How Islam Became a Scapegoat for Immigration

Something I wrote last week about Islam caused a bit of a stir, with one conservative blogger wondering if I had been threatened with beheading.The great Mark Steyn even wrote: “I’m sad to see the usually perceptive Ed West of the London Telegraph planting his flag on this wobbling blancmange.” Considering I am Mark Steyn’s biggest fan in the whole wide world, complete with a wall covered with pictures of him and a tattoo of his face on my chest, that’s left with me some mixed feelings.

And yet I still believe that Islam has become something of a scapegoat for the problems associated with mass immigration, and here’s why.

Conservatism is all about protecting the community from radical change; that is why conservatives tend to oppose large-scale immigration, which alters the social fabric in a huge way.

Yet from the 1960s to the 1990s, both in Britain and the US, conservatives lost this argument, despite overwhelming public support. They lost because they lost the intellectual justification for group solidarity or “parochial altruism” against post-war radical universalism, to the extent that normal human feelings were redefined as forms of mental illness. Defeat. Until Islam came along, allowing conservatives to make arguments using language that liberals would permit.

FULL ARTICLE FROM THE LONDON TELEGRAPH 

Rebellions: Smashing Stereotypes of Arab Women

The Arab revolutions are not only shaking the structure of tyranny to the core – they are shattering many of the myths about the Arab region that have been accumulating for decades. Topping the list of dominant myths are those of Arab women as caged in, silenced, and invisible. Yet these are not the types of women that have emerged out of Tunisia, Egypt, or even ultra-conservative Yemen in the last few weeks and months.

Not only did women actively participate in the protest movements raging in those countries, they have assumed leadership roles as well. They organised demonstrations and pickets, mobilised fellow citizens, and eloquently expressed their demands and aspirations for democratic change.

Like Israa Abdel Fatteh, Nawara Nejm, and Tawakul Karman, the majority of the women are in their 20s and 30s. Yet there were also inspiring cases of senior activists as well: Saida Saadouni, a woman in her 70s from Tunisia,  draped the national flag around her shoulders and partook in the Qasaba protests which succeeded in toppling M. Ghannouchi’s provisional government. Having protested for two weeks, she breathed a unique revolutionary spirit into the thousands who congregated around her to hear her fiery speeches. “I resisted French occupation. I resisted the dictatorships of Bourguiba and Ben Ali. I will not rest until our revolution meets its ends, for your sakes my sons and daughters, not for mine,” said Saadouni.

Whether on the virtual battlefields of the Internet or the physical protests in the streets, women have been proving themselves as real incubators of leadership. This is part of a wider phenomenon characteristic of these revolutions: The open politics of the street have bred and matured future leaders. They are grown organically in the field, rather than being imposed upon from above by political organisations, religious groups, or gender roles.

FULL ARTICLE FROM AL JAZEERA (ENGLISH) 

Burqa Ban Turns a Right into a Crime

London, England (CNN) – The ban imposed by French President Sarkozy on wearing a face-covering veil, or niqab, is simply dangerous gesture politics, representing little more than pandering to the far right in France.

The full force of the state is coming down on fewer than 2,000 Muslim women out of a population of 6.5 million French Muslim citizens. For what purpose? We are told it is for security, the preservation of “French values” and to alleviate the oppression of women.

For security purposes, women who wear the veil should be ready to remove their face covering in places where security and identity checks are necessary, such as airports. The argument that criminals could abuse the niqab is not compelling enough to deny the fundamental freedom of religious expression to a group of French citizens — or indeed visitors to France.

FULL ARTICLE FROM CNN

 

French Divided Over Burqa Ban

Muslims, Christians in Memphis Share Differences, Similarities in Sunday Conversations

A small group of Memphis Christians engaged a small group of Memphis Muslims last month in what many of their grandmothers used to call polite conversation.

During one of the conversations, the Christians asked Sehrish Siddiqui, a young Muslim attorney who grew up in Memphis, why she covers her head.

Siddiqui showed the group five pictures of women with their heads covered — a Jewish woman, a Catholic nun, several Eastern Orthodox Christian women, and two Muslim women.

“It was fun to watch people light up with a big smile and surprise when they realized three faiths, rather than one, were presented,” she said.

FULL ARTICLE FROM THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL (MEMPHIS)

 

Why the Muslim Brotherhood Shouldn’t be Feared

When The Post prints, on its Feb. 8 front page, an article such as “Muslim Brotherhood eyes comeback in Egypt,” it contributes to mischaracterizing the political equation in Egypt and, quite unhelpfully, incites fears about an imminent specter of Islamic extremism. Here in the region, this fear of the Muslim Brotherhood and its “hidden” agenda is largely absent. The focus is on Egyptians’ aspirations for legitimate political reforms and a democratic process. People are familiar with the Brotherhood’s ideology and its clearly stated objectives.

FULL ARTICLE FROM THE WASHINGTON POST

Undercover in a Hijab: A Reporter Dons the Garb

Hijab
Last month, I climbed out of my “lap” and wore a hijab, the Muslim headscarf.  I thought this temporary modification of my appearance would bring me closer to an understanding of the Muslim community, but in retrospect, I learned more about my place in the world.

Simplified, one piece of fabric is all it takes to turn perspectives upside-down.

The hijab is a contested, sacred and sometimes controversial symbol, but it is just a symbol. It is a symbol of Islam, a misconstrued, misunderstood religion that represents the most diverse population of people in the world — a population of more than one billion people.

FULL ARTICLE FROM THE KENTUCKY KERNEL