PassionIslam January 2010 LQ.pdf

More documents

Recommendations

Info

6 I LOCAL & NATIONAL NEWS Passion Islam I January 2010 London Jewish school guilty of discrimination The UK Supreme Court ruled that JFS school broke the law by granting admissions based on ethnicity. A Jewish school in London is found guilty of racial discrimination as the UK top court describes the school’s admission policy as based on ethnic origins, not faith. The Supreme Court ruled that the popular JFS school north of the capital broke the law by granting admissions The Muslim Council of Britain honoured those grassroots community organisations who inspire excellence in their work with young people.In holding its second Young Muslim Beacon Awards at the Westminster House, the 2009 winners were the Leicestershire based-BUILD Development Project, the national student body known as the Federation of Students Islamic Societies (FOSIS), and the disability charity the RADAR Leadership Project. The Awards were presented by MCB Secretary General Dr. Muhammad Abdul Bari, Lord Altaf Sheikh of Cornhill, MP Alistair Burt, Opposition Assistant Chief Whip and the Chair of the Department for Communities and Local Government Select Committee, MP Dr Phyllis Starkey MP. The ceremony was attended by over 100 of MCB’s Affiliates, youth groups and civic society representative bodies from across the UK, which saw people from all backgrounds converge to celebrate the work of the three organisations receiving the based on ethnicity. The ruling, passed by a narrow five-to-four majority by the nine judges sitting on Britain’s highest judicial body, received criticism from Jewish leaders, who argued it could have an impact on other Jewish organizations in Britain. The controversy arose after the school refused to admit a 12-year-old boy whose mother was not born into Judaism but had converted at a non- Orthodox synagogue — a conversion process unrecognized by the Office of the Chief Rabbi of Britain. The school accordingly rejected the boy’s application, saying that his mother was not Jewish, and therefore the boy was not either. The family’s suit against JFS awards. Speaking on the occasion, Lord Sheikh lauded the contributions of British Muslims to the British society and said they have played a key role in developing a multicultural society in the country. He said the British Muslims by sheer dint of hard work and labour have been able to establish a place for themselves in the various occupations and can be found in all almost all profession including the armed forces. In his commendation of the winners, the Awards’ external judge Neil Jameson, Executive Director of London Citizens, said, “it is inspirational to see all the outstanding work that is happening. The winners have all carried out exceptional work. Their work is to be highly commended and will hopefully serve as examples to the rest of the country”. Presenting the Awards, Alistair Burt said, “The Muslim Council of Britain wants to emphasise what their young people are doing and the contribution they are making to the nation arrives was rejected until an appeals court overturned the previous rulings in July and said, “The admissions policy should be based on the faith itself, not origin.” The school, backed by Britain’s Jewish community, appealed to the Supreme Court but the judicial body ruled the school had discriminated against the boy on the basis of his ethnic origin. Russell Kett, the chairman of governors at JFS, formerly the Jews’ Free School, said they were disappointed by the decision and would now try to establish a more workable solution for the school’s admission test. www.passionislam.com Young British Muslims honoured at the most important time in the development of our society. It’s very, very important that everybody sees this and welcomes it, and I think this is the best counter to those who seek to separate and divide and you’ll find us all standing shoulder to shoulder to defend our unity.” Dr. Phyllis Starkey appreciated MCB’s Youth Committee in encouraging young people within the community to reach out to the communities in Britain to play their full part as active citizens of this country. “It is incredibly important as you are examples for your community and for the country as a whole,” he said. RADIO & TV COMING SOON
