by Fjordman
I have seen so many lies and half-truths by Western mainstream media exposed in the blogosphere, especially related to Islam, that I no longer trust them for information. Leading bloggers such as Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs recently demonstrated this by showing how photos distributed by international news service Reuters from Lebanon had been grossly manipulated to make Israel look bad. Blogger Zombie argued, in a very convincing way, that the story about Israel deliberately targeting ambulances in Lebanon was full of holes, quite possibly a complete fabrication. It proves how easily, willingly, many Western journalists believe every piece of nonsense Muslims feed them, as long as it's directed against Israel, the United States or the West in general.
I do read traditional media still, and it would be a lie to say that I never get any useful information from them, but in general, I read them mainly to know what information they are feeding the general public, those who still haven't switched to the Internet to follow what's happening in the world. Here are some of my notes from Norwegian media during August 2006. I suspect many of the trends described here are pretty similar throughout Western Europe. The number one local issue of discussion in Norway this month has been the reactions to the editorial "God's chosen people," published in newspaper Aftenposten by famous author Jostein Gaarder in reaction to Israel's military actions in southern Lebanon, to protect itself against attacks by Iran and Syria through their puppet organization Hezbollah.
Gaarder became rich by writing the novel "Sophie's World," which doubles as a guide to the history of Western philosophy and has sold tens of millions of copies around the world. His editorial has been strongly denounced as anti-Semitic by some, but also received support from many. "I must admit that the reactions have been stronger than I expected," Mr. Gaarder said, and confirmed that he had been frightened by this. "I have said it countless times and I can repeat it again: I am a humanist, not an anti-Semite."
In the article, Gaarder argued that the State of Israel "will have no peace before it lays down its arms." "Israel is history. We no longer recognize the State of Israel. There is no way back. The State of Israel has raped the world's recognition and will not receive peace before it lays down its weapons." "We don't believe in the concept of God's chosen people. We laugh at this people's fancies and weep over their misdeeds. To present themselves as God's chosen people is not just stupid and arrogant, but a crime against humanity. We call it racism." "There are limits to our patience, and there are limits to our tolerance..."
Culture journalist Mona Levin considered the editorial to be "the nastiest thing I have read since [Adolf Hitler's] "Mein Kampf." Gaarder makes it easy for himself, there is nothing that can not be said about Jews today. The same people who would not draw Mohammed out of respect for Muslims can safely say things like this about Jews and Israel without receiving death threats. "It is a shame that a presumably intelligent person calls the Ten ommandments "amusing stone tablets" and kicks away at what both the Christian and Jewish civilizations are built upon," Levin said.
Another much-debated topic in Norwegian media during the same period was an unprecedented rape wave in the capital city of Oslo. "We have seen a dramatic increase [in the number of rapes]," said Endre Sandvik, head of the emergency ward. The number of rapes in Oslo this summer was more than twice as high as it was last year. Brit Opjordsmoen from DIXI, support centre for rape victims, stated in a questions and answers session with Aftenposten's readers that they don't know what percentage of these rapes are committed by people with immigrant background, and that most of these speculations are just "prejudice."
With all due respect, I'm pretty sure that's incorrect, since I've been writing about and documenting this issue for so long that I'm almost getting tired of the subject. The situation is even worse in neighboring Sweden.
Aftenposten have conveniently enough forgotten an article they printed five years ago. In 2001, two out of three charged with rape in Norway's capital were immigrants with a non-western background. Another Norwegian newspaper, Dagbladet, quoted Unni Wikan, a female professor of social anthropology at the University of Oslo as saying that "Norwegian women must take their share of responsibility for these rapes" because Muslim men found their manner of dress provocative. One reason for the high number of rapes by Muslims was that in their native countries "rape is scarcely punished," since Muslims "believe that it is women who are responsible for rape." The professor's conclusion was not that Muslim men living in the West needed to adjust to Western norms, but that "Norwegian women must realize that we live in a multicultural society and adapt themselves to it."
