From AP, with thanks to Kemaste and KJL:
BERLIN (AP) - Shop signs in Arabic and Turkish, storefront mosques and women wearing headscarves in the streets are evidence of how new arrivals have found a slice of home in Berlin's heavily immigrant Neukoelln neighborhood.For years, Germans viewed such neighborhoods as a sign of a tolerant, multicultural society. But the Nov. 2 slaying of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh allegedly by an Islamic radical has raised alarm in next-door Germany, which is home to more than 3 million Muslims.
Fears that growing alienation between immigrants and majority Germans could lead to strife have prompted politicians including Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to send a message to Muslims immigrants: Learn German, fit in, commit to democratic rules.
In Neukoelln, where 80 percent of elementary school students are not German, some civic leaders say the debate underscores something they have said for some time: Immigrants are not going to conform to mainstream German society over time.
More than anything, politicians and law enforcement officials worry that Muslims who reject German culture are more susceptible to radical Islam - a fear stoked by the fact that three of the Sept. 11 suicide pilots lived and studied in Germany. One politician has urged that imams be required to preach in German to help authorities keep tabs on them. Germans would like to see more Muslim immigrants like Alev Ozbingol, 22, who recently left Turkey to join her Turkish-born husband in Berlin and look for a job.
I wonder if it has occurred to those pols and cops that it might be the other way around: Muslims who are more susceptible to radical Islam might reject German culture, and no amount of "reaching out" will change that.
No, I doubt it has:
Buschkowsky says it's time Germany made a new push to reach out and integrate its Muslims."Those who feel shut out," he warns, "become easy prey for hate preachers and criminal groups."
But what of those who choose to be shut out? Is attachment to Sharia and jihadist radicalism really bred by being "shut out"? Then why did it exist before such communities in Germany even existed, let alone before they were "shut out"?
Hmmm.... given what I know of Germany and Germans and their history, I think I would intergrate as fast as possible if I were a Ausländer.
They should be integrated with the sea.
They can dress in western fashion and act integrated, but when they go to the mosque their true identity would be strengthened yet again.
Sad but true - the Germans today are so frightened of appearing "racist" that they have let the immigrant muslim population get away with murder. I spent some time in Hamburg back in the mid-90s and gangs from the muslim areas would beat up German teenagers, rob stores and run protection rackets in the red light district. The local press turned a blind eye to this crime wave for fear of "offending" the immigrant community. Indeed on one occasion a Turkish gang stormed a late-night Kurdish cafe and machine gunned the place. Two died and fifteen were injured - the story made page ten in the main local paper . According to locals I got to know there, the Hamburg police were barely able to contain the violence let alone try and stop it. The politicians and top cops were worried about the prospect of "civil unrest" if they tried to really crack down on the problem. That was ten years ago, God only knows how bad it's got since then.
This being "shut out" excuse for radicalism is nonsense. I've felt "shut out" in the nation I'm in now at times (quite a different place than my homeland, different language, different culture) and I would never have expressed my unhappiness by joining a fascist organization. This excuse is pathetic.
Geoff
..."the Germans today are so frightened of appearing "racist" that they have let the immigrant muslim population get away with murder. I spent some time in Hamburg back in the mid-90s and gangs from the muslim areas would beat up German teenagers, rob stores and run protection rackets in the red light district",
Yeah, and so are we afraid. I was in Home Depot the other day and one of two Latino guys behind me picked up an item for about $1.95 and stuck it in his pocket, right out in broad daylight. I said, "That's pretty blatent theft, isn't it?" I pointed it out to the sales clerk and she said, "We can't do anything unless we see them" and on the way out he smiled at me all satisfied with himself like, "See, we know where we have you. Any fuss will look like you are a racist." or whatever.
People from a totally different culture have a totally different way of dealing with society and ours will slowly change and any one who protests simply 'doesn't like people who are different.'
Am I the only one thinking about these things.?
Spencer hits the nail on the head, and the millions of Europeans now agonizing over this issue of 'integration' of immigrants must take heed.
The problem really (essentially) has nothing to do with 'integration' nor with 'being an immigrant'. (For instance, the EU hypothetically would be blessed by millions of Chinese immigrants who took their time integrating, as many countries around the world have been blessed. Chinatown in Paris, Berlin anyone?). There is only one horrible, terrifying, threatening, issue: the degree to which residents (the vast majority of which are 'immigrants') believe in Islam, i.e. take the Qu'ran, hadiths, and sira seriously. That is the whole ball game, so to speak. That is what threatens the very existence of European societies.
