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October 11, 2006

Italy: Controversy Over Milan's Illegal Muslim School

Last year, on September 23 we wrote of the controversy surrounding an Islamic school which had been operating illegally in Milan, capital of Lombardy, in the north of Italy. The school had been set up to cater to educating 500 pupils, where Arabic and the Koran were taught in addition to standard subjects.

The school, formed by parents, had been closed down by the authorities, following a campaign of pressure from the Northern League party (Lega Nord), who devote much of their rhetoric to anti-Muslim sentiment. Most of the pupils had been Egyptian in origin. The interior minister at the time, Giuseppe Pisanu (alias Ali Abu Pisanu, according to the Lega Nord) insisted that there were ample opportunities within the existing state school system to cater for practicing Muslims. The school in Via Quaranta, which was widely viewed as an obstacle to integration, was never reopened. The school had operated illegally for 15 years, with the authorities turning a blind eye to its illegal status.

Now, a new school has opened in Milan on the Via Ventura in an eastern suburb of the city, and this too has opened illegally. There are an estimated 20,000 Muslims in Milan's education system.

The opening of the school is described yesterday by AKI and ANSA. Yesterday (Tuesday October 10) the Lega Nord were once again demonstrating outside the school.

People who had taken part in the demonstration included the regional assessor for urban planning and the territory, Davide Boni, and the chief whip at the City Council, Matteo Salvini, according to AGI. The school had been closed down shortly after it opened, but then had reopened on Monday (October 9). Members of the Lega Nord were arguing that the school was not legally authorised.

The Northern League was not the only political group to become agitated by the school's blatant defiance of educational rulings and board regulations. Another person who is complaining is Maurizio Gasparri of the Alleanza Nationale. During the Berlosconi government, Gasparri had been Italy's communications minister from 2001 to 2005.

Today, states AGI, Gasparri asked both the education minister and the interior minister "what urgent initiatives they will adopt for the immediate closing of the Islamic school in Milan? Tolerance for terrorism, fundamentalism and those who break the law is no longer admissible. The government must intervene rapidly to bring an end to the violation of our laws and also to verify the content of the teachings of these so-called schools, which are really actual indoctrination centres to poison consciences and prepare the grounds for mentalities which can turn into real forms of terrorism. The school in Milan must be closed within the next few hours without hesitation, weakness or compromise."

The school was also criticized today, in less strident manner, by Roberto Biscardini of the SDI-RNP, states AGI. He said: "We don't support a 'willingly cooperative' left which is covering up the substantial reopening of the Via Quaranta school on Via Ventura, supporting illegality and the unauthorised opening of the school. The matter of the Via Ventura Arabian-Islamic school is proof of the chaos in which Italian schools and our institutions find themselves. At a time when the country needs better, quality schools, with clear and valuable programmes, the weakness of politics allows and justifies the creation of an unauthorised, and therefore illegal, school. We're not against Arabian schools. There are already some foreign and bilingual schools in Milan and nobody would be bothered by the creation of another one, as long as this takes place lawfully."

The strongest point against this school is that it flouted all the standard rules, and continues to flout them. But what is the school's agenda? The school has about 60 children, and is sponsored by the Egyptian consulate. It is named the Naguib Mahfouz school, apparently in honour of the Egyptian writer of the same name who died on August 30 this year. Naguib Mahfouz (born 1911) was the only Arab ever to have won the Nobel Prize for Literature, which he did in 1988.

The school has nine Italian teachers and nine Arabic teachers. It is run by an organization called Insieme (Together), which mainly comprises the parents of the earlier school which was closed down last September.

Davide Boni, urban planning officer for Milan city council, and also a member of Lega Nord, said that the school aimed to teach "a religious system that is not culturally compatible with ours".

Even the Italian-Egyptian Association, which has been responsible for providing Arabic classes to local schools, does not think the Naquib Mahfouz is equipped to provide genuine "multicultural education." It believes a separate school for children of Muslim families is a mistake. Paolo Branca, head of the Arabic culture education program, which provides lessons in 10 Milan schools, said: "Working with children in a multicultural environment is an extremely delicate business and highly qualified personnel is needed....I don't think the school in question is adequate in this sense."

Branca said: "The Egyptian community, from which most of the students hail, is extremely isolated. This school prevents the opportunity for these children to experience Italian schools and doesn't favour integration. Though most Egyptian here dream of returning home, surveys show that only five percent actually do."

Letizia Moratti, the mayor of Milan complained of the "lack of respect" which the school had for the local administration. She said the school's opening was "negative".

Yesterday Giuseppe Fioroni, the national education minister, confirmed that the school should never have been opened, but stressed that this was not because the pupils were Muslims. He said: "In Italy the opening of schools isn't decided according to the sort of school but according to norms and authorisations that must come from the relevant offices. If the school in Milan has these authorisations it can open. If not, it can't."

The school vows to continue with providing lessons. Perhaps, by openly defying the law, the "educators" at the Naguib Mahfouz are already showing by example that their pupils are not expected to adhere to the rules of the land they live in. As always, the demands of Islam are seen to be more important.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at October 11, 2006 8:02 PM

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