ITALY'S FLEDGLING ISLAMIC CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ROME 001025 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/31/2016 TAGS: KISL PREL PGOV PTER IT HUMAN RIGHTS SUBJECT: ITALY'S FLEDGLING ISLAMIC CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL Classified By: Political Minister Counselor David D. Pearce, for reason s 1.4 (b)(d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Interior Minister Pisanu's hand-picked Muslim Consultative Council continues to be controversial after its first two meetings. Criticism by both the right-wing Northern League Party and some members of the Muslim community convinced Pisanu to cancel the next meeting until after the April 9-10 national elections. One member's proposal to denounce terrorism and affirm Israel's right to co-exist with Palestine won the support of the majority of the group. Another member's proposal to offer Islamic instruction in the schools, allow workers time on the job for Friday prayers, and establish an Islamic bank, drew pointed criticism. If the center-left wins, the future of the Council is uncertain, but Pisanu deserves considerable credit for being one of the few Italian officials prepared to open discussions on Muslim integration. End summary. ¶2. (C) Minister of Interior Pisanu announced September 10 the formation of a Muslim Consultative Council, which includes sixteen persons (see para 12) hand-picked by the Minister to broadly represent the Muslim and immigrant communities. It was designed to provide the MOI with advice on how to deal with the Muslim community, especially problems of integration (housing, schools, jobs),religious rights (wearing the veil, male-female relations, halal butchery, burial rites),preaching and education of imams, immigrant concerns (asylum, citizenship, residence permits),and access to Muslim clerics in prisons and hospitals. Controversial from the Start -------------- ¶3. (C) The existence and composition of the Council continues to be an issue of some controversy. The Northern League Party, known for its anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric, has called the Council a "dangerous monster" and a body that represents the interests of only one minister. Pisanu's decision to include the Union for Islamic Communities in Italy (UCOII) in the Council has been particularly controversial. Founded in the 1990s in Ancona, UCOII claims to represent over 50 mosques in Italy and has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Perhaps UCOII's most extremist member is its number two, Hamza Piccardo, a former Italian Marxist militant who converted and has publicly praised suicide bombers. Italy's most well-know and influential Muslim journalist, Magdi Allam, as well as the leaders of the Rome mosque strongly opposed including UCOII in the Council. Pisanu's view has been that it is better to include UCOII and keep it from becoming more radical; many others in the community agree. Statement on the Cartoons -------------- ¶4. (C) The Council met for the first time February 8 and issued a statement condemning both offenses against Islam as a religion (without specifically mentioning the Danish cartoons or the decision by now ex-Minister for Reform Calderoli to wear the cartoons emblazoned on a T-shirt) and violent protests of those offenses. Internal Divisions -------------- ¶5. (C) On March 7, the Council met again, with more controversial results, as various members sought to use the meeting to make political statements. Souad Sbai offered a proposal condemning terrorism, affirming the right of Israel to co-exist with a Palestinian state, and opposing an Islamic identity that conflicts with a national Italian identity. It was signed by everyone present, except Dachan, Chaouki and Amadia. Dachan then presented his own proposal, calling, among other things, for the teaching of Islam in Italian public schools, establishment of an Islamic bank, and provisions allowing Muslim workers to pray on Fridays at their workplaces. This document was not signed by the other members. ¶6. (C) Sbai claims to have written her proposal and denies it had ulterior motives, but Embassy and Consulate sources indicate that Magdi Allam had a strong hand in drafting it, with the specific goal of isolating UCOII. MOI Diplomatic Advisor Guido Lenzi confirmed that the Council is split between pro- and anti-UCOII factions and noted that Pisanu decided to form a Council secretariat to vet future proposals before they are introduced. According to Sbai, Pisanu's Christian Democratic roots incline him to let everyone on the Council speak, but he does not understand either the implications of his actions or the deep divisions among the Muslim community in Italy. ¶7. (C) Dachan's proposal to offer one hour of Islamic instruction in the schools generated immediate reactions. Vatican Cardinal