“The resignation of a Sheffield head teacher after she tried to scrap all-Muslim assemblies is a sign of things to come….

“Julia Robinson, head teacher of Meersbrook Primary School, wanted to end the divisive Islamic assembles for Muslim pupils, who make up about a quarter of her 240 pupils. Staff and many parents backed her; Muslim parents accused her of being – you’ve guessed it – ‘racist’.

“Those Christians who think that it’s better to have separate Christian and Muslim assemblies rather than the ‘inclusive’ services Mrs Robinson planned are missing the point. They think ‘faith’ is good, irrespective of what faith it is. Myopic idiots….

“Muslim ghettos are being constructed across the North of England, and among their building blocks are school-sanctioned meetings for children from ethnic minorities designed to turn them into strictly observant Muslims – whether they like it or not. The Muslim indoctrination of primary school children is designed to produce young adults who reject and despise the tolerant, liberal society in which they live.”

Catholic Herald editor Damian Thompson at Holy Smoke, 10 February 2009

The Daily Telegraph chimes in with “Muslim parents should accept the law of the land”.

Regarding the “inclusive” assemblies, if you check the Daily Mail report, when you get beyond the scaremongering “I was forced out for trying to axe Muslim-only assemblies, claims headmistress” headline you find the following:

“Fiyza Awan, 19, a Muslim whose younger sister is a pupil, said problems began when hymns were introduced to the all-pupil assemblies. ‘When Mrs Robinson took over she said she wanted one assembly for all the students,’ she said. ‘We didn’t have a problem with that but wanted a secular assembly where no hymns were sung and topics involving all the children could be discussed. But after a while hymns were introduced again and we objected. We told Mrs Robinson we wanted our children withdrawn and to have a separate assembly again. We felt we were being marginalised. We didn’t put any pressure on her, we want continuity at the school, it was her decision to leave’.”

See also ENGAGE, 10 February 2009