The Berserk of Ignorance
There is this article from the Financial Times that I would like to link here but, because it needs a registration (that I strongly support you to do), I quote it here: Italian party seeks to block new mosques By Paul Bompard in Rome Published: August 25 2008 02:24 | Last updated: August 25 2008 02:24 Italy’s Northern League, the populist, xenophobic, sometimes separatist movement that is a key component of Silvio Berlusconi’s governing coalition, has proposed new legislation which would effectively halt construction of new Islamic mosques. The bill, which the League’s chief of deputies Roberto Cota is expected to send to parliament next week, would require regional approval for the building of mosques. It would also require that a local referendum be held, that there be no minaret or loudspeakers calling the faithful to prayer, and sermons must be in Italian, not Arabic. Chances of this being approved as it stands are slim, since it clashes with a number of constitutional rights and there was no immediate support from either Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party or from the ex-fascist National Alliance. But there has been cautious support from the small, ultra-Catholic UDC party, and the proposed anti-mosque legislation undoubtedly reflects widespread feeling among Italians that some defence against a rapidly rising Islamic presence is needed. At present, the Muslim population in Italy is estimated at 1m, with 258 registered mosques. The Northern League, which theoretically favours the secession of northern Italy from the centre and south, won more than 8 per cent of the vote at the April general elections, and has always trumpeted defence of national values of the northern Italian “race” as the natural product of its homeland. Without giving details, Roberto Maroni, the rightwing interior minister from the League, also said in April that “nomads” – as Italians call the Gypsies, although most do little roaming – who were not Italian citizens and did not meet conditions to stay would be deported to their “countries of origin”. The League has capitalised on a wave of xenophobia, of fear of crime committed by foreigners, and of preoccupation with illegal immigrants, which did much to help the Berlusconi alliance win the elections. CopyrightThe Financial Times Limited 2008 ...