Below is a report from our Austrian correspondent ESW on summer issues involving Vienna’s Muslim immigrants.
Reading Austria’s newspaper Die Presse, which caters to a conservative readership, one notices these days a sudden abundance of articles about Islam. This phenomenon usually takes place immediately after the Religion of Peace has shown the world what it considers peaceful action. This is not the case right now. However, there are the upcoming elections, which by nature make politicians wake up from their fitful sleep to call out to their potential voters. The potential voters are, in this case, the Muslim population.
The socialist-ruled city of Vienna has finally taken up the Burqini. There is great excitement among the female Muslim population, which has waited all summer to be able to show some, well, what can they show? Never mind.
The city of Vienna has grave concern regarding some women who wanted to swim in baggy clothing. They were in the pool fully clothed, one with leggings and a shirt, the other in a track suit made of silk.
This is prohibited for hygienic reasons: “If you can’t distinguish between street clothes and swimwear, there are problems with hygiene, “says Mr. Schuster, the superintendent of the Vienna municipal authority for public swimming pools. The women are of the opinion that this problem can be solved. One asked the superintendent what he considered appropriate swimwear for Muslim women.
Good question.
The city council then began to do research on the internet and was successful in finding what the international media was already aware of. The Burqini, a word created by mixing the Burqa and the bikini, is already popular in Indonesia and Australia, where the producer of the Burqini can be found: Aheda Zanetti. Schuster says he want to make the Burqini popular among women within the Muslim population. He wants to enable women to go swimming in the public pools, those who until now have not felt comfortable in doing so. Vienna’s secretary for integration, Sandra Frauenberger, commented that she supports everything that furthers the integration of Muslim women into society.
The Burqini is not available yet in Vienna. However, a number of women have asked about the Burqini’s availability in shops. When asked, a shop owner replied that she knows of no shop that offers the Burqini.
The Islamic Community is excited about the prospect of the Burqini. Andrea Saleh, in charge of women’s matters, believes this to be of interest among younger women. Women wearing a face veil would not show even a toe. Others wear a bathing suit. Still others don’t want to be seen by barely clothed people at all because it is forbidden. Saleh says she is not sure whether the Burqini would even be accepted because women would be stared at as if they were aliens. She also thinks that this good idea might be construed as asking for special favors.
In Switzerland, there are no problems with the Burqini. Women have been swimming in public pools clad in a Burqini for the past three years. And there has been only one complaint so far and it was made anonymously.
From the swimming pool we now turn to :
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Summer Camp in a Quran School
The Muslim greeting “As-salamu aleikum” already sounds good. “Wa aleikum as-salam” is the greeting returned by a choir comprising eleven children.
There are children who play on the Donauinsel [a popular recreation area near the Danube river in Vienna] in summer. And there are children who study the Quran during their summer break. Across from the Donauinsel, in the Islamic Center, Vienna’s only mosque which is recognizable as such, there are 80 children and teenagers taking part in a different sort of summer school in July and August: Arabic language courses, Quran reading, Islamic ethics and religiously correct behavior are part of the program. Four times a week for two hours.
The recitation of Quran suras can be heard from one room, while in another room — painted in yellow, very sparsely furnished — a teacher writes Arabic letters on a blackboard, and the children are practicing the alphabet. “Not all children can participate in (religious education) during the school year, “ says Farees Alkhotani, the director of the Islamic Center. “That is why they are studying now, during their summer break.” There is another reason why the medical doctor from Saudi Arabia considers this crash course on Islam important: “These children need to get to know their identity.” And for the devout Muslim this identity is naturally a Muslim one. While many politicians believe a self-confident Islam to be dangerous for social life, Alkhotani sees this self-confidence as the foundation for contact on equal footing. “If you don’t know who you are you can’t communicate.” Some children feel despised by their schools and the public. “They are torn between two cultures,” says one of the teachers, an Austrian convert.
