DAR AL HARB - U.K.: "IT'S TIME TO HEAR MUSLIM WOMEN SPEAK OUT"

Hazel Blears: It's time to hear Muslim women speak out

The Cabinet minister at the heart of Gordon Brown's new "hearts-and-minds" campaign to defeat Muslim extremism called today for women to be given a bigger role in British mosques.

In an interview with Daily Mail sister paper Evening Standard, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears said: "When I meet people on my visits I will expect women and young people to be present."

"Women have a real influence. I don't believe men should be speaking for women. I think their views should be at the heart of this debate ... they have a big influence on the young men in their communities."

Her remarks reflect a shift in government thinking on how to persuade young Muslims away from extremism, including greater focus on women and youth organisations and less deference to the older and mainly male Muslim leaders.

The Government has committed £70million to a campaign intended to balance Mr Brown's insistence on tougher anti-terror measures, announced this week.

Mrs Blears wants more women appointed to the management committees of mosques.

She said: "I am not telling the mosques what to do, but there are women who do want to stand up and be counted and we have to support them."

She insisted she would not intervene in the debate about the wearing of the hijab and burka.

"I am not going to end up in an argument about what people should and should not wear — that's not my job and I don't think it would have a positive effect," she said.

"The way we will change the position we are in is not to argue about dress but about being very tough and unafraid to say, 'we have a problem and expect everyone to support the rule of law and be involved in their communities'."

Mrs Blears described the terror threat as "generational" and said she would continue the policy of her predecessor, Ruth Kelly, of preferential access and funding for groups who renounce all violence.

...

"We will just have to see how things progress," she said.

Mrs Blears said her department would seek more advice from young Muslims who had flirted with, then recoiled from, extremism.

"We know there are lots of people on a cusp and we have to find ways to influence them away from the final steps to violent activity."

"I also think we have got a lot braver about tackling the ideology and we need to do a lot more on that."

"I am not being unduly optimistic. This is serious, long-term and complex issue. Many second generation Muslims do not feel connected to its history, or to the society around them, and I want to see a real change in the way to tackle that."

"We have tip-toed around a lot of the issues. We have to find a much wider set of ways of communicating with people and giving a platform to the moderate view of Islam."

"If you look at the web, where these extremist ideas are being peddled, where is our presence?"
With internal arguments in the main political parties about the balance between multiculturalism and integration, Mrs Blears said: "I like the fact we have lots of diversity but that is a world away from giving up on people being integrated.

"I think integration is important — you can have that at the same time as you can have lots of people expressing their own culture."

She renewed support for faith schools, despite substantial opposition within Labour and doubts over Muslim faith schools.

"I think faith schools are generally a positive thing as long as there are strong links with other schools and faiths," said Mrs Blears.




Pertinent Links:

1) Hazel Blears: It's time to hear Muslim women speak out