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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| August 24, 2004 |
Dover, England |
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| East London signpost points the way to Hackney |
London’s reputation as a fashion mecca and the cosmopolitan former center of the British empire
is famous around the world, but as the United Kingdom's society becomes more ethnically mixed, it
has faced new problems stemming from discrimination against immigrants and asylum seekers. Peace Boat
guest Sinead O'Rouke led participants in exploring the East End borough of Hackney, an area where
a number of immigrant communities are concentrated, and how some are challenging immigrant prejudice.
Here, participants discovered a vibrant community of Hasidic Jews, Afro-Caribbeans and Muslims from
a variety of countries. There are also many West African refugees from former colonies of the British
empire, such Somalia and Sudan. |
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| Linda Kelly, the Jewish-Middle Eastern deputy mayor of Hackney, gives participants
an impromptu tour |
O'Rouke, a British lawyer and immigration rights activist, is determined to debunk the myths many
British accept as fact. "It's important to look at immigrants, because it is they who are blamed
when things go wrong in society," she said. One example of this is the London fire of 1666, which
destroyed most of the city and was blamed on immigrants, leading to violence against them. Later,
it was found that the catastrophe was sparked by a bakery fire. By highlighting such facts, O'Rouke
hopes to make people think twice about discrimination of minorities, which she fears will only lead
to further alienation with disastrous consequences for the majority. "Such scapegoating is what
separates aliens from citizens," O'Rouke pointed out. |
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| Daniel Defoe (aka Robinson Kreutzhauer) a famous Hackney immigrant from Bremen |
Hackney has a long history of providing a haven for foreigners as well as being a home to many political,
social and religious reformers, earning it the derisive nickname "a Nursery of Riot." Hackney
was first created by Saxons settlers from Germany over 1500 years ago. At the Hackney museum, participants
learned about the successive waves of immigrants that have shaped the city, including many forced
immigrants such as ayahs, servants from India, and lascars, Asian sailors, who were abandoned in England
by their employers. "The aim of the museum is to show that a multicultural society is a vibrant
and energetic society." Erica Davies, the curator of the museum |
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| Aziziye Mosque |
Helena Wetterberg, a museum guide and outreach officer, talked to participants about how many of the
UK's much loved "traditions" can be traced back to immigrants. When a famous family-run
eel pie shop in Hackney closed several years ago, people complained immigrants were destroying their
traditional food and a favorite restaurant. "But its ironic because the pie was originally brought
by Jews escaping Tsarist Russia in the 1800's." Hackney's proud heritage as an evolving community
was further underlined by a visit to Aziziye Mosque, a place of worship for more than 1,000 Muslims.
The visit to Aziziye, a converted church that also was a cinema at one time, was many participants
first chance to experience the inside of a mosque. |
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| Participants eating Turkish food with Hackney youth |
Afterwards, the group headed across the road to the Halkevi Turkish-Kurdish Community Centre at the
heart of the neighborhood. Michelle Allison, from the centre's management committee, talked about
the work they do for their 3,000 members, providing a variety of services such as an interpretation
desk, job training projects, a tea-bar, legal advice sessions, a drop-in computer centre, English
and Kurdish language classes. "Whatever we find the people are needing, we try to go out and
help them," Allison said. |
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| Participants sampled the diverse tastes of Ridley Road Market |
Although ethnic Kurds number more than 45 million, their language, media and even
Kurdish names are suppressed in the countries that divide their living area - Turkey, Iraq, Iran
and Syria. Allison reported that recently Turkey has become a more tolerant towards Kurdish culture
due to international pressure by governments, the UN and NGOs. "They have a lot of additional
problems on top of their own existing problems, like language and culture," she said. Many
countries are creating tough laws that directly effect immigrant's life, in the name of national
security. O'Rouke said that such laws in the UK are creating greater tensions and resentment. "Muslims,
especially Muslim youths, have been stopped 300 percent more times than before September 11th."
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| Centre youth perform a traditional dance |
In a room filled with portraits of young and old men who have died in the struggle for Kurdish freedom,
often against Turkey, Allison remarked that it is unusual to have a shared gathering place for Turkish
and Kurdish people. "They call it the peoples' home, because for most people who have no relatives
here, we are their home. It provides a cultural environment they're already used to," Allison
said. Iwasaki Etsuro, travelling on the 46th voyage, thinks Japan can learn a lot from the centre's
philosophy. "According to the government, Japan will need 600,000 immigrants a year because of
the aging population. But actually, Japan doesn't like foreigners coming in and has very strict laws
about immigration," said Iwasaki, a Japanese language teacher. Ikeda Yasuko, another participant,
agreed. "I see the good example that they give, so when I go back to Japan, I want to teach how
well a multicultural society can work." |
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Resources
Hackney Museum – www.hackney.gov.uk/museum
Halkevi - Turkish and Kurdish Community Centre – www.halkevi.com
Moving Here Immigration Site – www.movinghere.org.uk
Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants – www.jcwi.org.uk |
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