What better way is there to break down barriers than a nice, slap-up dinner?
Well, a Muslim group from Preston called the Light Foundation thinks there is no better way and their latest meeting would be with a political party that in the past has expressed real hatred for Islam- the English Defence League.
The Light Foundation – who hold regular holding monthly meetings with people from different faiths – also spoke out to dismiss bigoted claims in the Daily Mail that Preston has radicalised ‘no go areas’.
Speaking to the Lancashire Evening Post about his plans, founder Nadeem Ashfaq said:
We want to invite the EDL to a private meal just for a dignified and respectful chat. The police could also be asked to attend if they would like them to. The intention is to meet with the group’s leadership and assure them that Deepdale has no ‘no go areas’ and it is not a radicalised area. We want them to have a contact in the Muslim community. Hopefully if we can arrange this meeting before their march then we can get them to call it off. The meeting would be more of a meal, we would cook them some food and just have a friendly chat, hoping to break down some boundaries in the process. We wanted the EDL to be aware that we have been holding monthly meetings with people from different faiths to remove misconceptions and talk about issues across the world in detail.
The EDL said it’s considering the offer and is also in discussions with police over plans to hold the far-right demo in Preston.
Wouldn’t you like to be a fly on the wall in that meeting…
