O multiculturalismo em retirada

At long last a European politician, Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron, lifted the curtain on the pernicious dimensions of multiculturalism. After several decades of home grown terrorism and an acceptance of separation by Muslim groups in the United Kingdom, the prime minister said, “enough.”

A new course will be charted that moves from accommodation to integration. There may be a risk of xenophobia with the Cameron approach, but it is a worthwhile trade-off if terrorist impulses are thwarted.

Mr. Cameron called his strategy “muscular liberalism,” to wit: confronting extremist Islamic thought and challenging those efforts that attempt to undermine Western values. For example, the prime minister made special mention of zero tolerance for the subjugation of women, a practice permitted because of Islamic separation and application of sharia.

The notion that different groups within a society should be encouraged to pursue their own cultural paths is a formulation based on religious tolerance. But as George Santayana, among others, noted the first duty of the tolerant man is to exercise intolerance for intolerance. In other words, a proverbial line in the sand must be drawn when religious groups use societal tolerance to promote intolerance. 

Ver artigo em Family Security Matters

Líder democrata-cristão holandês sublinha falhanço do multiculturalismo

Christian Democrat leader Maxime Verhagen on Monday said the multicultural society has failed. He was speaking during the recording of tv show Nova College Tour, reports the Algemeen Dagblad.
Verhagen told the programme the Dutch no longer feel at home in their own country and immigrants are not entirely happy here either.
The minister wants the Dutch to be prouder of their country like people in the US where they first say they are American and then where they originally come from, says the paper.
He follows his European colleagues in declaring multiculturalism a failure. German chancellor Angela Merkel, British prime minister David Cameron and French president Nicolas Sarkozy have all said the same, the paper states.

 Ver notícia no DutchNews.nl

O multiculturalismo falhou, diz o Presidende francês

French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared Thursday that multiculturalism had failed, joining a growing number of world leaders or ex-leaders who have condemned it.
"My answer is clearly yes, it is a failure," he said in a television interview when asked about the policy which advocates that host societies welcome and foster distinct cultural and religious immigrant groups.
"Of course we must all respect differences, but we do not want... a society where communities coexist side by side.
"If you come to France, you accept to melt into a single community, which is the national community, and if you do not want to accept that, you cannot be welcome in France," the right-wing president said. [...]

Ver Google News

Ministros da UE discordam sobre texto com referências a perseguições a cristãos

A row over specific references to Christianity has prevented EU foreign ministers from agreeing a joint declaration condemning religious persecution, despite a recent spate of attacks on minorities in Iraq and Egypt.

Instead, a draft text which called on EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to come up with "concrete proposals" to boost freedom of religion was sent back to the drawing board on Monday evening (31 January).

Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini led opposition to the text which "firmly" condemned the "acts of terrorism targeting places of worship", claiming the document showed an "excess of secularism".

"The final text didn't include any mention of Christians, as if we were talking of something else, so I asked the text to be withdrawn," he told reporters in Brussels. [...]

Ver notícia no EUObserver

Número de muçulmanos no Reino Unido vai duplicar para 5, 5 milhões em 20 anos

The Muslim population in the UK will almost double to 5.5million within 20 years, it has been claimed. Immigration and high birth rates will mean nearly one in ten Britons will be Muslim by 2030, according to a worldwide study about the spread of Islam. And the forecasts mean Britain will have more Muslims than Kuwait.
From 1990 to 2010 the number of followers of the Islamic faith around the world increased at an average rate of 2.2 per cent annually. Last year there were 1.57billion around the world. 
The British increase in the Muslim population from the current 2.8million will be mainly driven by immigration, according to figures prepared by a Washington think tank. Projections by the respected Pew Research Centre said the 40 years between 1990 and 2030 will see a fivefold rise in Britain.
In 1990 there were 1.1million Muslims in Britain, representing two per cent of the population.
By last year that figure had risen to 2.8million, or four per cent. By 2030 the number will hit 5.5million - eight per cent of an estimated 68million population, Pew researchers said. [...]