Passion Islam I January 2010 LOCAL & NATIONAL NEWS I 7 Bradford trainee barrister is youngest Muslim JP The youngest female Muslim magistrate in the country was sworn in at a ceremony at Bradford Magistrates’ Court. Faiza Ali, 23, of Bradford, was among three new magistrates and one transferee to take part in the ceremony. Miss Ali – along with Helen Langley, 59, of Calderdale, Mohammed Amin Zaman, 36, of Bradford, and Katy Blake, who transferred from Bristol – has now joined the 265 magistrates in Bradford. The new recruits were due to help fill the gap left by the retirement of three magistrates with a combined service of more than 60 years. Miss Ali said: “It feels great, but I do feel that all the credit goes to my parents for supporting me, for trusting me to be out there in the real world and trust my decisions to allow everything I have wanted to do in my life. “I have always wanted to do something for the community, it has been my interest since childhood. “The role itself is amazing – it’s tremendous and it’s good to know and be part of society, not just serving for the money, but serving to benefit other people voluntarily.” Miss Ali is training to become a barrister at the City Law School in London and has given up her time for numerous causes in the past, including being a panel member for the Youth Offending Team. She said she hoped her work as a magistrate and as a barrister would help benefit Bradford. She said: “I would hope to help create a safer environment in Bradford, so it’s easy for every girl to walk around in the streets and for parents to trust the girls to be out there and support them in their education.” Anyone interested in becoming a magistrate should contact Jane Sturmey on (01274) 302034 or visit directgov.co.uk. Terrorism officers admit to monitoring Muslim children The Times discloses an email sent by a police officer in the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit to community groups involved in the region’s Prevent programme that suggests that police forces are monitoring nurseries and children as young as four in their counter-radicalisation efforts. According to The Times: ‘…an officer in the West Midlands counterterrorism unit wrote: “I do hope that you will tell me about persons, of whatever age, you think may have been radicalised or be vulnerable to radicalisation ... Evidence suggests that radicalisation can take place from the age of 4.”’ The paper reports that ‘The police unit confirmed that counter-terrorist officers specially trained in identifying children and young people vulnerable to radicalisation had visited nursery schools.’ ‘Arun Kundnani, of the Institute of Race Relations, contacted the officer and said he was told that officers had visited nursery schools. ‘Mr Kundnani added: “He did seem to think it was standard. He said it wasn’t just him or his unit that was doing it. He said the indicators were they [children] might draw pictures of bombs and say things like ‘all Christians are bad’ or that they believe in an Islamic state. It seems that nursery teachers in the West Midlands area are being asked to look out for radicalisation. He also said that targeting young children was important because they would be left aware of what was inappropriate to say at school. He felt that it was necessary to cover nurseries as well as primary and secondary schools. He said it was a precaution and that he wasn’t expecting to come back with a list.”’ The Times report will do little to allay fears among British Muslims, whatever the assurances given by John Denham at the Prevent national conference that the programme is not about ‘covert surveillance’ or ‘stigmatis[ing] or demonis[ing] Muslim communities’. It seems bizarre that the police should be targeting toddlers and those of pre-school age using the follies of their parents as justification. Further, the police officer’s remark that being visited by counter terrorism police would leave young children ‘aware of what was inappropriate to say at school’ is nothing short of terrifying. The same remark leveled at youngsters from any other ethnic or faith community would be inconceivable. Little wonder that Kundnani’s report on Prevent, ‘Spooked! How not to prevent violent extremism’, found that its methodology and delivery resulted in Muslims being treated as a ‘suspect community’. Denham said in his speech ‘Identifying someone at risk in any circumstances is not easy. It is even more complex in this area where the ‘risk factors’ are still not well understood. ‘So we cannot take that trust for granted - we have to build it.’ How relationships of trust can be built when parents live in fear of their young child being observed for signs of radicalization is impossible to comprehend.
Page 1 and 2: News Discrimination in Europe Sport
Page 3 and 4: Passion Islam I January 2010 NEWS I
Page 8 and 9: 8 I LOCAL & NATIONAL NEWS Passion I
Page 10 and 11: 300709_210x148_STD_Passion IslamPag
Page 12 and 13: 12 I WORLD NEWS Passion Islam I Jan
Page 14 and 15: 14 I WORLD NEWS Passion Islam I Jan
Page 16: 16 I WORLD NEWS Passion Islam I Jan
Page 19 and 20: Passion Islam I January 2010 SPORT
Page 21 and 22: Passion Islam I January 2010 SPECIA
Page 23 and 24: Passion Islam I January 2010 SPECIA
Page 25: Passion Islam I January 2010 SPECIA

PassionIslam January 2010 LQ.pdf

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?