Residents’ Association to inform them of the incident and I am glad to see this event organised by them," he said.
Nacer Saoudi
"Some of my family moved out because they were scared. I am scared too. I have lived here since 2019 and never had any problems."
Pat Monteague from Conor Rise Residents’ Association said: "This event is about doing our bit to stamp out racism locally. We want to show that Conor Rise is a proud community and welcoming to everyone. We will not tolerate any racism.
"There is far too much misinformation being spread online and unfortunately some people are believing it. Today is about stamping racism out locally to get the right message out there."
Speaking at the event, Kelly Foster from Ark Housing, said: "Our houses are for everyone. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are from. We are here as a housing association to support everyone."
West Belfast MP Paul Maskey said: "Our streets should be full of people who live, work and socialise with each other because everyone is welcome.
"One of the things I love about the new Belfast is that it is becoming much more multicultural and I think it is absolutely brilliant.
"We all learn from each other, and we all learn to respect each other and I think where we see racism, we have a duty to stand up to it.
"Let's stand up for each other. Let's work with each other and make sure each of us feel as welcome as each other."