Ver notícia no Daily Mail

Maiores cidades da Finlândia criam ‘ghettos multiculturais‘ pelos fluxos migratórios

In recent years, Finland’s largest cities have developed areas where more than a fifth of the population is of foreign origin. In these city parts, the changeability of people is great, and the original Finnish population continues to decrease.

In Helsinki’s Itäkeskus and other eastern residential areas, for example, more than one fifth of the population have foreign backgrounds, and their number is increasing by about one percent every year.
For her soon-to-be checked doctoral thesis for the University of Helsinki’s Geography Department, researcher Katja Vilkama studied cities’ immigrant concentrations.
According to Vilkama, areas like Itäkeskus are entryways into Finnish society. However, once immigrants start to earn more and become familiar with Finnish society, they often leave these city areas behind.
Vilkama found the population in such areas to be very mobile, as people were continuously moving in and out. In the Helsinki region, about one in five immigrant families moves areas every year. Estonian immigrants are especially prone to move, says Vilkama.
In fact, there are more people with foreign backgrounds leaving immigrant-heavy areas compared with the number of Finns moving out. However, as both sections of the population are replaced mostly by new immigrants, the number of Finns continues to diminish in these areas.

Ver notícia no YLE. fi

Cidade de Helsínquia acaba com horários específicos para muçulmanas em piscinas públicas

City of Helsinki will stop providing special hours for Muslim women to use the public swimming pool in Jakomaki. Later, the slot time for the Muslim women will be open to all women.  Other swimmers have criticized the practice, according to Teemu Raatikainen, manager of the swimming pool.  Previously, a swimming pool on Saturday morning Jakomaki provide specifically for Muslim women. Women were following the swim session class for young Muslim girls. The pool reopened on Wednesday (5 / 1) after closed due to renovations. From now on, the pool will be open to all women – and closed to the men – every Tuesday night.  The decision to give a specific time for Muslim women is a controversial decision in Jakomaki. [...]

Ver notícia no Homedailynews

A difícil relação da Turquia com o Pai Natal

Casi con toda certeza, Santa Claus es de origen turco. Pero eso parecían ignorarlo la veintena de jóvenes que la pasada Nochevieja se reunieron frente a la Universidad de Estambul para apuñalar un Papá Noel hinchable de tamaño natural, a modo de protesta contra las «celebraciones del imperialismo cultural occidental» de Año Nuevo.

Los estudiantes eran miembros de la Asociación Juventud Anatolia, un grupo ultranacionalista de sesgo islamista que considera que el islam suní es la única religión verdaderamente «turca». «Hay un hadice (un relato oral de las enseñanzas de Mahoma durante su vida, según la tradición musulmana) que dice: "No seáis como judíos o cristianos". Esto nos enseña qué enormes problemas pueden ocurrir en caso de comportarnos como ellos», declaró el portavoz del grupo, Güven Günduz.

«Ningún musulmán debería respetar las absurdas celebraciones que se realizan bajo el nombre de «Navidad» y que no tienen equivalente en nuestras creencias y cultura», afirmó.

 

Ver notícia no ABC

Atentado numa igreja cristã copta de Alexandria matou 21 pessoas

 Uma explosão, esta madrugada, numa igreja copta de Alexandria, no Egipto, matou 21 pessoas e feriu perto de meia centena. As autoridades acreditam que se tratou de um atentado suicida e, pouco depois do incidente, registaram-se confrontos entre cristãos e muçulmanos naquela cidade.
As primeiras informações indicavam que a explosão teria sido causada por um carro armadilhado, mas já esta manhã o Ministério do Interior egípcio corrigiu a informação. Segundo um porta-voz, não há sinais de que a detonação tenha tido origem em nenhum dos carros que foi destruído e “é provável que o engenho que causou a explosão tenha sido transportado por um bombista que morreu no meio da multidão. [...]

Ver notícia no Público

Feliz Ano Novo de 2011!