The number of rapes, muggings and assaults committed by Muslim immigrants in Western countries is so extremely high that it is difficult to view this only as random acts of individuals. It resembles warfare. German journalist Gudrun Eussner considers this to be "sexuality as a weapon against disobedient and non-Muslim women, both categorized as "unbelievers". Against them jihad is the duty, and what to do with women "conquered" in jihad, this may be read in the Qur'an: they become slaves to be used by the victors."
French filmmaker Pierre Rehov states that: "A friend of mine is a retired chief of police, who used to be in charge of the security of a major city in the south of France. He reported to me that his men had to face an average of 10 rapes a week, 80% made by Muslim young men." According to Rehov, "I can see in any raping of a non-Muslim woman by a Muslim male a racist action, and it is high time for us to acknowledge and condemn it. The level of contempt towards non-Muslim women is the reflection of the level of hatred towards the society which creates equality between men and women."
American columnist Victor Davis Hanson noticed how "the Western press - usually so careful to condemn hate speech - is utterly silent about Arab racism. But a European paper recently published a cartoon portraying Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as a Nazi, secure that no rabbi would issue threats that could cost the editors their heads."
The newspaper he was referring to was Norway's left-leaning, pro-Multicultural Dagbladet, whose cartoonist Finn Graff published a cartoon depicting Israel's PM Olmert as a Nazi concentration camp commander. The scene came from the movie Schindler's List, in which the commander shoots down a Jew from his balcony. Finn Graff declared only half a year earlier that he would not draw a cartoon of Muhammad out of fear and "respect." At about the same time, a Jew was assaulted by Arabs in the streets of Oslo. In response, the Mosaic Community in Oslo sent out a recommendation to its members to leave the kippah at home, or cover it under a cap. It was also warning its members against speaking Hebrew in public.
There are two ways one can interpret this. Newspapers Aftenposten and Dagbladet have both forgotten that they have themselves previously written about the close connection between Muslim immigration, violence and rape. They are thus at best guilty of extremely poor and incompetent journalism. I find this highly unlikely, however, which leaves only one likely conclusion: Leading Norwegian newspapers know that many of the rapes we now are witnessing in Oslo - and in Sweden, France, Holland and the UK - are related to Muslim immigration, but deliberately choose not to write about this and concentrate instead on demonizing Israel and the USA. I don't think they should get away with this, which is why I keep repeating this issue.
Aftenposten can thus publish an article saying that "Israel is raping the world," but refuse to mention which religious group is committing actual rapes in their own country. Dagbladet can print cartoons comparing the Israeli PM to Nazi leaders, but "forget" to mention that Nazi literature such as Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf is widely popular in even "moderate" Islamic countries such as Turkey. We wouldn't want to fuel Islamophobia, would we?
This is a powerful indication that the Islamization of Western Europe is proceeding apace, and that the anti-Semitism and "Palestinianism" found in Arab media is increasingly adopted by European media, just as described by Bat Ye'or in her work about Eurabia. The scary part is that physical or verbal attacks on Jews or de-legitimization of the state of Israel are spreading to countries were Jews were previously safe, such as the USA and Canada.
No, I was not thinking of Hollywood star actor Mel Gibson, who during an arrest for drunken driving said, "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world," and asked the arresting officer, "Are you a Jew?" Australian actress Nicole Kidman and other leading Hollywood figures such as Michael Douglas, Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis paid a full page advertisement in the Los Angeles Times newspaper condemning "terrorist organisations" such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Palestinian Hamas, thus proving that there is still intelligent life left in Hollywood.
Far worse is that columnist Richard Cohen wrote in the Washington Post that "The greatest mistake Israel could make at the moment is to forget that Israel itself is a mistake." Luckily, some individuals such as Canada's Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper still have their judgment intact. Harper stated that Israel's military action against Hezbollah guerrillas was a "measured response" only a day after Israel sent its forces into Lebanon. Historically, Canada's Jewish voters have stood with the Liberal party or left-of-centre parties. This could change, according to Conrad Winn, head of Compas research firm. "Right-wing voters are more favorable to Israel and Jews than left-wing liberals," which could make the Conservative party more appealing to mainstream Jewish voters.
