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Swedish
Party Urges Monitoring Muslim Students
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"If
one is going to observe students on a very vague basis and do what Säpo
has asked it could have long-term and destructive consequences," she
said.
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By
Yahia Abu Zakariya, IOL Correspondent
STOCKHOLM,
September 22, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The Swedish right-wing
Liberal People's Party has called on school teachers to spy on their
Muslim students under the pretext of combating extremism, drawing
immediate rebuke from the teachers union.
"We
want Swedish teachers to spy on their Muslim students who have
extremist tendencies," the party's education spokesman, Jan Björklund,
said Wednesday, September 21.
Liberal
People's Party MP Lotta Edholm has also proposed cooperation between
the teachers and Säpo (intelligence service) to hunt down
"Muslim extremists".
"We
see for us a form of information exchange: Säpo should inform
teachers about these groups but the schools should also give important
information to Säpo about how young people think," she
added.
Since
2002 the Liberal People's Party has been seeking to attract voters by
adopting right-wing populist policies.
Party
leader Lars Leijonborg has proposed tougher rules for immigrants
applying for the Swedish citizenship.
The
party recently hosted controversial Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a vocal
critic of Islam.
No
Policing
The
proposal of the Liberal People's Party drew immediate fire from the
teachers' union Lärarförbundet.
"If
one is going to observe students on a very vague basis and do what Säpo
has asked it could have long-term and destructive consequences for the
individual student," Eva-Lis Preisz, the union's chairwoman, told
Aftonbladet newspaper.
In
an opinion poll by the Dagens
Nyheter newspaper, some 64% of the respondents opposed
spying on Muslim school children, while 34% supported the proposal.
Though
Sweden has not targeted by any terrorist attacks, rightists press for
more restrictions on the Muslim minority as a possible threat to
national security.
Muslims
in Sweden are estimated at some 500,000, with 70% of them attending
schools and universities.
Islam
has become the second official religion in Sweden after Christianity,
despite the fact that the Muslim community is a relatively new one,
unlike that of other European countries such as France.
The
first mosque was built in Sweden in 1976. The Swedish constitution
allows Muslims to build mosques and Islamic schools.
Sweden
also seats around 145 Islamic societies affiliated to three central
Islamic unions, in addition to scores of mosques, praying halls and
Islamic centers everywhere in the country.
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