Scandinavian observations and perspectives

[Chu]

Maybe the above post with some minor edits would make a good article for Danish (and English?) SOTT?

 

[Pierre]

When you turn it 180 degrees you have:

Paris Saint-Germain is a sport club, but that Paris is the only location that kind of lights up, besides Copenhagen which fill the whole picture, is remarkable, considering what else goes on in Paris and France at the moment with its social and political conflicts.

Also Paris football is owned by Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, a Qatari billionaire, Qatar minister in 2013 and chairman of BeIn Sport, an international TV channel.

Al-Khelaïfi illustrates the growing influence of literal Islam (Qatar is the cradle of the Muslim Brotherhood) on Western Europe.

 

[thorbiorn]

This party leader of right wing opinions, that I previously mentioned, infuriates people because he throws around with the Quran and according to one report wraps it in bacon (Hvad er det, man forventer, når man kaster rundt med en koran?) In response some gangs made up of young people of Muslim orientation want him dead and one 19 year old had put a grenade at Blaagaards Square on Tuesday., because the party leader had announced a demonstration in the afternoon, but after the grenade was found, the demonstration was cancelled. Source is 19-årig varetægtsfængslet for at lægge håndgranat inden Paludan-demo

The police forbade demonstrations of this party in the district of Copenhagen, but admitted it was a serious step. Politiets øverste chef: Forbud mod Paludans demonstrationer er alvorligt skridt at tage see also the notice from the police.

Perhaps the present issue with the Quran would not have arisen, if the old blasphemy law was still recognized, but in June 2017 the law was abolished. The logic according to the Bruno Jerup from the left wing party (EL) was it should be possible to critizise religious thought constructions just like all other thought constructions - socialist, humanist and liberalist." All parties with the exception of the Social Democrats voted in favour of the abolition of the old law. This was in 2017, but in the Fall of 2018 there was:

European Human Rights Court Backs Sharia Blasphemy Law

by Soeren Kern
October 29, 2018 at 5:00 am

• The European court of human rights – whose jurisprudence are the subject of 47 European countries, and whose judgments are in all the 28 member States of the European Union legally binding – has been legitimized in the interest of "maintaining the religious peace in a" de facto Islamic laws against blasphemy in Europe.
• The verdict creates a dangerous precedent, one that allowed European States, the right to limit freedom of expression when a certain Expression is suspected to be Muslims can offend and thus endanger the religious peace.
• "In other words: My right to freedom of expression is less important than the protection of the religious feelings of others," says Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff.

The above was published on the site of the Gatestone Institute International Policy Council, founded by Nina Rosenwald about whom the Wiki says:

Nina Rosenwald

is an American political activist and philanthropist. An heiress to the Sears Roebuck fortune, Rosenwald is vice president of the William Rosenwald Family Fund and co-chair of the board of American SecuritiesManagement.[1][2] She is the founder and president of Gatestone Institute,[3] a New York-based a right-wing[4][5][6] think tank with a focus on Islam and the Middle East. The organization has attracted attention for publishing false articles and being a source of viral falsehoods.[7][8][9][10][11]

A descendant of philanthropists and Jewish refugees from Eastern Europe, Rosenwald has focused on donating to pro-Israel organizations. She has been described as "an ardent Zionist all her life".[12] Some critics have categorized her and the Gatestone Institute as anti-Muslim.[3][13][14] Muslims affiliated with the Gatestone Institute have come to her defense in response to this accusation.[15]

Nina Rosenwald - WikipediaOn the Wiki of the institution one finds that John Bolton served as a chair of the institute.

If I separate the messenger (Gatestone Institute) from the message, then I am wondering if there will be an issue in Denmark with the decision last Fall from the EU Human Rights Court and how a political discussion will play out. At least at present, it seems that although there is no blasphemy law, the police is challenged when required to manage the consequences of it not being there.

The police say they discovered that several criminal groups, that often have violent confrontation with each other, (using for instance a grenade and guns) have agreed that this leader of demonstrations is not wanted. This might be significant in the future as the alleged decision by these groups also amounts to a political statement, which would have support among a significant section of the local Muslim community, that is in favour of Sharia like laws. That many might support the criminal groups on this issue is indicated by a survey conducted in 2015 conducted by Jyllands-Posten. It showed that one in 10 Muslims think the local laws should only be based on Sharia, about one in four thinks the laws of the land should be a mix of present Constitution and what the Quran says, while 53.9% thinks the laws of the country only should be based om the Constitution.

The events have brought some politicians to the "ink house":
As a result a party leader of a right liberal Danish Peoples Party, has expressed, and Ekstrabladet reported that: Tulle kommer Paludan til undsætning: Skråplan at forbyde demoer

"Enough is enough! Islamists set parts of Cph on fire because a small demonstration doesn't suit them. And the police response is to ban demonstrations! A slippery slope! I therefore call the Minister of justice in the emergency council to hear what the government will do to ensure freedom of expression for the Danes.

Others have countered the demonstrations by making a collection for refugees in the name of the leader of the demonstrations, and money is coming in, so far more than 100.000 Euro. It is a peaceful way of asking the right wing party leader to change his way of expressing himself.

 

[thorbiorn]

While writing the above posts, I found some articles that might illustrate some of the issues in Scandinavia, but in this instance not with focus on Sweden, which has often been mentioned, but Denmark. One was from the previously mentioned Gatestone Institute, and whether the heading is an exaggeration or not depends on the standard one sets, what one pays attention to and where one lives. Many would probably disagree, but not all.

Denmark in a State of Unreported Collapse
by Ole Hasselbalch
March 14, 2019 at 5:00 am

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13876/denmark-collapse
The media portrayal of Denmark as a country hostile and inhumane to migrants is misleading, if not completely false.

