Muslims in Denmark: Their role in growing Islamophobia
Salute the Danish Flag - Symbol
of Western Freedom!
The rest of Europe
saw the Scandinavians as free-thinking, progressive and infinitely generous in
their welfare policies. Denmark boasted low crime rates, devotion to the
environment, a superior educational system and a history of
humanitarianism. Denmark was also most
generous in its immigration
policies - it offered the best welcome in Europe to the new immigrant: generous
welfare payments from first arrival plus additional perks in transportation,
housing, and education. It was determined to set a world example for
inclusiveness and multiculturalism. How could it have predicted that one day in
2005 a series of political cartoons in a newspaper would spark violence that
would leave dozens dead in the streets -all because its commitment to
multiculturalism would come back to bite?
By the 1990s the growing urban
Muslim population was obvious - and its unwillingness to integrate into Danish
society was obvious. Years of immigrants had settled into Muslim-exclusive
enclaves. As the Muslim leadership became more vocal about what they considered
the decadence of Denmark's liberal way of life, the Danes - once so welcoming -
began to feel slighted. Many Danes had begun to see Islam as incompatible with
their long-standing values: belief in personal liberty and free speech, in
equality for women, in tolerance for other ethnic groups, and a deep pride in
Danish heritage and history. -- Susan
MacAllen
Susan MacAllen’s blog can be dismissed as one-sided and racist. It does
not contain any criticism of Denmark’s right wing policies which led to
ghettoization of Muslims. Nor does it criticise the policy to encourage imams so
that immigrant populations from Muslim countries don’t join unions. The role of
the media which antagonised Muslims by unleashing a tirade against Islam and the
Muslims and encouraged Islamophobia among the local population has also not been
mentioned. But New Age Islam is
nevertheless publishing it as it contains a grain of truth and may inspire some
badly-needed introspection among Muslims living in Scandinavian or other
European and Western countries where similar situations prevail. It is in any
case important for us to know what the majority populations think about us in countries where we live as a
minority -- Editor
Salute
the Danish Flag - Symbol of Western Freedom
By Susan MacAllen
In 1978-9, I was living and
studying in Denmark. But in 1978 - even in Copenhagen - one didn't see Muslim
immigrants.
The Danish population embraced
visitors, celebrated the exotic, went out of its way to protect each of its
citizens. It was proud of its new brand of socialist liberalism one in
development since the conservatives had lost power in 1929 - a system where no
worker had to struggle to survive, where one ultimately could count upon the
state as in, perhaps, no other western nation at the time.
The rest of Europe saw the
Scandinavians as free-thinking, progressive and infinitely generous in their
welfare policies. Denmark boasted low crime rates, devotion to the environment,
a superior educational system and a history of
humanitarianism.
Denmark was also most generous
in its immigration policies - it offered the best welcome in Europe to the new
immigrant: generous welfare payments from first arrival plus additional perks in
transportation, housing, and education. It was determined to set a world example
for inclusiveness and multiculturalism. How could it have predicted that one day
in 2005 a series of political cartoons in a newspaper would spark violence that
would leave dozens dead in the streets -all because its commitment to
multiculturalism would come back to bite?
By the 1990s the growing urban
Muslim population was obvious - and its unwillingness to integrate into Danish
society was obvious. Years of immigrants had settled into Muslim-exclusive
enclaves. As the Muslim leadership became more vocal about what they considered
the decadence of Denmark's liberal way of life, the Danes - once so welcoming -
began to feel slighted. Many Danes had begun to see Islam as incompatible with
their long-standing values: belief in personal liberty and free speech, in
equality for women, in tolerance for other ethnic groups, and a deep pride in
Danish heritage and history.
An article by Daniel Pipes (left
below) and Lars Hedegaard, in which they forecasted accurately that the growing
immigrant problem in Denmark would explode. In the article they
reported:
“Muslim immigrants.constitute 5
percent of the population but consume upwards of 40 percent of the welfare
spending.” “Muslims are only 4 percent of Denmark's 5.4 million people but make
up a majority of the country's convicted rapists, an especially combustible
issue given that practically all the female victims are non-Muslim. Similar, if
lesser, disproportions are found in other crimes.
“Over time, as Muslim immigrants
increase in numbers, they wish less to mix with the indigenous population. A
recent survey finds that only 5 percent of young Muslim immigrants would readily
marry a Dane.” “Forced marriages - promising a newborn daughter in Denmark to a
male cousin in the home country, then compelling her to marry him, sometimes on
pain of death - are one problem.”
