One of the foremost contrary voices in this silly and suicidal age in the West, Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark, scores Eurodhimmis for trying to dissociate themselves from Denmark. “Dane Sees Greed and Politics in the Crisis,” from the New York Times, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:
COPENHAGEN, Feb. 9 “” Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Thursday that attempts by European companies in the Middle East to disassociate themselves from Denmark or Danish products were “disgraceful.”…
Looking tired after what he acknowledged had been a difficult week, Mr. Rasmussen said in an interview that attempts to gain commercial advantage at Denmark’s expense had struck at the hearts of all Danes.
Mr. Rasmussen did not refer to a particular business organization or country. But his response came in reply to a question referring to attempts in the Arab world by companies associated with Nestlé, the Swiss food giant, and Carrefour, the French retailer, to distance themselves from Denmark. Danish industry estimates it has lost more than $55 million in sales in the Middle East since the furor began a week ago….
Mr. Rasmussen reiterated that there would be no Danish apology for the cartoons. He brushed aside any suggestion that Denmark’s policies requiring immigrants to accommodate themselves to Danish tradition were at fault, and asserted, “We are on the right track.” More broadly, he said, “I see a very clear tendency that other European countries will go in our direction.”…
Note the hypocrisy: someone — the New Duranty Times doesn’t tell us who — made the suggestion that Denmark’s policies requiring immigrants to accommodate themselves to Danish tradition were at fault. Yet during the French riots we heard again and again that they were caused by France’s policies of not requiring immigrants to accommodate themselves to French tradition. It seems as if Europeans are damned if they do, damned if they don’t, when it comes to dealing with their Muslim immigrant populations.
“We have religious extremists who exploit the situation and fuel the flames to pursue their own agenda,” he said. “Religious extremists aim at destabilizing the situation in the whole region.”
The issue will be discussed this week at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Sicily, he said.
Hmmm. Maybe someone at NATO is reading Jihad Watch.
Mr. Rasmussen said he believed that Islam was compatible with democracy but argued that it was incumbent on Muslim immigrants in Denmark and Europe in general to embrace the liberal values of their adopted countries.
“Denmark is a liberal country,” he said. “We do believe in individual liberty and freedom. People can live according to their own customs. However, I think we have to insist on respecting our core values, including freedom of expression, gender equality for women and men, and a clear distinction between politics and religion.”
He will soon discover, if he hasn’t already, that large numbers of Muslims in Denmark don’t endorse freedom of expression, gender equality for women and men, and a clear distinction between politics and religion.
Mr. Rasmussen said the perception of Denmark in the Muslim world had been distorted by falsehoods spread by cellphone and Internet messages across the Middle East.
In particular, he said the government was re-evaluating relations with local Muslim leaders who traveled to the Middle East in December, stoking tensions by showing the cartoons to religious leaders.