The Trojan Horse Affair & Subsequent Investigations

Much has been written about the recent OFSTED investigations into the 'Trojan Horse' incidents in Birmingham schools and I am not going to repeat the whole chain of events that have been widely reported on. What I want to comment on was the fact that statements on this wholly bizarre and depressing set of events have been doing the rounds which do not add to anything of interest. In fact they have simply blurred what may be the truth.

Whether or not there was a strategic plan to promote what the papers have got 'the Islamicization' of schools will not be known until the investigation by OFSTED is completed. Furthermore, any report must be made public so that the public can read and reflect on the findings. If the findings show that changes need to be made to ensure quality education based on equal rights and equal access to education, then they should be implemented and fast. No young child should be made to feel a second class citizen in any educational establishment and one of the basic human rights that all young people deserve is access to education based and equal treatment within those educational establishments.

What is also of concern is the impact on cohesion in the City. I hope that the issues are resolved sooner rather than later since the longer this issues drags out, the greater the cracks and fissures may open up regarding cohesion in the City. Thankfully, we are a long way off any major incidents and this is testament to the enormous work done in this area in the Birmingham over the last decade. One last thought on the matter. Who is Achilles in this Trojan Horse affair - the Education Secretary, Michael Gove?

Jewish & Muslim Links Which Run Deep

How many people realise that the turning point of social action against the British National Party in 2010 involved joint co-operation and a desire to defeat the Far Right by Muslim and Jewish business people in the United Kingdom. The individuals shall no doubt remain nameless and faceless, yet their courage and their willingness to put their hands in their pockets and support organisations like Searchlight and others meant that the Barking & Dagenham fightback against the extremist British National Party had begun. Tens of thousands of pounds were mobilized through a few meetings and the money targeted to ensure that the Far Right threat would never be realized in the constituency.

The subsequent electoral defeat of the BNP and its fall from grace for local voters meant that the Party was over as a threat to the political landscape of this country. Such alliances and partnerships between Muslims and Jews at a strategic level never come out, but they happen on a daily, monthly and yearly basis, people from both communities coming together for the common good.

There is a change in Jewish and Muslim relations that has taking place over the last 5 years which is seeing such strategic alliances flourish and grow for both communities; a mature approach to community development and community protection that also takes into account a civic duty to ensure that extreme groups are pushed out of the political spectrum of our country. This joint collaboration in 2010 is just one example and there are many others taking place. I for one salute those who are willing to move beyond their comfort zones and work with others for the common good. They are real heroes for our country and for our communities.

A re-writing of history based on a narrow and prejudiced view of Muslims

Well, well, well. One of the reasons behind the production of the educational booklet, the Role of Righteous Muslims was to counter the sheer chutzpah of a growing number of people who attempted to re-write history and suggest that the vast and overwhelming majority of 'Arabs' and 'Muslims' (note the vast sweeping statement), were behind the Nazis in the Second World War. The strategy here by these individuals was to associate these two groups, (even though there are also Arab Christians) with the Nazis and thereby demonize them. Another reason for the publication of the Righteous Muslims booklet was to inform Muslim communities of case histories where Muslims put themselves at risk to save Jewish lives during the Holocaust and such work is much needed.

Now coming to the point of Arabs and Muslims being predominantly behind the Nazis - what I would call a revisionist view driven by prejudicial hate against these groups. In taking this position, such individuals chose to forget those Muslims from the Indian subcontinent, nearly 700,000 of them who fought on the side of the British. They also chose to forget the North African and West African Muslims who fought on the French side or the Harkis who were so let down by the French colonialists. Or the East African Muslims in Uganda and Kenya who fought for King & Country, just to name a few Muslim communities. Whilst we cannot also overlook those within Bosnia who fought on the side of the Nazis, the overwhelming majority of Muslims fought against the Nazis. Yet, revisionists are still at it - trying to re-write history to suit their twisted perception of history. It is also interesting to note that these revisionists who regard themselves as activists against Fascism and Nazism, find themselves on the same side as groups like the English Defence League, a real Far Right group which tries to pass itself off as some populist street based movement against 'radical Islam.' There is nothing radical about the Muslims  on Twitter that they abuse or Muslims in general who come in for attack by EDL sympathisers and their social media accounts.

I just hope such revisionists wake up and move away from narratives that are really in line with extremist groups. There is good and bad in all communities, but making Muslims out to be de-facto Nazis is not only untrue, it is malicious, twisted and downright scandalous.