One reason for the inaccurate picture is that it is painted by journalists' political bias. Another is that trustworthy official Danish statistics on the country's immigration problem are both difficult to find and even harder to interpret. A further problem is a lack of reliable research, at best; and purposely distorted data, at worst.

The following breakdown illustrates that rather than being more relatively free of the consequences of mass migration than other European countries in general, and Scandinavian countries in particular, Denmark is in a state of societal collapse. In spite of Copenhagen's many laws that govern migration and affect immigrants, the Danish people have been experiencing a major cultural and political shift in their life as they have traditionally known it.

This was published more than a month ago, before the latest developments.

Last week there was this article in, Jyllands-Posten, one of the main papers that brought up an article from another main media house.

The 2nd of March 2019 Berlingske Tidende carried a longer article with the Dutch integration researcher Ruud Koopmans, after having researched into the integration during more than 20 years, he had come to the same conclusion as I, namely that it is impossible to integrate Muslims as a group in Europe. Not a single country has been successful in this. Integration is, on the one hand, about objective conditions, such as deterring crime, working and becoming distinguished in the education system. But there are also a number of valuables, f.ex. that you stand on a democratic ethos, accepting women's equality, accept the right of people to choose their own sexuality, refrain from doing other people's private relationship to a concern for the community, participates constructively in society, refrain from requesting or receiving special treatment in the public sector, using the Danish language in everyday life and feel loyalty to the Danish society rather than to another country or the islamic umma, just to name a few.

Ekstrabladet, a tabloid owned by Jyllands-Posten, has carried articles about immigrant groups and their crimes. Following much harder sentences for carrying illegal weapons, they have now begun to use cars ram each other. Ekstrabladet has also made a series of videos about Arab criminal groups in Berlin, although only open for subscribers, but the link is: SE TRAILER - Dokumentar afslører Berlins forbryderklaner – Ekstra Bladet The series is about Berlin, but Copenhagen being only 450 km away is Ekstrabladet also telling people about the future of some townships in Danish cities?

 

[thorbiorn]

Some have wondered why the riots last Sunday and Monday, that I wrote about earlier, became so extensive, as apparently 30 cars were torched, there were 70 fires and 23 people were arrested. And that was just the beginning. In this post, I will attempt to cover some of the factors.

First, I found this news item: Islamistiske videoer delt under optøjer på Nørrebro

Islamist videos shared during Norrebro riots

How did one man's insult to the Quran end up in mass arrests and several parts of the city on fire? The answer may be in a series of videos that were sent around during the riots. While the streets were set on fire, videos were recorded and shared, which in Arabic called the Danish police for racist, and in the midst of it all appeared a man in a T-shirt with the Islamic State logo on his stomach.

Considering that the police was surprised as well as many observers, what had they missed? Or maybe they did not miss it, but expressed themselves, as if they had missed it, in an attempt to defuse tension.

At any rate, it is safe to assume that there are radial islamists in Denmark and for sure also in Sweden, so what might they adhere to?

Here is one Tweet which is followed by a statement of a Palestinian scholar, that actually supports the claim or judging by the source, the accusation, which then, to the dismay of some, can't be bushed aside as a misrepresentation of some interpretations of Islam that bears no resemblance with reality.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1118389052980572161

And now comes the quote that might serves as a commentary:
Al-Aqsa Mosque Address by Ahmad Al-Khatwani: Job of Muslims Is to Bring "Hateful Infidels" to Islam through Jihad; Rome Will Be Conquered or Al-Aqsa Mosque Address By Ahmad Al-Khatwani: Job Of Muslims Is To Bring 'Hateful Infidels' To Islam Through Jihad; Rome Will Be Conquered
Sheikh Ahmad Al-Khatwani

"The Prophet Muhammad said: 'You shall conquer Constantinople and the city of Rome.' He was asked: 'Which one will be conquered first, oh Messenger of Allah?' [Muhammad] said that it would be the city of Heraclius – in other words, Constantinople which is Istanbul. And indeed it was conquered, 700 years after the words of Muhammad.
[...]
"Thus, these glad tidings were realized on the ground in Constantinople, and since they were realized in Constantinople, they will be realized with the conquest of Rome, Allah willing. [...]

"Is the hatred of the Crusaders towards Muslims met with Islamic hatred towards the Crusaders? There is nothing in Islamic terminology – neither in the Hadith nor in the Quran – about Muslim being hateful towards others. Muslims do not hate. Muslims strive to bring the hateful infidels out of the darkness and into the light. [Muslims] strive to bring Islam to them. All Muslims do is break down the physical obstacles that prevent them from calling on [infidels] to convert to Islam. We do not hate anyone. All we do is carry the call and the message of Islam to the world, because Islam is a religion for mankind in its entirety, and it is our duty to guide mankind to the right path through this religion. But if [the infidels] reject [Islam] because of their hatred, we have no choice but to break down these obstacles. Since these are physical obstacles, how are they supposed to be broken down? Not through Facebook and the Internet. This will be done by a huge Muslim army that will wage Jihad for the sake of Allah."

Why would there be an ISIS logo on T-shirt of an instigator to riots? Because many Danish Islamists went to fight in Syria. In an article from april 2016 it says that 125 left, of these 62 returned, 27 died and 31 were still there, and this adds up to 120, but this was not the end of the conflict. In the above article they mention that not all join the fighting force, some did humanitarian work. True and documented, still more than 20 % dead is a high death rate. And one might with reason conclude that if 125 left, there were many more who supported thier choice. Now, it turns out the authorities did not do much to legally persecute some of those that went (surprise?), even if they had evidence and could. This article mentions a case where they waited 15 months to persecute a Danish Syrian warrior, even though he was involved with beheading and posed on camera with decapitated heads.

