European Muslims Influencing the European Debate [antikvár]

ForewordSo much has been said about extremism in the Muslim community since the London bombings of July 2005. We hear a great deal about the young men involved in the attacks. We are used to hearing the voices of so-called experts on terror or community cohésion, but how often do we really hear from ordinary Muslims themselves?This point struck me during the debate that followed the publication of the controversial Danish cartoons showing images of the Prophet Muhammad that caused widespread offence. One of the main problems in Denmark was that nobody was really listening to what Muslims had to say. As the anniversary of the London bombings approached, I decided to organise an event where we brought together Muslims from the United Kingdom and from other European countries to talk about the rea! issues they face within their communities.The result was a fascinating afternoon in Brüssels where fifty Muslims from locai branches of the British Labour Party and from other socialist parties around Europe hotly debat ed controversial and difficult subjects like extremism, integration and discrimination. They did this with honesty, passion andintegrity. We are enormously grateful for their insights and their participation.This report is a snapshot of the experiences and views we heard at the conférence. Many suggestions were made and we will be raising these with the Labour Party and taking them forward with our colleagues in the European Parliament.There is no easy way of dealing with the fear, shock and tension in our society since 9/11. But if we are going to find real answers, we need to start asking difficult questions about the sort of society we live in, the goals we aspire to, the values that unité us and those that divide us. There is no better place to start than here - listening to the voices of moderate Muslims talking about the communities in which they live.Gary Titley MEPlabour leader in the european parliament"There is a fantastic and exciting debate going on inside our communities and it is not known. There are contradictions between our générations. Which tribune are we given to speak for ourselves, for the modérât es in our community?" dorsaf ben diab (belgium)