Islamophobia & Religious Discrimination: contextualising the need

My opening speech from the “Islamophobia & Religious Discrimination: new perspectives, policies and practices” event yesterday (9th December 2009):

Why do we need an event that focuses on Islamophobia and religious discrimination when, as Alistair Campbell once famously remarked to Tony Blair, as a nation “We don’t do God”.

For a nation that doesn’t ‘do God’, reading or watching the news may suggest otherwise. A glance back at 2009 might remind you of a number of different stories that had a relevance to religion or belief:

The British National Party (BNP) run a European election campaign under the slogan “What would Jesus do?” culminating in them winning two seats in the European parliament after almost a decade of running openly anti-Islamic and anti-Muslim campaigns

Anjem Choudhury and his Islam4UK group campaigning against British troops returning from Afghanistan

PRESS RELEASE: “Decision-makers need to ‘think hard’ about what needs to be done on Islamophobia & Religious Discrimination”

In a year when the British National Party (BNP) won two seats in the European parliament, the English Defence League have marched in protest against the ‘Islamification’ of Britain in various towns and cities, and more recently, there has been a referendum in Switzerland to ban minarets, the University of Birmingham this week hosts a national conference that explores the timely issue of Islamophobia and religious discrimination (9th December 2009).

Bringing together key individuals from the Department of Communities & Local Government (CLG), the Equality & Human Rights Commission (EHRC), the Houses of Parliament, Birmingham City Council and the University of Birmingham amongst others, the conference – “Islamophobia & Religious Discrimination: new perspectives, policies and practices” [1] – will consider the extent to which religious discrimination is on the rise and whether the legislation and policies that seek to address these are indeed working.

Dr Chris Allen [2] from the Institute of Applied Social Studies (IASS) and who convened the event says:

“Despite the fact that there are a growing number of British people choosing to identify themselves in terms of their religion and greater recognition is being afforded to religion and faith in the public and political spaces, research continues to suggest that Islamophobia and other forms of religious discrimination are on the rise – not just here in Britain but elsewhere in Europe too. People are finding it increasingly acceptable and ‘normal’ to be prejudiced and discriminatory about others on the basis of religion or belief.

Sometimes through fear and suspicion, sometimes because of ignorance and a lack of understanding, if left unchecked, these could easily become hostilities and hatreds that result in tensions, unrest and harm between different communities and religions. So if we want to ensure the future wellbeing of a cohesive multicultural, multi-faith Britain, it is vital that we begin to discuss these issues now.”

Coverage on GEO TV: Europe & Islam – whose identity crisis?

Following on from the debate in the european Parliament a few weeks ago, some footage from GEO TV based in Pakistan (be warned, it’s in Urdu):

more about “A Debate in European Parliament on Eu…“, posted with vodpod

 

Do we have a ’shared Europe’…?

Having been invited to be a panelist at the British Council sponsored debate, Europe & Islam: whose identity crisis? at the European Parliament last Thursday (19th November 2009), I was asked to open the discussion by responding to the following question: do we actually have a ’shared Europe’?

My answer is posted below:

Do we have a ’shared Europe’? Well yes we do, but we ’share’ Europe in different ways.

We share some values, we share some of our culture, and we share some aspects of our identities for instance. But it is important to stress that this does not mean that we are homogenous: sharing does not mean that we are all the same.

So while we can – and do – share aspects of our values, culture and identities amongst others, still there remains a great difference and disparity between and within what we traditionally see or perceive to be Europe. So the British remain quite different and distinct from the Greeks, the Swedish from the Spanish and so on.

Report: Europe & Islam – whose identity crisis?

Following my participation in the ‘Europe & Islam; whose identity crisis?’ debate at the European Parliament in Brussels last Thursday (19th November 2009), I’m pasting below the report from the British Council’s website. To view the original page, please click here:

Europe has, according to the Pew Forum, about 38 million Muslims – about five percent of its population and that proportion will continue to increase. Yet, we are facing a growing mutual mistrust that leaves Europe on the verge of a dangerous rift.

One of the major cultural challenges that we face today is whether we can overcome the fear that difference and diversity will weaken national and social cohesion and succeed in building a Europe that is enriched by its different cultural identities.