Denmark: Non-Western women having less children than Danes

Update: updated figures for previous years.

A long-time trend of fewer births among immigrants means that their birthrate is now lower than for ethnic Danes. While Danish women have 1.9 children on average, non-Western immigrant women have 1.6. [Ed: 1997: 1.97/1998: 1.94 ]

This according to new data for fertility in 2009, provided by Denmark Statistics for the Integration Ministry, but which hasn’t been published yet. The birthrate among immigrant women has been cut by more than half since 1993, when the average woman had 3.4 children, twice as many as Danish women did.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

Garbi Schmidt, senior researcher and Phd of Islamic Studies at SFI (National Centre for Social Research) sees several explanation for this development.

One is that ethnic minority women are postponing having children in order to further their education. There’s now a lot of emphasis on having more people study, and the educational system is very competitive.

Another reason is that the immigrant way of life is becoming more and more similar to that of Danes. Immigrant are copying Danish norms and values regarding family, marriage and education. This means that ethnic minority women put off creating families, and this also affect the men.

Garbi Schmidt also thinks that the stricter laws for family reunification led to this development. Last year an SFI study she led showed that some youth of ethnic minority background postpone marriage to these laws. This means, she says, that they’ll have children at a later age, and possibly fewer children.

Manu Sareen, integration consultant and member of the Copenhagen city council (Social Liberals), says that this development is ‘totally wild’ and that it is due to a decade of political attention. Throughout the years there’s been a silent revolution among minority women, who are breaking away from the social traditions. The government were super good in supporting this development with projects, mentors etc. There’s no doubt, he says, that this is one of the fruits of this effort and that the integration ministry can be proud of it.

He adds that a change in the migration pattern might also play a role in this development. Today many immigrants from non-Western countries come from the cities and are more educated than those who came in the 1990s.

Karsten Lauritzen, integration spokesperson for the Liberals, agree and is happy about the development. He says it shows that many immigrant women are educated and employed and that integration is advancing.

Source: Kristeligt Dagblad (Danish)

Today Hijab Style brings you a quick interview with Katrin Meyer, founder of the Moroccan-based hijab company Modiste.

Jana: Tell us a little about yourself?

Katrin: Salaam alaikum! I’m a revert to Islam, German, living and working at the gateway between East and West. Upon completing my studies of Islam in 2001 I worked long-time as assistant of an Arab ambassador in Berlin. From this exposed position I witnessed over the last decade the increasingly negative image of Islam in the West, marked by associations such as aggressiveness, oppression of women and backwardness.

This discrepancy between Islam’s timeless beauty and truth and its contrary outside perception has since been my great concern because it has far-reaching consequences: It prevents Muslims living in Western societies from an equitable participation in the social and political life.

Jana: What’s the idea and ethos behind Modiste?

Katrin: The negative image of Islam doesn’t have anything to do with its essence. Rather with some of its outer forms of appearance and wrong conclusions of those who don’t know better. In order to rectify this distorted picture, it’s certainly not the message that has to be changed, but rather the way of communicating it. Fashion is unique in the sense that it is a subtle medium of communication with an immediate effect.

Modiste hijabs are designed to reflect the universality of a divine religion. Islam by its very nature is vital and progressive and not necessarily Oriental. The misconceptions about Islam – oppression of women, lack of innovation – are actually a reflection of the current state of Oriental social structures. Our major goal is to empower Muslim sisters through a style of clothing that is less charged with connotations.

At the same time we want to simplify hijabi life style. All our hijabs are simply pulled over the head, no need to wrap, pin or knot. Maybe it is because of my European background, but I’ve never got used to the traditional headscarf. It might look good if you’re skillful, but it’s not practical. We would like to offer an alternative to those, who feel the same.

6.1 THE IMPORTANCE OF EATING MANNERS
Eating manners are very important since it is repeated many times every day. It must be done properly whether eating alone, with family, or with friends. To avoid pretenses, you should train yourself in proper eating manners, whether alone or with your family. It will then become a natural part of your behaviour, and you will be at ease at the table.

6.2 THE MANNERS OF EATING
There are certain table manners that are indispensable. Say ‘Bismillah’ when starting, to thank Allah and say ‘Alhamdulilah’ when finished. Eat what is in front of you. Eat using your right hand. A hypocrite was eating with his left hand when the Prophet saw him and advised him to eat with his right. The man falsely said ‘But I cannot’ The Prophet said ‘May it be so’ and the hypocrite was not able to lift his right hand again.

