WHY SHOULD WE BEAR THE COST OF THIS PROTEST?

This is Suleman Nagdi's First Person column, published in today's Leicester Mercury:

Why should we bear the cost of this protest? 

Suleman Nagdi says the EDL needs to clarify its motives on several serious issues

As the visit of the EDL to Leicester looms large, it is a convenient time for us to gain clarity with regards to the EDL's position on issues that are important to us as a society in this country. How does the EDL feel on the need to recognise that violent extremism comes from many sources and the obligation to condemn violent extremism in all its ugly guises, regardless of the identification of the perpetrators?

We have always been appalled at mindless acts of violent extremism and know the importance of guarding against complacency so as to prevent atrocities committed by those such as the nail bomber David Copeland, the architect of the Oslo massacre Anders Behring and the attacks in Northern Ireland.

Does the EDL recognise the numerous threats to British society and will it condemn all threats unequivocally?

How does the EDL feel about placing a substantial strain on the police's resources caused by their visit? Leicestershire Constabulary spent more than £700,000 to manage the EDL's last visit. With the police intending to station the same level of officers, a similar cost is likely.

At a time of public sector funding cuts, this spending is necessary but ultimately unsustainable and crippling to the taxpayer.

What link does a reprehensible attack by a group of girls on an innocent girl have to do with violent extremism? Will the EDL stage a protest for every single assault committed in this country? How does the EDL feel about how money spent on managing their march stretching the resources employed on everyday policing to keep our British citizens safe?

How does the EDL feel on the public disorder created by some of its membership on its visits to cities across the country, public disorder which costs the taxpayer millions in terms of damage and which also forces thousands of peace-loving British citizens to stay at home for fear of becoming victims of public disorder?

How does the EDL feel about the fact that taxpayers' money which is used to pay for damages are diverted from spending on many other important areas of public concern?

How does the EDL feel about airing their grievances in a manner that is not such a threat to public order, namely through legal and other political channels? We are privileged to live in a country where we all have the democratic right to express ourselves so long as this is done in a lawful manner. We are blessed to have a legal and political structure where we can campaign for change as long as this is pursued in a suitable non-violent fashion. Does this approach not appeal to the EDL?

For the sake of saving taxpayers' money and preserving public order we must know what the EDL feels about the issues outlined in this article at a time when many of us are suffering from the harsh economic climate.

Suleman Nagdi is spokesman for the Federation of Muslim Organisations

Europe needs a grassroots movement to tackle the threat of Islamophobia

This is the Face to Faith column from today's Guardian (published online on the Comment is Free: Belief website). It is written by Donald Reeves, founder of the Soul of Europe and author of The Memoirs of a Very Dangerous Man.

Europe needs a grassroots movement to tackle the threat of Islamophobia

We must expose the racist ideology drawn from nazism, in which Muslims have become the new Jews of Europe

Following the events of 22 July in Norway - when Anders Behring Brevik, driven by hatred of Islam, killed 77 people - there have been ample expressions of outrage, analysis and commentary, but little  indication as to what must be done to prevent Islamophobia spreading.

Before 22 July, the Soul of Europe, together with the Soest Forum of Religions and Cultures (a German Muslim archive institute), had begun planning how to interrupt, undermine and dismantle Islamophobia. Beginning in France, Germany, UK and Scandinavia, we are establishing a coalition across Europe of institutions and organisations which are already engaged with Muslim communities. Our aim is to deepen, broaden and strengthen the foundations of those bridges between Muslim and non-Muslims, particularly among the younger generations – above all in practical ways.

One way is to develop patterns of solidarity. For instance: when a religious building is vandalised, whether a mosque or a church or a synagogue, communities will come together to condemn these actions. For condemnation to be effective, more than words are needed. Much depends on the slow, patient building of relationships.

Another way is for local communities to speak up on behalf of others, not least when Muslim communities complain of intimidation and harassment by police. These interventions emerge from relationships that have been established over time. Local politicians and religious leaders – vicars, imams and rabbis – will have to watch their backs. These actions will be seen as divisive among their own constituencies and congregations.

As Marwan Muhammad, director of the Collective Against Islamophobia in France, told the Soul of Europe: "We are scapegoats and are blamed for all of Europe's problems." Muslim communities need to be invited in from the cold. There should be no "them" and "us". We are all "us". Umar Mirza set up the Dutch website We're Here to Stay as "an attempt to create an alternative space … a way of providing a stage upon which the voices of young Muslims can be heard". Dutch Muslims are not going anywhere. The Netherlands is their country, their home.