Admittedly, they do not want to be seen as a closed community. Well-known politicians, Jewish delegations, all of them have paid a visit. There is a good rapport with the neighbors nearby. Still, not everyone feels comfortable with the interest of the media. “Quran school” sounds “dangerous” to Austrians, fears a supervisor. “It’s as if terrorists would be trained here.” No terrorist training. But the imams found in the mosques are not known for their liberal stances: they represent Saudi Wahhabism. The instruction still does not appear as “typically” Quranic. Yes, studying Arabic is important; there is hardly a book to be found other than the Quran. But it is not a strict and prayerful environment, more chaotic and loud. Many teachers have problems subduing the children entrusted to their care.
The children in the German-speaking group are between three and fifteen years of age. Today’s topic — correct behavior towards elders, and Islamic greeting — is not exciting and the children are unruly. “The level (of the children) is varied,” an Austrian teacher moans. The same goes for backgrounds: Many participants are from Arab or African countries; others are from Bosnia or Turkey. But there are also children from Austrian and German converts. It takes some time until a group can be formed.
Of the eight groups only one is for girls because young girls from the age of twelve follow their own program. Apart from studying the Quran, they learn how to cook, knit, do household chores; all very traditional. Upon reaching puberty girls should wear a headscarf, says Alkhotani. Just like Emine, 15, who is covered, but in a body-hugging fashion, all in yellow. She wants to “get to know” her religion.
This is Emine’s last free summer before she starts her training to become a pharmaceutical assistant. She is not very concentrated. But, and this probably also counts, “My friends respect my decision.”
This is Emine’s last free summer until she is forcibly married off by her family they mean.
Where are the Feminazis? Teaching girls to cook, sew and clean! And separating the sexes! If a Christian or Jewish school did that, they would be all over them in a heartbeat.
Western Feminists are largely enemies within. The entire movement of “women’s lib” was nothing but a Marxist ploy to weaken the West, and whites in particular. Now they have succeeded in doing so and import others to replace what they have just destroyed. Some of them even say we need Muslims because we lack “family values.” That would be the same family values they recently destroyed…
So, what’s happening with the case of the politician Susanne Winter, who was charged with “religious agitation” for daring to question the colonization of her country? No Feminists on that case, I bet?
Putin to the rescue!
The West internal rot advancing at a rapid pace due to the Marxist-Islamist virus that destroys whatever it touches. Even look at it can be pernicious and fatal.
It destroyed Russia until Putin came to the fore and launched a successful counter attack: assorted moonbats got plutonium for breakfast, some disappeared in bottomless pits, Muslims in Chechnya and elsewhere having good time with the 72 virgins and anybody making a hissing sound will be shot.
As Hitler once said: “Ordnung muss sein”.
The Western leaders are unable to resist to the further disintegration of their respective societies under the Islamic-Marxist assault so let the neo-Fascist Russians in: under their rule Islamists will disappear overnight and nobody will know as to where.
The Western Liberalism turned against itself, it’s run by parading sex freaks, radical demagogues, self-elected Prophets and anarchist; they intimidate everybody and the people are afraid to say anything critical because of their fear of being called un-cool.
Being un-cool is worst than being a pederast: Putin told them in Moscow to get lost and they did just that. We need somebody like him who could clean up the hog stall we’re locked in.
Muslim Youths
Muslim youths are angry, frustrated and extremist because they have been mis-educated and de-educated by the British schooling. Muslim children are confused because they are being educated in a wrong place at a wrong time in state schools with non-Muslim monolingual teachers. They face lots of problems of growing up in two distinctive cultural traditions and value systems, which may come into conflict over issues such as the role of women in the society, and adherence to religious and cultural traditions. The conflicting demands made by home and schools on behaviour, loyalties and obligations can be a source of psychological conflict and tension in Muslim youngsters. There are also the issues of racial prejudice and discrimination to deal with, in education and employment. They have been victim of racism and bullying in all walks of life. According to DCSF, 56% of Pakistanis and 54% of Bangladeshi children has been victims of bullies. The first wave of Muslim migrants were happy to send their children to state schools, thinking their children would get a much better education. Than little by little, the overt and covert discrimination in the system turned them off. There are fifteen areas where Muslim parents find themselves offended by state schools.