Professor do secundário denunciado por aluno muçulmano por falar de presunto nas aulas

Un profesor de secundaria del Instituto Menénez Tolosa, en La Línea de la Concepción (Cádiz), ha sido denunciado por la familia de un alumno musulmán por hablar de jamón en clase. En concreto, el docente impartía clase de Geografía cuando, al hacer referencia a los distintos climas de España, comentó que el frío propio de Trévelez, en Granada, favorecía la curación del jamón.
Fuen ese momento cuando un alumno de origen musulmán consideró que el ejemplo era una ofensa para su credo. Tras la denuncia interpuesta por la familia del menor, la Policía se personó en el Instituto para interrogar al profesor, tal y como informa hoy el Diario de Cádiz. El docente, según informa hoy este diario, asegura que nunca ha hecho en sus clases "apología del jamón o del cerdo". [...].

Ver notícia no ABC

Detenção de grupos islâmicos salafistas na Alemanha ao abrigo de legislação anti-nazi

German  authorities hardened a crackdown on Islamic groups yesterday, raiding homes and schools that reportedly belong to adherents of fundamentalist Salafi Islam.
German officials said the preemptive raids, conducted under German anti-Nazi laws of association, were aimed at uncovering unconstitutional or separatist acts and not part of an international terror hunt.
The raids targeted the Islamic Cultural Center of Bremen, on the North Sea, along with a group calling itself Invitation to Paradise in two small northwest German cities. Invitation to Paradise's leader has called for sharia, or Islamic law, to prevail one day but has specifically opposed using violence to impose it.
While some experts say police overreacted in conducting the raids, German officials have come under great pressure from local media and citizen groups to respond to some Muslim organizations that appear to resist joining mainstream German society.
“These groups are a problem for integration, even maybe for radicalization, though not necessarily for violent jihad. They are very orthodox and like to be separate but are not preaching but usually condemning violence,” says Alexander Ritzmann, a former Berlin member of parliament now with the European Foundation for Democracy in Brussels. “The problem is that some jihadis in Germany from before identified themselves as Salafi.”


Ver notícia no Christian Science Monitor [...]

O Egipto silencia a minoria cristã

Los cristianos juran que la policía de Mubarak irrumpió en la iglesia a medio construir de Omraneya al grito de «Allah uk akbar» (Alá es el más grande), ese que solo usan «cuando van a por los terroristas y en la guerra». Les atacaron, cuentan, «de una forma inhumana», disparando a bocajarro pelotas de goma, gases lacrimógenos, piedras y las balas que mataron a en el acto a Makarios Gad, de 19 años. Hubo 13 agentes y 80 ciudadanos heridos, dos de ellos también han muerto. Luego «se llevaron a todo el mundo, a 156 hombres, mujeres y niños que estaban dentro del edificio», y desde entonces, dicen, «la caza no ha terminado».
La Unión Egipcia para los Derechos Humanos asegura que hay 400 detenciones más, que las fuerzas de seguridad les sacan por las noches de sus casas y que esta semana pararon un autobús en la calle «y agarraron, —explica Ezzar Ibrahim—, a los que tenían escrito en el carné la religión equivocada: cristianos». En el gobierno local de Giza, dirigido por el oficialista Sayyed Abdel Aziz, niegan toda esta versión «cínica y maliciosamente distorsionada» y advierten que los agredidos fueron los policías, cuando trataban de disolver a 3.000 cristianos «vándalos» que protestaban porque el Estado les ha suspendido las obras de esa «iglesia ilegal» en la que se atrincheraban. Y ya saben que no tienen ningún derecho a manifestarse.[...].

Ver notícia no ABC

Professora estagiária com véu islâmico afastada de dar aulas

Licenciée en vertu du principe de laïcité. L'académie de Toulouse a exclu vendredi une enseigante stagiaire qui refusait de retirer son voile islamique pour faire la classe à des élèves de primaire. Cette exclusion est définitive et revient à un licenciement, confirme le rectorat. Le principe de laïcité est affirmé par l'article premier de la Constitution. Le «principe de neutralité s'impose aux agents publics dans l'exercice de leurs fonctions et leur interdit d'exprimer, de matérialiser, d'extérioriser leurs croyances religieuses», rappelle le recteur.
La jeune femme, dont l'identité n'a pas été révélée, n'a manifesté aucune intention de contester cette décision. Si elle change d'avis, elle dispose de deux mois pour formuler un recours devant le tribunal administratif. L'intéressée a accepté le verdict de l'académie de Toulouse «avec beaucoup de dignité et de responsabilité», témoigne le directeur de la communication du rectorat, Michel Montredon. «Elle n'a montré aucune volonté de monter cette affaire en épingle, elle savait ce que sa décision impliquait dans sa vie professionnelle et publique».

