This is one of a series of posts focusing on the issues of Islamophobia currently being worked out in Luton and the UK. For the full list of posts see Seeking Peace in Luton - and Multicultural UK
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Entering someone else world, standing in their shoes, seeing life from their perspective -- even for a day - is so valuable. I take my hat off to David Cameron who did that a month ago. (Missed it at the time but its too important to miss altogether.)
Cameron spent two days with a Muslim family in Birmingham and wrote about it on his blog and here: David Cameron: What I learnt from my stay with a Muslim family | Comment is free | The Observer. His intoduction:
More from Cameron later, but first other coverage. Its reported on IslamOnLine: Tory Leader in Eye-opener Muslim Weekend
The article continued:
He said the two-day experience debunked the myth that British Muslims are not willing to engage with other communities in services and social activities. "As I found in Birmingham, this is something they naturally want to do, and local institutions - including religious ones - provide the opportunity." Cameron said he was overwhelmed with the hospitality of the Rehmans who, like most of Britain's nearly 2 million Muslims, are "decent, hard-working and committed to their communities." "It’s been a fascinating couple of days," the opposition leader wrote on his website.
The Mail (good to get that view in!) reported on it here: Cameron works in Asian corner shop - and then declares 1 in 10 Muslims are in denial over terror and then here: Cameron at No42: Dave takes a break with Asian family in Birmingham. I will allow the Mail to condemn so much of their own reporting with these two excerpts.
First, they note that Cameron wrote of the "anger among some Muslims with
inappropriate language."
Calling for people to stop using the words "Islamist terrorists" he adds: "It's hard to overemphasise the importance of language.
"Every time the BBC or a politician talks about Islamist terrorists they are doing immense harm (and yes I am sure I have done this too, despite trying hard to get this right).
"Think of Northern Ireland - "IRA terrorist" was fine because it marked them out as part of a terrorist group. Catholic terrorists would have been a disaster. Yet that is the equivalent of what we are doing now. When they hear this kind of language. Muslims simply think "they mean us?."
How many times have we encountered Muslim terrorists in the pages of the Mail? And in many other papers for that matter.
Later they wrote of his thoughts on integration:
He writes: "Integration is a two-way street. Yes we can ask minority ethnic communities to work at integrating with British society as a whole, but we have to recognise that it won't happen unless there's something attractive to integrate into."
Highlighting his experiences during his stay in a Muslim community he added: "Time after time I heard people here talking about the uncivilised behaviour and values that they see all around them.
"As I've said before, we can't just bully people into being more British, we've got to inspire them. And frankly, there are many aspects of our society today which are hardly inspiring - the drinking, the drugtaking, the rudeness and incivility, the lack of consideration for others, anti-social behaviour ... we've got a serious fight on our hands to build a responsible society that is the kind of society people admire and want to be part of."
Returning to the Observer article again for more on the issue of integration. He writes it a bit differently so I will quote his words from there:
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.
An argument that is not easily dismissed, and which begs a question:
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.
I might be a bit cautious in seeming to suggest that these are universally gone from the ways of all Brits, or indeed that they mark out all British Muslims.
But, his observations reflect my many conversations and the often heard questions: How much do we have to do before we are accepted?
We need to start listening to Muslims as people rather than ideologies on legs. And while we are about it, to congratulate David Cameron on taking a step beyond the normal.
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