The companions of the Prophet followed his example in stressing the use of the right hand while eating. Omar was Khalifa when he saw a man eating with his left hand and similarly advised him to eat with his right. The man answered ‘My right is busy’ Omar repeated his request and the man repeated his answer. Omar asked him ‘What is it busy with?’ The man answered that it had been severed in one of the battles. Omar blamed himself for neglecting such handicap and ordered the treasurer to provide the man with a servant to help him.

If eating with your hand, use three fingers with small bites, lifting it gently with ease to your mouth. Close your mouth while eating to avoid unnecessary noises. To eat on the floor is nearer to what the Prophet used to do. However, there is no problem to eat at a table. Imam Ghazali said, ‘To eat at a table is to make eating easier and there is nothing against that.’ Do not start eating ahead of the elders or the nobles. If you are the elder, do not commence eating before everyone is at the table.

It is preferred that eating should not be conducted in silence. It is good manners to talk during meals. Topics should be nice stories suitable for eating. At the end of the meal, if hands are to be washed, the elder or the noble should be asked to proceed first.

At the end of a meal, thank Allah as in the Hadith reported by Abo Dawood and Nasa’i in ‘the deeds of day and night.’ Thank Allah who fed us and provided us with drink. It is very appropriate to make a prayer for your hosts as it is reported by Muslim that Al-Migdad ibn Al-Aswad reported that the Prophet said, ‘May Allah feed those who have fed us, and provide drinks to those who provided us with it.’

Do not express your disapproval or dislike of certain foods. Either eat it or pass it over quietly. Abu Huraira reported that ‘the Prophet never expressed his dislike of a food. If he liked it he will eat it. If he disliked it, he will set aside.’

Do not put in your plate more than can eat. Leftovers could be thrown out, it shouldn’t, and wasted. Put smaller portions twice rather than one large portion that you will not eat. The Prophet did not approve of leaving any food in a plate since as he said ‘You don’t know which portion is blessed’. Food is a blessing of Allah, to misuse it is contrary to Islam. Do not forget the poor and the needy who do not have the portion you are throwing away

6.3 THE MANNERS OF DRINKING
Drinking manners are no less important. To start in the name of Allah is a must. Use your right hand to drink. Abo Dawood and Tirmizi related that Hafsa (RA) said ‘the Prophet used his right hand for eating and drinking. He used his left for other things [such as personal hygiene].’ Do not pour your drink down your throat in one gulp. Drink it in three sips. Ibn Abbas reported that the Prophet said ‘Do not drink like a camel. Drink twice or thrice. Say the name of Allah before drinking. Thank Allah after finishing.

Do not exhale in your glass. This will irritate others and will smudge the glass or the cup. Ibn Abbas reported that the Prophet forbade exhaling in a glass or puffing into it.

Do not drink directly from the jug or the container. Beside being unhygienic behaviour, others may want to drink after you who could be irritated. Abo Huraira narrated that the Prophet forbade drinking directly from the mouth of the sheepskin or the flask.

6.4 AVOID GLUTTONY
Modesty is the crown (hallmark) of the common people. Keep this crown on your head if invited to a feast or if you are presented with food or drink. Do not be gluttonous devouring food as if you have not eaten for a long time, or as if you have not seen such excellent food before. Do not sample every dish on the table. People, even generous hosts disapprove of greedy eaters. Be reasonable and moderate in enjoying the generosity of your hosts.

6.5 GOLD AND SILVER CUTLERY
Do not eat using golden or silver plates or cutlery. This goes against the spirit of Islamic modesty. Pomposity is not an Islamic trait. Bukhari narrated that Huzaifa said the Prophet said ‘Do not drink in golden or silver cups nor eat in such plates.’ If you were a guest, simply ask your host to replace it with another one.

from the book ISLAMIC MANNERS
By Shaykh Abdul-Fattaah Abu Ghuddah (RA)

Related posts:

1. Social Manners with the Elderly
2. The Manners of Conversation
3. Manners of Visiting

Copenhagen: Criticism of imam proposal to mediate in gang attacks

The Danish People’s Party (DPP) is demanding that the government intervene in the case of the Netto supermarket branch which had to close due to violence and threats against the employees. Sharp criticism of the mediation efforts between Netto, imams and gang leaders.

