---

En god artikel om hvordan vores samfund er ved at blive todelte, - og en bid
om hvordan moderate britiske muslimer har nægtet, at der skulle være noget
problem med militante ekstremister, - lige som også vores hjemlige
apologeter har, og gør.

Først noget fra den danske artikel:

"Mange britiske muslimer har i årevis fornægtet det faktum, at radikale
imamer og andre jihad-tilhængere har brug moskéer til at hverve fodfolk til
deres hellige krig.

Det mener den unge Labour-politiker Shahid Malik, der er valgt i valgkredsen
Dewsbury i Leeds, hvor fra en af de unge selvmordsterrorister fra 7.
juli-attentaterne kom.
Malik, der er af pakistansk oprindelse, har også før attentaterne udtalt sig
meget kontant om britiske muslimers forpligtelse til aktivt at samarbejde
med landets myndigheder i kampen mod den radikale islamisme.

»Vi må direkte konfrontere de få, der prædiker vold og had i islams navn,«
skrev Malik forleden i avisen The Guardian, hvor han samtidig tilstår, at
det er en lettelse nu at have sagt tingene, sådan som han mener, de er.

Støttet af muslimer

»Da jeg og andre britiske muslimer udtrykte fordømmelse af ekstremister,
frygtede vi, at det ville give ammunition til ekstremister fra det yderste
højre. Og samtidig frygtede vi at skabe spændinger inden for det muslimske
samfund,« skriver Malik, der mener, at hans opfordringer til det muslimske
samfund om at stå op imod ondskaben er blev mødt med bred støtte fra alle
bortset fra ekstremisterne.

»Derfor er der nu en slags lettelse blandt britiske muslimer. Vi fornægter
ikke længere sandheden. Vi vil ikke længere lade, som om vi ikke ser eller
hører de få fanatiker, der står uden for vore moskéer og forurener de unges
sind,« lyder det fra den unge ambitiøse politiker, hvis skarpe udtalelser
har vakt opmærksomhed hos premierminister Tony Blair, der forleden roste
Malik ved sin månedlige pressekonference."


Men mon ikke det er ved at være for sent?



We must resist this culture of anti-British segregation

Henry Porter is shocked to see how divided his neighbours in Notting Hill
have become

Sunday July 31, 2005
The Observer

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 historically 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'.

If this is anywhere near the truth we have a very significant problem, and
those nine young men who attacked London will not be the last. Sitting
outside the pub in Tavistock Crescent, I found myself resenting the idea
that one group of people had removed themselves 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 YouGov 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 non-violent means.'

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.

The difference drawn so sharply by strict Muslim dress in early youth and
the movement to Muslim-only schools are both worrying signs that the
separate development of a society within a society is well under way.

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."


Men det er forkert, at være irriteret over hele tiden at skulle mindes om et
middelalderligt kvindesyn, og om blind tro på vrede guder som kræver
underkastelse og lydighed.