Leading British Muslims accuse Reform UK of stoking hostile sentiment
-Chorus of disapproval follows resignation of party chair Zia Yusuf over burqa ban row

“英国穆斯林引领”指责英国改革党煽动敌对情绪
——该党主席齐亚·优素福因罩袍禁令纠纷辞职后,一片反对声


(Zia Yusuf, Reform UK chair, resigned from the party after a row over banning the burqa.)

(英国改革党主席齐亚·优素福在禁止罩袍的问题上发生争执后辞职。)

新闻:
Leading British Muslims are warning that Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is increasingly inflaming hostile sentiment towards Muslims after chair Zia Yusuf resigned over a row about banning the burqa.

“英国穆斯林引领”警告说,奈杰尔·法拉奇领导的英国改革党正日益煽动对穆斯林的敌意情绪,此前该党主席齐亚·优素福因禁止罩袍而辞职。

His departure was described by the co-chair of the British Muslim Network, a new civil group representing the community, as a “stark illustration” that many in Reform do not view British Muslims as valued equal members of society.

英国穆斯林网络是一个代表穆斯林社区的新民间团体,该组织的联合主席将他的离职描述为一个“鲜明的例子”,表明许多改革党人士并不把英国穆斯林视为有价值的平等社会成员。

Yusuf, who describes himself as a “British Muslim patriot” and chaired the party for less than a year, quit on Thursday, saying his work for Reform was no longer the best use of his time.

优素福称自己是“英国穆斯林爱国者”,担任该党主席不到一年,他于周四辞职,称他为改革党所做的工作不再是对他时间的最佳利用。

Hours earlier, he had said it was “dumb” for the party’s newest MP, Sarah Pochin, to press Keir Starmer for a burqa ban when it was not Reform’s own policy.

几个小时前,他还说该党新当选的议员莎拉·波钦向斯塔默施压要求禁止罩袍是“愚蠢的”,而这并不是改革党自己的政策。

However, Farage did not weigh in behind Yusuf and called for a debate on the issue.

然而,法拉奇并没有支持尤素福,而是呼吁就这个问题进行辩论。

Farage has drawn a line in the past at the rhetoric of the far right activist known as Tommy Robinson, who is overtly anti-Islam, and has pushed out Reform activists and figures more sympathetic to Robinson such as Rupert Lowe and Ben Habib.

法拉奇过去曾与公开反对伊斯兰教的极右翼活动家汤米·罗宾逊的言论划清界限,并驱逐了改革党活动人士和更同情罗宾逊的人物,比如鲁珀特·洛威和本·哈比卜。

However, the party’s focus on issues related to Islam appears to have increased in recent weeks with Farage holding a debate on his GB News show this week on the burqa.

然而,最近几周,该党对伊斯兰教相关问题的关注似乎有所增加,法拉奇本周在他的英国广播公司新闻节目中举行了一场关于罩袍的辩论。

Pochin, a former Tory, also recently posed with a mug branded “Two Tier Keir” that shows Starmer mocked up wearing a hijab in a design that appears to be implying he is more favourable to Muslims than other groups.

前保守党成员波钦最近也和印有“Two Tier Keir”字样的马克杯合影,上面是斯塔默戴着头巾的造型,似乎在暗示他比其他团体更支持穆斯林。

Baroness Shaista Gohir, chief executive of the Muslim Women’s Network UK, said political leaders “play a crucial role in shaping societal attitudes, and it is evident that some MPs intentionally use coded language to normalise hostility towards Muslims and appeal to anti-Muslim sentiment”.

英国穆斯林妇女网络首席执行官夏斯塔·戈希尔男爵夫人表示,政治领导人“在塑造社会态度方面发挥着至关重要的作用,很明显,一些议员故意使用暗语,将对穆斯林的敌意正常化,并煽动反穆斯林情绪”。

She said: “This pattern of anti-Muslim rhetoric, has been present for some time and was particularly intensified by certain Conservative MPs during the previous Conservative government.

她说:“这种反穆斯林言论的模式已经存在了一段时间,在上届保守党政府期间,某些保守党议员尤其加剧了这种言论。”

“This is a frightening time for Muslims – barely a week goes by without statements that reinforce harmful stereotypes, fuel fear and hatred, and deepen societal intolerance. Muslim women who wear the headscarf in particular, are made to feel especially vulnerable and unsafe.”

“对穆斯林来说,这是一个可怕的时刻——几乎每周都有言论强化有害的刻板印象,助长恐惧和仇恨,加深社会不容忍。尤其是戴头巾的穆斯林妇女,会让她们感到特别脆弱和不安全。”

Her position was echoed by Akeela Ahmed, co-chair of the newly formed British Muslim Network, who said: “The resignation of Zia Yusuf is a stark illustration that many in Reform do not view British Muslims as valued equal members of British society and think it is acceptable to push anti-Muslim hostility and sentiments as part of their party polices and campaigns.

