is anybody else sick and tired of newspapers reporting on muslims?

Yep. If the papers (and politicos) would quit picking on them as easy targets, we'd be in a much healthier position. As Nick says, simply being a devout Muslim is starting to be considered enough to make you a threat to society (Forest Gate is ample evidence of that), and that's some scary shit.

I fully agree with Jack Straw that actively opposing integration (burqas in Burnley, niqabs in Nuneaton and frightening priests in Finsbury Park) with your adopted country is bogus. But if you're quietly following your religious beliefs and not hassling anyone, then you shouldn't expect the kind of crap that's being dumped on them.

There's nothing wrong with a headscarf or a cloak/robes/sari, for example - Sikhs have turbans, Jews have skull-caps, and Christian nuns have their headscarves too. Yes, they show you're a bit different, but hell, isn't that the point of most clothes? For that matter, until *very* recently (like the last 50 or so years and certainly if you go back 100 years), any Brit (male or female) going out with their head uncovered would have been looked down on as underclass scum, and even now wearing a hat is usually considered an important part of a formal woman's outfit (weddings, Ascot, etc).

Is the problem that they want to convert people to Islam? Well if they're going to do it by quietly providing a good example to their neighbours, that works for me. Certainly better than the evangelical Christians shouting in town centres or cold-calling on doorsteps - I'd rather see religion as something arrived at following deep thought, not marketed like cheapjack double-glazing or timeshare salesmen. Most people won't be converted, because Britain is an intensely secular country. But a slight change in the demographic ain't a big deal. And contrary to Abu Hamza's bullshit about conversion at the point of a sword, all the Muslims I know are quite happy with them having their beliefs and everyone else having theirs.

Maybe there will be a civil war in the UK, but I doubt it. If there is though, it'll be between Muslim supporters and people who believe all Muslims are the enemy. And if so, count me in on the Muslim side...

Graham.