As another piece of evidence, there was an article in Ekstrabladet on March 18th 2019 writing

The municipality of Copenhagen is working to reduce the number of radicalised Copenhagen people who want Danish legislation to be clearly based on Sharia law. New numbers show that young people are moving in the wrong direction.

The article begins with:

Youth insurgency: Support for sharia grows in Copenhagen
Almost every third inhabitant of copenhagen between 18 and 29 years with non-western background think that the religious and cultural traditions and laws must be followed - even if they are in breach of Danish law. In 2017, it was one in four.

Knowing the above, how can there be surprise at recent events??? Though this article claims expenses associated with immigration have dropped by from 650 million Euros, to around 4 billion, what about the future for this project to become sustainable. Maybe it will, but differently that originally planned. This is also mentioned by a politician who in 1990 predicted the development so much, that he was ridiculed, but he turned out to be right. In the interview from November 2019 he mentions that education is key. But then there was another post made by someone who wants to get out of the EU. Now local events have taken precedence. He writes that he considers Noerrebro lost, at least to his views, as allegedly doctors and engineers also were active in the riots last week. An interesting observation.
On the same page I found this video

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=587645311753798

Trying to find out more about Islam in Copenhagen, I noticed a FB post mentioning that a sausage stand in the township of Broenshoej has been bothered so much for not being a halal stand, (Traditional sausages at such stands are made with pig meat) that it had to close. That was just a small sign, but for the one who posted, he seen sufficient of these small steps.

Someone, Lars Aslan Rasmussen, an MP for the Social Democrats and their spokesperson on legal issue, at least in 2016, compiled a list of radical Islamists that have recently preached in Noerrebro. The author thinks it is hypocracy that the reaction to the right wing person demonstrating with the Quran, was so violent, when various Islamic preachers have done much worse, and nothing happened. Below is his FB, but I tried to find links to his statements, except for the last, which has been covered already. The links I have found are main stream and well know Danish and British news outlets and I am pretty sure the writer would be okay with the choices. Highlights are mine.

MORE PALUDAN AND MORE UBER HYPOCRISY

I present to you the following hate preachers who have been visiting Nørrebro lately:

Imam Bilal Philips
In favour of violence against women and the killing of homosexuals.
Gave presentations to thousands of supporters at Nørrebro, invited by Islamic faith communities.

Result: no vandalism, no violence against the police, no burned cars, no grenades, no weapons found.

Sheikh Yassin
Preaching about the killing of homosexuals
Quit Nørrebro for hundreds of young people.
Invited by VIOMIS(street-level Islam knowledge))

Result: no vandalism, no violence against the police, no burned cars, no grenades, no weapons found.

Kemal Al Mekki
Committed to slavery and the killing of renegade Muslims
Held a presentation for several handicapped young people in Nørrebro
Invited by Islamic faith communities

Result: no vandalism, no violence against the police, no burned cars, no grenades, no weapons found.

Haitham Al Haddad
Supporting stoning unfaithful women and Sharia
Held the presentation for a thousand participants at Nørrebro
Invited by Islamic faith communities

Result: no vandalism, no violence against the police, no burned cars, no grenades, no weapons found.

Hizb Ut Tahrir
Committed to the killing of Jews and to the abolition of democracy.
Often meets with thousands of contestants and marches in Nørrebro

Result: no vandalism, no violence against the police, no burned cars, no grenades, no weapons found.

Rasmus Paludan
Leader of the party Stram Kurs
Who received less than 100 votes in the last election.
Running around in Nørrebro alone, juggling his own koran.

Result: extensive vandalism, police violence, burned cars, grenades and weapons found....

And yes, I disagree with Paludan on everything, but I still find it difficult to endure the hypocrisy of the Autonomous, of the gang members and of the Islamists.

The above comment is a great observation of the tren. However, I would counter his claim that there is hypocracy involved on the part of the orthodox Islamist. By no means, isn't this merely Islam as understood and practised by a sizeable number of Muslims.

 

[thorbiorn]

A minor correction to the previous post. The first link, I inserted under the Muslim preachers was not Danish or British, but Canadian and a reposting of an original from the Calgary Herald.
I also mentioned that about 125 people had gone to Syria, now it turns out it has grown to about 150 I København er kun hver anden syrienkriger i job eller uddannelse of which about 50 have returned. Rather than being put in prison the concern is now to socialize them, I guess lke they try in Sweden.
About those coming from Copenhagen there is:

At the Copenhagen Municipality's unit for the prevention of extremism and radicalisation HINT underlines the clerk Thea Erschens, that the 13 returnees have come back over a long period of time between 2012 and 2016.

- It also means that they don't all necessarily covered by the latest legislation, and therefore not all of them has been charged, she says to Radio24syv.

Thea Erschens points out that the municipality first are referred to the people, when the police do not evaluate that they are not a danger to society and is ready to enter into a municipal course. For the sake of the people in the group, she does not want to say whether any of the people still support the Islamic State or whether they regret having left.

At the end the article quotes some researchers:

Danish terrorist scientist Tore Refslund Hamming, ph.d.student at the European University Institute in militant islamism, it is not surprising that so many people are not in jobs or education. But that doesn't make it any less important to get them to work.