I saw Tony Blair interviewed last night. Another European leader who cannot say 'Islam' and 'our problem' in the same sentence.
Read the Qu'ran and a few Hadiths and follow the instructions: take them seriously as the immutable truth. Just do that Mr. Blair or any Infidel: the problem should be obvious to any Infidel. It is quite simple, because the problem, for Islam, is YOU.
You have been defined as the problem, Infidel, so, quite naturally, you have one.
Perhaps one test all immigrants (whether new or not) should be forced to subscribe to is this: freedom of conscience. Each one should sign a paper explictly supporting the notion that everyone is free to have whatever beliefs they want, without intimidation or threat. Including with that is the absolute freedom to change one's religion, without any threat or intimidation.
Poorly worded (on my part) but you get the idea.
Here is a question and answer from the islam Q & A site that pretty well explains why integration will never happen no matter how easy infidel countries try to make it.....
politics >
Question:
What is the ruling on taking European nationality for a Muslim who has come to a European country fleeing from oppression in his homeland, where he has lost his identity papers and has lost all hope of going back to his country? May Allaah reward you with good?
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
In order to answer this question, we must explain two things.
1 – Whether settling in a kaafir country is permissible
2 – Establishing whether there is a need to take the nationality.
With regard to the first matter, settling in a kaafir country is not permissible unless the following conditions are met:
1- There should be a legitimate need for settling in their country, which cannot be met in the Muslim lands, such as trade, da’wah, officially representing a Muslim country, or seeking knowledge that is not available in a Muslim country either because it does not exist there, or what is available is not of good quality. Or there should be fear of death, prison or torture, not mere harassment, for oneself or for one’s family and children, or fear for one’s wealth.
2- Settling there should be regarded as temporary, not permanent. It is not permissible to have the intention of staying there permanently; rather one should have the idea that it is temporary, because settling there permanently means that one has migrated (made hijrah) from the land of Islam to the land of kufr. This clearly goes against the ruling of sharee’ah that it is obligatory to migrate from the land of kufr to the land of Islam. Having the intention of staying there temporarily means that when the need to stay in the kaafir country no longer applies, one will get up and leave.
3- The kaafir country in which one wants to settle should be one which is at peace with the Muslims, not one which is at war with them. Otherwise it is not permissible to settle there. A country is regarded as being at war with the Muslims if it is hostile towards the Muslims.
4- There should be religious freedom in the kaafir country, so that the Muslim will be able to practise his religion openly.
5- He should be able to learn the laws of Islam in that country; if it is difficult for him to do so then it is not permissible for him to settle there because that implies that he is turning away from learning the religion of Allaah.
6- He should think it most likely that he will be able to protect and maintain his religious commitment, and that of his family and children, otherwise it is not permissible for him to settle there, because preserving one’s religious commitment takes precedence over preserving one’s self, one’s wealth and one’s family. Whoever meets this condition – and how difficult it is to meet it – is permitted to settle in the land of the kuffaar, otherwise that is forbidden to him, because of the texts which clearly forbid settling there and enjoin migrating from such lands, as is well known, and because of the great danger which that poses to religion and morals, which no one can deny except one who is arrogant.
Secondly: there should be a legitimate need for taking the nationality, such as the benefits for which the Muslim has settled in the kaafir country being dependent upon his taking the nationality. Otherwise that is not permissible for him, because taking the nationality is an obvious manifestation of befriending the kuffaar, and because it involves speaking words which it is not permissible to believe in or adhere to, such as approving of kufr or man-made laws. Moreover, taking the nationality may lead to staying in the kaafir land permanently, which is not permissible, as stated above. Having established these two points, I hope that Allaah will forgive the Muslims who settle in kaafir lands for the great danger that they have exposed themselves to, because either he is forced to settle there and necessity makes permissible that which is ordinarily forbidden, or to serve an interest which outweighs the harms. And Allaah knows best.
Shaykh Khaalid al-Maajid, Faculty Member, College of Sharee’ah, Imaam Muhammad ibn Sa’ood Islamic University. (www.islam-qa.com)
Notice this statement "because taking the nationality is an obvious manifestation of befriending the kuffaar, and because it involves speaking words which it is not permissible to believe in or adhere to"...obviously muslims can never become citizens of infidel countries because as I have stated before they cannot say and mean the oath of citizenship.
