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p10 2_Layout 1 11/23/14 8:58 PM Page 1 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2014 INTERNATIONAL Tug of peace is stronger than pull of war for young Muslims BIRMINGHAM: For some British Muslims, charity Human Relief Foundation for a Islam’s version of the life of Jesus and Mary Iqbal tells the story of one of the men majority Asian ‘Balti Triangle’ - a maze of the path to jihad and the path to peaceful month. In the preceding three years his plays while the men hand out flyers. charged under terrorism laws. He used to rundown Victorian houses, workshops and aid work can traverse much of the same charity work included opening a youth There are over 213,000 Muslims in be a drug dealer before experiencing a curry houses. terrain. centre in the basement of a local mosque. Birmingham, making up over a fifth of the similar change of heart to Iqbal’s. But “As a child you don’t understand why From an office in Britain’s second Before that, however, Iqbal says he led population according to the 2011 census. unlike Iqbal he adopted increasingly radi- this is happening, but it stays with you, largest city, Waseem Iqbal and a friend are a different life. He worked as a night club Neighbourhoods like Balsall Heath, where cal views after he rediscovered his faith, and you get angry. The important thing is planning a trip to the Middle East. In bouncer, ran a music studio and did free- Iqbal grew up, are predominantly Muslim which Iqbal attributes to a sense of guilt not to become the person they say you Jordan, they will bring food packages for lance security work. One night all of that and working class. They are also home to over past misdeeds. are,” says 22-year-old Waheed. Syrian refugees. stopped. what he calls a “gang culture”. “An unsympathetic reading of god as a Iqbal and Waheed have dozens of simi- Iqbal, 27, chose charity work not vio- In the space of a few weeks in 2010, This macho mentality can drive young punisher rather than a forgiver and that lar stories. The former has had pig heads lence. “How do you save innocents in Iqbal’s older cousin, someone he looked men to join gangs and sell drugs, or join the only way to be forgiven is to be on the and beer thrown at him in football venues Syria? By going into a war zone and get- up to, died of a drug overdose and his best jihadi groups and fight in the Middle East. battlefield and die,” is one of the reasons and both men have had racial slurs yelled ting yourself killed? Or by... bringing peo- friend was stabbed. “It is all about acceptance. He wants to young men choose to join jihadi groups at them in the street. ple water pumps, schools and food pack- “I was sitting there one night, smoking feel part of something, he wants to be abroad, says Mahmood. “Many young people don’t feel part of ages? This is what saves innocents,” he weed in my flat overlooking the city and respected or feared, he wants to feel part The former drug dealer in Iqbal’s story the mainstream anymore with the said. Iqbal knows others who have taken a started asking myself what the limit was of a cause and feel needed,” Iqbal was arrested in a car full of weapons on Islamophobia we see in the media,” says different path. Two acquaintances, young and where does it stop. I spent the whole explained. the way to a march by the anti-Islamist far Mahmood. British men, were arrested and charged night crying and realised that what I am Jihadi culture and the bravado that right English Defence League. The isolation of the Muslim community under Britain’s terrorism laws. They were a missing is Islam,” he said. goes with it as well the sanitisation of war led to it developing a siege mentality and world apart, Iqbal says, but they had one “I made a promise to be a better and glamorization of weapons play a larg- Hostile media out of that young people do not see them- thing in common: anger. Muslim and quit all the things I had been er role in the rationalisation of young Organisations like the English Defence selves as part of the mainstream or Britain, For authorities struggling to prevent doing cold turkey.” Muslim men than Islamist ideology argues League are a factor in driving young instead they view themselves as part of a young Muslims from joining the wars in Jahan Mahmood, who mentors the com- Muslims into extremism. global Muslim nation and feel they have to Syria and Iraq, understanding what drives Muslim ‘ghettos’ munity youth. Abdul Waheed, Iqbal’s colleague at “help their brothers” abroad. these men is key. Over 500 British citizens A main street in this central English city That view is backed by academic