Author: Susan MacAllen
Publication: Family Security Matters
Date: July 23 2007
In Denmark, once-liberal immigration policies
have forced huge governmental change and zero tolerance for Muslim immigrants
intent on turning Denmark into an Islamic welfare haven. FSM Contributing
Editor Susan MacAllen reveals a shocking reaction there and lessons America
must learn.
In 1978-9 I was living and studying in Denmark.
An elderly woman to whom I was close said something to me one day that puzzled
me for many years after. I forget what the context of our conversation was,
but she commented that I - as a young American in Denmark - should not let
any Dane scold me about the way America had treated its black population,
because the Danes in her view treated their immigrants at least as badly.
I wasn't sure which immigrants she meant, so I asked her. She answered that
she meant those from the Middle East.
But in 1978 - even in Copenhagen, one didn't
see these Muslim immigrants. The Danish population embraced visitors, celebrated
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. And meanwhile, Americans clamor for stricter
immigration policies, and demand an end to state welfare programs that allow
many immigrants to live on the public dole. As we in America look at the enclaves
of Muslims amongst us, and see those who enter our shores too easily, dare
live on our taxes, yet refuse to embrace our culture, respect our traditions,
participate in our legal system, obey our laws, speak our language, appreciate
our history . . . we would do well to look to Denmark, and say a prayer for
her future and for our own.