British "Asians" Demonstrating Peacefully , London, 2006Behold, Global Dhimming and the Worldwide Caliphellation of the enemy by our so called political leaders!
British Asians are role models, says Cameron
Nicholas Watt and Jamie Doward
Sunday May 13, 2007
In a powerful article in today's Observer, Cameron says that Britain's drug ridden cities are understandably alarming many Asians. 'The picture is seriously bleak: family breakdown, drugs, crime and incivility are part of the normal experience of modern Britain,' Cameron writes.
'Many British Asians see a society that hardly inspires them to integrate. Indeed, they see aspects of modern Britain which are a threat to the values they hold dear. Not for the first time, I found myself thinking that it is mainstream Britain which needs to integrate more with the British Asian way of life, not the other way around.'
Cameron wrote today's article after spending two days with a British Asian family in Birmingham. The Tory leader stayed in the spare bedroom of Abdullah and Shahida Rehman's house and enjoyed a curry with the family.
During his stay Cameron learned how Muslims feel marginalised in today's Britain with one upsetting issue being the use of language.
'We must be careful about the language we use,' he writes. 'Many Muslims ... are deeply offended by the use of the word "Islamic" or "Islamist" to describe the terrorist threat we face today.'
What I learnt from my stay with a Muslim family Last week, Tory leader David Cameron spent two days in Birmingham with the Rehmans Observer
Sunday May 13, 2007
First, a concerted attack on racism and soft bigotry. You can't even start to talk about a truly integrated society while people are suffering racist insults and abuse, as many still are in our country on a daily basis. We must also be careful about the language we use. No Muslim I've ever met is offended by Christmas, or supports its replacement with 'Winterval'. But many Muslims I've talked to about these issues are deeply offended by the use of the word 'Islamic' or 'Islamist' to describe the terrorist threat we face today.
We do need greater understanding of the true nature of the terrorist threat. There's too much complacency about it among non-Muslims, and too much denial of it in the Muslim community. But our efforts are not helped by lazy use of language. Indeed, by using the word 'Islamist' to describe the threat, we actually help do the terrorist ideologues' work for them, confirming to many impressionable young Muslim men that to be a 'good Muslim', you have to support their evil campaign.
There's no easy answer. I don't think this is something that can or should be addressed through a government edict, but the BBC, as our national broadcaster, has both the responsibility and the opportunity to give a lead.
The second priority for building cohesion in our country is more integration: people from different backgrounds sharing public services, neighbourhoods, social networks. As I found in Birmingham, this is something they naturally want to do, and local institutions - including religious ones - provide the opportunity.
For example, those who say that faith-based schools hinder integration are wrong. The three Muslim children in the household I stayed with go to a local faith school - a Jewish faith school, which is massively oversubscribed, has a mixed roll with some 60 per cent of pupils from Muslim families, around a third from Birmingham's Jewish community and the rest a mixture of Christians and Sikhs. My obvious question to Abdullah - why do you, a practising Muslim, send your kids to a Jewish school? - does not get just the obvious answer: good discipline and good results. On top of that, the very fact that the school has a faith and a strong ethos is seen, at least by Abdullah and his family, as a positive advantage.
And the third step in promoting integration is to ensure there's something worth integrating into. 'To make men love their country,' said Edmund Burke, 'their country ought to be lovable.' Integration has to be about more than immigrant communities, 'their' responsibilities and 'their' duties. It has to be about 'us' too - the quality of life that we offer, our society and our values.
Here the picture is bleak: family breakdown, drugs, crime and incivility are part of the normal experience of modern Britain. Many British Asians see a society that hardly inspires them to integrate. Indeed, they see aspects of modern Britain which are a threat to the values they hold dear - values which we should all hold dear. Asian families and communities are incredibly strong and cohesive, and have a sense of civic responsibility which puts the rest of us to shame. Not for the first time, I found myself thinking that it is mainstream Britain which needs to integrate more with the British Asian way of life, not the other way around.
Saying goodbye to Abdullah I was given gifts of T-shirts, shoes and a traditional robe which he said would be perfect for any visit to Pakistan. It's another reminder that integration is a two-way street. If we want to remind ourselves of British values - hospitality, tolerance and generosity to name just three - there are plenty of British Muslims ready to show us what those things really mean.
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