Muslims Worried Crucifix Controversy Will Cause Backlash

October 28, 2003

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3219551.stm

On October 28, 2003 the BBC News reported that "a radical Muslim leader has won a court battle to remove the crucifix from a state school where his children attend - a decision which has shocked political and public opinion and caused deep concern within Italy's Muslim community.

The symbol of the crucifix is not just in every Italian church, it still looks down on pupils from classroom walls in every school even though Catholicism is no longer a state religion...Now grabbing front-page headlines and dominating TV and radio talk shows, the debate about removing the crucifix from Italian classrooms is gathering pace but it is a debate Italy's Muslim community would rather not be associated with."