I thank Ahmed Hussen for drawing this to my attention. Ahmed is the President of the Canadian Somali Congress and a great force for bringing people together.
Ideas such as the “integration contracts” like the one proposed by Germany’s integration commissioner last month, headscarf bans and other “legal condescension” do not achieve this purpose, he said. Instead they are “damaging populist activism.”While Muslims are regularly accused of an unwillingness to integrate or engage in dialogue, the majority of European society does “very little” to be hospitable or respectful, he said.
http://www.thelocal.de/national/20091202-23675.html
Jewish leader says Swiss vote shows Europe's growing anti-Muslim views
Published: 2 Dec 09 17:43 CETOnline:
http://www.thelocal.de/national/20091202-23675.html
An official from the German Jewish Council warned on Wednesday that Switzerland’s vote to ban mosques with minarets was an expression of Europe's deep-seated aversion to Islam that was aggravating the integration of Muslims.
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The council's general secretary, Stephan Kramer, said that the referendum in the Alpine country on Sunday could be “neither euphemised nor re-interpreted.”“With relative certainty, there's not a single country (in Europe) that doesn’t have more or less similar fears of Muslims and they would have had similar results in a referendum,” he said. Kramer encouraged a more open discussion about how such a referendum on basic rights could even come to a popular vote. The Swiss, Germans and others were not "born to hate foreigners or fundamentally against Muslims," he said, adding Europeans were not engendering an atmosphere of trust.“Those who want integration instead of assimilation, and really means it, must create a climate of mutual respect, acknowledgement and trust,” he said.Ideas such as the “integration contracts” like the one proposed by Germany’s integration commissioner last month, headscarf bans and other “legal condescension” do not achieve this purpose, he said. Instead they are “damaging populist activism.”While Muslims are regularly accused of an unwillingness to integrate or engage in dialogue, the majority of European society does “very little” to be hospitable or respectful, he said. “A climate of trust can only happen if Muslims are naturally entitled to the right to their own religion, culture and language, and cultural diversity is considered to be a benefit and enrichment to our country and not a threat or burden,” Kramer said.
8 comments:
I think it is too easy for us to criticize Europe on topics such as these. In Canada we have chosen to be a multi-cultural society, and I believe we are the better for it. But must all countries choose to be multi-cultural. Is it fair, for example, for Poland to decide it wants to maintain it's Polish character? And if it is fair what does that mean. That's why I lose my ability to fairly criticize Europe. I have a good idea what it means to be a liberal-democratic and multi-cultural society. I don't have a good idea what it means to be a liberal-democratic Polish society. (And I'm not picking on Poland; Germany, France, Ukraine, etc., all have similar challenges.)
Remember this:
"First they came for the Communists but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists but I was not one of them, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews but I was not Jewish so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me."
Martin Niemoeller
Hatred is dangerous no matter who the perpetrator is or who the victim is. A tacit approval of such a hatred leads to bigger human tragedies.
So do you have to have hate in your heart if you want Poland to remain Polish? When France banned the headscarf my first reaction was that this is not consistent with our democracy. But is it with theirs? When one understands what the French Republic stands for you can understand the headscarf ban, which is actually a ban from wearing any conspicuous religious symbols in public. Again, I don't want Canada to build that type of society. But should the French be allowed to build a different type of liberal-democracy? Or must it be like ours?
I'm glad to see members of the Jewish community speaking out about this.
Europe lost the chance to retain its clothing heritage when it let American fashion dominate and turn traditional European clothing into folklore items. To argue banning religious clothing items is intended to protect traditional European dress is ludicrous.
Who the heck is arguing that banning religious clothing items is intended to protect European dress? Did you mean to comment on someone else's blog? Because your comment here seems completely out of place.
anon
Banning minarets and headscarves---Where does one draw the line of "secularism"---if banning religious symbols is OK, will banning religion in the name of "secularism" also be OK?---didn't communism do that?---And what is "French"?---some 16th century concept/culture---or 18th century one---or what?--and how can one decide that a "French Jew" is not "French" or that a European Muslim is not a European?
One thing is certain---we will not find answers to these questions in hate and fear.
I agree with anon 9:40am. But too many people want to force their views on others. They want to force the rest of the world to accept the Canadian and U.S. way of doing things. Sad.
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