by Dave for PM on Thu Nov 05, 2009 5:25 pmThe Muslim public debate forum, the Muslim Debate Initiative – MDI (Muslim Debate Initiative) has announced that the Muslim community have publically invited members of the Far-right to an open public dialogue/debate on the 10th December 2009, at a prestigious central London venue to discuss their contentions on Islam, the Muslim community in England/Europe, and the impact of immigration, in the hope that prejudice and misconceptions can be tackled through engagement.
The title of the event will be: ‘The Islamification of Britain: Reality or Myth?’ and will be held in central London, at Conway Hall, Holborn. Additionally, the panel will also be joined by members of the Christian People’s Alliance Party and the Liberal Democrats, who both current serve as London councillors, and will be attending to add their perspectives to the discussion.
The invited panel, consisting of representatives from Liberal, Christian Democrat, Muslim and the Far-Right backgrounds, will engage in discussion and debate over the controversial topic ‘Islamification’ which has become the flag bearing issue for the campaigns by the BNP, EDL and SOIE (Stop the Islamification of Europe) groups.
The Speakers who have confirmed their attendance, will be:
Alan Craig - London Councillor for Newham and Leader of the Christian People’s Alliance Party. Alan has campaigned vigorously against the building of the Olympics 'mega mosque'.
Jeffery Davies - Party Official and central London organiser for BNP.
Fiyaz Mughal - London Councillor for Haringey and member of the Liberal Democrats party. Fiyaz is adviser to party leader, Nick Clegg, on Interfaith and Preventing Radicalisation and Extremism.
Abdullah al Andalusi - Public speaker on Muslim political affairs, experience Muslim community worker and co-founder of Muslim Debate Initiative; an inter-community discussion forum.
Stephan Gash - Head of the Stop Islamification of Europe (SIOE) group, and organiser of the September Harrow Mosque demonstration. He has called for a repeat demonstration in December.
Azzam Tamimi - Director of Institute for Islamic Political Thought (TBC)
Quotes:
“I am happy to be given a platform to express my views, despite the fact that others would not give me such a platform”
Stephen Gash (SIOE) – The Harrow Mosque ‘anti-mosque’ demonstration Organiser.
“This event will be the first of it’s kind, in terms of members of the Muslim community directly inviting right-wing anti-sharia campaigners to the discussion table. Such an intercommunity engagement betweenan a public discussion event is virtually unprecedented in modern times. Furthermore, the event itself, whatever the result, will demonstrate that Muslims are not against censorship, but rather we welcome open discussion and debate, as long as we get to voice a defence of our beliefs and way of life in an fair, equal and open platform, even if we have to create that platform ourselves.
Lastly, we feel that only by direct engagement can we defeat the prejudice and hatred that is rising in Europe against Islam. The event planned for 10 December 2009, is done in the hope that Muslims, general non-Muslims and those of the far-right, can attend and listen and come to an understanding of the real human reality of Britain today, not the false scare mongering and social dissension caused by the skewed perspectives of some individuals. The situation today in Britain, is one we as Muslims cannot afford to ignore, hoping it will go away if we do no engage it directly”
Abdullah al Andalusi, Speaker on Muslim current affairs and co-founder of M.D.I
Event Details: 6:15pm, 10th December 2009, Conway Hall, Holborn.
Speakers of the event are available for interview, including the event organisers: MDI.
Kind regards,
The MDI Team
Interesting, I wonder if the BNP accept the offer.
