KING Felipe VI's annual Christmas Eve speech once again included a covert appeal to secessionist politicians, as well as raising concerns about young adults' struggle to afford housing and violence against women.
Esperanza Aguirre's 'Islam means no freedom' tweet criticised by Muslim community
05/01/2017
FORMER Madrid regional president and PP spokeswoman for the city council, Esperanza Aguirre, has upset the Muslim community with a recent Tweet.
Monday this week (January 2) was the 525th anniversary of when the Spanish Inquisition finished its ethnic cleansing as King Fernando and Queen Isabella – parents of Henry VIII's wife Catherine of Aragón – took back the city of Granada and threw out the last of the Moors, with only those who converted to Christianity allowed to stay.
These were then known as Moriscos, but always considered inferior to the native population, despite the Islamic community having been the majority of Spain's inhabitants for over 700 years until then.
Sra Aguirre wrote on her Twitter account: “It's 525 years today that the Catholic Monarchs took back Granada. This is a glorious day for Spanish women. We would never have any freedom under Islam.”
Spain's Muslim community says these comments are 'hurtful' and 'do not help encourage harmonious coexistence'.
“Statements like these do not help society to live together in a healthy, peaceful way,” said chairman of the Islamic Commission for Spain (CIE), Riay Tatary.
“I think history should be left to historians.
“We need to build a life in which we make an effort not to hurt anyone's feelings under any circumstances.”
Although Islamophobia is limited in Spain compared with other European nations, the CIE represents a community which admits to feeling threatened and vulnerable in the face of ISIS terrorism, which they wholeheartedly condemn and say goes against the entire teachings of the Prophet Mohammed and the Q'ran.
Integration among Muslims and residents of other religions and nationalities is generally very healthy in Spain – even where non-Spanish communities continue to live in accordance with their native culture and values - with racism and any type of discrimination not tolerated by authorities or the public in general, and hate crimes extremely rare.
Most Muslims in Spain are of Moroccan or Western Saharan descent, owing to these countries' historical ties with Spanish society, and a growing number of Senegalese and Pakistani nationals.
In France, they are mainly Algerian or, to a lesser extent, sub-Saharan African or Moroccan, whilst Muslims in the UK tend to be from Commonwealth nations, particularly Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, according to population statistics.
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FORMER Madrid regional president and PP spokeswoman for the city council, Esperanza Aguirre, has upset the Muslim community with a recent Tweet.
Monday this week (January 2) was the 525th anniversary of when the Spanish Inquisition finished its ethnic cleansing as King Fernando and Queen Isabella – parents of Henry VIII's wife Catherine of Aragón – took back the city of Granada and threw out the last of the Moors, with only those who converted to Christianity allowed to stay.
These were then known as Moriscos, but always considered inferior to the native population, despite the Islamic community having been the majority of Spain's inhabitants for over 700 years until then.
Sra Aguirre wrote on her Twitter account: “It's 525 years today that the Catholic Monarchs took back Granada. This is a glorious day for Spanish women. We would never have any freedom under Islam.”
Spain's Muslim community says these comments are 'hurtful' and 'do not help encourage harmonious coexistence'.
“Statements like these do not help society to live together in a healthy, peaceful way,” said chairman of the Islamic Commission for Spain (CIE), Riay Tatary.
“I think history should be left to historians.
“We need to build a life in which we make an effort not to hurt anyone's feelings under any circumstances.”
Although Islamophobia is limited in Spain compared with other European nations, the CIE represents a community which admits to feeling threatened and vulnerable in the face of ISIS terrorism, which they wholeheartedly condemn and say goes against the entire teachings of the Prophet Mohammed and the Q'ran.
Integration among Muslims and residents of other religions and nationalities is generally very healthy in Spain – even where non-Spanish communities continue to live in accordance with their native culture and values - with racism and any type of discrimination not tolerated by authorities or the public in general, and hate crimes extremely rare.
Most Muslims in Spain are of Moroccan or Western Saharan descent, owing to these countries' historical ties with Spanish society, and a growing number of Senegalese and Pakistani nationals.
In France, they are mainly Algerian or, to a lesser extent, sub-Saharan African or Moroccan, whilst Muslims in the UK tend to be from Commonwealth nations, particularly Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, according to population statistics.
Related Topics
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