European Delegation Member Presents Lectures At AUK By Reham Al-Samerai

Courtesy of the Daily Star
30th November, 2005
Event was held on 28th December, 2005


The American University of Kuwait held a lecture on Monday evening titled "Muslims in European Politics after 9/11." The speaker, Sajjad Karim, is a Liberal Democrat Who represents North-West England in the European Parliament.

He serves in both the International Trade and Human Rights Committees of the European Parliament and is also a member of the Delegation for relations with the Gulf States. Karim describes himself as "a person of Pakistani origin, Muslim faith, and British birth."

Karim is part of a European Delegation being hosted by the National Assembly. During his stay in Kuwait, he met with members of parliament and gave lectures at both American University and Gulf University of Science and Technology.
His lecture at AUK was attended by students and faculty, as well as delegates from the British and Polish Embassies.

Karim spoke about the condition of Muslim politicians and Muslims in general in Europe after 9/11. "It's gotten to a stage where I wonder if the terms Islam and terrorism have become interchangeable. While the world speaks about a fight against terrorism I feel that's a wrong approach.

The fight should be against extremism. And the approach should be liberal," he said. Karim added, as parliamentarians we shouldn't achieve for the terrorists what they can't achieve through their actions."

"The response we saw in the UK and Europe was a further attack on our civil liberties," Karim said. He brought forth, as an example, the incident in London when an innocent Brazilian man was killed by the police simply because he fit a certain racial profile.
Another significant issue Karim discussed is Turkey's potential membership in the EU.

He listed the usual arguments used against Turkey's membership, and added that it is Turkey's large Muslim population that is the real deterrent. "Turkey offers us an opportunity to be a bridge to the western and eastern world," he said.

Karim concluded by praising the way in which Kuwait has held moderate Islamic ideologies. "I am very impressed by the work being done by this country in relation to the idea of moderate Islam. Muslims must act proactively to take back their religion as it is being defamed on a second by second basis," he said.
He described Kuwait as being a more open society than he had anticipated. Karim also said he was impressed by the level of dialogue and openness existing in the country.

However, he urged Kuwait to "tackle the issue of equality, whether that be women's rights, foreign workers or minorities. A country is judged by how it treats its weakest people."

He encouraged women and youth to mobilize themselves and use their votes, noting that 57 percent of eligible voters are now women and that 50 percent belong in the youth segment.


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