她的立场得到了新成立的英国穆斯林网络联合主席阿基拉·艾哈迈德的呼应,他说:“齐亚·优素福的辞职清楚地表明,许多改革党人士并不认为英国穆斯林是英国社会中受到重视的平等成员,他们认为将反穆斯林的敌意和情绪作为其政党政策和竞选活动的一部分是可以接受的。

“Free speech and expression is a fundamental principle of a healthy society and democracy. By the same token, so is freedom of religion and belief.

“言论和表达自由是健康社会和民主的基本原则。出于同样的原因,宗教和信仰自由也是如此。

“In this context, the demonisation and weaponisation of British Muslims and their religious practices as one homogenous group to politically point score is a deeply troubling trend that has become increasingly visible and normalised in Reform UK, among both its senior politicians and supporters.

“在这种背景下,将英国穆斯林及其宗教习俗妖魔化和武器化,将其作为一个同质群体来进行政治得分,这是一种令人深感不安的趋势,在英国改革党的高级政客和支持者中,这种趋势越来越明显,也越来越正常化。

“This kind of political behaviour foments division and isolates British people from each other.”

“这种政治行为煽动分裂,使英国人彼此孤立。”

Afzal Khan, a Labour MP and vice-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on British Muslims, said anti-Muslim rhetoric by politicians had the power to cause spikes in hate incidents towards Muslims, such as when Boris Johnson had referred to women wearing burqas as letterboxes.

工党议员、负责英国穆斯林事务的跨党派议会小组副主席阿夫扎尔·汗表示,政客们的反穆斯林言论有可能导致针对穆斯林的仇恨事件激增,比如鲍里斯·约翰逊曾将穿罩袍的女性称为信箱。

“Picking on a very small minority within a minority who use the burqa, how does that make sense? It should be an important opportunity to ask the prime minister about serious issues facing this country. What does it say about their priorities?”

“挑少数人中穿罩袍的一小部分人的茬儿,这有什么意义?这本应该是一个向首相询问这个国家面临的严重问题的重要机会。这说明了他们的优先事项是什么?”

Sayeeda Warsi, the former Tory cabinet minister, told Times Radio that Pochin calling for a debate on the burqa had been “dog whistle” politics.

前保守党内阁大臣萨伊达·沃西告诉《泰晤士报》电台,波钦呼吁就罩袍展开辩论是一种“狗哨”政治。

She said: “I just think this is such a fringe issue and literally I think Sarah Pochin on her first outing at PMQs in parliament used it as a way to gain a bit of attention and engage in a little bit of dog whistle politics.

她说:“我只是觉得这是一个非常边缘的问题,我真的认为莎拉·波钦在她第一次参加议会的首相质询时,把它作为一种获得关注并参与一点狗哨政治的方式。

“Of the 50 odd thousand people in her constituency about 500 are Muslim which is probably about half a percent of which I presume half might be women, I presume maybe a tiny handful might wear the burqa.

“在她的选区的5万多人中,大约有500人是穆斯林,大约占0.5%,我想一半可能是女性,我想可能有一小部分人会穿罩袍。

“You’d think she’d just been elected by the people of Runcorn to come to parliament to raise issues like the cost of living, like children in poverty, like the other challenges that her constituents face but she obviously decided to focus on this because it was just an attention-seeking dog whistle moment.”

“你可能会认为她刚刚被伦考恩的民众选为国会议员,提出生活成本、贫困儿童等问题,以及她的选民面临的其他挑战,但她显然决定关注罩袍,因为这只是一个博眼球的狗哨时刻。”

Yusuf did not mention the burqa row in his resignation statement on X but sources said they thought he had become increasingly disillusioned with the willingness of Reform to appeal to anti-Muslim sentiment when it could have been focusing on issues like the cost of living and migration.

优素福在他X上关于辞职的声明中没有提到罩袍的争议,但消息人士称,他们认为优素福已经对改革党愿意吸引反穆斯林情绪感到越来越失望,而改革党本可以关注生活成本和移民等问题。

Some of the names tipped to be the party’s new chair include Arron Banks, the Brexit donor and Reform candidate, Richard Tice, the deputy leader, and David Bull, a TV presenter and former deputy leader.

一些可能成为该党新主席的人选包括英国脱欧捐助者和改革党候选人阿伦·班克斯,副党魁理查德·泰斯,以及电视节目主持人和前副党魁大卫·布尔。