- It's a problem because we know that one of the reasons why many have left is because they've had a hard time settling in society and feeling like they're a success. And one of the criteria for success is that you can take care of yourself and your family, he says.yet it is difficult to tolerate the hypocrisy of the autonomous, gang members and Islamists.Terrorforsker Magnus Ranstorp from the Swedish Forsvarshøjskole do not consider it necessarily a problem that the municipalities do not have the full overview of the returnees from Syria, as long as the Danish intelligence agency has the necessary overview.

- They know these environments so they know who these individuals are and whether to monitor them.

Some complain the returnees are getting better service than some of the locals and that they rather than being pitied because some have no jobs should have been put in prison as traitors who fought with forces that Danish soldiers officially fought against. I guess one can argue both for and against such a position, which is probably why there are slightly different approaches in different municipalities. Here are some biographical notes about a few of those who went, fought and returned to Denmark, or in some cases died in Syria.

 

[BlackCartouche]

@thorbiorn No Palestinian is quarreling with Christendom while they have the foot of Israeli Zionism stood on their necks. This Sheikh Ahmad Al-Khatwani smells like a MOSSAD agent, and he looks it too. The Islamic 'leadership' around the world is riddled with them.

 

[thorbiorn]

@thorbiorn No Palestinian is quarreling with Christendom while they have the foot of Israeli Zionism stood on their necks. This Sheikh Ahmad Al-Khatwani smells like a MOSSAD agent, and he looks it too. The Islamic 'leadership' around the world is riddled with them.

That is a problem, while they can also be used to create situations that favour division that can then be used to promote the policies of Israeli Zionism. However, basing judgements on smells and looks, may be alright for personal purposes, but it does not hold up in court. Those who listen, whether sympathizing, indifferent or opposing will have to relate to what he says. OSIT.

 

[BlackCartouche]

basing judgements on smells and looks, may be alright for personal purposes, but it does not hold up in court.

Looks, no. But 'smells' figuratively speaking, yes. I think we can through deductive reasoning. The problem is, is the Muslim mindset; their obstinately thick skulls simply cannot fathom anyone able to recite the Koranic verses quoting scripture at the drop of a hat - to not be a true believer after surely becoming enraptured and overcome with the full weight of the words of Allah.
So, when an Imam/mufti/cleric/whomever does eventually get caught, for example, spreading cursed amulets among 'his faithful', its explained away as the djinn testing 'will', therefor the result is not the same thing because one is of the dajjal targeting the righteous at a moment of weakness, whilst the other is unacceptable to even consider because to suggest outside regular-human infiltration would be a serious slight on Islam's upstanding predisposition among regular ol' humanity.

Indeed, all in all its an impossible situation.

 

[thorbiorn]

In a previous post, I found a story about a food stand, selling hot-dogs, that had been for forced to close. In this post I will show the article, and make some comments below, that will enter into a few lines about the concept islamofascism.

It has turned out the food stand post on FB was borrowed from an article in in a small local news letter: Derfor er der ikke mere en pølsevogn på Brønshøj Torv The story, published this week, shows detail of what what probably has happened before and will happen again.

That's why there's no more hot dog stand in the well Town Square.

A lot of people have undoubtedly been wondering why there is no longer a hot dog stand in the Well Square. It suddenly disappeared after being there for a long time. But there is an explanation for things.

A gang of young people harassed and provoked the “hot dog lady” so much that she eventually chose to give up. In about two and a half years she had had her hot dog stand on the square, and it had been the hub for many people, but the pressure was too great, and so ended the chapter.

The newspaper has had a talk with” the hot dog lady " who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. She's moved far away from the Bronshoj, which she loved above all the world.

A pleasant sight, unfortunately no more to be seen in Bronshoj Square and should there be a successor, he or she must be aware of what lies ahead ..

- Let me make it clear right away that that time in the well-high Square was a special chapter in my life. Well, until the harassment got too intense, the” hot dog lady " says at the beginning. - When I was alone in the hot dog stand, this boy band would come by and yell all the obscenities at me. Among other things, they wanted me to replace the pork with halal meat – and to be able to stuff the pigs up somewhere ! They were also screaming about how much money I think I had in the box. Now it is not that I cannot stand for anything, but unfortunately that took hold, and in the end I felt almost threatened and dared not go on. They threw cannons under the hot dog stand and started the engine, and that's how it went on. I cannot believe that it has come to this, but I have to say that, in other words, it is the end of the road as far as the unfortunate development of society is concerned. It's getting worse and worse, and now it's too late to do anything about it.

To be honest, I'm sorry it had to come to this, because my hot dog stand turned out to be a gathering place for, among other things, lonely people, of whom there are many in Bronshoj. Several found each other here, and new friends and acquaintances were forged. In fact, I'd call it our “little community center.” It had a mission I never dreamed of. We even got a very rare permission to put a few tables and chairs around the hot dog stand. So it was a very small, cozy club.

But I also observed several unfortunate things when I was in the carriage. For example, one day, I saw an older man coming out of the bathroom in the Square, and when the kids saw him, they started throwing rocks at him. It was appalling. Stones, however, were not their only throwing guns. Those gas cartridges, the flanks and the cords were also used as throwing guns.

I don't think I was the only one getting harassed. Just ask in the library or in the supermarkets around here.

So now, as I said, We've moved a long way away from Bronshoj, and my other family is about to do the same. Bitter to have to leave the part of town you always loved, and then because of the Outlaws who have apparently not been brought up in any kind. Bronshoj and Husum will never be the same again.