Ver notícia no Figaro

Piscina separada par mulheres criada na Universidade George Washington

Colleges strive to create welcoming, inclusive communities for students from every background. But a new effort at George Washington University has scores of critics and supporters abuzz with heated comments that continue to pour in on various blogs and news articles.

At the request of the university's Muslim Students' Association, George Washington began offering a once-weekly, female-only swim hour in March. But it only recently turned into an online debate over issues of religious and sexual discrimination and - though not always explicitly - racism, spurred by an article in the student newspaper, The GW Hatchet. [...].

Ver notícia na FoxNation

Bairros de cristãos em Bagdade atacados

A series of bombings and mortar attacks targeting Christian areas has killed at least three people in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, security sources say.

Six districts with strong Christian majorities were hit, and at least 24 people have been injured.
The attacks come days after more than 40 people died when Islamist militants seized a Catholic cathedral.
The violence comes as top-level talks on resolving the country's political crisis ended without agreement.
Iraq's political leaders have been negotiating on forming a new government since inconclusive elections in March. [...]

Ver notícias na BBC

Cristãos ‘são agora alvos legítimos‘ no Iraque

A Al-Qaida no Iraque advertiu hoje que os cristãos são agora "alvos legítimos", depois de expirado o ultimato dado à Igreja Copta no Egipto para libertar duas mulheres, segundo o centro norte-americano de vigilância de sites islamistas (SITE).
O Estado Islâmico do Iraque (ISI), grupo ligado à rede terrorista Al-Qaida, reivindicou, no domingo, o ataque a uma igreja siríaca católica, em Bagdad, e deu 48 horas à Igreja Copta do Egipto para libertar duas cristãs que se converteram ao Islão e estão "detidas em mosteiros" no Egipto.
"O ultimato acordado à Igreja copta no Egipto muçulmano para libertar as nossas irmãs expirou", refere um comunicado da al-Qaida no Iraque. [...]

Ver notícia no MSN News 

A Turquia necessita de levantar as restrições aos cristãos ortodoxos

As Turkey celebrates its Independence Day on Oct. 29, Christians living there probably won’t be partaking in any celebratory parties.
Despite recent reforms in the country, human rights and the protection of religious minorities still require significant improvement.
One body that is continually being persecuted is the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople, present-day Istanbul.
This 1,700 year old living institution is the Mother Church of Christianity headed by His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew who shepherds the spiritual needs of the world’s 300 million Orthodox Christians.
Alas, the problems faced by the Patriarchate are plenty. Turkey, for example, does not recognize the “Ecumenical” title – an ecclesiastical designation instituted in the year 586. Belittlingly, Turkey refers to Bartholomew as the “Phanar Patriarch” after the district in Istanbul where he is headquartered, despite all other foreign leaders acknowledging his ecumenical status.
Hardline nationalists fear that by accepting this title the door will open for the Patriarchate to seek sovereign status like the Pope in Rome. This fear though is baseless, ignoring not only how Orthodoxy is actually administered but also the preachings of Patriarch Bartholomew who has unequivocally stated that “becoming a second Vatican is not in keeping with the Orthodox Church’s principles.”

Ver notícia no National Post

David Cameron proíbe ministra muçulmana de ir a conferência islâmica

O primeiro ministro britânico, David Cameron , proibiu a única ministra muçulmana do seu Governo de assistir a uma conferência islâmica que decorre hoje em Londres, noticia o jornal "The Guardian ".

A ministra sem pasta Sayeeda Warsi , de origem paquistanesa, recebeu instruções de David Cameron para não participar no "Evento para a Paz e União Globais", que os organizadores classificam como a maior reunião multicultural celebrada na Europa.

De acordo com a organização, o objetivo da conferência é melhorar as relações entre as diversas comunidades, mas os críticos sublinham que alguns dos oradores previstos já justificaram publicamente os atentados suicidas e pronunciaram-se a favor da Al Qaida, da homofobia e do terrorismo. [...]

