Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Italy: Italian Mayor Stands up to Muslim Prayer Demands

From Il Giornale. Translation by Fousesquawk.

In the small town of Palma Campania, near Naples and Mt Vesuvius, an estimated 2-4,000 Banglasdeshis have settled. The streets of the town are dotted with phone centers and money transfer shops. Now the Banglasdeshis, who are Muslim, are demanding the right to pray in the public squares and streets on Fridays. The mayor says no because it will become a problem of public order that the town is not equipped to deal with. In return, the Bangladeshi community is comparing him with Matteo Salvini's Lega party and calling him a racist.

http://www.ilgiornale.it/news/napoli/palma-campania-paese-ostaggio-dei-bengalesi-1758123.html

Palma Campania, the "hostage town" of the Bangladeshis

Protests from the Bangladeshi community after the mayor said no to prayers in the public squares. The first citizen: "What racism? I don't have the power."

-Francesca Bernasconi  Wed, 25/09/2019 - 11:12
Palma Campania is a town in the shadow of Mt Vesuvius, but it closely resembles a city in Bangladesh.
Here, in fact, a massive presence of Bangladeshi foreigners has settled. According to the registry office, of 18,000 residents, there are only 2,000 foreigners, but the unofficial statistics count it at at least twice that number.

And for some weeks now, the mayor, 34-year-old Nello Donnarumma, has been under attack, blamed for having denied the Bangladeshi community  of the possibility to pray in the squares and the streets. "They have presented me with a sheet of paper with four lines with the name of the street, the day and time-and that's it," explained the first citizen (mayor) to Verita- "And then, for reasons of public order, I said no. Racism is not involved, politics is not involved, it is only organizational and technical management." The Muslim community, in fact, would have liked to meet every Friday to pray in public squares. " A scenario  that cannot be proposed in the present state." In order to guarantee security, in fact, numerous local police officers would have to be deployed, a force that the municipality does not have. 
The mayor declares he would have to consider a specific service for the event and "leave the rest of the city unattended". Besides, in Palma Campania, in the case of events not organized by the municipality, they would have to consider private sources to pay security officers.

After the "no", the Bangladeshi community protested against Donnarumma, asking for a no confidence, but the first citizen is not giving in. "I have explained clearly to everyone that I will continue to say no if there is no concrete assistance: Men of the forces of order are needed to lift this burden from us of managing alone this type of ceremony." In the meantime, however, he has requested the convening of a meeting with the other administrations in the zone to attempt to discuss the situation. 

It is not a question of racism and the mayor points out that he supports the importance of protecting all religions. "But I am responsible for public security in my municipality and I cannot permit that there are situations which are potentially dangerous."  And on Facebook, he confides: "If you try to enforce the laws of the state and guarantee security, you are accused of being  (a member) of the League or a racist."



Headline on Newspaper (photo)

Palma Catania: Muslims cannot pray on the street.

Sub-title: Mayor's ordinance for reasons of public order. Bangladeshis: "Close to the Lega (League)"

 
 "If you try to enforce the laws of the state and guarantee security, you are accused of being  (a member) of the League or worse yet, a racist." Integration also  (involves) the transposition and respect for the norms of the laws of the Italian Republic. And on that, we will continue to be unmoving with all due respect to the false victimization of those used to the free zones. 
Bitterness? Much. Surrender? Never.
In reality, the first citizen of Palma Campania specifies to Verita, "there is a 'problem' with the Bangladeshi community, and it is of a hygienic-sanitary character.. "Of an official population of 2,000 residents, 90% is composed of men who live in disastrous conditions," he says and specifies that in some locations of less than 50 square meters, 15 to 20 persons live.

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