Another good article

Edd · Aug 3, 2005

ONE OF last week's raids took place in maisonettes a few minutes' walk from* where I live in Notting Hill. In the aftermath of the dramatic police operation, I saw the area around Tavistock Crescent, where a suspected suicide bomber had hidden, with fresh and startled eyes.The first thing to say is that this quite an attractive area of mixed public and private housing. True, the Crescent backs on to the A40 Westway, but the houses are low and built in pleasant, honey-coloured brick. The streets are clean; there is much greenery and a well-equipped playground protected by a wooden fence is at the end of the street.In the playground practically every young girl wore a hijab, a head scarf, and along the benches, watching the children, sat Muslim women, many wearing the full black nikab or face veil. One even wore black gloves and had her veil fixed with a knotted black ribbon. I watched for a while until a group of about two dozen Muslim men appeared. They had obviously just come from Friday prayers.What surprised me - apart from my failure to notice this little enclave developing in my own neighbourhood - was the rather defensive atmosphere of the place where the suspected bomber had sought refuge and presumably stayed out of sight for an entire week.We know that the majority of Muslims would have turned him in and indeed some provided crucial intelligence which led to Friday's arrests, but I cannot help feeling that the sense of voluntary segregation, of separate development - in this part of London which was one of the first multi-ethnic communities - is very worrying indeed.A proud disdain for Western society seems to have overwhelmed any meaningful desire for assimilation. There is an assertiveness which is explained away by liberals and Muslims as a kind of defence mechanism against racism and prejudice in the wake of 9/11.In my area, which has a large population from many different Muslim countries, I have noticed the increased use of the nikab.Is this simply a reaction to persecution? After reading the Daily Telegraph YouGov poll last week, I am not so sure. Among the new generation there is a spirit which claims more empathy with Iraqi and Palestinian Muslim "brothers' than with British values. The poll found that 6 per cent of the sample - which alarmingly extrapolates to 100,000 British Muslims - insisted that the bombings were fully justified. A further 24 per cent, while not condoning the attacks of 7 July, had some sympathy with the feelings and motives of those who carried them out. A substantial majority (56 per cent) said that, "whether or not they sympathised with the bombers, they could at least understand why some people carry out attacks'.

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"; LETTER-SPACING: -0.05pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">If this is anywhere near the truth we <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"; LETTER-SPACING: 0.15pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">have a very significant problem, and <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"; LETTER-SPACING: 0.2pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">those nine young men who attacked <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"; LETTER-SPACING: -0.15pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">London will not be the last. Sitting out<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"; LETTER-SPACING: 0.1pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">side the pub in Tavistock Crescent, I <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"; LETTER-SPACING: -0.25pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">found myself resenting the idea that one <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"; LETTER-SPACING: 0.25pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">group of people had removed them- selves from the values that I admire about Britain, regardless of the level of tolerance and generosity offered to people of all faiths and backgrounds. Not only have some Muslims wilfully detached themselves from this great and ancient democracy, but they are actually opposed to it. In the poll 31 per cent of the sample agreed with the statement: 'Western democracy is decadent and immoral and Muslims should seek to bring it to an end, but only by nonviolent means.'

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"; LETTER-SPACING: 0.25pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">It's difficult to say how liberal democracy persuades such a large number of people to share its values, but I do know that we have to examine the processes of segregation which have been allowed to grow in the last few decades. For which reason I support - and urge others to do so - Ruth Kelly's backing for Denbigh High School in Luton, which is fighting a case against a young woman who wishes to wear strict Islamic dress as her human right. In absolute terms it may be a human right, but there are also questions of uniform which apply to all students educated by the state. And, let's be candid, we have to look after the things which make us a single, coherent society.

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"; LETTER-SPACING: 0.25pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">The difference drawn so sharply by strict Muslim dress in early youth and the movement to Muslims-only schools are both worrying signs that the separate development of a society within a society is well under way.

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"; LETTER-SPACING: 0.25pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">Personally, I find the wearing of the nikab on British streets discomforting because it declares a woman to be a possession of a man. The implication that all men are lusting after all women all the time, and so Muslim women must be protected from their gaze, is offensive. I will never be persuaded that this is simply about a woman's elected modesty or that the human rights issue falls exclusively on the side of Islam. Women's rights are a crucial part of necessary development in Islam; if women are veiled they will never have a voice.

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"; LETTER-SPACING: 0.25pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">As significant is the matter of the faith-based schools. Muslim schools are now serving some 10,000 Muslim children in Britain. Earlier this year David Bell, the chief inspector of schools, said at a conference on citizenship: 'I worry that many young people are being educated in faith-based schools with little appreciation of their wider responsibilities and obligations to British society.'

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"; LETTER-SPACING: 0.25pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">In the following sentences he hit the nail on the head, which is why it produced a sharp reaction from Muslim leaders. 'We must not allow our recognition of diversity to become apathy in the face of any challenge to our coherence as a nation. I would go further and say that an awareness of our common heritage as British citizens, equal under the law, should enable us to assert with confidence that we are intolerant of intolerance, illiberalism and attitudes and values that demean certain sections of our community, be they women or people living in non-traditional relationships.'

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"; LETTER-SPACING: 0.25pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">Many Muslim schools are good, but there are serious doubts about the teaching curriculum in some and particularly the emphasis placed on the external interest of Islam as a political force. The suggestion that Muslim-majority state schools should be turned over to Muslim organisations should be resisted at all levels of government.

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"; LETTER-SPACING: 0.25pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">It is the first step to resisting the segregation which threatens our society. The penny has dropped in France and the Netherlands, and we should follow if we want our neighbours to be defined not simply by location, but by common values.

Guest · Aug 3, 2005

Some good points. There was a cricket match up from me the other week, all 22 players were Asian. Then again I played 5 a sdie last night and all 10 were white. So I guess all groups are guilty of segregation, whether deliberate or not.

For some people it's easier to be in situations where you feel comfortable and with people you can relate to.

Guest · Aug 3, 2005

That makes sense.

Are you pissed?

Guest · Aug 3, 2005

Sorry

There were 12, I forgot the subs

Another good article

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Another good article

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