I would like, through the internet paper, to send a message to all those who came to me in the Square and who have spent many hours here. It's terribly sad it had to end like this. In a way, I feel like I've let down all the older ladies and men and parents with children who came to my house and told stories. It was just so wonderful. But I had to give up – unfortunately – and I am deeply appalled by the fact that all things in society are allowed to develop in this way – without the politicians have done it. But no one dares, which is why, as it turns out, the “hot dog Lady” ends from the well Town Square. 18 april 19

When I read the article I was thinking of how the Brown Shirts or the German SA helped to close down Jewish shops around Germany during the time of Hitler. On Nazi Terror Begins there was an explanation of how it worked in Germany:

Hitler and the Nazi regime also resorted to simple and extra-legal terror to intimidate opponents. Nazi paramilitary formations, such as the Storm Detachments (Sturmabteilungen or SA, more commonly known as Storm Troopers) and the Protection Squads (Schutzstaffel or SS), had been established during the 1920s to terrorize political opponents [...] In addition, Nazi Party faithful assaulted those they perceived to be enemies of the regime—in individual spontaneous acts of violence or in locally organized waves of persecution,

The SA and the SS were established in the 1920s, and they increased and exercised their power for 5-10-15 years, so what will Danish, Scandinavian and European cities look like in 5-10-15-20 years? There is of course a risk of the situation turning 180 degrees, which would mean something like a civil conflict, but in the current trend continues, one might need to read the experiences of German Jews in the early phases of the Nazi power. I doubt the experience of the victim is much different.

The small story also made me think about the term 2islamofascism". What is that? Islamists who bundle together? On the topic of Islamofascism their are different opinions about what the meaning is: Islamofascism - Wikipedia But the dictionary is clear enough:

Islamofascism definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary

Islamofascism definition: an ideology promoted by some Islamists , the aims of which are to establish Islamic... | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples

www.collinsdictionary.com

Islamofascism

(ˌɪzlɑːməˈfæʃɪsm)
n
(Islam) an ideology promoted by some Islamists, the aims of which are to establish Islamic orthodoxy and to resist western secularism
ˌIslamoˈfascist adj, n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Next is a link to a recent scholarly article from 2018 in a journal called "Fascism Journal of Comparative Fascist Studies"

‘Islamofascism’: Four Competing Discourses on the Islamism-Fascism Comparison
in Fascism
Author: Tamir Bar-On 1
View More
Online Publication Date: 17 Oct 2018Volume/Issue: Volume 7: Issue 2
Article Type: Research Article DOI:‘Islamofascism’: Four Competing Discourses on the Islamism-Fascism Comparison in: Fascism Volume 7 Issue 2 ( 2018)
Keywords: Islamism; fascism; Islamofascism; political ideologies;discourses; intellectuals; totalitarianism; clerical fascism
Open Access

• Download PDF
• Download EPU

The author writes near the second from last paragraph:

In order to assess the validity of the Islamism-fascism comparison, I surveyed various definitions of fascism and Islamism. Against the ‘Though shall not compare’, ‘Islamosfascism’, and ‘Islamofascism as epithet’ camps, I ‘dared to compare’ Islamism and fascism as modern political ideologies. I posited that while Islamism and fascism are different political ideologies with differing visions of human nature, the ideal state, and historical processes, both ideologies share the quest for totalitarianism. Both Islamism and fascism mobilize the masses, ignoring class distinctions, in order to combat internal or external threats. As Michael Whine explains, both replace the practice of religion with their own monopolistic ideology, relying on mass communication and suppression of dissent in order to construct a single party regime, a new state with the vision of a ‘new man’, and the aim of conquering existing society, which it believes has deviated from its ideal.185

And in the final paragraph:

While Islamism and fascism are different political ideologies, we should pay attention to what fascists and Islamists say and do. Griffin’s or Sternhell’s minimalist definitions of fascism do not fit the Islamists because fascists reject secular nationalism and socialism as Western constructs in favor of a pan-Islamic community of believers wedded to the sharīʿah. Perhaps the closest ideology to Islamism is clerical fascism. [... but then concludes ...]Thus, even Islamism is not a type of ‘clerical fascism’. We should thus compare fascism and Islamism as totalitarian political ideologies, highlighting their similarities but also their important differences. Future research might compare and contrast the competing perspectives of Islamists and fascists in terms of the relationship between church and state; economic policies; organizational structure; or political rhetoric.

It seems one has to be careful when using the term islamofascism about Islam, but not too careful, because there are overlaps. As a minimum one can emphasize the totalitarian aspect of the ideology and then point out that fascism is another example of a totalitarian ideology.

 

[thorbiorn]

Many people know the saying from the play Hamlet, by Willian Shakespeare: "something is rotten in the state of Denmark".

What is rotten can in a political discourse be a subject of discussion. An answer to a question will not be the same, if I ask one of the people burning cars or placing a grenade, or if i ask a member of parliament, a newspaper or a government official. Looking at the basic dynamics and purpose of the rottening process, here is a picture of litter decomposition in a forest eco system.



Not too much to worry about. Continuing the comments on recent events, the debate is fragmented, but it is there and several are pretty open about what they are seeing.

One Conservative politician, Naser Khade, made a couple of posts on his FB
The first has:

After all, multicultural society cannot be done if we are on such different planets.

Here's a facebook group where you can read the reactions of native Arabs to Rasmus Paludan's performance. Fortunately, there are those who are calling for Paludan to be ignored, which I also think is the right way to respond. But it is worrying to read the many comments like “God bless those who defend their religion,” “real men defend their religion”, “every action has a reaction,” "Real men are the heroes", etc. They salute those who react with violence.

No more of the kind where the brain short-circuits when you talk about and criticise the symbols of islam and Islam.

Nor can I deal with Rasmus Paludan, who has nothing to say but provoke. His project is stupid on all parameters, but it is his constitutional right to demonstrate.

