The idea, apparently, was to use Christmas to dispel all our fears and misconceptions about Islam and about veiled Muslim women in particular but instead it came across as a rather patronising little exercise, in my opinion, in totally missing the point.
The lady was introduced as, I think, Khalisha, born in Zimbabwe and now a British citizen, but regardless of her Islamic name I would guess she was born Cynthia Fortescue, or some such, for she spoke perfect public school English. Not one of your suspicious foreigners with dark skin and a thick arabic accent. This seemed to be an attempt to make the British feel at home with her.
She said went on happily to describe Jack Straw M.P. as 'misguided' in his suggestion that Muslim women should shed the niqab in public and compared it to the 'studs and mouth piercings of many western youngsters' just to indicate difference and individuality. When asked what she would do if she met Mr Straw, she giggled and said 'she would probably have a mince pie or a piece of Christmas cake with him' How cute. How normal. See? Just like one of us. A nice marketing exercise to try to massage our fears and convince us that it's us infidels who have it all wrong and that Muslims are so misunderstood.
However given that radical Islam is now the most feared force on the planet, has killed 3000 people in New York, has blown up tube trains and killed 55 people in England and given that women dressed just like Khalisha similarly garbed and unidentifiable, their clothing packed with explosives, participated in the Beslan school horror, the Moscow Theatre siege and countless suicide bombings in Israel, I feel that Channel 4's good intentions came across as rather trite and Khalisha's comparisons similarly. A good friend of mine, a Sikh, admittedly no great lover of Islam says 'Don't believe these declarations of distance from such acts. Although only a small proportion of Muslims participate in terrorism, a much larger silent majority share the aim for a greater Arab Caliphate and have considerable sympathy for those who are prepared to fight for it'.
I know this reads like an attack on Islam as a faith. I am also aware that there are many Muslims who quietly want to serve their faith within a multi cultural context and to them I nod in silent thanks. But I am also extremely conscious that the British people have the right to ask of the Muslim population 'where DO you stand in all this?' The thought of a collective viper in our national bosom just waiting for any opportunity to strike is too real and too horrible to be washed away with a piece of ad man Christmas glitter.
What Britain needs is not this kind of Christmas marketing Khalisha was offering but clear actions by the Muslim community to prove that they see us, their fellow Britons, as equals with an equal right to life and to our culture, that they are in fact our true fellow citizens. This would be helped if extremists were disowned and handed in, if cells were broken by informers, if the majority proved that they value harmony and peace above some grand Islamic design. It would also be helped if Muslims recognised that from the point of view of security at a difficult time, the wearing of the niqab - not mandatory as part of religious custom - might be abandoned in public. It would show willingness to sympathise with Britain's efforts to safeguard all its citizens because total veiling compromises security, acknowledge that this total veiling gives an impression of distance and hostility, and maybe bring a bit of openness and light into what is perceived as a closed and insular society.
Until that understanding and appreciation of the concerns, not just of Jack Straw, but of many other non Islamic Britons is appreciated and acted upon, forgive me if the kind of massage Khalisha was doing to our consciousness on Christmas Day just sounds like window dressing.
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