http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=10860 British Muslims must face 'reality' ISN SECURITY WATCH (02/03/05) - Britain's counter-terrorism minister, Hazel Blears, has said Muslims in the country would have to accept as a "reality" that they would be more frequently singled out for document checks and searches than the rest of the public, the Guardian reported on Wednesday. Blears said "there was no getting away from [that reality]", given that recent terrorist threats have come from people "falsely hiding behind Islam". Addressing the House of Commons home affairs committee during an inquiry into the impact of anti-terrorism measures on community relations, Blears said: "If a threat is from a particular place then our action is going to be targeted at that area. If that means that some of our counter-terrorism powers will be disproportionately experienced by the Muslim community..." British Muslim groups reacted strongly to Blears' statement. "She is demonizing and alienating our community," the Guardian quoted the chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, Massoud Shadjareh, as saying. "It is a legitimization for a backlash and for racists to have an onslaught on our community," he said. "The remarks are thoroughly unhelpful as we've seen a rise in anti-Muslim sentiment in the UK," the Guardian quoted Muslim community spokesman Inayat Bunglawala as saying. "It is wholly unacceptable if a government minister is using her office to scaremonger at the expense of our community to ease the passage of legislation designed to curb our civil liberties," he said. The comments are also unlikely to help the Labour government of Prime Minister Tony Blair, which is attempting to gain approval for a controversial anti-terrorism bill that would authorize house arrests and a ban on internet and telephone use for terror suspects who have not been charged with any crimes. Blears' controversial statement also comes at a time when British Muslim groups are trying to come up with a strategy to maximize the Islamic vote in British general elections planned for May. The Labour party has traditionally depended on the Muslim vote, which Blears' statement could threaten. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/_OLuKD/8WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