The DPP is demanding the government act, and asks Justice Minister Lars Barfoed (K) to intervene in the case of the Netto branch in Blågårdsgade in Nørrebro (Copenhagen), which had to close last week after violence and threats against the employees.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

“This is an appeal saying that it’s important that the government and the Copenhagen municipality will get their act together and do something about the troublemakers in Nørrebro,” says the justice and integration spokesperson Peter Skaarup, who wants more gang members in jail, better options for deporting criminal foreigners and better police efforts in Nørrebro.

“It is important that the police recaptures the area and show that they’re the ones who decide,” says Peter Skaarup.

He also lashed out at imam Abdul Wahid Pedersen, who proposed to mediate between Netto and immigrant groups in Nørrebro, with the informal gang leader “Little A” in the lead.

“For me it looks like a completely crazy idea, that imams and extreme groups will decide anything. It’s not their department and it should never be, either,” says Peter Skaarup.

Politicians in the Copenhagen municipality were also outraged at the imam’s attempt at mediation.

“It’s a dangerous development and deeply problematic to have religious people solve problems, and I don’t want to participate in Little A’s, Abdul Wahid’s or Jønke’s [Hell's Angels spokesman] media circus. They don’t contribute anything,” says Lars Aslam Rasmussen, a representative of the Social Democrats on the council.

He stresses that the perpetrators who caused fear among Netto’s employees are a hard core, which is not within educational reach.

“It’s the police, who will deal with them,” he says.

“I can’t understand that any special imam will get involved in this. Why would a religious man and a local gangster, who plays fandango in the area, solve a conflict,” Lars Berg Dueholm (Liberals) told Berlingske Tidende.

Manu Sareen, representative for the Social Liberals, called the mediation attempt a “difficult issue”.

“It’s always good when people sit down and want to solve problems on their own. But it’s not just any citizens involved in this conflict. I’m afraid it will send a signal to other people that “it’s us, who set the agenda, it’s us who decide’. We’ve unfortunately seen it before, when the youth began to search people in Nørrebro. It’s a slippery slope, which concerns me,” he says.

———–

Local in Nørrebro shake their head in response to the proposal to put the head of the Blågårds Plads gang in the position of peace broker in Nørrebro.

Resident spokesperson in Mjølnerparken, Mohammed Aslam, summarizes as such the proposal to position one of the gang conflict’s most central people – Little A. – as one who would try to bring peace and tolerance to Nørrebro.

“If ‘Little A’ now decided to lay down all crime and get a freshs start in life, then it’s good. But if that’s not the case, it seems very strange, that he would act in the role of peace broker,” says Mohammed Aslam.

In an interview to Politiken on Saturday, ‘Lille A’ said that he’s given the vandals order to act properly. At the same time Imam Abdul Wahid Pedersen suggests that ‘Lille A.’ (Abde Benarabe) will be involved in trying to bring calm to the Netto business.

Abde Benarabe has been charged in several crimes, including shooting in Christiania and an assault with a tuning fork. But he’s never been convicted of anything.

According to the police, Hells Angels had plans to kill Little A. when his big brother – ‘Big A.’ – was convicted for violence and extortion in the Copenhagen court last year. The murder attempt was frustrated when passer-bys acted.

Instead of including Benarabe in the negotiations about Nørrebro’s future well-being, the head of the Father’s Group in Nørrebro, Khalid Alsubeihi, suggests to establish a parents council who would advise disadvantaged families on their criminal children.

———–

Imam Abdul Wahid Pedersen wants to go forward with his proposal for a peace meeting between gang leader Abde Benarabe (Little A.) and Netto, the imam said after massive criticism of the proposal to put one of the most central figure in the Copenhagen gang conflict in the position of a peace broker in Nørrebro.

The meeting is supposed to stop further violence and harassment against the employees of the Netto shop in Blågårdsgade, but just the debate about the meeting has been good, says the imam.

“The purpose of all of this was just to get Netto to feel safe again and reopen the shop, which will all want,” says Wahid Pedersen.

“And Abde (Benarabe) clearly said that the community in the Blågårds Plads area support Netto, so in this way the debate about the meeting has been beneficial,” he says.

