Quote:
Originally Posted by Thor
Enclaves is fine, but this is impacting on incompatibilies of cultures adhering to a very specific set of religious beliefs.
Examples of the growth of anti-semitism in recent events in France and Sweden towards jews by middle eastern immigrants is a perfect example of these problems.
Malmo had a jewish support protest recently with about 100 jews and non jewish supporters which was overlooked by 100's of muslims waving palastine flags and hurling eggs, rocks and even a few small home made bombs. All the while the swedish police stood by not even moving in when a small bomb was thrown near the jews.
Eventually the jewish protesters who were peacefully demonstrating and listening to songs of peace and solidarity were told to disperse.
I'll try to find a video of it.
There is also the Jewish young man kidnapped and murdered by muslims in France which the abuctors called the man's parents while they recited passages from the Koran when in the background they could hear this son scream from the torture.
Isolated incidents, but its pretty clear what even moderate muslims are taught about the evil jew.
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But don't these examples just bring you back Valo's point earlier on that that respect and tolerance for these other cultural/religious traditions stops once it infringes upon the rights of others. It may seem inconsistent, but I am fully behind the prosecution of a guy like Ernst Zundel not because he's an anti-semite, but because he used a platform provided by our public education system to preach his hate. Largely though, it is the responsibility of a free and democratic society to allow a marketplace of ideas IMO. While I personally detest the jihadist message and feel it is as much a fairy tale as the Bible, or the pholosophy of a guy like Zundel, the fact is that I dsagree with censorship of the belief systems of those that hold these views in the private arena. To the extent that our society allows individuals to hold and communicate these beliefs in Churches, around the family table or the like, it seems to me that there will always be enclaves or pockets of extremism in any democratic country.
Your point with respect to anti-semitism is well taken, but I think anti-semitism is a historical special case. I don't know that we're seeing a rise of some new anti-semitisim, but rather the stoking of smoldering anti-semitism that has always been present, but the expression of which had become politically incorrect. For whatever reason, northern Europe has always had a healthy (or unhealthy, I suppose) level of anti-semitism beneath a more civilized veneer. It is definitely unfortunate, but I don't think that suppressing jihadist (or moderate muslim in your view) expressions of anti-semitism is the solution to the problem of anti-semitism itself. The root causes of anti-semitism need to be addressed rather than the symptom. Obviously that's far easier said than done and the symptoms can't be ignored in the meantime, but that's where the standard checks and balancing of rights in a democratic society comes into play IMO. You address the overt experession of hatred and any associated violence with laws, and work towards a diplomatic resolution of the underlying question.