Ver notícia no Expresso

A intenção de criar uma sociedade multicultural fracassou por completo

El intento de Alemania de crear una sociedad multicultural "ha fracasado por completo", ha dicho la canciller Angela Merkel, encendiendo el debate sobre la inmigración y la integración de la población islámica que tiene el país.

Ante jóvenes de su partido Unión Demócrata Cristiana (CDU), Merkel ha afirmado que permitir que personas de diferentes culturas vivan sin que se integren no ha funcionado en un país que es hogar de cerca de cuatro millones de musulmanes.

"Este enfoque (multicultural) ha fracasado, fracasado por completo", dijo Merkel en el encuentro que se realizó en Potsdam, al sur de Berlín.

La mandataria enfrenta la presión de su propio partido para adoptar una línea más dura sobre inmigrantes que no muestran disposición de adaptarse a la sociedad alemana y sus comentarios parecían intentar pacificar a sus críticos. [...]

Ver notícia no El Mundo

Sharia islâmica usada na Alemanha para disputas em matéria de família

“We have been practising Islamic law for years, and that is a good thing,” Hilmar Krüger, professor for foreign private law at Cologne University, told Der Spiegel magazine. Family and inheritance rulings were often made according to Sharia law, he said, listing a range of examples. Women who are in polygamous marriages legal in their countries of origin can make claims of their husbands in Germany regardless of the fact that their marriages would not be lawful here. They can claim maintenance from their husbands and a share of an eventual inheritance, said Krüger. German judges often refer to Sharia, as the Federal Social Court in Kassel did a few years ago when it supported the claim of a second wife for a share of her dead husband’s pension payments, which his first wife wanted to keep all to herself. The judge ruled they should share the pension [...].

Ver notícia no The Local

Festival de cinema gay atacado em Jacarta

An international film festival celebrating gay cinema was yesterday targeted by masked Islamic hardliners in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

The protesters, members of the Islamic Defenders Front, chanted homophobic slogans and accused organisers of the Q! film festival, now in its ninth year, of blasphemy, threatening to burn down a venue if screenings did not halt. The event, which is being held at foreign cultural centres in Jakarta, opened last week and was scheduled to run until Wednesday night. It aims to raise awareness of gay issues. Festival co-founder and director John Badalu told the Jakarta Post he and his team were committed to running the festival according to schedule. "We're still going to go on," he said. However, organisers admitted last night that they had been forced to cancel some screenings. [...]

Ver notícia no Guardian

Uso da burqa interditado nas escolas católicas irlandesas

Teachers have been told in guidelines that Muslims would not be permitted to wear the niqab, the garment covering the entire body except for slits across the eyes. The guidance, circulated in Ireland by bishops among more than 450 schools this week, said that although staff should respect the religious rights of non-Catholics, it was "unsatisfactory for a teacher not to be able to see and engage properly with a pupil whose face was covered".

"No pupil or staff member should be prevented from wearing a religious symbol or garment in accordance with their tradition, for example, the hijab [headscarf] for Muslim girls and the turban for Sikh boys," said the document called "Guidelines on the Inclusion of Students of Other Faiths in Catholic Secondary Schools". [...]

Ver notícia no Telegraph

A França proibe o uso da burqa no espaço público

France risked the wrath of the Islamic world on Tuesday by banning burqas and other full-body robes worn by some Muslim women, in a long-debated move that shows the depth of concern over the rise of Muslim culture in Europe.

Switzerland, for example, banned the construction of minarets after a referendum last year. Belgium and Spain are discussing measures to outlaw similar full-body cloaks. In Sweden, long known as one of Europe's most tolerant societies, an anti-immigration party that has called for Swedish Muslims to integrate more is expected to win its first Parliamentary seat in this weekend's elections.

In the U.S., tensions are running similarly high over plans to build an Islamic community center near the site of the World Trade Center destroyed by Muslim terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001, and over a Florida pastor's threat to burn qurans in commemoration of the date last week. [...].

Ver notícia no Wall Street Journal