The row started more than a week ago, when a cashier presumed to close the cash register where some local youth stood in line, due to technical problems. They cashier was beaten up (see video here), and since then their colleagues had been harassed on the street.

Q: You have no problem at all about making a notorious gang leader into a peace broker in public?

“Now he’s certainly not convicted of anything, people should remember that. But my primary aim was something else, namely to get people around Blågårds Plads to show that they support Netto,” says Wahid Pedersen.

Q: And so you have no problem with giving a man, who’s associated with organized crime, the title of ‘peace prince’?

“It might be that such a title would contribute to obligating him. But again: my aim was to involve the community here and get the parties to talk, so we could all get Netto back in the area,” says Wahid Pedersen.

Netto the police and the municipality will meet on Tuesday to discuss the situation.

Source: Berlingske Tidende 1, 2, 3 (Danish)

Netherlands/Belgium: The link between crime and ethnicity

In the Netherlands, half the Moroccan youth get in trouble with the police by the time they’re 22. A third of this group are repeat offenders with more than 5 incidents on their record, according to a new study published in the recent issue of the Tijdschrift voor Criminologie (Journal of Criminology).

To the surprise of the authors, it turns out Moroccan girls commit three times as many crimes as Dutch girls. An multiple offenders are on average not more violent than people who commit a crime every now and then. According to another study in the same issue of TVC, asylum migrants commit more crimes than ethnic Dutch or regular migrants. An evaluation of of both studies, and the question is whether this study can be generalized for Belgium. Not so.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

The link between ethnicity and studying criminality is a sensitive issue. Registration of somebody’s ethnic background soon brings charges of ‘racism’. In Belgium there are no studies about this issue, but in the Netherlands there are. TVC devoted an entire issue to this subject.

A new study by Arjan Blokland, Kim Grimbergen, Wim Bernasco and Paul Nieuwbeerta is central. They followed everybody who was born in the Netherlands in 1984 (!) until they were 22. They checked how many times these people got in trouble with the police for a crime.

Such a study was never done before. Though it did appear already before that that the number of immigrants in the annual group of suspects in the Netherlands is twice as big as their part in the population. And also that about a third of all registered crimes in the Netherlands are committed by a non-Western immigrants. And you had another study by the city of Rotterdam, which showed that in 2007, more than half of the Moroccans in Rotterdam aged 18-24 got in trouble with the police at least once for a crime. The recidivism in this group is around 90%. These studies were snapshots and could therefore be biased. Never before was a complete birth ‘cohort’ (a group from a certain birth year which is followed for years) from across the Netherlands followed. That did occur now.

RESULTS

What are the most important results?

* 14% of these youth from 1984 got in trouble with the police at least once. Among Dutch men that was 20%, among Moroccan men 54%.

* Immigrant youth got in trouble with the police for a crime more than ethnic Dutch. This is true for all immigrant groups (Moroccans, Turks, Antilleans, Surinamese..)

* Moroccan boys are on average the youngest when they were first registered (17.6). The average starting age for Dutch men is 18.5. Moroccan boys also got in trouble with the police most often, on average (4.1 times).

* Turkish men commit mostly violent crimes, Dutch men are registered for destruction, disturbing the public order and traffic offense. Moroccan men commit property crimes.

* 5.4% of all girls born in 1984 got in trouble with the police at least once as perpetrators. For Dutch girls that was 4.5%, for Moroccan girls 16.6% (3.7 times as many). In the crime statistics, not only are Moroccan boys overrepresented by also Moroccan girls. This finding undermines the widespread idea that Moroccan girls are much better behaved than Moroccan boys. By Moroccan girls the crimes were mostly property crimes (presumably shoplifting) and very little violence. Girls from all backgrounds are less violent than boys.

With the group of criminal girls, Surinamese and Antillean girls commit percentage wise three times as many violent property crimes as Dutch girls.

* What’s the situation with repeat offenders? The authors define anybody who was registered more than five times for a crime as a repeat offender. Among men, that was 3.4% of all men born in 1984, or 14.9% of all criminals in this group. But the differences between the ethnicities are great. For Dutch men, it’s 12.8% of all criminals, for Moroccan men it’s 32.3%, almost three times as many. Most repeat offenders committed at least one violent crime, but in general their criminal career is not more violent than that of other criminals. The latter also surprised the authors.

