Britain's Muslim school children must be allowed to champion the Palestinian cause, a petition demanded last night.
Presented to an east London council, it criticised the Government’s anti-terrorism programme Prevent for restricting free speech on the Israeli-Gaza conflict in Tower Hamlets.
Four in ten people are Muslim in the borough, the largest proportion in any part of England and Wales.
The petition goes on to allege that Prevent is racist and Islamophobic, stating: ‘Muslim parents are worried that a child’s innocent comment [on Gaza] could lead to them being hauled before Prevent.
‘Many have demonstrated their support and sympathy for the Palestinian people, but are fearful of the consequences.’
Presented to an east London council, the petition criticised the Government’s anti-terrorism programme Prevent for restricting free speech on the Israeli-Gaza conflict in Tower Hamlets (pictured)
Security was tightened around the Tower Hamlets civic centre in preparation for the hearing last night.
Entitled ‘Defend Free Speech and Democracy’, it was handed to the borough’s mayor Lutfur Rahman and the council’s cabinet.
Prevent, using Home Office and police teams, aims to combat all forms of terrorism, whether religious or political, to stop individuals being radicalised.
But the Islamic community has long been wary of the programme, claiming it places Muslims and their mosques unfairly under suspicion of sowing seeds of terrorism.
Liberal Democrats in east London’s Waltham Forest, where one in five are Muslim, have condemned officers for seizing laptops, phones, and questioning young people as though they are ‘criminal suspects’ before releasing them without charge.
And while teachers and social workers have a duty to report a young person’s ‘extreme’ behaviour to local Prevent officers, although the guidelines on what is extreme have been criticised as unclear, the petition says these staff feel unhappy about reporting children.
It adds: ‘The situation is acute because the UK Government is giving political and material support to the Israeli government in a conflict that is inflicting death and suffering on the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.’
Last night, Abu Chowdhury, Cabinet Member for Community Safety, said councillors fully understood the concerns within the community but he insisted the implementation of the Prevent programme replicated ‘best practices’ seen in several boroughs across the city.
He added that those with concerns were welcome to raise them with the council directly.
One local councillor expressed fears about the petition and its timing.
They warned it might inflame an already tense situation in the borough over the Gaza-Israeli conflict and anti-Semitic feeling.
