Part of an article that appeared the other day:

"Perhaps Ahmad Vincenzo [a Muslim living in Italy] would like to open the Corriere della Sera for July 28, just three days ago. He will find, under the rubric "Cronache," a story titled: "Genova, polemica sulla moschea. Il sindaco; non voglio il minareto." [Genoa, a polemic on the matter of the mosque. The mayor: I'm opposed to the minaret."] In this story we learn about the demands of Muslims in Genoa to build a mosque with a minaret, right smack in the historic center of Genova. They want to do this despite the fact that there are only 8,000 Muslims in Genova, which is less than 1% of the total population -- and not all of them are even citizens. It is, Mayor Marta Vincenzi says, a deliberate act of using the minaret to send a message of o'erweening power: "Simbolo troppo forte in citta."

And supplementing the story about this minaret controversy is a discussion with Paolo Branca, a professor of Arabic and of Islamic studies at the Catholic University of Milan, who explains that the minaret was never required by the tenets of Islam, but came to be as a deliberate imitation of, and out-towering of, the campanile, or Christian bell-tower. It was meant to symbolize the power and might of Islam, of Muslims, over Christians and their symbols. It is prompted by the same impulse -- to express Muslim power and to win over the impressed -- that requires, under the Shari'a, all non-Muslim houses of worship to be built on lower ground than any nearby mosque. Muslims and Islam must dominate the skyline, as they must dominate in the world.

Oh, in Italy right now, all kinds of people are waking up to Islam. Not everyone of course. Not those Italians -- still a very small group -- who converted, or reverted, for whatever sad-eyed reasons, such as Ahmad Vincenzo. One wonders if Ahmad Vincenzo is the product of one of those couples where one of the pair is Muslim, the other not, but the non-Muslim ends up converting in order, if male, to be able to get married at all. Or is he one more of the psychically marginal who, having not understood Islam, converted and then, only later, when it was for him just a little too late, found out a bit more about the Faith, but had, out of necessity now, to stick with it?

[Posted by Hugh at July 31, 2008]

Posted by: Hugh at August 7, 2008 9:04 AM

Mohammet declared war on the world, with his pocket god Allah to have all humanity submit to him. Why should a declared enemy to our freedoms, they who want to enslave us to their Allah/Mohammetan creed (of total body and mind submission) be allowed to pray with us? It makes no sense to let your enemies come and pray with malice in their hearts, our conquest, while also demanding they build their minarets as mandatory signs of their power over us. This is totally ridiculous, a fiendish sleazy advance by Mohammetans to undo our free and envied Western civilization, under the guise of 'interfaith'. It's merely more war conquest for Mohammet, who still rules over his slaves from the grave 1400 years ago.

No more new mosques in infidel lands, and certainly absolutely without a doubt, NO MINARETS in Italy and Europe. Let the Mohammetans go back to pray in their own lands.

Posted by: Battle_of_Tours at August 7, 2008 10:07 AM

I think Muslims should be kicked out of all western countries because down the track they pose a threat to our freedoms, I have seen how fanatical they follow their cult down to the last commandments of 'Allah' which is are really 'Mohamed's' really.
They are a threat, all I wish is that western countries wake up before it's too late and stop importing these zombies of Islam.

Posted by: Metroplex at August 7, 2008 4:22 PM

I tip my hat to these many fine, alert Italian officials who have the compunction to stand up and defy the zombies.

No cathedrals/churches or synagogues in Saudia Arabia? Then ZERO mosques in Italy!

Posted by: boneshack at August 7, 2008 5:41 PM

Marta Vincenzi, the centre Left mayor of Genoa, said the council wanted to open an inter-religious centre "where members of the three monotheistic religions - Christians, Jews and Muslims - can all go to pray".

May I suggest the nearest subway restroom.

Posted by: Briars at August 7, 2008 6:41 PM

Islam is not a religion. 1,400 years of The Jihad support this assertion.

Posted by: mike trivisonno at August 7, 2008 7:49 PM

When the anti-dhimmi awards come around, we've got to give an anti-dhimmi country of the year to Italy.

Posted by: Voltaire at August 8, 2008 2:32 AM

Yeah! The Italians are really showing some moxie!

Posted by: ElizaDoolittle at August 8, 2008 1:25 PM

In another thread I posted an article about Muslims in western China.

It featured a town full of mosques and minarets. Male Muslims spilling out of the biggest mosque, all over the road, obstructing the public carriageway while busily and ostentatiously conducting Prayer Drill (military exercises by any other name: see Tawfiq Hamid on the significance of the closely serried ranks of praying Muslims).

So: along comes a Chinese truck, playing MUSIC very, very loudly and spraying water. Lots of Muslims getting some extra ablution whether they want it or not.

Now: where is the city mayor in Italy, say, who - finally having had enough of the public nuisance caused by the traffic-blocking footpath-blocking antics of Muslim Public Prayer Drill - can take a leaf out of the Chinese book?

Easy enough to adapt to a more civilised society. All one has to do is simply schedule a procession of road-washing trucks (you know, the ones that squirt lots of water out the side, with big rotating brushes to follow up) through the vicinity during prayer times. With large brawny Italian guys driving them, singing right along to an in-truck stereo set to Verdi or Puccini at full blast. Verdi's 'Dies irae dies illa', perhaps. Or Vivaldi's 'Gloria'.

(Any mayor who did this would, of course, have to have a lot of no-nonsense carabinieri up his sleeve beforehand, ready to nip any possible riot in the bud).

All complaints by Muslims would be met by the bland statement that the streets need regular cleaning and the municipal schedule says that the trucks go down that street at that time, if you don't like getting wet, stay off the public carriageway, drivers can play music if they want to because it's a boring job; end of argument.

The Muslims have been pushing, pushing, pushing. It's time for the kafir to push back, hard.

Posted by: dumbledoresarmy at August 9, 2008 8:53 AM

once upon a time no non-Muslims at all were allowed in Saudi Arabia. Can we call that apartheid??

anyhow, now they are allowed in. But no respect or freedom is given to their religions or desire to pray in churches, etc., of their choice. CAn we call that apartheid, jimmy carter?? Or what would you call it jimmy? Does the Saudi money that you get influence your perceptions, jimmy? Yet you regularly call Israel an "apartheid state." Non-Muslims face other restrictions and humiliations too in the Saudi kingdom. What say you jimmy?

Posted by: Eliyahu at August 12, 2008 7:17 AM