Repeat offending is a man’s thing: the number of men who do it is 11 times the number of women who do it. However, it’s remarkable that the percentage of repeat offenders among Moroccan girls (7.4% of all female criminals) is twice as high as that of ethnic Dutch (4.8%). In total, barely 0.3% of all women born in 1984 is a repeat offender, and the same goes for 5.4% of all female criminals.

* Delinquent immigrants are more violent than delinquent ethnic Dutch. That is true both for one-time criminals and for multiple offenders.

* The Turks are most like the Dutch, though they too commit more crimes and are more violent than the Dutch.

EXPLANATIONS

The authors don’t bring any real explanation. They do discuss all possible options.

* They say that the cultures and religions of these groups differ enormously. Therefore, the explanatory factor can’t be that.

* The lower social-economic position of all immigrants certainly plays a role, for three reasons:

- Because in the lower circles have more negative “role models” (people who made it socially thanks to crime) than in the higher ones.

- Because the process of becoming an adult takes longer, and therefore the “criminal transition in puberty” also drags on longer and the risk is greater that this criminality would be lasting.

- Because various social factors can have negative neurological effects for small children, which encourage aggression.

But.. the lower social-economic position is not the decisive factor, since Dutch from the same low social class get in trouble with the police less for crimes than immigrants from that class.

* Being well or badly integrated in Dutch society also plays a small role. It’s been suggested that for Moroccan boys, the criminal group is better integrated than the not-criminal group. Moroccans with a strong focus on the Netherlands are often more frustrated that they can’t realize their desires from their disadvantaged position than Moroccans who aren’t focused on the Netherlands, say the authors.

* Social control does seem to be an important factor. This social control plays out both in the family and in the community. Social control could explain why Turks score so ‘well’: the Netherlands has a strong Turkish community, but that doesn’t apply to the Moroccans. Moreover, the Turks see petty crimes as “losing face” and that doesn’t apply to the Moroccans.

And yet, social control can’t explain everything either, since Moroccan girls are highly controlled, probably more than Dutch girls, certainly in their family, and they also score extremely high in the statistics.

* Does registration by the police play a role? A study from 1999 showed that there is little evidence that immigrants are treated differently than ethnic Dutch by the Dutch police. The fact that HALT cases (alternative sentences for petty crimes by minors who confessed) aren’t included in the statistics, since in such cases there’s no record, can mean that the number of ethnic Dutch is underestimated, because this group is over-represented in HALT. And the policy to focus on certain disadvantaged neighborhoods and repeat offenders can lead to an over-representation of Moroccans.

On the other hand, it seems that the differences between immigrant and ethnic Dutch are even bigger in studies in which everybody says which crimes they’ve committed, than in the police statistics. And so the effect of the registration factor could be limited.

The authors conclude that linking ethnicity and risk-factors for criminals on individual, neighborhood or social levels is a complex issue. “The danger exists that people will see ethnicity and culture as an explanatory factor, while ethnicity is just a social category which at best refers to other underlying causes,” they argue.

CRIMINALITY OF ASYLUM MIGRANTS

In the same issue of TVC Jan de Boom, Erik Snel and Godfried Engbersen published a study about the link between ‘asylum migration’ and crime. They checked how many asylum migrants were suspected of a crime in 2004.

Asylum migrants include both asylum seekers and recognized refugees, even those who got Dutch citizenship. Also rejected asylum seekers (ie, illegals) are included in the term ‘asylum migrants’.

3.4% of the recognized refugees were registered as suspects in 2004. This figure increased to 5.4% among asylum seekers (who were still in the process) and 10% of rejected asylum seekers. There more crime among asylum migrants – with an average of 5.1% suspects – than among ethnic Dutch and regular migrant groups, say the authors. In 2004, 1.5% of all ethnic Dutch were registered as suspects, 6% of Moroccans and 7.5% of Antilleans. But the data is difficult to compare, because asylum migrants are a specific group: (then still) mostly young men with strong social frustration and deprivation.

Mostly it’s petty property crimes (16% committed a single theft or shoplifting, 9% a robbery), and forgery (using false documents). According to the authors it’s notable that the worse the legal status of an asylum migrant, the higher their criminality.