Raffaele Renato Martino, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, expressed support saying "If there are a hundred Muslim children in a school, I do not see why their religion should not be taught. This is respect for human beings." (In the face of some criticism, he later backed off his comments somewhat.) Abdullah Redouane, the Secretary General of the Islamic Cultural Center in Rome and Mario Scialoja, a Council member, strongly disagreed for both practical reasons ("it isn't possible to teach every religion and sect present in schools") and concern about spreading extremist ideology ("who will choose the teachers?"). ¶8. (C) The next session of the Council was scheduled for March 28, but Pisanu canceled it, citing scheduling difficulties. Lenzi confirmed, however, that Pisanu wanted to avoid creating more controversy three weeks before national elections. The Intellectual Debate: Integration vs. a Christian Identity? -------------- -------------- ¶9. (C) Comment. Pisanu is one of the few center-right officials interested in tackling the issue of Muslim integration in Italy. When Muslims in Italy proved incapable of organizing into one group to apply for an "intesa" that grants privileges similar to those enjoyed the Catholic Church, Pisanu tried unsuccessfully to convince the Parliament to agree to official recognition of various Muslim groups. He then conceived of the Consulta as a way reach out to the Muslim community. Pisanu's viewpoint is based on his 95/5 percent theory--you monitor and deport the 5 percent of extremist troublemakers and offer respect and integration to the other 95 percent of moderates. ¶10. (C) Senate President Marcello Pera has taken a different approach. He proposed a manifesto to reaffirm Italy's traditional values and culture. The written text refers to the need to respect the values of western civilization and, on that basis, Souad Sbai signed it and organized a meeting between Pera and a group of Muslims. But in his speeches, Pera has been touting a specifically Christian Italian identity. Pera previously co-authored a book and appeared publicly with Cardinal Ratzinger; he remains a good friend of now Pope Benedict. The general gist of the book and Pera's continued quest is the need to fight the moral relativism that is weakening Europe. The manifesto, which has not generated a significant degree of interest among Italians, appears designed more to create intellectual space for the center-right amidst the overwhelmingly leftist Italian academia than in creating a specific political platform. Pera's aide, Gaetano Quargliariello, who drafted the manifesto was surprised that we even asked about its practical impact on immigration or social policy towards Muslims. ¶11. (C) The fact that a leading center-right intellectual like Pera has not yet considered the practical effects of his manifesto is a sign of how the public debate over Muslim integration in Italy has just begun. If the center-left wins the April 9-10 election, the future of this fledgling Council will be in doubt, but Pisanu deserves credit for at least opening a dialogue on the need for integration. End comment. ¶12. (U) The Council includes: -Ejaz Ahmad (Pakistan),Rome journalist; -Khalil Altoubat (Jordan),Rome physiotherapist; -Rachid Amadia (Algeria),Imam, Salerno; -Kalthoum Bent Amor Ben Soltane (Tunisia),Arabic lecturer, Urbino; -Khalil Chaouki (Morocco),student and journalist, Naples; -Mohamed Nor Dachan (Italo-Syrian),medical doctor and President of the Union of Islamic Communities in Italy (UCOII),Milan; -Zeinab Ahmed Dolal (Somalia) nurse, Rome; -Gulshan Jivraj Antivalle (Italo-Kenyan),President of the Ismailite Community, Rome; -Tantush Mansur (Libya),President of the Islamic Union in the West, Rome; -Yahya Sergio Yahe Pallavicini (Italo-Japanese, son of an Italian prince who converted), Imam and VP of the Italian Islamic Religious Community (CO.RE.IS),Milan; -Mohammed Saady (Italo-Moroccan),co-President of the Beyond Frontiers CISL union organization, Naples; -Souad Sbai (Morocco),journalist and President of the Moroccan Women's Association, Rome; -Mario Scialoja (Italian convert and former GOI Ambassador to Saudi Arabia),Director of the World Muslim League/Italy and member of the Rome mosque's board of directors; -Roland Seiko (Albania),journalist, Rome; -Younis Tawfik (Italo-Iraqi),President of the Italianan-Arabic Cultural Center, Turin; -Mahadou Siradio Thiam (Senegal),NGO worker, Rome. (NOTE: Sbai and Chaouki, and separately Pallavicini, just returned from very successful Mission-sponsored IVP programs in the U.S.; Saady visited the U.S. on a Volvis program in 2005.) GOI representatives include: Minister of Interior Pisanu; Pisanu's Chef de Cabinet; the Chief of the Department for Civil Liberties and Immigration; and the Diplomatic Advisor to the Minister, Ambassador Guido Lenzi. SPOGLI