Muslims in Britain are the most patriotic in Europe according to a new study.
A report has found that on average 78 per cent of Muslims identify themselves as British, compared with 49 per cent who consider themselves French and 23 per cent who feel German.
The findings suggest that Muslims may be better integrated in Britain than in other parts of Europe and will reopen the debate about the merits of multiculturalism.
The study by the Open Society Institute, funded by the financier and philanthropist George Soros, was conducted over two and a half years and involved 2,200 in-depth interviews and 60 focus groups in 11 cities across Europe with large Muslim communities.
In Britain, researchers focused on Leicester and Waltham Forest, east London, where they found that levels of patriotism were even higher among second-generation Muslims.
In Leicester, 72 per cent of Muslims born abroad said they felt British but 94 per cent of those born in Britain said the same.
The debate echoes a Gallup survey earlier this year that found more Muslims identify themselves with being British than the rest of the population.
That survey found that 77 per cent of Muslims say they “identified with the UK” compared with only 50 per cent of the public at large.
Muslims also outscored the general public for their belief in courts, honest elections, financial institutions and the media.
The result of the surveys will fuel an on-gong debate on the merits of multiculturalism that has seen Britain compared poorly with other countries of Europe which have insisted that Muslims integrate into their way of life.
France banned Muslim pupils from wearing headscarves in classrooms five years ago and last month Switzerland voted to ban the building of new minarets.
In Germany, Muslim immigrants have only been allowed citizenship since the 1990s.
The Soros report found that 55 per cent of Muslims across the EU believe that religious and racial discrimination have risen in the past five years.
Nazia Hussain, director of the research project, said: “There is a disturbing message that emerges from these findings. Even though Muslims overwhelmingly feel British, they’re not seen as British by wider society.
“That said ... there has been a policy of trying to accommodate difference here and it appears to be paying off.”
I patriotism still in fashion in Brittain? I know at the height of the empire it was (Rule Britania and all that) but I didn't think it was today.
For the record, I live in Canada and Canada's highest form of patriotism is hockey and beer adds.
It depends on your definition of 'patroitism'. I shall say this- most devout patriots in Britain are sincere, unlike those in America, where you are force fed the American flag, national anthem and love for your country from an early age. I do think that many people in this country who don't self identify as patriotic wouldn't change comfy old Britain for the world anyway.
Britain gave us Doctor Who and Red Dwarf. I love it for that reason alone.
Don't forget 2000AD comics. Judge Dredd makes one a proud Brit indeed.
Unless it's the movie starring Sylvester Stallone, in which case subsitute pride for a collective facepalm.
More seriously, and ironically, during the Asian Diaspora in the 70s, many Muslims emigrated to the UK because its laws allowed them to practice their religions freely without fear of persecution - unlike the ostensibly Muslim countries from which they moved.
If this was a "Pakistani Muslims most patriotic" thread, you wouldn't have asked this question...
I guess the difference arises because Pakistan consists mainly of Muslims, whereas in European countries, Muslims are generally a minority and therefore seem to be expected to "integrate" - hence the question of what that's supposed to mean.
Being British AND patriotic would be enough to drive me mad.
I was looking at myself talking to myself and I realized this conversation...I was having with myself looking at myself was a conversation with myself that I needed to have with myself.
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