Gates of Vienna has an astounding report (via Vrij Nederland) on how one Dutch lawmaker is describing Muslims as the equivalent of Jews of the 1930s.
http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-jews.html
And this guy's name is Cohen??!!
Where does one begin? For starters, are Muslims in Holland having to live hidden in attics and basements?
Are today's Muslims subject to arrest simply for being Muslims -as opposed to committing crimes?
Are Muslims being rounded up and shipped to death camps?
Are Jews going around and cutting the throats of film producers who make films critical of the Jews' treatment of women.
Are Dutch Jews forcing apostates and critics like Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Geert Wilders to live under armed guard? Did they do so in the 1930s and 40s?
Did Jews in Holland in the 1930s and 40s refuse to assimilate into Dutch society?
Yes, it is true that Muslims in Holland and most other European countries are not well-liked. However, it is undeniable that there reasons for that. The sad fact is that many Muslims, not all, but many, refuse to assimilate into European society, have no respect for the values and traditions of the countries they have chosen to immigrate to and practice intolerance towards those that do not share their faith. In addition, many simply live on welfare while cursing the hand that feeds them. Then there is the threat of terror.The sad result is that innocent Muslims have to live under this suspicion as well. The fact is that the everyday Europeans want to see the Muslims kicked out of their countries, not because they are racists, rather because their hospitality has been badly abused. Their policital leaders refuse to support them, however. They are too afraid.
Yet, it is a stretch to say that European Muslims are being treated poorly. The national governments have bent over backwards to accommodate Muslims to the point of burying their heads in the sand and tolerating a resurgence of anti-Semitism in their lands against their native Jewish citizens. It is also a fact that Jews in countries like Holland, Sweden and others are leaving rather than put up with the daily harassment. Those, like Wilders, who speak out and tell the truth face the threat of assassination and prosecution. It is a situation that defies not only common decency but common sense as well.
The ideal is that immigrants should be able to live in harmony in their adopted countries. Yes, the Europeans share part of the blame for not insisting that immigrants assimilate. Now they are paying the price. Yet, ultimately, it should be a given that immigrants would assimilate. Why immigrate and start life over in a country with which you do not accept the values and tarditions? Certainly many European Muslims would love to do just that. I suspect those Muslims are afraid to speak out and condemn the bad apples and radicals in their midst. They already have the example of Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
That's a pretty crappy analogy. In fact, I'll give it to you that even though I think you make some bad comparisons to today's events and what happened in Germany in the 1930s, this analogy is far, far worse.
OK, Lance,
I made a crappy analogy. Could you please be more specific? Where did I go wrong?
I'm just talking about how you always liken what's going on with today's anti-Semitism to what happened in 1930s Germany.
Oh, and let me make this clear: I'm basically agreeing with you. Comparing today's Muslims to the Jews of the 1930s is the "worse" analogy to which I was referring.
Well, we all agree on analogies. I make some judicious use of analogy when I think it illuminates a subject, but it is never proof. I am particularly skeptical of analogies that take the form "what's happening to penguins in Antarctica today is exactly like what happened to elephants in Kenya fifty years ago."
There is no "new black," nor any "new Jews." Whatever the pros and cons of substantial Muslim immigration to Europe, whatever the crimes individual Muslims may have committed, in the name of Islam, or using their Muslim identity as a rationale (as Italian, Irish, Jewish, black, and other gangs have done in the United States at various times), they are not "just like the Jews," nor are they being treated "just like the Jews." Isn't it wonderful to all be in agreement?
Post a Comment