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Religious tensions rising say MPs

-07/04/05

Divisions between religious groups in Britain have deteriorated since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, according to a committee of MPs.

They say that more should be done to tackle ìIslamaphobiaî and anti-Semitism and they urge university authorities to act swiftly to deal with anti-Semitism on campuses.

The MPs also said: “Faith leaders must condemn, without equivocation, those of their co-religionists who advocate violence.”

However the report came as some conservative Christians welcomed the Government’s abandonment of measures against incitement to religious hatred.

The Government dropped plans for legislation aimed at preventing incitement to religious hatred, after it ran out of Parliamentary time before the general election.

Some Christian opponents of the proposals feared that such legislation would inhibit their ability to evangelise and criticise other religions. However they faced charges of double standards as many also wanted to keep the blasphemy laws which protect only the Christian religion.

Other Christians however backed the Government’s proposals, identifying a need for urgent action which appears to have been borne out by the Select Committee’s report.

The Home Affairs Select Committee said the Muslim Council reported that 76 per cent of its community believed prejudice had intensified. Young Muslims said white people regarded them as terrorists, and that the media pandered to anti-Muslim stereotypes.

The report published by the committee which contained MPs from all the main political parties stated: ìWe accept that there is a perception among all our Muslim witnesses that Muslims are being stigmatisedî. The committee report on terrorism and community relations added: ìEfforts should be made by the police and Government to reassure [them] that they are not being singled out unfairly.î

The MPs also said: “Anti-Semitism among some members of the Muslim community is also worrying. We welcome the condemnation of anti-Semitic attacks by leaders of the Muslim community.” Work should be done to discover why a “very small number of young Britons turn to violently extremist groups”, and efforts should be redoubled to discuss the issues in schools. In its conclusion that ethnic tensions had increased, the committee said: “International terrorism and the response to it have contributed to this deterioration, particularly in relations between the majority community and the Muslim community.”