Muslims and the Maypole

Since 2006, when Bruce Bawer wrote his illuminating book entitled While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within, the situation has worsened tenfold. Not surprisingly, when his book was first published, Bawer was accused of Islamophobia. Yet as early as 1998, Bawer noted the widening divisions between the liberal and democratic policies of the Netherlands and the fact that "Dutch Muslims kept that society at arm's length, despising its freedoms[.]" In the late 1990s, Bawer and his male partner decided to live in Amsterdam because it seemed to him to be "the one place [he'd] ever been where homophobia really seemed to have disappeared." He felt that the Netherlands had moved from the "foolishness of [American] fundamentalism," and although he loved America "not because of its wealth or power, but because of its culture and values," he wanted to really know what it meant to be an American by living elsewhere as a means of contrast.

Once in the Netherlands, Bawer began to appreciate "American virtues" that he'd always taken for granted – most importantly a "belief in the future." He found that while he enjoyed the culture of Europe, he also saw that much of Western Europe was "bound up with a stifling conformity, a discomfort with excellence and an overt disapproval of those who strove too visibly to better their lot" – in short, "mediocrity." He saw that France and Germany were "plagued by low growth and rising unemployment, a direct consequence of welfare state policies." He also realized that Europeans "had been fed a zero-sum understanding of economics." In addition, he perceived that "fundamentalist Muslims were on the march and their numbers and power were large and growing rapidly – and the ultimate objective was far more than a ban on abortion or gay marriage." A sea change was overtaking Europe that involved female genital mutilation, viewing women as property, and subsidies from the Dutch state as well as from Islamic governments that taught hatred of Jews, Israel, America, and the West. The very countries that these Muslims were living in were to be scorned, since they were meant to be replaced by a Muslim caliphate governed according to sharia law. But surely, Bawer believed, this could not be permitted. He naively presumed that such contempt for pluralism, open-mindedness, democracy, and sexual equality would not be tolerated. Instead, political correctness, spineless leaders, and Islamic intimidation worked their magic so that in 1998, "Europeans were clueless" as to what was occurring under their very noses. Exploiting the generosity of Western welfare states, the Muslims view this as proper dhimmitude status, wherein the host countries pay a jizya or tax. Muhammad clearly established that people of other religions have to pay a poll tax to Muslims as a reminder of their inferior status. Thus, welfare is the jizya and is expected by the Muslim community. Consequently, Europe cowers before Muslim demands, and with the help of a compliant or indifferent media and government leaders who do not raise any salient issues, the caliphate continues its march forward. Furthermore, a double standard exists. For example, for "native Swedes, the minimum age for marriage is eighteen; for immigrants living in Sweden, there is no minimum." Fast-forward to the Syrian refugees presently flooding across European borders, and the result is an "average of three child brides arriving each week in the Netherlands." Abigail R. Esman writes of "child brides married against their will. They are 11, 13 and 14 years old. Some are pregnant and others are already mothers at 14. Their husbands are 25 or 38 or 40." This is their plight, with no end in sight. And yet, as Bawer earlier asserted, "the European establishment has been reluctant to challenge even the most reprehensible traditions brought to Europe by immigrant groups." Nicolai Sennels quotes a police inspector in Sweden who recently stated that "[t]he legal system, which is a cornerstone of a democratic society, is about to collapse in Sweden." Thus, "54 areas ... are now controlled by criminal gangs and more places also by religious extremism[.]" The European governments are permitting – in fact, encouraging and aiding – these travesties. What happened in Cologne "is nothing[.] ... [T]hat happens here every day" is the headline emanating from Berlin. Ingrid Carlqvist has been writing about the deteriorating situation in Sweden for years. Mass immigration is continuing to claim victims in Sweden. Murder, assaults and rape have become everyday occurrences in this small country, with a population just short of ten million, which last year opened its doors to almost 163,000 immigrants. Although the massive influx of asylum seekers has decreased drastically since January 4, when Sweden implemented border controls on the Swedish/Danish border, the people who are already here pose a giant problem to municipalities, police and citizens. The police are fighting a losing battle against street crime, as well as daily incidents at asylum houses – general disturbances that include fights, rapes and threats. Now known as the rape capital of the West, Sweden is experiencing a crime wave that has "increased by 300% and rapes by 1,472%." Most shocking is that "in an astounding number of cases, the Swedish courts have demonstrated sympathy for the rapists, and have acquitted suspects who have claimed that the girl wanted to have sex with six, seven or eight men." And while Sweden does not report on the background of the rapists, this increase in violence parallels the immigration, over the past 10-15 years, of people coming mainly from Muslim countries where they have been taught since childhood that it is perfectly acceptable to assault infidel women. As a result, "demand for firearms licenses is increasing; more and more Swedes are joining shooting clubs and starting vigilante groups." In essence, Swedes "have lost confidence in the State" and now aim to protect themselves. In the fall of 2005, Mikael Tossavainen wrote about "Arab and Muslim Anti-Semitism in Sweden." Often Arab and Muslim pupils indicate an "appreciation for the genocide of European Jewry," or they deny the Holocaust altogether. A number of Muslim anti-Semitic websites exist in Swedish, the best known being Radio Islam. It began broadcasting in the 1980s, and the content accuses Jews of "being sexually perverted, brazen, and greedy, and committing ritual murders[.]" Yet "the connection between anti-Semitism, Islam and Muslim mass immigration remains a mental no-go area in Sweden." Malmö, Sweden has always been governed by Social Democrats. They count on 70% of the Muslim vote. Instead of protecting the Jewish residents of Malmö, Swedish police chose to revoke the Jews' right to assemble for a peaceful pro-Israel demonstration. As a result of the rampant anti-Semitism, Jews have moved to other Swedish cities or to Israel. But as Bawer points out, the "mendacious rhetoric" against America and Israel is rampant throughout Europe. An attack by an Arab gang on young Jews in Antwerp, Belgium is merely recorded as "violence between two communities." Moral equivalence repeatedly rears its ugly head, even though Muslims in Europe have not been attacked by Jews and unlike anti-Semitic acts, which are applauded by influential figures within the Muslim community, anti-Muslim attacks are isolated incidents that no respected person or institution approves of. Finally, the number of anti-Muslim attacks is dwarfed by the number of attacks on Jews. Since 2000, anti-Semitism in France has been epidemic. There is a "tendency in Swedish society to become more lenient towards the expression of anti-Semitic attitudes that could be related to the Middle East conflict." And when courageous souls speak out against the terror being inflicted by Muslim immigrants, they, and not the criminals, are arrested. Michael Hess, a local Swedish politician, tried to explain to journalists that misogyny is deeply rooted in Islam's culture, which teaches that it is acceptable "to rape and brutalize women who refuse to comply with Islamic teachings." He asserted that there was a "strong connection between rapes in Sweden and the number of immigrants coming from the Middle East and North Africa. For his factual revelations, he was charged with the "denigration of ethnic groups," which is a crime in Sweden. This echoes Bawer's description of the defamation of Simon Petrus Fortuyn, better known as Pim. Pim argued that the Dutch government should stop issuing residency permits to imams who "preached that Dutch women are whores and gay men lower than pigs [.]" Instead of applauding his courage, the establishment turned against his "intellectual energy and moral determination." Bawer's book makes for dismal reading, as what he warned about is happening at lightning speed in Sweden and the rest of Europe. It is poignantly visualized in this Dry Bones cartoon. And we, across the pond, should not delude ourselves. The same thing is underway right here at home. Eileen can be reached at middlemarch18@gmail.com.