Terror Fans European Racism

(AP)  European governments must do more to fight a growing threat from bigotry and racist violence often fueled by reactions to terrorist attacks or Middle East events, delegates at an international conference on racism warned Monday.

"The situation is getting worse, not better," said Bashy Quraishy, chairman of the European Network Against Racism. "There have been a lot of beautiful words, but we want to know what the politicians are going to do."

Delegates at the conference called by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe wrestled with the problem of how to clamp down on terrorism without exacerbating intolerance toward minority groups.

"We should condemn those who attempt to stir up hatred or violence by linking terrorism to a particular religion," said Fiona MacTaggart, an official at Britain's Home Office.

She told delegates from more than 50 nations and 130 non-governmental organizations that Britain was pushing through legislation to outlaw incitement to religious hatred.

The chairman of the two-day conference, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy, said governments had to create "zero tolerance against intolerance" to prevent bigotry deteriorating into violence.

"Terrorism, which is an extreme of form of intolerance, should be the main focus of our efforts," said Passy.

Passy said the recent school massacre in southern Russia and last week's car bomb attack in the Indonesian capital Jakarta showed extreme intolerance in the form of terrorism could strike anywhere.

"Tragedies on the other side of the planet can come to your doorstep tomorrow," Passy said.

He told delegates that the Islamic world was looking to Europe to tackle discrimination against Arabs and Muslims.

Quraishy said his organization wanted the 25-nation European Union to draw up common rules for defining race and hate crimes. In an interview he said the EU nations should also ensure that incitement to racial hatred and denial of the Holocaust be made crimes across the EU.

Other steps should include tougher implementation of existing legislation and greater spending on education and public awareness campaigns, Quraishy said.

He also appealed to Jewish and Islamic leaders to work together to prevent attacks on Jews and Muslims. Many recent attacks on Jews and Jewish property in Europe have been blamed on Arab youths responding to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The head of the U.S. delegation at the conference said Europe could learn from the United States how to integrate minorities without weakening the ethnic identities of immigrant communities.

"We have probably had the best experience of integrating people into the mainstream of society," Alphonso Jackson, U.S. secretary of housing and urban development told The Associated Press.

"Being Muslim or being Jewish or being African is not a contradiction with being American."