On July 28 2006, on the eve of the Jewish sabbath, a Muslim terrorist of Pakistani origins named Naveed Afzal Haq forced a 14-year-old girl to get him into the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle building by holding a gun to her back. Haq killed one woman and injured five others. Eye-witnesses reports stated that Haq announced, "I'm a Muslim American; I'm angry with Israel." To a 911 dispatcher, Haq announced: "I want these Jews to get out. … I'm upset at your foreign policy. These are Jews. I'm tired of getting pushed around."
In August, a plot to stage perhaps the largest terror attacks since September 11th 2001 was uncovered. British authorities arrested a number of people, many of them Muslims born in Britain, some of them of Pakistani origins, in what they said was a scheme to blow up as many as 10 jetliners flying from Britain to the United States. "The scale is immense. Inquiries will span the globe," one police statement said. Pakistan's Daily Times reported that an Islamic charity organization transferred "a huge amount" of money to the UK terror plotters — and called it "earthquake relief."
At the same time, German authorities discovered a plot by Islamic Jihadists to blow up several trains in Germany. "I have always said we are threatened by terrorism, and the threat has never been so near," Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told, calling the case "unusually serious." The month before, Islamic radicals with suspected Pakistani links had set off a series of seven bombs on the Suburban Railway in Mumbai, India's financial capital, killing or injuring hundreds of people.
In Norway, a shoot-out between two Pakistani gangs one crowded Sunday evening at Oslo's popular waterfront complex Aker Brygge left two men wounded. These gangs are so violent that the police are scared of dealing with them. Newspaper VG reported that a policeman had to run for his life from an angry crowd of Pakistanis. The plainclothes policeman was hit in the face and told to leave the Furuset shopping center. VG has found out that he was told that it was none of his business being in this area, and that a gang of young men had basically defined Furuset as their turf and didn't accept "intruders." Norwegian authorities have thus already lost control over significant chunks of their own capital city.
Peaceful rallies denouncing Islamic terrorism or supporting Israel have repeatedly been physically attacked by groups of Muslim immigrants. Newspaper editors complain that much of the public debate has been moved to anonymous debates on the Internet. We are now leaving the rule of law and entering the rule of the mob. This was also what happened with the Brown Shirts in Nazi Germany. Those controlling the streets could very well end up controlling the entire country.
Norway's new center for Holocaust Studies opened in Villa Grande, the former home of Vidkun Quisling, the Norwegian Nazi collaborator who was executed by firing squad for high treason following WW2. The HL-Center (The Center for Studies of Holocaust and Religious and Life Stance Minorities) tries to embrace the examination of all types of prejudiced persecution, but with a special emphasis on Jews during WW2. That's great. But it would have been even better had it not been at a time when Jews, and indeed Christian Norwegians, are assaulted because of their ethnic and religious background, and when several Norwegian public figures are actively cheering for Hezbollah, Iran and forces who want to wipe out the Jewish state of Israel, the refuge for the survivors of the previous Holocaust.
Meanwhile, the King of Norway took part in commemorating Pakistan's "Independence Day," at the same time as Pakistani gangs were harassing his own people. King Harald failed to mention the struggle of Samira Munir, politician of Pakistani origins, who was found dead under strange circumstances in November 2005. Munir received repeated death threats for her fight against the veil and for the liberty of Muslim women. She was even pressured by Pakistan's ambassador to Norway on several occasions. Earlier in 2006, there were calls for translating Norway's national anthem into Urdu, since this would be "good for integration." Bruce Bawer in his book "While Europe Slept" describes how there are now more direct flights from Norway to Pakistan than from Norway to the USA. It shows.
It could be useful to reflect on exactly what kind of nation some of our leading politicians are "celebrating." Let's quote the writings of former Muslim Anwar Shaikh on the establishment of Pakistan:
"I regret to say that 1947 was the darkest period of my life. We were told
that murdering the non-Muslims, seducing their wives, burning their properties,
was an act of Jihad, that is Holy War. And Jihad is the most sacred duty of a
Muslim."
