UK ‘Muslim Live 8’ to raise cash for Darfur
October 21, 2007 (LONDON) — Prime Minister Gordon Brown voiced support Sunday as British Muslims gathered for a peace concert in London focused notably on the bloody conflict in Darfur.
Tens of thousands were expected at the concert, dubbed a “Muslim Live 8” by some, which also aims to promote efforts to unite the community amid widespread suspicion of Islam in Britain.
“An injustice anywhere is an attack on justice everywhere and so we will continue working together with all of you to bring this suffering to an end,” Brown said in a video message to the concert released by his office in advance.
“I want to thank all of you .. from the artists and musicians who are performing here today, to religious leaders from all communities who have been leading prayers and campaigns for the people of Darfur.
Topping the bill at Wembley Arena event is Sami Yusuf, a 27-year-old star popular among young Muslims worldwide, even if he is less well known in his homeland.
“This is really something monumental, it has never been done before,” he said on the eve of the concert.
More needs to be done on Darfur because “this is an issue between Muslims, Muslims killing Muslims, some people think it’s shameful that people haven’t really stood up,” he told AFP.
“This is a great opportunity for British Muslims to really do something.”
Jehangir Malik, from British charity Islamic Relief, said when launching the event in August that he wanted to see “our own equivalent of Live 8” — the series of worldwide concerts organised ahead of the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, in 2005 calling for increased aid to poor countries.
All profits from the event will go to Islamic Relief to help fund its work in Darfur.
Sami Yusuf’s record label, Awakening, says that they are expecting a capacity crowd of 12,000 for the concert.
Like him, the other artists taking part combine music with faith.
Outlandish, a Danish hip-hop outfit featuring Muslims and Christians, are appearing, as is Kareem Salama, a Muslim American country singer, who poses in a Stetson hat on the cover of his latest album.
Canadian stars The Sound Of Reason and Hamza Robertson, a young English convert to Islam, are also on the bill.
The event also has official support — the Foreign Office helped to organise a trip for Sami Yusuf and celebrities to visit refugee camps in Darfur earlier this year.
The United Nations says that some 200,000 people have been killed and more than two million displaced as a result of the conflict in Darfur, which has been going on for over four years.
Sami Yusuf hopes that the event will help alleviate the suffering as well as countering the often negative presentation of Islam in some sections of the British media.
Another group, “Islam Is Peace”, is also seeking to improve perceptions of Muslims in Britain.
Formed in the wake of the London suicide bombings in 2005 in which 52 innocent people were killed, the volunteer network tries to counter perceptions of a link between Islam and violence.
For its most recent campaign, it has paid for advertisements bearing the slogan “Proud To Be A British Muslim” to appear on the London Underground and on buses in the city.
These feature a picture of a female police officer wearing a veil and a former television cookery presenter who is Muslim. The campaign was launched during Ramadan.
There are around a million and a half Muslims in Britain but according to an opinion poll in 2006, 53 percent of Britons believe that Islam threatens Western democracy.
(AFP)