CAIRO,
July 19 (IslamOnline.net) - Barclays has closed the British National
Party's accounts thanks to growing influence of "lobby-minded"
British Muslims and a government-backed campaign against racial hatred,
Muslim leaders and analysts said Monday, July 19.
The
bank's decision was taken following the BBC airing of a documentary
showing senior BNP members gloating over racist attacks on Muslims and
deriding Islam as a "wicked religion".
The
BBC expose brought furious
reactions
from Muslims and the government, whose
leader in Parliament said the BNP is "a vile party of Nazi
thugs".
The
Barclays, Britain's third-biggest bank which has a significant number of
Muslim clients, was the first institution to take condemnation into
action.
Although
the bank was reviewing its position on the BNP before the BBC film was
broadcast, the step is considered a success to a relevantly nascent
campaign by British Muslim groups against racist acts.
"The
bank has a significant number of clients who are Muslims or from other
ethnic groups in Britain. Its officials are aware of the concerns of
their clients," said Shabana Khan, the spokesperson of the Muslim
Association of Britain.
Rising
Clout
Khan
attributed the quick response of the bank to the party's anti-Islamic
statements to one main fact; "The constructive campaign by Muslim
groups and other parties against the racist ideology".
"Given
the obvious clout of Muslims after their votes were proved decisive in
municipal and European Parliament elections, the community members are
turning lobby-minded with growing influence," Shabana told
IslamOnline.net over the phone.
Barclays
was quoted by the press as saying that it may close an account if a
customer could damage the bank's reputation or cause loss of other
business.
It
could have feared a repeat of the damage the bank incurred when it was
forced to shut its South African business in 1986 after UK students
boycotted the bank - over apartheid policies - denying it potentially
affluent customers.
On
Friday, July 16, a minority party made use of Muslim votes to overturn a
Labour majority of over 13,000 in the central city of Leicester and win
a once-safe parliamentary seat in
by-elections.
The
constituency has a large number of Muslim populations, and the stinging
defeat of the Labour came after vigorous campaigns by Muslim groups
asking voters to go to vote against the pro-Iraq war party.
Must
Be Emulated
Muslim
leaders, on their part, welcomed the reaction of Barclays, hoping this
will be repeated by other companies in an effort to crack down on
racists.
"This
is a truly commendable act which must be emulated by other civic
institutions. It is only by such decisive action would this cancerous
phenomenon be eradicated from our society," said Ahmed Al-Sheikh,
President of the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB).
In
a press release Saturday, July 16, MAB called upon its regional
chapters, sister organizations and Muslims throughout the country to
write letters of thanks to Barclays for "their principled and
courageous stand".
The
group had played a key role in foiling bids by right-wing propaganda to
expel Sheikh Youssef Qaradawi during his one week visit. The request by
the Board of Deputies of British Jews to prosecute the Muslim scholar
during his one-week visit was also turned down.
"We
has come out to defend ourselves," Ihtisham Hibatullah, head of the
media office in the MAB, told IOL Monday.
Hibatullah
said Barclays officials were contacted by his group for a
"thank-you".
In
June, British Muslims called for a boycott of more than 40 UK firms
which are involved with the US-owned corporation accused of directing
the torture of Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.
Among
the firms which use CACI in the UK was Barclays along with Honda,
Renault, Barclays, AXA Direct, Friends Provident, House of Fraser, The
Woolwich, Cadbury, Unilever, Danone, The Co-op, WH Smith, the Royal
Mail, Peugeot, O2 and British Gas. CACI also works for a number of local
authorities including Greater London, and British Telecom.
Government
Support
Analysts
also paid attention to steps taken by the government to halt racist
statements and actions against Muslims and other ethnic groups,
especially after the Iraq invasion.
"There
is a realization how dangerous this [racism] is," said Tonny Benn,
a retired Labour MP and renowned broadcaster.
Speaking
to IOL over the phone, Benn also asked for "argument to be
placed" over racial hatred for reaching appropriate solutions to
racial hatred.
As
Muslims think they should lobby for more rights and empathy after the
success of their recent campaign, Benn stresses that time is ripe for
this.
With
their clout manifested in elections and goring power, the situation of
Muslims is now "encouraging and helpful".
Muslim
leaders in Britain also hope for their counterparts in other European
countries, estimated at about 20 million, to follow suit.
Britain
unveiled last week plans to put forward a legislation making it a crime
to incite religious hatred, including against Muslims.
Inciting
hatred against other races is already a crime in Britain but there is no
equivalent law protecting all religions.
In
secretly recorded footage by the BBC, BNP leader Nick Griffin - who
recently hosted French National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen - railed
against the Noble Qur'an and acknowledged his views were legally
dangerous.
Other
footage in "The Secret Agent" showed a BNP member expressing a
wish to blow up mosques with a rocket launcher and to machine-gun
worshippers with "about a million bullets".
Another
member told how he put dog faeces through an Asian shop's letterbox,
while a third describes how he beat up a Muslim man. "I'm kicking
away ... it was fantastic," he said.
