XPost: soc.culture.pakistan, soc.culture.indian   
   From: strixbubo***@skynet.be   
      
   On 28 Aug 2008 03:17:55 -0700, Mohammad Javed Iqbal   
    wrote:   
      
   >I would love France to be obliterated by islamic bombs.   
   >   
   >M J Iqbal.   
   >   
   >   
   >David Friedman / MSNBC.com   
   >Self-designated imam Arafat Mahmoud, far center, leads an Islamic prayer as   
   >Hakimi Abd Elfattah, left, and other prisoners pray in a jail cell in the   
   >Bollate prison, on the outskirts of Milan, Italy.   
   >By Jennifer Carlile   
   >Reporter   
   >MSNBC   
   >   
   >MILAN, Italy — "In prison you only think about waking up, cleaning your cell,   
   >and praying," said a Moroccan inmate serving time in a prison on the outskirts   
   >of this city.   
   >   
   >During a recent visit to the Bollate prison, 25-year-old Hakimi Abd Elfattah   
   >said he was a non-observant Muslim before being incarcerated, but "there's   
   >nothing to do in here, so I learn a little of the Quran."   
      
   Une nouvelle confirmation si elle était nécessaire que l'oisiveté est   
   bien la mère de tous les vices.   
      
      
   >With no trained imams or Muslim chaplains working in the Bollate prison, the   
   >inmate offering guidance on Islam's holy book also is a prisoner.   
   >   
   >In contrast to the Westernized Elfattah, self-designated imam Arafat Mahmoud   
   >sports a skull cap on his shaved head, a thick beard, and refuses to shake   
   hands   
   >with women.   
   >   
   >The 36-year-old said he was not trained at an Islamic college but knew more   
   >about Islam than the other prisoners on his floor and had taken it upon   
   himself   
   >to instruct inmates from North Africa. Neither inmate would divulge the crimes   
   >for which they were incarcerated.   
   >   
   >Around 30 percent of Bollate's nearly 900 inmates are Muslim, and many of them   
   >pray together in various Arabic dialects and other languages four times a day   
   in   
   >small, carpeted cells located on each floor and wing of the prison. They pray   
   >alone in their cells at night and gather together for large Friday afternoon   
   >services.   
   >   
   >While religion can assist prisoners in bettering their lives, there is a   
   growing   
   >fear that radical Islamists are using jails to find recruits, with some   
   analysts   
   >saying that al-Qaida is specifically targeting inmates for indoctrination.   
   >   
   >Alarmed by the possibility, the European Union has made the prevention of   
   >recruitment and radicalization in prisons a counter-terrorism priority for the   
   >first time.   
   >   
   >For her part, Bollate prison director Lucia Castellano said she has never   
   >suspected any inmates of recruiting for or planning terrorist attacks in her   
   >prison. But, she acknowledged that with so many languages spoken within the   
   >prison's walls, it would be impossible for guards to know what was being   
   >discussed.   
   >   
   >'Criminality and Islamism'   
   >"The connection between criminality and Islamism is very tight in Europe,"   
   said   
   >Michael Radu, a terrorism analyst at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.   
   >   
   >"Every (terrorist) attack has converts, and most of them have criminal records   
   >and were converted within prisons," he said, noting the cases of British "Shoe   
   >Bomber" Richard Reid and José Emilio Suárez Trashorras, the Spaniard who   
   >supplied the explosives used in the 2004 Madrid bombings — both of whom   
   >converted while incarcerated.   
   >   
   >Like the young Moroccan held in the Bollate prison, analysts noted that the   
   >majority of Europe's prisoners were not actively engaged in any religion   
   before   
   >being locked up, but their confinement often spurs a religious awakening or   
   >reawakening.   
   >   
   >"In prison individuals are confronted with existential questions in a   
   >particularly intensive way" and religion can offer a "possibility to escape   
   >prison" at least for one's mind and spirit, said Irene Becci, who has analyzed   
   >religion in Italian and German prisons.   
   >   
   >There are no statistics on prison conversions, but empirical evidence from   
   >British prisons shows that conversion to Islam is probably higher than to   
   >Christianity, according to sociology professor Jim Beckford.   
   >   
   >"What's more attractive is that it's a relatively straight-forward faith in   
   >terms of what's required for someone to declare themselves to be a Muslim;   
   >people respond to that promise of an uncomplicated faith that offers security   
   >and certainty," said Beckford, who co-authored the book "Muslims In Prison;   
   >Challenges and Change in Britain and France."   
   >   
   >In Florence, Italy, an Arabic cultural mediator said that by introducing Islam   
   >into the lives of inmates held at Tuscany's Soliciano prison, he saw a huge   
   >change in their personalities.   
   >   
   >None of the prisoners from Islamic countries prayed when he began visiting   
   them   
   >several years ago, but now dozens pray together and those who were using   
   drugs,   
   >starving or mutilating themselves have all stopped, according to Mourad   
   >Abderrezak.   
   >   
   >But, while faith can provide a path to redemption, it can also be misguided.   
   >   
   >“In prison, a person has the right disposition to reflect on and accept what   
   >he’s taught, so you have to be careful of what message is given — either a   
   >moderate Islam, or an Islam that let’s say takes another path," Abderrezak   
   said.   
   >   
   >It's the other path that worries authorities. "There are very few legitimate   
   >imams serving in prisons in places like France, and self-made characters are   
   >free to operate – and these are radicals," said Radu, the terrorism analyst.   
   >   
   >As the seeker looks for guidance, a "charismatic leader recruits them and when   
   >they're out they have a spontaneous (terrorist) cell," he said.   
   >   
   >According to Radu, the cycle of "criminality and Islamism" is closed when the   
   >radicalized ex-prisoner re-engages in illegal activities to fund al-Qaida   
   >attacks.   
   >   
   >Two of the men involved in Madrid's Atocha bombings fit that mold.   
   >   
   >Incarcerated for petty crimes, Trashorras, who was a nominal Christian, and   
   >Jamal Ahmidan, a nonobservant Muslim, were both indoctrinated into radical   
   Islam   
   >in prison and joined an al-Qaida linked Moroccan group that used drug   
   >trafficking to fund terrorist activities before taking lead roles in the   
   deadly   
   >train bombings.   
   >   
   >Overrepresentation in jails   
   >The United States has not been immune to Islamic radicalization in its jails,   
   >but the situation this side of the Atlantic is underscored by the   
   >overrepresentation of Muslims in prison.   
   >   
   >Muslims account for an estimated 50 percent of France's prison population,   
   with   
   >some jails on the outskirts of Paris hitting 80 percent, while Muslims only   
   >account for six to ten percent of the total population. (No concrete   
   statistics   
   >exist because it is illegal to ask a person to declare their faith in France.)   
   >   
   >"Muslims tend not to be in prison in the U.S. because they're middle class,   
   >educated, and don't have the pathologies of the European Muslims," terrorism   
   >analyst Radu said.   
   >   
   >By contrast, Muslims in France often live in impoverished ghettos where   
   criminal   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)