Articles

The Wrong Shoes, or Notes on Muslim Representation in Europe

Single partner contacts between European governments and minoritised communities come under the microscope from Arzu Merali Dedicated to Nick Park, Wallace & Gromit and all Muslim organisations and associations. Slightly less painful than giving birth and only slightly less stupid than getting into a cab alone in Sofia and driving to the

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Muslim Representation in Europe: the British Experience

Arzu Merali‘s presentation at the Heinrich-Böll Foundation on the 16th April 2007 on question of Muslim representation in European politics My short presentation looks at the British experience from circa 1992, from my not too biased (I hope) perspective. Whilst this presentation is colloquial in style, it is based not simply on

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Mad Woman in the Burqa’: Muslim women as exemplar feminists

Full access through academic libraries. This article challenges readers to consider Muslim women to be exemplar feminists. From: Hecate (Vol. 32, Issue 1) Publisher: Hecate Press May 2006 Preview   No letters please from British women who have taken the veil and claim it’s liberating. It is their right in a tolerant society to

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Citizen Ali

Arzu Merali examines how equal citizenship has been denied Muslims, and the challenges that poses for a supposedly new politics in the UK.* In 2004 the Islamic Human Rights Commission (www.ihrc.org) began an eighteen month project to articulate British Muslims’ expectations of the government to those in power, as a way of

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Viewpoint: Islam and modernity

I was asked for this viewpoint from the BBC News Website. “Modernise or die” screamed an email we received a few months back at our offices. Though brutally put, the charge is not uncommon. Just as victims of rape are sometimes accused of “asking for it”, Muslims – the targets of amongst

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They Hate Women Don’t They?

“It must be terrible having to wear all that,” a friend of mine was told last December as she attended a meeting to discuss the future of Afghanistan, particularly its women – “all that” being some baggy clothing and a headscarf. “Not particularly,” she retorted, putting an abrupt end both to the

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War on Islam, Turkish Style

As the War on Terror – Bush’s crusade – is launched, Turkey has joined its ranks.  What are the implications for the already poor human rights record of this country? So Turkey – that shining example of modernity, a secular Muslim country – will be sending special forces to Afghanistan to “support

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