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| Britain |
| What young British Muslims say can be |
| 2006-08-10 |
| For anyone who has hoped and believed, as I have, that the British way of integrating Muslim citizens is more promising than the French one, the last year has been discouraging. Following the shock of the July 7 London bombings, perpetrated by young Muslims born and educated here, we now have the results of two recent opinion polls, an excellent TV documentary by Channel 4's Jon Snow, and the sombre warnings of Britain's most senior Muslim policeman. All convey the same message. Not only do many young British Muslims feel more alienated from the country they live in than their parents did - that's true of Muslims from immigrant families right across Europe - but the sense of not belonging seems to be even more acute in Britain than in France. In a poll conducted for the Channel 4 documentary, only half the British Muslims questioned said they thought of Britain as "my country", whereas nearly a quarter said they thought of it as "their country" - meaning someone else's. The younger respondents were, the greater the alienation. Shockingly, one in three British Muslims aged between 18 and 24 said they would rather live under Sharia law than under British law. In a Pew poll of Muslims worldwide, a gob-smacking 81% of British Muslims said they thought of themselves as a Muslim first and a citizen of their country only second. This is a higher proportion than in Jordan, Egypt or Turkey, and exceeded only by that in Pakistan (87%). By contrast, only 46% of French Muslims said they were Muslims first, compared with 42% who felt themselves first and foremost citizens |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #14 taqiyya |
| Posted by: flyover 2006-08-10 22:51 |
| #13 90% of British muzzies say their allegiance is to Islam first, not their country. Take them at their word. Make every British citizen of muzzie origin swear an oath of allegiance to the United Kingdom. Deport all non-citizen muzzies and all citizen muzzies who refuse to take the oath. Problem solved, or at least greatly alleviated. |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2006-08-10 22:45 |
| #12 Is there something about the particular religiosity of Kashmiri, Pakistani and more broadly south Asian Islam, and the way it develops in interraction with a European host culture, as opposed to the Islam of the Maghreb, from which most French Muslims come? Yes. ONLY in the Indian subcontinent did islam become preoccupied with the dilema of living among a kafir majority population. There are numerous fatwas on dealing with the kafir majority culture. According to one imam who justified the creation of Pakistan, a good muslim suffers takleef when on the way to mosque, he encounters a dirty hindu. Best to live apart. The Indian muslim system of handling life among a majority non-muslim population is THE template for muslim communities. Saudis know nothing of this. The Pakistanis know. |
| Posted by: john 2006-08-10 19:19 |
| #11 Surely French Moslems identify with France more than British with Britain because they are marginally closer to owning it. |
| Posted by: Botec 2006-08-10 18:46 |
| #10 A lot of Muslim women want the Sharia laws to be imposed, too. Islamist fascism is rooted in the mind of a lot of Muslim women, as it is in the mind of a lot of Muslim men. In his excellent book "The third Reich from rise to fall", William Shirer describes hordes of German women fanatically applauding nazi speeches. Fanaticism and hatred have no gender. |
| Posted by: leroidavid 2006-08-10 17:19 |
| #9 Shockingly, one in three British Muslims aged between 18 and 24 said they would rather live under Sharia law than under British law. I'm guessing that would be all of the men & boys, and all the wimminfolk that are intimidated by their husbands/brothers/fathers. |
| Posted by: Flish Uleregum9913 2006-08-10 17:12 |
| #8 The left in France loves France? Why wasn't I told? Okay, perhaps I'm wrong. Would you say the left in France has a more positive image of French culture or British culture? If you answer British my point is still correct. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2006-08-10 17:10 |
| #7 The left in France hates France, exactly as the Left in America hates America. |
| Posted by: leroidavid 2006-08-10 16:30 |
| #6 Speaking of the need to beat some heads in... it seems the Belgian government is trying to shut down The Brussels Journal for "internet racism," i.e., criticising Islam. (scroll down to get to the article) Some people are DAMN determined to be dhimmi. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2006-08-10 16:24 |
| #5 guardian. feh. ptooey. The only one surprised...or shocked....is the left. |
| Posted by: PlanetDan 2006-08-10 15:41 |
| #4 The left in France loves France? Why wasn't I told? |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2006-08-10 15:12 |
| #3 I have no qualms with anyone living as they wish, as long as they don't try to force their way upon the rest of us. Once that happens, we need to beat the heads in of those that want to do the forcing, and either convince them their ideas will not be accepted, or evict them from our nation by force. That applies to the US, to Britain, and to all the world. Either live and let live in peace, or die by the sword. No exceptions allowed, including "religion". |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2006-08-10 15:01 |
| #2 The answer seems pretty clear. The left in France loves France. The left in Britain hates the British. Should we be surprised if that extra level of bile comes out in Muslim opinion polls? |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2006-08-10 14:42 |
| #1 Articulate British Muslims, as encountered on Jon Snow's Channel 4 documentary and in magazines such as Q-News and Emel, are not merely telling us non-Muslim Brits a lot about themselves. They are also telling us something about ourselves. They're don't have to tell us about you Timothy. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2006-08-10 14:29 |