02 April 2012

British Muslims define themselves according to foreign policy

.... How can Muslims complain about our rights, our freedoms, our collective future, if we aren't engaged in the political process across the board as active British citizens? We have an obligation, as Britons and as Muslims, to fully participate in local and national debates and not to stand idly by.

We have allowed ourselves to be defined only by foreign policy and, in particular, by events in the Middle East for far too long. British Muslims can make a positive contribution to British society, but first we have to stop our navel-gazing and victim mentality. We must let the people, press and politicians of this country know that we are as British as we are Muslim, and we care about our shared future.

[A COMMENT] We see enormous rage over Israel/Palestine , yet not a peep of protest regarding, say, China's treatment of Tibetans - and the UK does far more business with China than it does with Israel. If these communities were "as British as we are Muslim", this wouldn't be the case.

[A COMMENT] .... it always worries me to read material that depend so much on such generalities as "The British Muslim Community". Is there really such an entity? There are many Muslims in the UK but do they form a "Community"? And when it comes to "their" stance in politics are "they" really so restricted? [Guardian Cif] Read more