Tuesday 26 July 2005
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‘Moderate Islam’ is an empty, meanin- gless word, inflated by our ministers. In Arab countries, Islam follows the line au- thorised by its own government or by its own financier. I would rather speak of the Muslims in Italy; a person, a citizen like us, like all Italians subject to the laws of the Italian state. Most of the media evade, consciously or unconsciously, the substance of the problem. In fact, they overlook an important aspect: the loyalty of Italian Muslims or residents and their guests to the State and its laws. I would like to stress that the majority of Muslims in Italy come from the Middle East, i.e. Arab culture, and have found in our democracy a guarantee and a free- dom that they did not have in their coun- tries of origin. One wonders: do they want to live in the West importing customs, tra- ditions and worship as practiced in Arab countries? In two words: The state and its institutions should apply the laws and enforce them. Wavering plays into the hands of those who want to violate them or create their own space of privileges.