Multiculturalism has limits?
And one more:

Treatment-Denmark and integration consultants are far too naive again-again

After the events of recent days with trouble especially on Nørrebro, we have heard the treatment-Denmark, and integration consultants persist with a claim that the young thugs are just vulnerable young people. Either they're lying or they're talking against their better judgment.

Those who “defend religion " are not vulnerable or fragile. I accept that there are probably also criminal pot-smoking gang members and maladjusted wannabe's. But we also see a dangerous cocktail of crime and fundamentalism.

Like in Sweden and many other parts of Europe, there are those that prefer to downplay aspects of the problems like the above, or are they afraid of really understanding it? I don't think there is anything wrong with treatment and integration consultant, but I wondered if some of them do not dare to say what they are seeing? After all they have to show up for work every day, and have to meet some of the involved people every day.

I am wondering how much debate there can be about the underlying issues of this event. Soon there will be elections for the local and for the EU parliament. I learned, Politiken.dk part of JP/Politikens Hus, published some articles about junk news. They,
Sebastian Stryhn Kjeldtoft and Carl Emil Arnfred, asked a panel of university lecturers and professors to analyse some of the independent medias. Here are some links to the articles in the series from Politiken with excerpts to give an idea of the discussion: Sådan undersøgte vi 'junk news'

Disinformation has been a theme in recent years in the context of more democratic elections in our neighbouring countries. In particular, the concept of fake news with fictional and factually incorrect stories has received a lot of publicity. But experience from countries such as Britain, Germany and Sweden shows that so-called ’junk news’ is more widespread. That is why Politiken set out to study the phenomenon in Denmark prior to the forthcoming elections.

One can argue the timing, but it may serve to counteract speculations after the elections of interference from this or that country. They continue

Researchers at Oxford University have studied the phenomenon. They define 'junk news' as "propaganda and ideological extreme, hyper-partisan or conspiratorial political news". Five criteria are used. Oxford examined the Swedish elections in autumn 2018 and concluded that for each time three normal articles were split on Twitter, a ’junk news’ article was shared.

Oxford is not investigating the election. The Politiken therefore set up a panel of experts with the help of the three journalism courses in Denmark. The panel is composed of Peter Bro, head of the Centre for Journalism at South Denmark University. Vibeke Borberg, lawyer and lecturer in the media on leave from the Danish School of media and Journalism. Jannie Møller Hartley, head of Digital Media Lab at Roskilde University.

The panel of experts discussed what is junk news. They read several of Oxford's reports, but concluded that the Oxford criteria were flawed. Instead set the panel 20 criteria for how they would assess what is ’junk news’.

And

The panel of experts examined a total of 237 articles from 15 Media. The panel concluded that nine of the media produced journalism of such poor quality that it could be called junk media. The Nine Media are: 24Nyt, NewSpeek, Folkets Avis, Den Korte Avis, Dagens, Nyheder24, Digitale Nyheder/Krammet, dkdox.tv and Døgnets. [....]

Six media were assessed by the panel of experts as not being junk media. It was 180Grader, NewsBreak, Document, Solidaritet, Opdateret and Respons. The reasons given by the experts were different depending on the media. Some delivered content of a quality that was satisfactory. Other media were considered by the panel to be Blog or social media, not news media. Therefore, they were not relevant to the investigation, the panel considered.

I did not translate the names of the sites, but maintained the Danish in order to make them easier to find. In another article, they list 20. criterias distributed on three groups by by which the panel analysed the selected media.

Platform, Producent, Produkt: Det kigger eksperterne på, når de undersøger 'junk medier'

Politikens ekspertpanel har stemplet ni medier som ’junk medier’, der laver journalistik af ringe kvalitet. De har arbejdet ud fra 20 kriterier for god journalistik, de selv har opstillet. Læs dem her.

politiken.dk

Platform
Who owns the medium?
Is the business model transparent?
What is the media distribution model?
Producers
Can you tell who's the writer?
Does the media declare articles correctly, such as news, Chronicles and opinion?
Is the medium willing to correct errors and, if so, how does the medium draw attention to errors?
Can you get in touch with the medium, and how do they respond?
Does the media have press ethics rules that employees follow, and if so, what is the code?
If the medium has a political orientation, is the medium open about it?
Product
Does the medium use recognised journalistic methods, such as highlighting the case from multiple angles and through multiple sources of disagreement?
Is there a balance in the source selection and what truth value is attributed to different sources?
Is criticism being made to the other party and in good time? (the contradictory principle))
Has the journalist himself spoken to the sources, or is he referring only to other media?
Is the medium, conscious or unconscious, arguing on false assumptions?
Are the arguments logically inconsistent?
Are boxes and contents sharpened beyond what facts can stand?
Is there a balance in the media's reference to matters and agendas?
Does the media follow good press trends, such as treating sources with dignity and taking particular account of weak sources?
Is the information provided by the medium correct?
Is the information provided by the medium misleading?

In another article they write:

Junk news: Mange nye netmedier manipulerer, vildleder og stjæler fra andre

Et ekspertpanel stempler 9 danske digitale medier som junkmedier og kalder det et demokratisk problem. Flere af medierne afviser kritikken.

politiken.dk

The fact that they are critical of immigrants and islam is a characteristic of the main media in the study, the Den Korte Avis, 24Nyt og NewSpeek,. The panel does not consider it a problem that the media have a clear political agenda. However, in several articles, the panel considers that the media are misleading in order to influence readers politically.

As if that does not happen with the main stream media., maybe in a different way.
As a result of this investigation, Dr.dk Politiken.dk and Berlingske (b.dk) complained to Facebook about 24Nyt.dk and their Facebook was closed down. All gone. Interesting, isn't it? 24Nyt is discussing the issue here.

