I have just received this email from Wim Van Osselaer, who works in the Flemish parliament for the Vlaams Belang party, concerning my post here about the Vlaams Belang and the British National Party, and in the interests of fairness am posting it here:
I can confirm to you that the BNP was NOT present at the meeting and press conference of Cities Against Islamisation. Our party doesn’t have any contacts with the BNP.
I send you hereby the English text of the charter that was presented to the press by the participating parties. The BNP didn’t join and wasn’t present, simply because the party wasn’t invited.
I send you also the URL of the weblog of Pieter Van Boxtel: http://groups.msn.com/pietervanboxel. Pieter is chairman of the Vlaams Belang group in the municipal council of Malle (look at http://www.malle.be/bestuur/gemeenteraad/samenstelling.aspx). Pieter is Flemish and … of Indonesian descent.
Here is the Cities Against Islamisation Charter:
Charter for “Cities against islamization”
By means of this charter the participating organizations lay the foundations of the connection of cities named “Cities against islamization.”
Conclusions
“Cities against islamization” concludes that since the renaissance the West in general and Europe in particular have renounced all religious dogma’s and replaced the standards resulting from them by standards and legal rules that are based on a multitude of sources like ancient classics, the Jewish-Christian values, humanism, the ideas of Enlightenment, nationalism, liberalism etc.
As a result of this evolution our civilization is now characterized by a respect for the fundamental rights and freedoms. Our civilization is moreover based on values like the separation of church and state, democracy, freedom of speech, equality of men and women etc.
On the other hand at the beginning of the 21st century West-European cities are confronted with substantial Islamic minorities, which are not in the least assimilated and which concentrate in constantly expanding ghettos. This is the result of a too lax immigration policy conducted by different authorities.
“Cities against islamization” concludes that the Islam is more of a social order rather than a religion. This social order is based on the Sharia (the Islamic religious laws, based on Koran and Hadith) and the Uma (the Islamic religious community), which is at odds with the entirety of values and standards, which are part of our European society.
“Cities against islamization” also concludes that at least a part of these Muslims prefers the Islamic divine laws to our civil laws. Within the Muslim population there is moreover an inclination towards radicalization which is expressed in a growing hostility to our western civilization and the values underlying it.
Mosques function like catalysts for the islamization of entire neighbourhoods, since they, as central authorities, emphasize a strict observance of Islam. In doing so they restrain the further integration of Muslim minorities.
Starting points
“Cities against Islamization” resists the multicultural ideology which results in the fact that West-European Muslims publicly live in accordance with their own values. That leads to the institutionalisation of this religion.
“Cities against islamization” resists the institutionalisation of Islam, the official recognition of Islam, the subsidizing of Islamic associations, Koran schools, imams etc. The institutionalisation of Islam will lead to the creation of an Islamic socio-political group which will slow down the integration of the Muslim community.
“Cities against Islamization” is opposed to concessions of the policy makers towards Islam which has for result that the Western values and standards are more and more suppressed in favour of Islamic customs, traditions and values, frequently not being compatible with our Western standards and way of life.
“Cities against Islamization” believes that the individual freedom of religion must be assured at all times – also when Islam is concerned. However freedom of religion cannot be an alibi for generalising or introducing undemocratic or discriminating customs or acts. “Cities Against Islamization” resists the introduction of Sharia law as a replacement for the European rules of law.
Initiatives
Islamization is not a local problem. It’s s a phenomenon taking place in almost all Western European countries and cities. The fast demographic increase of the Islamic population in the West threatens to result in an Islamic majority in a lot of Western European cities within a few decades.
The participating organisations engage themselves to coordinate their initiatives in the fight against the islamization, to organise demonstrations together and to mutually exchange information, with fighting the islamization of the Western European cities in a coordinated and better informed manner as a goal.