This issue deals with the concept of forgiveness and reconciliation by exploring real life stories and was presented by Michael Henderson at St Ethelburgas Centre for Reconciliation and Peace on the 18th of August 2010
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This issues deals with ‘Islam and Voting: The Case of British Muslims’ and was presented by Shaykh Michael Mumisa at The London Muslim Centre.
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The two relevant reports are:
Strategies for Engaging Political Islam
Political Islam is the single most active political force in the Middle East today. Its future is intimately tied to that of the region. If the United States and the European Union are committed to supporting political reform in the region, they will need to devise concrete, coherent strategies for engaging Islamist groups. Yet, the U.S. has generally been unwilling to open a dialogue with these movements. Similarly, EU engagement with Islamists has been the exception, not the rule. Where low-level contacts exist, they mainly serve information-gathering purposes, not strategic objectives.
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The Myth of Excluding Moderate Islamists in the Arab World The map of Islamist movements in the Arab world has changed over the course of the past three decades. There are wide gaps between those movements that use violence, look to change political regimes by force, and seek confrontation with the West, such as al-Qa’ida, and those movements that seek to practice politics peacefully, have respect for the sovereignty of the state, and are willing to work with the reigning political regimes. These latter, moderate groups share a belief in coexistence with the West.
This issue deals with ‘The Socio-Political and Cultural Implications of Monotheism in a Conflict Ridden World’ and was presented by Major Leon Cornwall, a member of the People’s Revolutionary Government in Grenada (1979 – 1983), at The London Muslim Centre on the 1st of February 2010.
CordobaPapersFeb2010
This issue highlights the keynote address ‘Bridging the Muslim and Western World for Peace and Development‘ from the World Muslim Leadership Forum: Muslim World in the Face of the New World Economic Order (organised by Faith Regen Foundation and the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute) given by His Royal Highness Raja Nazrin Shah, Crown Prince of Perak, Malaysia on 7th October 2010.
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A quarterly journal providing deeper and nuanced analysis of the issues and developments in the arena of dialogue, civilizations, and a rapprochement between Islam and the West
In this edition, Arches Quarterly provides deep analysis on war, peace and reconciliation. As individuals, groups and societies, we cannot circumvent these as they involve us all in some form or another either through our beliefs, ideals or socio and geo-political circumstances.
There is great concern about the seriousness of the allegations about the PVE program. These concerns are emanating from real life stories which are giving rise to a culture of fear and mistrust.
For organsisations like The Cordoba Foundation such concerns are disastrous for the work that we are doing. Thus a lot more consultation and discussion will be needed to ensure that the program is amended to avoid such mistakes in the future.
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Seldom has a concept been made use of and discussed as much as ‘Violent Extremism’. Of course questions are raised as to the root causes of violent extremism and how it is dealt with.
There are many challenges involved when trying to tackle and prevent violent extremism. It is important for those involved within social cohesion work that those who propogate the message of violence and harm to people should be dealt with. However recent reports by the Guardian and The Institute of Race Relations raises concerns about the viability of such programs for the future.
The Cordoba Foundation is very concerned that if the program is being implemented as it is currently being claimed, it is failing to address some of the root causes of the problems. It also is recommending certain steps to be considered for future implementation such as more consultation with a wider variety of stakeholders at the early stages of fund allocation.
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The Institute of Race Relations’ (IRR) independent report produced on 17th October 2009 entitled ‘Spooked! How not to prevent violent extremism‘ raises concerns about how has described how the Government’s ‘PREVENT’ programme has led to “violations of privacy and professional norms of confidentiality” and presents evidence that “Prevent-funded services are being used by counter-terrorist police for information gathering”, through the institution of a little known protocol, the ‘Information Sharing Agreements’ (ASAs).
In short, some of the key findings of the report are:
The report closes with some key recommendations which also includes identifying and addressing the specific needs of different communities for local service and community development