"I actually prayed and then I took up a club, and a long knife and I went
out in search of non-Muslims. Those days were remembered for the curfew orders and everybody seemed terrified of everybody else. I found two men, Sikhs, father
and son […] I killed both of them. Next day I did not go to work, I felt nauseated but I wanted to kill some more non-Muslims. I encountered another Sikh at Darabi Road & I killed him too. Often memories of those terrible days haunt my mind, I feel ashamed, and many a times have I shed tears of remorse. If it had not been for my fanaticism, engendered by the Islamic traditions those people might have been alive even today. And I might not have felt the guilt which I still do."
Apologists would claim that the violence between Muslims and non-Muslims in India was "mutual." Well, it started because the Muslims wanted a Pakistan, a "land of the pure" cleansed of non-Muslims. While India still has a huge Muslim population that enjoys greater political freedom and a better economic position than Muslims in Pakistan or Bangladesh, Hindus, Sikhs and Christians have been virtually eradicated in Pakistan. The few remaining non-Muslims suffer from brutal, daily persecution, as do Pakistani women, in a country that has become one of the most important global centres of Islamic terrorism. Yet hardly anybody in the Western press ever denounces Pakistan as an "apartheid state." That is a term exclusively reserved for Israel, where the significant number of Muslim citizens, just as in India, have a better political and economic standing than Muslims in neighboring states.
In Norway, it is probably unprecedented in the thousand years since the city of Oslo was founded at the end of the Viking Age that the indigenous population is being attacked on such a large and random scale. And the government is doing… well, pretty much nothing really, except for hiding the problem as much as possible and continuing Muslim immigration. This isn't good enough.
We are tired of hearing nonsense about "Islamophobia" while our children live in fear of Islamic terrorism. The purpose of the state is to uphold law and order and maintain the nation's borders and territorial integrity. Western European governments are doing neither, yet are busy with political censorship and interfering with details of our private lives where they have no business. It's time they are reminded that they are our servants, not our rulers.
There was a common joke in the old Soviet Union that "We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us." Since the authorities in the European Union now merely pretend to uphold law and order and take care of our interests, maybe Europeans should merely pretend to pay taxes?
Author Jostein Gaarder became a wealthy man by writing about the history of Western thinking for 2500 years, from Socrates to Spinoza. He apparently understood very little of what he was writing, since he fails to grasp that every single achievement of Western thought is now under threat by the very same Islamic forces that are bragging about their plans to destroy Israel.
It is often said that the West is a Judeo-Christian civilization. I know that there are some people who contest this term, and that not all Jews or Christians share this feeling of connection. I do not think it is a cliché. The modern history of Western civilization would be unthinkable without its Jewish component. It is thus our own identity and survival as a civilization that is under threat from Iran and Hezbollah, not just Israel's.
The first rule for dhimmis, non-Muslims living under the apartheid regime of Islamic sharia, is that they should be unarmed and submissive to their Muslim masters. Even some Hamas members have stated that they may be willing to accept Jews living in their society, as long as they accept their subjugation and inferior status. Muslims may not like Jews in general, but they first of all hate armed Jews. Christians in the West should notice that exactly the same rulesapply to Christians as well. When Gaarder argues that Israel "will have no peace before it lays down its arms," he is doing exactly the same thing as Islamic Jihadists, who demand that non-Muslims lay down their weapons and accept Islamic rule, or face annihilation. I'm not sure whether Mr. Gaarder is aware of the fact that this goes for himself, too.
Is this why Europeans hate Israelis so much? Because they fight Islamic supremacy whereas we seem to meekly accept our future dhimmi status?
We only have the moral right to defend ourselves against Islamization if we give the same rights to Israelis. It is the same religious group that is harassing non-Muslim in European cities, that wants to blow up planes over American cities and is murdering Buddhist teachers in southern Thailand. It is high time we acknowledge this. Israel is not the aggressor, it is a brave little nation making up the frontline in an Islamic war that is increasingly spanning the globe. First, they came for the Jews, then they came for everybody else, the story of yet another world war.
Written by well known blogger Fjordman, you can find many of his works at: Gates of Vienna, Islam-Watch, Global Politician, JihadWatch, and his own blog @ Blogspot bearing his name Fjordman.
Pertinent Links:
1) First They Came For the Jews: The Story of Yet Another World War
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