Anti-terror strategy 'alienating Muslims'

Monday, 4 December 2006 12:00 AM

The government's response to terrorism is alienating the Muslim community and is damaging its ability to tackle the problem, a new report has warned.

Research by think tank Demos today finds efforts to engage British Muslims after last summer's London bombings have been too rushed, have treated the Muslim community as a homogenous group and have not been followed through.

At best this is a "wasted opportunity" but at worst it is driving a wedge between the Muslim community and the rest of society, rather than between the extremists and everyone else, the report warns.

It calls for more action to tackle the cause of extremism, such as the deprivation that characterises many Muslim communities, rather than simply responding to it, such as by giving the police tougher powers.

"Bringing it Home shows that the government's response to terrorism is alienating the very communities it needs to engage, and that their growing sense of grievance, anger and injustice inadvertently legitimises the terrorists' aims, with or without their active consent," it says.

However, communities minister Phil Woolas said the report was "out of date and therefore flawed", and accused Demos of "sensationalising" the issue.

He said the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) - which partially funded the research - was set up in May to specifically look at community cohesion and argued the report ignored the "huge programme of work underway".

An independent survey showed perceptions of discrimination were decreasing among Muslim communities, he said, and the creation of a new Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) would work to promote equality and social justice.

"We therefore reject completely the idea that government actions are breeding resentment and alienating Muslim communities," he said.

"We also recognise the diversity with Muslim communities. That is precisely why we are already actively engaging with as many sections of the community - regardless of faith, religion or secular beliefs in different ways and in different localities."

In the aftermath of the July 7th attacks, the government launched a 'preventing extremism together' (PET) campaign to engage with Muslim communities and come up with recommendations on how to combat extremism.

But the report says it was too hurried and focused too much on the government's agenda, and warns ministers failed to deal with key grievances among British Muslims, such as foreign policy.

"Too many vital subjects remain out of bounds", it says, and calls for a more open debate about foreign policy in the future - something deputy Labour leadership candidate Harriet Harman has suggested in the past.

It also warns about "conflicting government messages" about the role - and responsibilities - of the Muslim community in tackling terrorism.

"In the meeting rooms of Whitehall, ministers were assuring Muslim leaders of the need for partnership, but in press briefings they were talking of the need for Muslims to 'get serious' about terrorism, spy on their children, and put up with inconveniences in the greater good of national security," the report says.

It says ministers must accept that good community relations are not separate from counter-terrorism work but are integral - security services and the police, for example, can only do their job with the consent of the people they are supposed to be protecting.

The report calls for local police to take part in counter-terror operations to reassure communities that may feel threatened by such actions, and says police officers should go on training to understand more about Islam.

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg welcomed the report, saying: "There is little to be gained in the long term by providing our security and police services with extra powers to tackle terrorism if, at the same time, the conditions for ever-deeper radicalisation are not being addressed with equal vigour."

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