In the course of writing I also found an article on Politiken discussing the miscalculation of one political commentator on state television following the annual New Year speech of the Prime Minister. She accidentally offended ethnic Danish viewers by calling them pig coloured Danes, which in hindsight is a remarkable slip in view of recent event. Now everybody knows the problem with ethnic Danes. They are simply pig coloured. She was criticised by the political commentator of Politiken, good, but it also led to some reflection, and I'm wondering if letting go of just a bit of the PC, as she did, would not facilitate more sincere discussions. The country will anyway not be able to save itself from billion Euro big expenses, massive police overtime - for reasons justified, the mugging of normal people trying to go about their lives like the lady with the hot dog stand, or the threats being put to some politicians and public personalities when doing their job.

Thinking about the analogy of the forest eco system, a decomposition of the present welfare state will be traumatic, and in the process produce heat, death, but perhaps it will soon lead to new life. Maybe, because if there are a lot of toxic substances or heavy materials, as seem to be the current case, in the elements that normally should undergo transformation rapidly then it can take more time.

 

[thorbiorn]

There was Denmark’s richest man loses three children in Sri Lanka bombings
Yesterday when I read about the news in local media, the prime minister had cancelled his holiday, and the ministry of defence had sent a plane to Sri Lanka. I thought that was a serious reaction, as people also loose lives doing many other activities. Now it is clearer.
The family lived in Århus where one of the main papers is based. They wrote "We are at war and of course the terrorist shall not win." People can relate to loosing three children. It is to be seen if the event and the story told around the event will impact the local discourse, the choice of policies and how Denmark will respond to the call, (Especially by Israel and the US) to fight terrorism. My guess is that it will. In case the Sri Lanka bombing was a high level attack, then the administrators might have access to who was where, which leaves the option open that the children died on purpose, to trigger a response, but this question may never be answered.

 

[thorbiorn]

Following the events last week, the debate is on, especially in the Copenhagen newspaper Berlingske:
First of all there was a full article by a sociologist who pointed out that the riots revealed, an unholy alliance between left wing activists and Islamists.

In Noerrebro in Copenhagen, there has been among some radical left groups, a trend going back long before the appearance of Islamists, for supporting an aggressive stance towards society. See for instance Ungdomshuset - Wikipedia and Squatting - Wikipedia or this article at an online popular science website, Videnskab.dk which is an reflection on a riot in 2017, that took place in the same area.

Violent demonstration can give the autonomous more support
By Anne Ringgaard March 9, 2017
Autonomous groupings on the extreme left may find it easier to recruit new members after a demonstration in Nørrebro recently ended in vandalism and fights with the police, researchers estimate.

For years, there has been some calm among the autonomous communities of the extreme left.

But recently threw the masked protesters stones, nuts and petanque balls after the police and bank windows, as the tenth anniversary of the clearing of Ungdomshuset (Youth house) at Jagtvej 69 in the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen was marked with a demonstration.

The story short
Extremist groups, including those from the extreme left, may have an interest in conflict escalation because it benefits their fight.
Scientists do not entirely agree on what the autonomous people are actually fighting for when they throw stones and create vandalism.

And today:

The trouble at Nørrebro reminds me of how the Islamists destroyed my first homeland.
The riots at Nørrebro remind me of how my original country was destroyed to such an extent that early in my childhood I stopped feeling Iranian. Now, as a Dane, I will do all I can to ensure that the Islamists are not also allowed to destroy my new homeland.

And

Majority will double the penalty for threats: "it's a stand against the tyranny of the threat.«

With significantly stricter penalties and a stronger investigation, a political majority will contain threats to politicians and debate. "This is also a protection for types like Rasmus Paludan."Threats are, in fact, a shortening of freedom of expression, according to the expert.

And

Støjberg lives with death threats and bodyguards around the clock: "I never go anywhere alone, just Inger.«

And

"I'll come one day because I know where you live. You must be beheaded." just over one in four Folketing politicians have received threats to their lives.

In a survey of politicians in the Folketing, just over a quarter of them have received threats to their lives. In addition, there are threats of violence, rape and against the families of politicians. The expert is concerned on behalf of democracy.

And

The daughter of the Venstre profile received a letter. The letter said that her father was going to die.
The hard tone and the threats are an expression of a lack of respect for politicians, which may eventually dismantle democracy, believes the Liberal party Carl Holst. He himself came to a gloomy realization when his children began to receive death threats.

And

Top politician was knocked down: "I sincerely fear that a politician will end up being killed«

Top politician Morten Kødskov never saw the fist clenched before his eyes. A year and a half later, he's worried about the threat to politicians. And he now has an urgent appeal on behalf of democracy.

And

Mette Abildgaard following harassment and threats: "what happens next time I go for a run at Christiania and darkness falls?«
A call from an unlisted number has now prompted Folketing [Danish Parliament] member Mette Abildgaard to submit her first police report. But it was far from the first time, the politician has experienced harassment and threats. Now she is telling us about the back side of her mandate, about a debate she sometimes cannot hold and about one unfortunate statement that caused it to escalate.

Leaving the internal social and political situation, the newspaper Politiken had this article about the Nord Stream 2 project, where Denmark very aggressive, US style. First is a map which is in Danish, but gives one an idea of the area and the problems.

Danish-Russian war of words: Nord Stream 2 accuses Denmark of harassment of gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea
State-controlled gas company bows to demands for a new line around Bornholm, but calls it"a deliberate attempt to delay the process". This could have far-reaching consequences for relations with Russia, according to the expert.

