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| Britain |
| Race fears spark St. George ban |
| 2005-10-04 |
| British prison officers who wore a St. George's Cross tie-pin have been ticked off by the jails watchdog over concerns about the symbol's racist connotations. The pins showing the English flag -- which has often raised hackles due to its connection with the Crusades of the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries -- could be "misconstrued," Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers said in a section on race in a report on a jail in the northern English city of Wakefield. The banner of St. George, the red cross of a martyr on a white background, was adopted for the uniform of English soldiers during the military expeditions by European powers to recapture the Holy Land from Muslims, and later became the national flag of England. A section on race relations in Owers' report said: "We were concerned to see a number of staff wearing a flag of St. George tie-pin. "While we were told that these had been bought in support of a cancer charity there was clear scope for misinterpretation, and Prison Service Orders made clear that unauthorized badges and pins should not be worn." As one of her formal recommendations Owers said: "Staff should not wear unauthorized badges or pins." Chris Doyle, director of the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding, said Tuesday the red cross was an insensitive reminder of the Crusades. "A lot of Muslims and Arabs view the Crusades as a bloody episode in our history," he told CNN. "They see those campaigns as Christendom launching a brutal holy war against Islam. "Muslim or Arab prisoners could take umbrage if staff wore a red cross badge. It's also got associations with the far-right. Prison officers should be seen to be neutral." Doyle added that it was now time for England to find a new flag and a patron saint who is "not associated with our bloody past and one we can all identify with." |
| Posted by:Phereger Unimble9361 |
| #8 Doyle added that it was now time for England to find a new flag and a patron saint who is "not associated with our bloody past and one we can all identify with." Yes, by all means, find a CHRISTIAN saint that MUSLIMS can identify with. Apparently, the more cognitive dissonance one has, the better. |
| Posted by: dushan 2005-10-04 19:45 |
| #7 If muslims are offended by the Christian symbols perhaps they should stay out of predomoninantly Christian lands. No sympathy. Go home and fix your own countries you ingrateful bastards. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2005-10-04 19:03 |
| #6 I've got a better idea. Let this Doyle (and fellow travellers) move to a moslem country. No problem of a cross on the flag there. Tranzi moron. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2005-10-04 18:13 |
| #5 This should actually be a shot in the arm to the "St Georges" movement over there. It is not a racist movement, just a recognition that since there is no longer a Britain, England exists again. It is a middle-class movement, and as such, it wields a great deal of influence in the manner of a silent majority. The politician who is able to raise St Georges, while avoiding racist overtones, will be swept into power, eventually. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-10-04 18:13 |
| #4 Dhimmis need to be beaten out of power, "physically" preferred |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-10-04 18:12 |
| #3 Hey, since the George Cross is also a part of the British flag, should the flag be banned, also? Hey OP, we're already there: Doyle added that it was now time for England to find a new flag and a patron saint who is "not associated with our bloody past and one we can all identify with." |
| Posted by: Xbalanke 2005-10-04 17:32 |
| #2 So the inmates actually do run the asylum over there? Nice. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-10-04 16:26 |
| #1 What a crock of bull! Hey, since the George Cross is also a part of the British flag, should the flag be banned, also? Idiots! Bending over backwards to surrender every bit of history and tradition in order not to offend some narrow-minded, bigoted, insensitive MUSLIM PRISONER. This lady needs to have to look for a new job - in Indonesia. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2005-10-04 16:17 |