The right to education in one’s own comfort zone is a fundamental and inalienable human right that should be available to all people irrespective of their ethnicity or religious background. Schools do not belong to state, they belong to parents. It is the parents’ choice to have faith schools for their children. Bilingual Muslim children need state funded Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models during their developmental periods. There is no place for a non-Muslim teacher or a child in a Muslim school. There are hundreds of state schools where Muslim children are in majority. In my opinion, all such schools may be designated as Muslim community schools. An ICM Poll of British Muslims showed that nearly half wanted their children to attend Muslim schools. There are only 143 Muslim schools. A state funded Muslim school in Birmingham has 220 pupils and more than 1000 applicants chasing just 60.
Majority of anti-Muslim stories are not about terrorism but about Muslim
culture–the hijab, Muslim schools, family life and religiosity. Muslims in the west ought to be recognised as a western community, not as an alien culture.
Iftikhar Ahmad
http://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk
Iftikhar, your mindless spamming is getting tiresome…
Muslim youths are angry, frustrated and extremist because they have been mis-educated and de-educated by the British schooling.
Rubbish. They’re frustrated, angry and extremists because they’ve been stuffed with ancient Arab superstition that doesn’t do them one inch of good, yet claims to have the answer to all of lives’ problems. Hogwash.
They need proper, rational education for a modern world. If they get that, and ditch the ancient rubbish, they’ll be fine.
If you don’t believe me, go have some camel piss. It’s supposed to cure all kinds of disease, right?
henrik r clausen
Please don’t attribute hostile or disparaging intent to my question:
you have a propensity to silence everybody you disagree with:
you called me a troll to be banned and for what? – you call this Muslim guy a spammer because he uses the freedom of speech to explain himself.
What is your problem with some of us? Why don’t you just advance your argument without banishing and name calling?
iftikhara,
I try to explain where humanity stands regarding national cultures;-I don’t know if you can comprehend.
Every nation and culture want to protect their history, tradition and customs. You do the same in your Muslim homeland and you expect a tourist or visitor to respect your religion and tradition and to behave accordingly. As soon as you are moving to a foreign country you loose all your rights to be different. Got it?
You cannot be ostensibly different from the majority because it implies that you REJECT the local customs, you think your customs are superior to the host nation and this engender hatred and hostility against you.
You say:
“The right to education in one’s own comfort zone is a fundamental and inalienable human right”
Not at all! Who told you that?
Expecting full compliance with local customs and rules are NOT VIOLATION of your human rights. Walking into a mosque with my shoes on is not my human right.
You cannot act like conquering armies who order the population to follow their rules: you are a minority. If you don’t like it you should leave and go back to your country, you have no more rights than the locals have.
You’d better understand or else you will have very hard time in your life ahead.
This comment has been removed by the author.
you called me a troll to be banned and for what?
Bela, I did not.
What I did, specifically, was that I asked you to stop trolling, that is, stop posting inflammatory comments.
Nowhere did I make any request to have you banned. That is a figment of your own imagination.
Please don’t lie. It’s unbecoming.
you call this Muslim guy a spammer because he uses the freedom of speech to explain himself.
Bela, I did not.
What I did, specifically, was to tell him that his spamming is mindless and tiresome.
I stand by that.
You may not have been along long enough to see that particular comment being posted before, and elsewhere. It isn’t real participation in the discussion thread, and thus constitutes spam.
However, I did in fact reply directly to the content of his comment, that the cause of Islamic anger supposedly is Western education, doing a reasonable amount of ridicule over the idea, which I find preposterous.
But one particular thing I ask you not to take offense from, the reference to camel urine. That is an ancient remedy prescribed by Muhammad himself, in the Hadith. That is holy, not derogative. Right?
Why don’t you just advance your argument without banishing and name calling?
I did not engage in name calling. Go check what I wrote.
I did not request anyone to be banned. Go check what I wrote.
And in response to that Muslim Brotherhood spam, I gave a clear reply to the subject of the comment and gave an implicit and well known reference to supposedly holy scripture.
Any problems with any of this?
henrik r clausen
I don’t have the ability and patience to parse every word like a diplomat who loves to do it: I like to translate turgid sentences into simple things;
Stop trolling = shut up and get lost – message for me, I got it.
Stop spamming = shut up and get lost – message for this Muslim.
Here is my take:
I sensed a great deal of honest desperation and sadness in his polite writing devoid of arrogance of uppity demeanor. I hate unnecessary cruelty towards those who approach without offending intent.