A comment on the above issue with the pipeline. When it comes to foreign policy Denmark has made, what in hindsight appears to several poor choices in the past. First with the Swedish, poor behavior and then lost land, then the British at the time of the Napoleon War, where Denmark lost Norway, Then there were wars with Germany in 1848 and 1864. First was won, second resulted in heavy losses and Denmark had to give up much land, more than would have been necessary with a bit of diplomacy and reason. Now Denmark is so much owned by the ideas of the US State Department and British foreign policy that the arrogance has few limits. They think they are the vanguard of the free world, fighting against evil Russia and protecting western values of freedom an democracy. Good luck with the illusions, especially now where the country has an increasingly hard time securing the practice of the values it subscribes to on its own territory.

 

[thorbiorn]

In this post there are some comments to recent articles and trends in Denmark, beginning with the attitude of previous governments to the Danish Jihadistsm followed by updates about the sentiments among the groups on the far left and one group more on the right.

There was an article where a professor of law analyzes the response of various Governments to the Danish Jihadists that went to fight with the terror groups in Syria. He concludes that while the center left government of the Social Democrats (Socialdemokraterne) and the Radial Left (Radikale Venstre), with the participation (at one time) or support (at another time) of the Socialist Peoples Party (Socialistisk Folkeparti) and the occasional support of the Unity List (Enhedslisten) gave lip service to persecuting these people then nothing happened. They dragged their feet. The professor says that since they fought along with the opposite side of the Danish military, then the Muslim jihadists who went to fight along with the jihadi terror groups could be tried for treason.

Another observation: During the last elections in 2015 and 2017, I noticed that more electoral posters were vandalized after they were put up, but although the extend of this trend was new at to me, it is already changing. Yesterday in Odense, around noon, four members of the Danish People Party (Dansk Folkeparti), a liberal right wing party which at the last election in 2015 was the second largest in terms of votes, got threatened, even by a masked man (masking is prohibited) and ordered to take down their posters down or risk getting smashed. The political "discourse" is moving from vandalizing posters after they have been put up to threatening those who put up posters with "getting vandalized" if they don't take them down or do not desist from putting them up. One wonders where this attitude comes from?

In the previous post there was a headline that Violent demonstration can give the autonomous more support There were links to some history about "the autonomous", now I looked at the topic in some more details. It turns out there is a whole range of small organisations each with a slightly different focus. To get an idea of the variety, if anyone is interested, there was the page of Revolutionary Antifascists konfront.dk They write about themselves:

Konfront emerge from and exist in and for the Danish radical left, and our common starting point is that we want a fundamentally different society that is socialist, feminist, diverse and equal. We do not believe that parliamentary politics can reform itself to this community – we believe in radical outside-parliamentarian revolutionary activism and politics.

Konfront has a list of partners on konfront.dk/samarbejdspartnere/ One of their partners, Party Rebels, posted a picture on their facebook page of a poster from an opposing party that had been vandalized with grafitti. They wrote in their comments

There are election posters hanging in the streets again!

It would be incredibly tragic if there were...

Something happened to them.

Stay tuned for more information about a completely unrelated adbust competition during the week.

So that is the increasingly popular level of public debate in the liberal democracy of Denmark, which by the signs is turning more aggressive and violent. The oppression some of the left wing groups accuse others of is the very oppression and worse they themselves seem to subscribe to. Judging by their statements they bet on a revolution where they expect to be the winners.

Another of the Konfront.dk partners is Redox, a group that is interested in research and which write articles. One of their articles is about a group called Generation Identitær. They argue that this group is neither national socialists or national conservative but neo-fascists. They have an interesting analysis of a local founder who apparently previously has been a left wing radial, a grafitti artist, a liberal debater and more. This group has a page and today they put up a banner in Copenhagen, which is different from the usual grafitti published by the groups around Konfront, and looks like this:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1124949356388466688

On the subject of Objective:Health #13 - The Anti-Human Agenda and the Children of the Quorn there are weekly demonstrations especially in Copenhagen, but so far it has not taken as much stage as some of the other events that have happened this Spring, though the intentions are not lacking. There is a home page for Friday Strikes and a FB page. On the home page, they write about the upcoming international event in Aachen in Germany on June 21, so they are a part of the European set up.

 

[Ursus Minor]

Smoke, Drink and Eat What You Want, Silvi Listhaug (Norway’s Public Health Minister) Says

It was a most unusual message from a health official: People should be allowed to eat, drink and smoke as they see fit.

Norway’s new minister in charge of public health said this week that adults did not need government lectures about what to put in their bodies, but it sounded a bit like she was telling people to go ahead and indulge. Critics protested that her remarks were damaging, particularly coming from someone in her position.

“I think people should be allowed to smoke, drink and eat as much red meat as they like,” Sylvi Listhaug, the government’s minister for the elderly and public health, said in an interview posted on Monday on the website of NRK, Norway’s state broadcaster. “The government may provide information, but I think people in general know what is healthy and what is not.”

Silvi Listhaug (on the right) (Image by NRK)


The interview was published just three days after she took over the ministry, and it was dotted with the kind of sharp, controversial comments Ms. Listhaug, deputy leader of the right-wing, anti-immigration Progress Party, is known for.

Ms. Listhaug said that people who smoked felt like “pariahs” in Norway, and that she would not be the “moral police” in government. She echoed comments made by Austria’s far right, defending freedom of choice in opposing antismoking legislation.

Ms. Listhaug, a former regular smoker who told NRK that now she lights up only occasionally, said she opposed tightening Norway’s antismoking laws, as some groups have proposed, to ban smoking at bus stops, for example.

Excerpt from the NEW YORK TIMES