Islam in Denmark

13. September 2010 by admin.

Western  Freedom

By Susan MacAllen

In 1978-79 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 1990’s the growing urban Muslim population  was obvious - as was its unwillingness to  integrate into Danish society. 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 and Lars Hedegaard, in which they accurately forecast, 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 found 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 an 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 Hvilshoj.. She makes no  bones about the   new  policy toward immigration, ‘The number of  foreigners coming to the   country  makes a difference,’ Hvilshoj 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.’      

Hvilshoj  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  Hvilshoj dismissed his demand, he argued that in Muslim culture the payment of retribution money was  common, to which Hvilshoj 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 clamor 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.  If  you agree with this article, then please pass it  on.

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