January 2008 - The Female View

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The Female View - January 2008

A Salute to Denmark

January 29th 2008 23:19

Susan MacAllen is a contributing editor for
(FamilySecurityMatters.org)

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,
ceelebrated 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 - 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.
The New York Post in 2002 ran an article by
Daniel Pipes 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 the U.S .: 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," 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."
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.