British Muslims feel betrayed
- From: "Muslim News" <editor_@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <submit@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 25 Apr 2002 10:23:35 +0100
Equivocation over Palestinian suffering will have long-term consequences
It would be a cruel irony if Ariel Sharon's attacks on Palestinian territory
were indirectly to boost the electoral success of anti-semitic far-right groups
in Britain, following Jean-Marie Le Pen's shock success in the French
presidential elections. There has been disenchantment in the British Muslim
community, which has for decades been supportive of the Labour party, over
government inaction on the Middle East.
Labour workers in areas contested by the BNP privately admit to concern about
potential turnout among Muslim voters. Muslim organisations are encouraging
Muslims to vote, but it is now an uphill struggle. In its first term, the
Labour government paid more attention to Muslim concerns than any previous
administration. The recognition of the role of faith groups in regenerating
poor neighbourhoods and the acceptance that it is iniquitous to have hundreds
of church schools while denying state funding to Muslims and those of other
faiths were widely welcomed.
The immediate government response to September 11 continued this positive
trend. Tony Blair made a point of supporting British Muslims, emphasised the
importance of ensuring justice for the disenfranchised millions worldwide and
explicitly recognised the case of the Palestinians. There were still arson
attacks on mosques, numerous death threats and occasional physical attacks,
particularly on Muslim women wearing headscarves. But the Muslim community in
Britain is used to physical attack. The difference was that it was now being
attacked for its faith rather than ethnicity.
Despite a developing siege mentality, there remained some optimism within the
community that foreign policy might become more ethical and the opinions of the
Muslim electorate might be taken on board. The bombing of Afghanistan was
overwhelmingly opposed by British Muslims but did at least lead Muslim groups
to take part in the stop-the-war coalition. This is the most active role it has
ever taken in an issue that was not "Muslim only". Our community's involvement
in wider coalitions encouraged a feeling that one does not give up one's
Britishness by publicly disagreeing with government policy.
But two developments have had a disastrous impact on British Muslim sentiment
in a way that No 10 appears to have underestimated. First, there was the
government's deafening silence over the mass killings of Muslims in India.
Second, the stance that Blair and Straw have taken over Palestine has crossed a
line for the Muslim public. The continual equivocation of every condemnation of
Israel with one of the Palestinians repudiates the history of Labour support
for the oppressed.
The repeated appeals from the home secretary that we should understand how
Israel feels as the result of suicide bombings were never accompanied by pleas
to understand how the Palestinians felt when Israel was killing three
Palestinians for every Israeli death.
As Menzies Campbell said in the Commons: "[It would be wrong] to take refuge in
a supposed moral equivalence when it is clear that one side has self-evidently
been the aggressor; one side is self-evidently the more powerful; one side is
self-evidently the more determined to breach international law."
The accusation by government supporters that British Muslims can't face
realpolitik and that stronger condemnation or even sanctions against Israel
would somehow be counter-productive to the Palestinian cause is simply an
acceptance of the rightwing orthodoxy that finds its home in the illegal
Israelis settlements and its voice in the highest reaches of President Bush's
circle of Christian fundamentalist advisers. British Muslims and all people of
conscience have the right to expect the British government to implement its
ethical foreign policy and support EU action against Israel's occupation,
including an arms embargo and other sanctions. This was demonstrated last week
when as many as 75,000 people rallied in London to show solidarity with the
suffering of the Palestinians.
This was by far the largest event organised in Britain by a predominantly
Muslim coalition and is an indication of the new single-issue activism among
British Muslims sparked by September 11 and its aftermath. With even "moderate"
Muslims feeling betrayed by the government, we find ourselves reluctantly
agreeing with Faisal Bodi's claim that many young Muslims feel they do not have
"any social contract with the state worth honouring". Unless something is done
to address this overwhelming feeling of disaffection among those of all faith
and none, then we fear that a British Le Pen may beckon.
Source: Guardian Unlimited
============================================================
You can choose whether you prefer to receive regular emails or a weekly digest
by visiting http://www.muslim-news.net
Archive: http://archive.muslim-news.net
You can subscribe by sending an email to request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
"subscribe" (without quotes) in the subject line, or by visiting
http://www.muslim-news.net
You can unsubscribe by sending an email to request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx with the
word "unsubscribe" (without quotes) in the subject line, or by visiting
http://www.muslim-news.net
You are welcome to submit any relevant news story to submit@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
For regular Islamic cultural articles by email, send email to
revivalist-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
============================================================
Other related posts:
- » British Muslims feel betrayed
