Okay, so firstly I’m not taking sides, but I know that this is of course a difficult situation. I am a teacher of English to foreign speakers but I don’t want you all to think i’m taking sides, i’m merely wanting to use this as a “rant” of experiences.
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Last year I got called names and spat at on the Metro (in Newcastle) by a man who seen me sitting with my friend from University who happened to be Arab of Lebanese descent, at what point did I cause a problem to this man? Who then found it acceptable to spit at me and call me a “traitor” because I was with someone who despite being from an Arabic country, she doesn’t follow Islam, dresses in “normal” clothing and doesn’t even wear a headscarf, yet I was still a “traitor” .
As I said, I understand the frustration, but at the same time – people put every single Muslim person into one “pot” – you can’t paint everyone with the same brush – not every single Muslim person is what people say they are and I personally think it’s because of the media showing them as they do.
A lot of Islamic people I know are disheartened about the Shariah Law in London and they think it is a terrible situation and is something that should be looked upon and changed because they personally think that the most important rule is to adapt yourself to the culture of the country that you decided to live in – using my friends as examples – all of the people I know who follow Islam speak English fluently, took the official examinations for British English (which in this situation for non-natives is called IELTS) and have gone on to do GCSEs, A-Levels (some onto university) and give money to UK Charities more than international charities and only ever speak Arabic when at home, even their parents who came to the UK will speak English when out of the house.
I’ve only ever seen the Burkha once in Newcastle too and we have a lot of people here from Arab descent.
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