From among the many different European Muslim communities there are those who are saying: "Enough. We have had enough of discrimination, of being crudely stereotyped, of being scapegoats – of being victims." These men and women are not "extremists". In a debate on Britishness set up by the London-based Young Muslim Voices, a definition was agreed: a cosmopolitan country where people are respectful of different faiths and backgrounds.

Expressions of outrage are no longer enough. There needs to be a grassroots movement across Europe to stand up to those who peddle bogus religious justifications, resurrecting memories of the Crusades; to expose the racist ideology drawn from nazism, in which Muslims have now become the new Jews of Europe; and to tackle the myth of "Islamification" and those who claim to be defending western civilisation, Christian and secular, from conquest by Muslim immigration and the spread of sharia law.

Interreligious dialogue is just one of the links between different religions and religious communities. At a conference I recently attended, a speaker described interreligious dialogue as taking place on the top floor of a high-rise building while on the ground floor a fire was raging out of control. So it is time for those of us who cherish dialogue of every sort to join those who are trying to put the fire out.

WE CONDEMN THIS VIOLENCE

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

We condemn this violence

As leaders of Leicester's long-standing Christian-Muslim Dialogue Group we wish to extend our deepest sympathies to all those impacted by the terrible murders in Oslo and Utoeya, in Norway.

Anders Behring Breivik has admitted responsibility, stating that he was motivated by a desire to fight to preserve a "Christian Europe", especially against the influence and growth of Islam.

Of course, all right-thinking people will condemn Breivik's violent response but we are concerned that his underlying ideology of suspicion and hatred may be shared more widely.

We condemn this act and all similar actions of violence which purport to be in the name of our respective faiths. Christianity and Islam have contributed greatly to advancing human rights and social justice, not only in the UK but throughout the world. We must never let those who espouse violence act in our name.

By way of contrast, our experience in Leicestershire tells us that this viewpoint presents a fundamentally false understanding of both of our major world religions, which speak not of hatred and intolerance, but of compassion and respect.

An example is our annual joint Christian-Muslim charity dinner which raises thousands of pounds for the poor and disadvantaged in the UK and abroad.

We have found that we are well able to co-exist in mutual trust and understanding, and to work together for the good of wider society.

We encourage Christians and Muslims everywhere to live up to this vision of adhering to the best that their faiths offer.

Canon Dr John Hall, Director, St Philip's Centre, Suleman Nagdi, MBE, DL, Federation of Muslim Organisations, Daud Sameja, co-chair, Christian Muslim Dialogue Group, Rev Peter Hobson, co-chair, Christian Muslim Dialogue Group.

Of the four signatories to this letter, two (John Hall and Suleman Nagdi) are actively involved in Leicester Council of Faiths.

As well as being published in the paper's Mercury Mailbox, this statement also appears on the St Philip's Centre website. That site includes a response to a message of sympathy sent from John Hall to the Fjell Congregation, Drammen in the Church of Norway with whom the Centre has links.

Nobel chairman warns Europe's leaders over 'inflaming far-right sentiment'

From today's edition of The Observer:

Nobel chairman warns Europe's leaders over 'inflaming far-right sentiment'

Thorbjørn Jagland says Europe's leaders are 'playing with fire' if they use right-wing rhetoric when discussing multiculturalism

By Mark Townsend, Home Affairs Editor

Europe's leaders, including David Cameron, have been warned to adopt a more "cautious" approach when discussing multiculturalism. The Norwegian chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize committee has told them they risk inflaming far-right and anti-Muslim sentiment.

Thorbjørn Jagland, a former prime minister of his country, said leaders such as the British premier would be "playing with fire" if they continued to use rhetoric that could be exploited by extremists.

Four months ago in Munich, Cameron declared that state multiculturalism had failed in Britain, a view immediately praised by Nick Griffin, leader of the BNP, as "a further huge leap for our ideas into the political mainstream". Marine Le Pen, vice-president of the far-right National Front party in France, also endorsed Cameron's view of multiculturalism, claiming that it corroborated her own party's line.

