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������ broke down in tears while describing her experiences of in a UK parliamentary debate on Thursday.��

The 27-year-old, representing Coventry South, said she had been called a “cancer” and “terrorist sympathiser” and treated as though she were “an enemy of the country that I was born in” because of her�� ���ڲ����ٳ�.����

Her emotive speech was given at a Westminster Hall Debate about defining - which follows years of refusal by the Conservatives party to adopt a formal “working definition” of Islamophobia.��

“Islamophobia is very real in Britain today, it’s something I know too well,” said Sultana.��

“I’ve discovered that to be a Muslim woman, to be outspoken, and to be left-wing is to be subjected to this barge of racism and hate.”��

Sultana said when she spoke in support of , for Palestinian people and against the she received torrents of anti-Muslim abuse.��

This wasn't an easy speech to give, but I can't be silent about Islamophobia.

— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana)

An inquiry by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims (APPG) produced a definition of Islamophobia in 2018 after a long consultation process with parliamentarians, exports, lawyers, community activists and victim-led organisations.��

The APPG’s definition is “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness”.��

It has been adopted by major parties - including and the Liberal Democrats - as well as civil��society organisations and British Muslim communities.����

��'Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness' (the APPG’s definition)��

However, the rejected the APPG’s definition in May 2019.��

Senior police officers wrote to the PM saying that the APPG’s definition is too broad and could “undermine many elements of counterterrorism powers and policies”.��

Instead, the Tories announced a commission of independent experts to draw up a different definition. However, only one adviser, Imam Qari Asim, has been appointed to the commission and no proposals have been published so far.��

Paul Bristow, a Conservative MP for Peterborough and co-chair of the APPG, called the 2018 inquiry��a “valuable piece of work” and said�� “a definition has the potential to be a tremendous force for good”.��

He urged for a second advisor to be appointed or for Asim to begin his work.��

In the APPG’s report titled , the group warned that Islamophobia is now “so prevalent in [British] society and dispersed across institutional, social, political and economic life that it deserves to be recognised as Britain’s ‘bigotry blind spot’.”��

The group cited examples of fireworks being thrown through the letterboxes of Muslim families, of young girls being told to "go back to where they came from"��and Muslims being spat at.��

The APPG is urging the government to adopt an agreed definition in order to tackle the problem.��

“It is not just British Muslims who are impacted by Islamophobia,” said the APPG��report.��

“It is British society at large who, by virtue of normalised prejudice against Muslim beliefs and practice,” come to adopt “falsehoods or misrepresentations” about the Muslim community.��