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NEWS
Debate Over Muslim Law in Britain
By Arnon Yaffeh, Paris
The debate over sharia, or Muslim law, is heating up
in Britain's Muslim areas. Shahid Malik, the first Muslim
minister in the British government, went overboard in a BBC
interview when he said British Muslims "feel [targeted] like
the Jews of Europe." Even the Times called his remarks
"false and insulting."
The head of the Anglican Church, Rowan Williams, is pressing
to introduce sharia in Britain. The head of the House of
Lords, Lord Phillips, said that implementing another law
would clash with British law, which already enables religious
communities to live according to their own laws as long as
there is no conflict with British law. Lord Phillips noted
his Jewish ancestry, saying his forefathers came from
Alexandria a century ago to enjoy freedom and democracy.
In the red brick neighborhoods of London's East End and in
British suburbs and cities that have become Muslim, such as
Birmingham and Sheffield, there is a return to the lifestyles
of Bengal or Karachi, far from British culture.
Meanwhile France is showing much less tolerance for Islam.
The State Council refused to grant citizenship to a Moroccan
woman because her attire was deemed incompatible with
democratic values, but in the streets of England she would go
unnoticed.
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