AND BELGIUM?

What’s the situation in Belgium? We don’t know. In the Netherlands you can register the ethnic origin of perpetrators and suspects, compare databases and do scientific research on this subject. In Belgium – mostly due to the pressure of the PS (Socialists) and the privacy commission – not yet. In Belgium just recording somebody’s ethnic origin is ‘racist’ for some groups.

The few studies about the over-representation of foreigners (in Belgian studies that’s mostly people with a foreign nationality), the crime statistics in Belgium are invariably focused on possible police and court racism and on social exclusion. Cultural explanatory models are taboo here. As the reactions to the studies of Marion and San showed..

Comparisons between Belgium and the Netherlands and generalizations from one country to another should be done carefully. For multiple reasons:

- The Netherlands has certain groups of immigrants (Surinamese, Antilleans) that Belgium doesn’t. Belgium does have others (Congolese, Black Africans). These groups have different cultures and can’t be all thrown together. It should be said that the Dutch study of Blokland and co was about people who were born in 1984 in the Netherlands. This means that a number of ethnic groups now present in the Netherlands and Belgium (Russians, Kosovars, Serbs) weren’t included, since in 1984 they were behind the Iron Curtain.

- In Belgium a study like that of Blokland and co isn’t yet possible, because our country only has such crime statistics since 2000. So it’s not that simple.

- Integration is different. Moroccans are probably better integrated in the Netherlands than in Belgium. The employment percentage in the Netherlands is any case higher than here. In Belgium unemployment among immigrant youth in Brussels is up to 50%. It’s not clear what role this plays in criminality.

- The dutch police works – at least on the local level – more efficiently and professionally than the Belgian police. It’s not clear what the results could be: more registration of Moroccan suspects (through possible racism) or less (due to no-go-areas)?

If the Belgian police and courts are more racist than their Dutch counterparts is doubtful. A study by the Comité P showed that just 16.4% of the complaints lodged against the Belgian police for racism between 2005 and the end of 2008, were founded. And the only study about possible discrimination in the detention of Moroccans – the study by Dr. Walter De Pauw from the Department for Criminal Policy about the handling of drug crimes – showed that there was no discrimination.

The scientific study of the link ethnicity-crime is still unexplored terrain in Belgium. TVC explains the big difference between Belgium and the Netherlands by the ‘tendency of the government to keep the crime problem in relationship to migrants out of the discussion’. TVC moreover thinks that ‘The Belgian migration debate threatens to be reduced to a debate about Islam. That debate drives apart supporters and opponents and doesn’t only disturb the social dialog between population groups, but also the climate in which scientific research is done.’

But the Belgian attitude is more the rule than the exception in the West. According to TVC, the crime-migration relationship can only be spoken of in England if it’s brought up as a question of selective policing, racism and deprivation. Germany is very cautious about studies about people’s ethnic background since WWII, and in France there are only French, no Frenchmen with another ethnic origin.

However wants to have a crime policy, both preventive and repressive, must abandon these taboos. The fact that the Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism is now asking for ethnic registration (specifically to research the social evolution of regularized illegals) is a positive sign.

See: TIJDSCHRIFT VOOR CRIMINOLOGIE, Criminaliteit, migratie en etniciteit, 2010, (52)2, Boom Juridische Uitgevers, Den Haag

Source: John De Wit, GvA (Dutch)

Netherlands: Muslims, PVV share dislike of gays

The acceptance of homosexuality in the Netherlands is growing. Religious Protestants and Muslims have the most difficulty with it. Looking at political preference, PVV voters in particular are negative towards gays.

Those are some of the findings from a report of the SCP (Institute for Social Research) about the acceptance of homosexuality in the Netherlands. The study, conducted for former minister Ronald Plasterk (Emancipation), was presented Thursday. In 2008, says the SCP, 9% of the people had a negative attitude towards homosexuality, compared to 15% in 2006.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

The report devotes considerable attention to religious and ethnic minorities. In addition there’s a separate SCP publication about homosexuality in Protestant Netherlands. Homosexuality is a very sensitive here here, but in religious-Protestant and, to a lesser degree, in “bevindelijk” Reformed circles, there are, according to the SCP, ‘careful positive changes relating to homosexuality’. Among Evangelical Christians, gay-emancipation is impeded, because many there don’t accept homosexuality as a given, says the report.