Muslim leaders openly declare
their goal of introducing Islamic law once Denmark's Muslim population grows
large enough - a not-that-remote prospect. If present trends persist, one
sociologist estimates, every third inhabitant of Denmark in 40 years will be
Muslim.” It is easy to understand why a growing number of Danes would feel that
Muslim immigrants show little respect for Danish values and
laws.
An example is the phenomenon
common to other European countries and Canada: some Muslims in Denmark who opted
to leave the Muslim faith have been murdered in the name of Islam, while others
hide in fear for their lives.
Jews are also threatened and
harassed openly by Muslim leaders in Denmark, a country where once Christian
citizens worked to smuggle out nearly all of their 7,000 Jews by night to Sweden
- before the Nazis could invade. I think of my Danish friend Elsa - who as a
teenager had dreaded crossing the street to the bakery every morning under the
eyes of occupying Nazi soldiers - and I wonder what she would say
today.
In 2001, Denmark elected the
most conservative government in some 70 years - one that had some decidedly
non-generous ideas about liberal unfettered immigration. Today Denmark has the
strictest immigration policies in Europe. (Its effort to protect itself has been
met with accusations of “racism” by liberal media across Europe - even as other
governments struggle to right the social problems wrought by years of too-lax
immigration.)
• If you wish to become Danish, you must
attend three years of language classes.
• You must pass a test on Denmark's
history, culture, and a Danish language test.
• You must live in Denmark for 7 years
before applying for citizenship.
• You must demonstrate intent to work, and
have a job waiting.
• If you wish to bring a spouse into
Denmark, you must both be over 24 years of age, and you won't find it so easy
anymore to move your friends and family to Denmark with you.
• You will not be allowed to build a
mosque in Copenhagen.
• Although your children have a choice of
some 30 Arabic culture and language schools in Denmark, they will be strongly
encouraged to assimilate to Danish society in ways that past immigrants
weren't.
In 2006, the Danish minister for
employment, Claus Hjort Frederiksen, spoke publicly of the burden of Muslim
immigrants on the Danish welfare system, and it was horrifying: the government's
welfare committee had calculated that if immigration from Third World countries
were blocked, 75 percent of the cuts needed to sustain the huge welfare system
in coming decades would be unnecessary.
In other words, the welfare
system as it existed was being exploited by immigrants to the point of
eventually bankrupting the government. “We are simply forced to adopt a new
policy on immigration. The calculations of the welfare committee are terrifying
and show how unsuccessful the integration of immigrants has been up to now,” he
said.
A large thorn in the side of
Denmark's imams is the Minister of Immigration and Integration, Rikke Hvilshøj.
She makes no bones about the new policy toward immigration, “The number of
foreigners coming to the country makes a difference,” Hvilshøj says, “There is
an inverse correlation between how many come here and how well we can receive
the foreigners that come.”
And on Muslim immigrants needing
to demonstrate a willingness to blend in, “In my view, Denmark should be a
country with room for different cultures and religions. Some values, however,
are more important than others. We refuse to question democracy, equal rights,
and freedom of speech.”
Hvilshøj has paid a price for
her show of backbone.
Perhaps to test her resolve, the
leading radical imam in Denmark, Ahmed Abdel Rahman Abu Laban, demanded that the
government pay blood money to the family of a Muslim who was murdered in a
suburb of Copenhagen, stating that the family's thirst for revenge could be
thwarted for money. When Hvilshøj dismissed his demand, he argued that in Muslim
culture the payment of retribution money was common, to which Hvilshøj replied
that what is done in a Muslim country is not necessarily what is done in
Denmark.
The Muslim reply came soon
after: her house was torched while she, her husband and children slept. All
managed to escape unharmed, but she and her family were moved to a secret
location and she and other ministers were assigned bodyguards for the first time
- in a country where such murderous violence was once so
scarce.
Her government has slid to the
right, and her borders have tightened. Many believe that what happens in the
next decade will determine whether Denmark survives as a bastion of good living,
humane thinking and social responsibility, or whether it becomes a nation at
civil war with supporters of Sharia law.
And meanwhile, Canadians clamour
for stricter immigration policies, and demand an end to state welfare programs
that allow many immigrants to live on the public dole. As we in Canada look at
the enclaves of Muslims amongst us, and see those who enter our shores too
easily, dare live on our taxes, yet refuse to embrace our culture, respect our
traditions, participate in our legal system, obey our laws, speak our language,
appreciate our history.. . we would do well to look to Denmark , and say a
prayer for her future and for our own.
The author is
contributing editor for
FamilySecurityMatters.org
Source:
gerryporter.blogspot.com
1 comments:
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