stud- their charity, says as an eight year old he In their lunch break Iqbal and Waheed have travelled to Syria, officials estimate. bustles with life. Travellers rush in and out ies. Researchers at Queen Mary University watched out of his window as his uncle discuss the futility of fighting. They con- Prime Minister David Cameron has warned of the train station, couples enter coffee list those most susceptible to extremism: was beaten up in the street of the predom- clude, however, that if someone is told that militants could return to attack the houses and a man is performing freestyle people suffering from depression, those inantly white neighbourhood his family over and over again that they are some- West. rap. Three young men have a booth set up who are isolated and those whose families had recently moved to. thing, say a terrorist, by the media, they Iqbal grows his beard long and wears a not five metres away from him. A stereo is have lived in Britain for several genera- The family soon moved back to will eventually become that thing. “The thawb - a traditional ankle-length robe- playing Qu’ranic verse in Arabic followed tions. Religious ideology does not appear Sparkhill, which alongside Balsall Heath power of suggestion is strong,” says like garment. He has been on the staff of by English translation. A verse detailing to be a major influencing factor. and Sparkbrook make up Birmingham’s Waheed. — Reuters Italy regional votes to test public mood on Renzi ROME: Italians voted yesterday in regional On Friday evening in Calabria, Renzi ballots which will test whether the country, appealed to deep-rooted local concerns tired of economic stagnation and austerity, about high joblessness, organised crime is also wearying of Matteo Renzi’s nine- and lower availability of childcare than in month old coalition government. the industrialised north. Renzi’s popularity peaked in June short- Soon after toppling his predecessor in a ly after a landslide victory in European par- party coup, Renzi was nicknamed liament elections, but his ruling party has “Demolition Man” for his commitment to been steadily slipping lower in opinion breaking old Italian political structures, but polls since, as the economy stutters and he has yet to deliver promised reforms and joblessness remains stubbornly high. revive the economy. The public mood has soured in recent Planned changes to labour laws that weeks, with labour unions marching impede hiring and firing partly blamed for through cities, and clashes between police Italy’s economy shrinking around 9 percent and residents in poorer neighbourhoods of since 2007 - have met fierce union opposi- Milan and Rome after dark. tion. Opinion polls suggest the candidates The right-wing Northern League, which from Renzi’s Democratic Party (PD), which is exploiting growing anti-immigrant senti- is still by far the country’s biggest party, are ment, is focusing on Emilia. Party leader favourites to win over a divided centre- Matteo Salvini appealed on Facebook to his right. “Emiliani and Romagnoli friends” to vote for More than 5.3 million people are eligible his party’s candidate. The anti-establish- to vote for governors in the northern ment 5-Star Movement, whose leader Emilia-Romagna region, and Calabria at Beppe Grillo made a surprise visit to Emilia- Italy’s southern tip. Romagna on Friday, wants to consolidate Local factors will play a big role in the its position as Italy’s second-largest party. ballots, which were called after the outgo- Turnout will also indicate whether voter KANO: A screengrab taken on July 13, 2014 from a video released by the Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram and obtained by AFP ing governors were forced to resign in cor- apathy is still rising. In Calabria, 46 percent shows the leader of the Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau (C). Boko Haram gunmen killed 48 fish vendors in ruption scandals, but they remain 39-year- voted in the European elections, versus 70 Nigeria’s restive Borno State, near the border with Chad, the head of the fish traders association told AFP. — AFP old Renzi’s first electoral test since winning percent in Emilia-Romagna. 41 percent of the European vote. Emilia’s outgoing governor, PD-affiliated Renzi campaigned in both regions this Vasco Errani, resigned in June after being Boko Haram kills 48 fish week and scuffles broke out between convicted of fraud. Giuseppe Scopelliti gov- police and demonstrators awaiting his erned Calabria until March when he was arrival in Parma, one of Emilia-Romagna’s given jail time for abuse of office and false vendors in northeast Nigeria main cities.