Among the immigrant Dutch, half see homosexuality as a lack of respect and loyalty to the family. Moroccan, Turkish, Chinese and, to a lesser degree, also Surinamese gays sometimes don’t out themselves, because they would then cause disrepute to the whole family.

The SCP also checked the relationship between political preferences and gay-acceptance. A negative gay attitude is most common among PVV voters (11%), followed by CDA (9%), and the VVD (5%).

Supporters of GroenLinks (Greens) and the SP (Socialists) are the least negative towards homosexuality. The data for small parties such as the ChristianUnion and SGP (religious Christians) aren’t known, since there were too few supporters in the test sample. There does seem to be a correlation to belonging to a church. The SCP says that of those who go to a church every week, 34% have a negative attitude towards homosexuality, compared to 4% among those who don’t belong to a church.

Source: Nederlands Dagblad (Dutch)

Denmark: Fewer immigrants voting in municipal elections

Immigrants and their descendants in Denmark are increasingly leaving democracy. From 1997 to 2009 the share of foreigners who voted in municipal elections fell by 11% in Copenhagen and 17% in Aarhus.

This according to a historically extensive study, conducted by the Ministry of Integration.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

“It should be noted as a very dramatic drop, which certainly isn’t good for democracy. There’s negative socializing, where immigrants meet other immigrants, who don’t vote either. It’s a bad loop,” says one of the authors of the study, Kasper Møller Hansen, professor of political science at the University of Copenhagen.

44 municipalities contributed to the study, the biggest one of its type in the world, and which included 2.4 million votes just in the 2009 municipal elections. 37% of immigrants and 36% of their descendants voted in those elections, compared to 68% among ethnic Danes.

The integration ministry’s think-tank produced a series of reports from 2000 to 2007, in which they set goals for successful integration. In a report from 2001, the think-tank recommended to get foreigners to ‘engage in the political life of society on an equal footing with Danes.” But since then fewer foreigners went to vote.

“It’s sad and very problematic democratically, that it’s gone the wrong way. One of the most important criteria for integration is vote turnout,” says CBS professor Erik Bonnesen, head of the now defunct think-tank.

The Council for Ethnic Minorities is looking for volunteers to inform immigrants and their descendants about the political process.

“It’s incredibly important that the municipalities take proactive action and create confidence in the system by foreigners, long before the elections. I met many who didn’t think it was beneficial to vote,” says the head of the council, Lally Harpal Parwana.

In March the government and the Danish People’s Party limited foreigners’ right to vote in municipal elections, and now they need to have lived in Denmark for four years before being able to vote.

Integration spokesperson for the Social Democrats, Henrik Dam Kristensen, says the development was ‘deeply worrying’ and blames the government.

“This shows that integration didn’t work well enough at all. The government failed time and time again in this area, and now there should be more focus on democracy – you must simply make sure to provide better information,” says Henrik Dam Kristensen.

Integration Minister Birthe Rønn Hornbech (V) is upset by the result, but insists that there have been enough efforts to get foreigners off the couch.

“I’m naturally disappointed, but you can’t force people to vote. We distributed brochures and posted informational material in the libraries, and then people can take it or leave it. I think we’ve done a lot,” she says.

Q: what do you think this says about integration?

“It’s an indication that people didn’t understand yet what it means to be a citizen. But it’s also painful, that just two out of three Danes votes. It is way too little.”

Source: Politiken (Danish)

Paris: Police bans ‘anti-Islamisation’ pork-and-wine street party

Paris police on Tuesday banned a controversial “pork sausage and wine” street party planned by extremist groups to combat what they saw as the “Islamisation” of a city neighbourhood.

The event was planned for Friday evening at a time when the district’s streets are usually jammed with Muslims coming out of mosques and just before Algeria were due to play England in the football World Cup.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

But police banned the event and any rival gatherings in the Goutte d’Or area of northern Paris’ 18th arrondissement, or district, saying in a statement that it was likely to cause “serious risks to public order.”

The plan had sparked outrage from politicians and anti-racism groups who said it was blatantly racist and could lead to violence on the streets.

The controversy comes after a government-sponsored debate on national identity earlier this year spotlighted anxieties about the integration of France’s five to six million Muslims.