The Germans, because of their history, are the most reluctant to do anything about this cancer. Nobody wants to be called a Nazi.
But the Neonazis and skinheads seem to have joined forces with the Islamic mob, since it is
" always the Jews" and Israel that's causing all the problems...
Germany is a nightmare. (It always was)
Islam is able to adapt to the kind of rhetoric above with a little slight of hand (taqiyya). Of course, one is free to believe whatever they want. Allah has made people free and 'there is no compulsion in religion'. But, as the text makes clear, only those who freely accept the revelations of the Prophet are deserving of moral and social esteem and full rights in a truly 'Godlike' society, i.e. Islamic society, which all believers are obligated to strive for, through da'wa and jihad.
Likewise, everyone is free to change one's religion without intimidation by people. But one choice leads to blessedness, full moral rights and esteem; all other choices lead to damnation and alienation from ways of life that Allah has commanded for humanity. Hence, believers may allow for the free choice to reject Islam (which Allah sees, for he knows and sees all things) but believers are obliged to defend the faith against those who would lead people to damnation.
And, if 'believers' leave Islam, they must expect the wrath of Allah, as the Book of Heaven make perfectly clear. No human being can stop the will of Allah, and that Allah's will is set against those who leave the faith is entirely clear. Should justice befall such a person, Allah is the agent of that justice, and let the apostate be so forewarned.
And of the 11 million or so Jews, who lived in Europe before the Holocaust, how many were scientists, how many were artists, how many were doctors, teachers, writers, musicians, actors, business people, tradesmen, philosophers, inventors, etc.?
How many were on the forefront of European intellectual, artistic, cultural movements throughout European history, despite persecution, despite even the Holocaust?
And what is defining the legacy of the 25 million Muslims now living in Europe? What has Islam done for Europe? What is it doing for (or should one say 'to') Europe?
And many Europeans believe that Israel is the greatest threat to world peace: one more lie, in a series of great anti-Semitic lies, brought to you by the likes of John Simpson, the BBC, European media and politicos, like Chirac et alia, influenced by Arab petro-dollars, and ultimately, Islam itself.
Off topic, but I am getting so sick of seeing this story on the BBC, which has now been posted with colorful pictures in both WORLD and MIDDLE EAST for several days (How could one justify giving this story such prominence? Are things really this 'bad' in Israel? And, even if they are, and they are not why leave the story up for days? Would a negative story about Saudi society get left on BBC Online for days on end?).
Here it is:
More demonization of those troubled, racist Israelis who deserve what they are getting
And the message from the BBC: 'The Jihad is justified and working Palestinian brothers. Keep it up!'
That is what John Simpson and company want to tell the world with this story and countless others on how 'bad' things are in Israel.
Human Brain Takes Steps To Integrate Malignant Tumor.
Kidneys Takes Steps To Integrate Parasitic Blood Flukes.
Eyeballs Take Steps to Intergrate River Blindness worms.
Germany can take all the 'steps' it wants... but
they all lead to the grave if it involves encouraging the 'integration' of something so
antithetical to its constitution that, once it is fully-enmeshed in the 'body politic', the happy sura saprophyte is all that is left.
Quote from the 'Blessed' Book:
"No misfortune happens save by Allah's Permission." -Medina Sura 64.
What a Guy!
And as things get worse in Israel, according to John Simpson and the BBC, things get better in Saudi Arabia.
Note how all the very concise, truncated, factual statements (all the really bad stuff), come at the end of the article. By that time, the writers hope, readers will feel too good to care; and, folks like me will not be able to point to the article and say, 'propaganda'.
This little human interest piece has been on BBC online now for a few days. Must be a slow news week.
Geoff, as an expat, I'm 150% with you. "Exclusion" and the "shut out" feeling are miserable excuses for leaving a population at the mercy of immigrant gang-bangers. Where I live and work--an Asian country with a sense of itself that doesn't easily take in the non-Sinitic and non-Austronesian (and even these only in specific kinds)--I get paid on time, am allowed to follow my religion and enjoy a lot of other rights. If I got wind of some gang of Westerners out to terrorize the locals, I'd be the first to go to the police and say, "You need to watch....."
However, something tells me that without the professional race-baiters and pseudo-multiculturalists who are so quick to take to the streets (and are more often than not of old, native stock), a lot of non-Western immigrants would fit in a lot easier.