Author: Sophie Arie in Rome
Publication: The Guardian
Date: March 25, 2004
Members of Silvio Berlusconi's coalition
government have proposed a law to control the building of mosques in Italy
because they can be used to "spread hatred for the West".
Under the law, requests to build
or open mosques and their method of finance would be assessed by local
authorities and put to a local referendum.
Federico Bricolo of the Northern
League, a key member of Mr Berlusconi's coalition, outlined the proposals
yesterday.
He said that mosques in Italy "aren't
simple places of prayer" but sometimes serve as "centres of recruitment
for terrorists and for propagation of hatred for the West". The proposal
comes amid growing fears that Islamic terrorists are plotting attacks in
Europe.
"The Madrid attacks show how dangerous
Islamic terrorism is, which we have to deal with in our house, too," Mr
Bricolo said.
The presence of "foreign workers
on our territory has opened a debate on how to update, or, better, to regulate
the presence of communities with cultures historically antithetical to
ours", the proposal states.
"The mosque is a political place
and is symbolic of a civilisation that has run a 1,400-year long path in
antithesis of Western culture."
There are an estimated 1 million
Muslims living in Italy, making the Muslim faith the second largest religion
in the country, but it is not officially recognised. Unlike Catholics,
Jews and Protestants, as well as a handful of smaller religious groups,
the Muslim community has not signed a formal agreement with the Italian
state which would give them public and political recognition and a share
of a national "religion tax".
Many Muslim immigrants live on the
fringes of Italian society. The largest communities are focused around
northern cities such as Milan, where the Northern League has its stronghold.
It is also where the majority of
suspected Islamic terrorist cells have been investigated and several imams
have been arrested for preaching religious hatred in recent years. In 2001,
the US treasury department labelled Milan's main mosque and cultural centre
as "the main al-Qaida station house in Europe".