The Goutte d’Or party, or “apero geant” as it was called in French, was a new and politically-charged take on a growing trend in France for huge open-air drinks parties organised on the social networking site Facebook.

Many of them have been banned because authorities fear mass drunkenness.

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The street party, whose two main components of pork and alcohol are forbidden by Islamic teaching, was scheduled to be held on Rue Myrha, where there is a mosque.

A French government minister of Algerian descent, Fadela Amara, on Tuesday condemned the planned party as “hateful, racist and xenophobic.”

Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe for his part voiced concern that the drinks party could turn violent, while the head of the main Paris mosque located in another area invited the faithful to attend prayers there to avoid clashes.

A rival group on Facebook had set up a “halal and mint tea” party in response to the pork and wine event.

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Source: AFP

Denmark: Medina should change her name

Stripping, bare legs and and erotic texts don’t go with Muhammed’s final resting place, the holy city of Medina in Saudi Arabia

And according to several sources in B.T. it was this combination which caused a small group of 2nd generation immigrants to throw eggs at the stage Saturday, when pop star Medina gave a concert to a partying audience in the Copenhagen suburb of Ishøj. (see clip here)

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

Medina, the queen of Danish pop, is not even Muslims, but of Chilean origin. Her name is a result of a visit to a numerologist, and has nothing to do with Islam or Saudi-Arabia. According to her manager, Medina is a very common name in Chile.

B.T. spoke to several sources in Ishøj, who confirmed that religion is the background to the much discussed egg-throwing at the singer.

“Men can go in t-shirts and shorts and show bare skin. Girls can’t do such things in Islam. Medina is a holy city for Muslims, and therefore she should change her name,” an anonymous 16 year old told B.T. and added, “when she has a name that is so significant in Islam and does a video where she shows her ass to the public, she makes the religion look like crap.”

But according to Manu Sareen, integration consultant and member of the Copenhagen city council for the Social Liberal Party, it’s a misunderstood image.

“It might well be that the youth themselves say it has to do with religion, but it’s not,” he told berlingske.dk.

“Many of the youth think they know a lot about Islam. They use Islam as a religious identity marker, but in reality they don’t know very much about the religion,” he says.

With his knowledge of the area, Manu Sareen says that the egg throwing is a symptom of the fact that some minority background youth are in the middle of cultural radicalization.

The youth have difficulties in school, have difficulties getting a job, and don’t have luck with women. And so they look back for roots in another culture, he says.

“Many get a rigid approach to their own culture from birth. For example, in connection to their view of gender and appraoch to equality, says Manu Sareen.

He points out that the youth’s role models are their parents and when their parents are offended by bare skin in music videos, it rubs off on the youth.

“They they suddenly hate Medina. It’s an indication that they have no opportunities themselves. There’s a girl who stands on the stage and is successful, and it exposes their own failure. Everybody wants to be big, also out of the so-called ghettos,” says Manu Sareen.

Conservative MP Naser Khader doesn’t believe Manu Sareen’s explanation about social marginalization.

“Naturally it has something to do with religion. It’s about the link between Medina’s name, clothing and the holy city, where Muhammad is buried,” says the politician, who himself has bodyguards due to threats from extremist groups.

Naser Khader also points out that the hip-hop group Outlandish played in the same place in Ishøj – without being attacked with eggs.

The prophet Muhammed died in 632 and was buried in Medina. It was here that Islam finally evolved into a separate religion.

There are 137 Danes named Medina.

Sources: B.T., Berlingske Tidende (Danish)

France: Prejudices on the rise

More than one in 10 French people admit to being racist and many have prejudicial views of immigrants, homosexuals, blacks, Arab and Jews, according to a survey released Sunday.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

A poll by the BVA institute for two anti-discrimination groups found, for example, that 30 percent of the French agree with the idea that Jews have more influence on finance and the media than other groups.

Almost as many, 28 percent, think that Arabs are more likely to commit crimes than members of other groups, a number that has more than doubled since a similar poll was conducted last year.

A significant minority of the French, 15 percent, admit to being “rather or a bit racist”, up one percent on the previous study.

Almost half of respondents, 49 percent, thought that immigrants are better able to exploit the social welfare system than are the native French, and 12 percent said homosexuals were more obsessed by sex than others.

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Source: Expatica (English)