Like this:

I’ve been hearing some information about Islam communities arising in places like England and France, but I didn’t give it much thought . . . until recently.  A couple of weeks ago, I went on vacation.  During our adventure, we went to the laser show at Stone Mountain in Atlanta, Georgia.   At one point, while I was by myself in an area where many people walked by to go to the show, I noticed many of the people walking by seemed to be of Muslim descent.  The women were dressed from head to toe in flowing outfits, which really stood out to me because the temperature was still in the 100s. 

I just shrugged it off until I got home and started to catch up on my blog reading.  I read an article which included a speech at the Four Seasons in New York by Geert Wilders who is chairman for the Party for Freedom. The basic premise of the speech was the Islamization of Europe and how this may happen over the entire world.  When I read something like this, the first thing that I think is, “Is this speech real?”, then the second thing I wonder is, “Is the information in the speech true and accurate?

The first place I go to check rumors out is http://www.truthorfiction.com/.  Here is what they say about the speech:

Summary of the eRumor:   A forwarded speech titled “America as the Last Man Standing” by a Dutch Member of Parliament named Geert Wilders.  It tells of what he calls the “Islamization of Europe” and warns that the United States is “the last bastion of Western civilization, facing an Islamic Europe.”

The Truth:  Geert Wilders is the chairman of the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands and delivered this speech on September 25, 2008 at the Four Seasons in New York.  Click here for the complete speech.In January 2010 the Dutch lawmaker was in Amsterdam facing charges of Anti-Islamic hate speech according to a January 20, 2010 Associated Press article. Wilders is “one of a dozen right-wing politicians on the continent who are testing the limits of freedom of speech while voicing voters’ concerns at the growth of Islam.”  Click for article. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/20/geert-wilders-dutch-lawma_n_429495.html

The second thing I do is to start checking the information in the speech.  Here are my findings:

 1.  Many European cities are already one-quarter Muslim: just take Amsterdam, Marseille and Malmo in Sweden. In many cities the majority of the under-18 population is Muslim.
INFO:  There was a Fox News report written on November 26, 2004 by Steve Harrigan which says “Swedes Reach Muslim Breaking Point”.  “Swedish authorities in the southern city of Malmo have been busy with a sudden influx of Muslim immigrants – 90 % of whom are unemployed and many who are angry and taking it out on the country that took them in.”  It says that one quarter of Malmo’s population is now Muslim.  http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,139614,00.html

In Earth Times it talks about the 11.9 million dollar mosque being built in Marseille, France and that there were about 200,000 Muslims living there which makes up 25% of the population.  http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/146537.html

The only place I found the 25% in Amsterdam was at http://islamineurope.blogspot.com/2007/11/muslim-population-in-european-cities.html, but I was trying to find sources from news organizations instead of blogs.

2.   Many state schools only serve halal food to all pupils
INFO:  I did find an article at the UK Daily Mail which talked about a Dale Primary schools deciding to serve only halal meat to the students whether they’re Muslim or not to avoid cross-contamination.  They reported that for meat to be considered “halal” the animal must be slaughtered by a Muslim by a single cut to the throat without stunning it first.  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1076248/Primary-school-serve-pupils-halal-meat-theyre-Muslim-not.html

3.   Jews are fleeing France in record numbers, on the run for the worst wave of anti-Semitism since World War II. French is now commonly spoken on the streets of Tel Aviv and Netanya, Israel.
INFO:  There is an article at CBSNews by David Hancock called “Fearful Jews Fleeing France” and it says that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon urged a group of 200 French Jews to leave and come to Israel.  One immigrant told a CBS reporter, “You wear something to say you are Jewish and you have difficulty.  We are afraid.  It’s simply that we are afraid”.  http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/07/28/world/main632610.shtml

Over at the Jewish Federation of Charleston, SC, there was a quote by an 81 year old Robert Sebbane.  It said, “They chased us from Algeria and they followed us here,” Robert Sebbane, 81, says for the North African Muslims responsible for much of France’s anti-Jewish crime.” http://www.jewishcharleston.org/page.aspx?id=171014

4.  In England sharia courts are now officially part of the British legal system.
INFO:  At the UK Times, there was an article written on September 14, 2008 by Abul Taher entitled, “Revealed: UK’s first official sharia courts”.  It says that the British government has quietly o.k’d the powers of sharia courts to judge over Muslim cases involving divorce, financial disputes and even domestic violence disputes.  These courts are enforceable with the full power of the judicial system and they have been established in London, Birmingham, Bradford, Manchester and more are being considered.  http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article4749183.ece

Throughout my researching in this topic of Islamization, I kept coming across the fact that the worst part of this is the lack of assimilation from the Muslim people to the countries in which they now live.  They seem to expect their new country to adapt to their culture, religion and values instead of the other way around.  Now, I’m not suggesting that people from other countries give up totally their culture and heritage, but they should not expect the new country to change their ways to accommodate them. 

According to islamicweb.com, the population of Muslims in the United States is over nine million.  http://www.islamicweb.com/begin/population.htm.  Accordingly to salatomatic’s website there are 1460 mosques in the United States and 146 Muslim schools.  http://www.salatomatic.com/b/United-States+125.  So we definitely have our share of Muslims in the United States.  So what is happening here?

Things that have recently been publicized in the U.S. about Muslims here have been troubling to me.  There were Muslim students from the Muslim Student Association who stood up for Hezbollah during a speech by David Horowitz at the University of California San Diego.  More recently, three Christians were arrested in Dearborn, Michigan for handing out the Gospel of John outside an Arab International Festival.  The video even showed how they were harassed when handing this bibles out several blocks from the festival.

I don’t mind having “legal” immigrants in the United States.  That is what makes the United States great  . . .  that people from various countries come to live here in prosperity and peace.  But I fear the tides are turning.  Will we eventually become like England and include sharia law into our court system?  Will schools start serving halal meat?  Will Jews flee here because of anti-semitism? 

I believe we do need to keep our eyes and ears open to what is happening in our country and make sure to keep our prayers going and our voices heard in order to preserve our great country.

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