Jagland's comments come in the wake of the Oslo bomb and the massacre on Utøya Island that left 77 people dead. The killer, Anders Behring Breivik, said he was inspired by the right-wing English Defence League. Breivik sent his manifesto, published online hours before the attacks, to about 250 British members of the BNP, the EDL and the Stop Islamisation of Europe group.

Jagland, who is also secretary general of the Council of Europe, told the Observer: "We have to be very careful how we are discussing these issues, what words are used.

"Political leaders have got to defend the fact that society has become more diverse. We have to defend the reality, otherwise we are going to get into a mess. I think political leaders have to send a clear message to embrace it and benefit from it.

"We should be very cautious now, we should not play with fire. Therefore I think the words we are using are very important because it can lead to much more."

Jagland has also urged leading politicians to change their terminology. He said the word "diversity" was better than multiculturalism because the latter had become defined in different ways by different groups. "We also need to stop using 'Islamic terrorism', which indicates that terrorism is about Islam. We should be saying that terrorism is terrorism and not linked to religion," said Jagland.

Over the years before his attacks, Breivik developed an ultra-radical stance that initially incorporated the forced repatriation of Muslims from Europe, but ultimately targeted Norway's centre-left government, which had encouraged multiculturalism. During his court appearance on terrorism charges, the 32-year-old said he had acted to prevent the "Muslim takeover" of Europe.

[...]

During Cameron's Munich speech, which combined a passage on terrorism with one on integration, the prime minister talked extensively about "Islamist extremism" as being the source of terrorism.

Breivik saw David Miliband, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair as worthy of assassination because, according to his 1,500-page manifesto, they had a "friendly attitude" to immigrants.

Jagland says he has sympathy with Cameron's attempt to robustly promote a shared set of British values as an alternative to multiculturalism, if not with his delivery. "We are not searching for a society where we have only different cultures. We also need to have something that holds us together, to respect common values," he said.

Jagland, who last year gave the Nobel peace prize to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, who was represented by an empty chair at the ceremony in Oslo, added that the immigration debate also needed to be less negative.

MINORITIES MUST NEVER BE MADE THE SCAPEGOAT

Every Saturday, the Bishop of Leicester, The Rt Revd Tim Stevens, contributes the First Person column in the Leicester Mercury. Here's the one in today's paper.

The Bishop of Leicester is  Patron of Leicester Council of Faiths. Much of what he says in this column is clearly related to other recent pieces in this blog.

Minorities must never be made the scapegoat

The Bishop of Leicester says lessons can be learned from the appalling events seen in Norway

During the last week there has been much speculation about the events leading up to the appalling mass murder in Norway. The lawyers are now arguing about whether the alleged perpetrator is insane or not. It seems to me there is a danger of labelling someone as mad if it leads us to the conclusion that his views were completely detached from reality – that he was an isolated individual who came to bizarre conclusions as a result of mental disturbance.

This could be dangerous thinking if it allows the rest of us to come to the conclusion that the perpetrator was not connected to a wider context of opinion.

It is now emerging that Anders Breivik was in touch with a number of groups including the Islamaphobic English Defence League (EDL). While it is true that the EDL have distanced themselves from him and have renounced his kind of violence, nevertheless the EDL is typical of many groups which encourage hatred of Islam and of Muslims.

So events in Norway need to be a warning to all of us. Of course there can be a proper debate about multiculturalism and about the extent to which our communities have changed as a result of immigration over the last two generations. But where this spills over into incitement to hatred or extremism either in the press or through campaigning groups, we can now see how dangerous these views can become.

As the pressure on our economy tightens and the challenge to find jobs, housing and life opportunities increases, the temptation to scapegoat minority Muslim communities is likely to increase in many parts of Europe. In cities like Leicester it is vital that we hold on with confidence to the vision of a multicultural society which has served us so well and made us a beacon of hope for many visitors from around this country and beyond.

In the last decade, much has been written about the need to root out violent extremism from Muslim communities. But the events in Norway remind us that the overwhelming majority of terror attacks in Europe in recent times have been carried out by non-Muslims. And in Britain alone, a number of recent convictions of anti-Muslim extremists has underlined that Anders Breivik is far from being an isolated case or just a Norwegian phenomenon.

So we continue to be watchful here in Leicester. And we continue to hold on to a vision of a city which will not scapegoat or target minorities and which will resist all encouragements to take action against those who enrich our society and seek nothing more than to be accepted as British citizens and who make their vital contribution to the common good.