While I am completely aware of their horrendous customs from beheading to honor killings (I am nearly not as dumb as you think I am) this guy displayed humility and courteous style…so don’t hurt him.
Henrik,
Bela has learned from post-modern victimology. Then it’s infinitely more important if he (as the oppressed victim) feels that you called for him to be banned, than what actually happened.
And, I guess, from this position the step was not far to side with the Muslim “victim”.
Ah. I’m still stuck with the ancient Greeks.
Who knows, I might catch up one day.
Well, I have to say, this thread reminds me of the days when soviet dissidents, on fleeing to the west, were told by certain intellectuals that their experiences must be lies because the soviet union was this wonderful utopia.
Bela has very good reason the hate the Russians, given what they did. The reality is, what they did then is no different to their previous conquests and previous behaviour, all the way back to the days when they were fighting the Swedish empire.
They still have a grudge about that.
The faces and the names change but the methods and intent remain forever the same. In short, the Russians are bastards and we’d be wise to listen to those old men who faced them the last time they did this.
Of course I should have said “this thread and the previous ones”. Mea culpa.
Graham,
Beautifully said, very sentimental. I’m just waiting for Maureen Dowd to chime in to tell us how Bela’s moral authority is absolute.
Let’s reach a conclusion: I studied a number of forums and the basic setup is this:
Group 1.
Anti-Americanism and pro Russia: All the assorted Leftist,
Far Right and Neo-Nazis
Anti-Israel Libertarians and Democrats (USA),
majority of Western Europeans.
Group 2.
Pro American and Anti-Russian:
Republicans (USA)
Eastern Europeans,
minority W. Europeans,
Subgroup: Euro Hating Republicans (USA)
Cons. swede:
Maureen Dowd is a leftist, I am not. You are off.
The only conclusion I can reach is that hate is pointless.
Come on, CS, I expected better from you.
The behaviour of the Russians prior to Lenin is no different to how they behaved under Stalin and how they’re behaving now. They are a brutal, violent people who often believe themselves to be not quite the same species as the rest of us.
On this matter I trust the words of people like Helen over at EU Referendum, more than I trust you, CS. I trust the words of people who have actually been in the face of Russian aggression, soviet or not and I trust the opinions of people who have studied Russian history and culture. See these are people who know what they’re talking about. I’m afraid you don’t, not this time.
graham dawson:
Your sentence is sacrilege:
“They are a brutal, violent people who often believe themselves to be not quite the same species as the rest of us.”
You are RACIST! Anything negative about Russian people is RACIST! (Sarcasm off).
The Russia lovers will throw you to the lions: America is the Evil! sarcasm off
Be careful!
Oh noes! Racism!
Actually this raises an interesting point. I’ve found that generally, when the R word is thrown in an argument, there’s no point in continuing. That was the general method applied when the spat between GoV and LGF flared up… we, we, the collective entity known as “gates of vienna” with all its contributors and commenters, were accused of being racist because we wanted to halt immigration and in some cases return many (or all?) of those immigrants back to their home countries.
Several here hold the opinion that other races are not of the same stuff as west europeans – that, without judgement or implication of inferiority, they are of different qualities with different “specialisms”. This too is called racism.
I find it a little hypocritical that the people who hold these views are accusing others of racism for holding opinions that are frankly rather more tenable. It just confirms, to me, that accusations of racism are a political tool to defeat and silence people holding opinions that are considered “incorrect” by the those hurling the accusation.
So… I guess I am a racist, for not particularly liking the fact that Russia is acting like a bully, and for stating that he always has. So be it.
Perhaps we should have a badge… 🙂
This forum has turned into a madhouse, an anti-intellectual sewer.
Oh? Care to elaborate on that, CS?
It’s from Bela’s group 2 above that we find the most ferocious haters of not only Russians and Germans but of (Western) Europe as a whole. And unlike this one, the mindless anti-Americanism (in this forum represented by Defiant Lion) is not genocidal in its fantasies.
Unlike European America-haters, the American Europe-haters really want to see the Europeans dead and gone:
Bela: “let’s buy popcorn and watch Europe to submerge into the sewer of her own making.”
Ralph Peters: “let’s eat popcorn while the Muslims kick the Europeans’ teeth in”