Muslim group issues fatwa against violence

The UOIF states:   Every Muslim living in France has the right to demand deep personal respect, dignity and to strive for more equality and social justice. But this action, whether concerted or spontaneous, must not contradict (Muslim) teaching or the laws governing communal life.   Calling for a rapid return to calm, the UOIF said the events of the past 11 nights, in which thousands of cars have been torched in the poor suburbs of dozens of French cities, “bares the serious defects of the French model of integration that clearly throws dozens of young people in difficult neighborhoods into despair and poverty."   The UOIF is appealing to the French government officials to evaluate the critical nature of the situation. The group has called for a national dialogue focusing on France’s poor suburbs and its disadvantaged youth.    [email protected]