Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/30/2011

Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez has been incommunicado for three weeks and is now in Cuba for medical treatment. Today he made an appearance on Venezuelan television (reportedly recorded in Cuba) and confirmed the rumors: he has cancer. It’s not clear what kind, but prostate cancer was rumored. Fausta has the video and a translation.

In other news, the EU released its new (bloated) budget, prompting Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden to complain about the excessive spending. Meanwhile, Brussels has proposed an EU-wide VAT to help pay for all its nifty programs.

Also, the case against former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn may be falling apart. The NYC police reportedly think that the main witness against Mr. Strauss-Kahn lacks credibility, after repeatedly lying to investigators.

To see the headlines and the articles, open the full news post.

Thanks to AC, C. Cantoni, Erick Stakelbeck, Fausta, Fjordman, JD, Van Grungy, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Commenters are advised to leave their comments at this post (rather than with the news articles) so that they are more easily accessible.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

Parting with the Gaza Flotilla

Our Dutch correspondent Serge Leipzigger sends his translation of an unusual article about the new Gaza flotilla, written by a participant who had second thoughts and got out. He follows it with additional translated material.

He includes this explanatory note:

Hasna El Maroudi, 26, can be described as a “Dutch pro-Palestinian activist/journalist of Moroccan descent.” She had planned to join other activists aboard a Dutch ship to Gaza, until she learned that she would be going on a secret Hamas-organized mission, and cancelled her participation. On Wednesday she published a rare inside account of what she saw in Greece as the activists were preparing to set sail. This English translation of her account is meant to meant to help her discoveries traverse the language barrier.

His translation from Joop:

Parting with the Gaza Flotilla

Joop, opinion section, June 29

Why I am not sailing aboard the Dutch ship after all

I have been to the Greek island of Corfu over the past few days. I got to know the activists and journalists intending to sail to Gaza and received training on non-violent resistance from Anne de Jong, a passenger in the previous flotilla.

Although I had intended to report on the sail for Uitgesproken Vara and Joop, I was going first and foremost as an activist. I want Israel to lift the illegal blockade on Gaza and give the people that which they are entitled to have: Self-rule.

And that is also the issue for me: The population there. The Palestinian youths who published a document last year in which they expressed their longing for leading a normal life. I didn’t go for any political movement or for those in power.

When I decided to subject myself to the voyage and the long list of preparatory engagements and training sessions it entailed, I presented the organizers with one single crucial demand: I wanted to know exactly who would sail with me on the Italian-Dutch ship and requested to have the opportunity to meet them all in advance before embarking on the trip.

I did not want to be surprised by the presence of figures or organizations with which I did not want to become involved. I was told that my demand was self-evident: There would be team-building and “we are going to have it in Greece.”

Despite assurances to the contrary, the Italian activists who were supposed to sail with us were nowhere to be seen upon our arrival in Corfu. More crucially, the Dutch delegation was isolated on the island. The rest of the flotilla was in Athens.

I repeatedly I asked to receive a tentative list of all the passengers. Realizing that many difficulties had been put in the organizers’ path, I did not expect to receive a complete list of participants. I would have been satisfied with the available information. No such information was given. Despite my insistence on receiving the list in advance, it was given to me when I decided to return to Holland. Too late.

But there was more going on. The ship’s funding remained unclear. Also regarding this point I repeatedly asked for information, but for answers I was told of a loose web of associations under different umbrella and daughter organizations. The Nederland Gaza Association [the organizers of the Dutch boat ride] claims to be fully transparent. To me, this means there must be a publication of subsidies.

If this complicates fundraising and scares off donors, so be it. It’s the only way to show an already-suspicious Netherlands that you have nothing to hide.

The presence of Amin Abou Rashed suggests there is something to hide. He, too, sailed last year to Gaza with the flotilla, and he was arrested by Israel. According to various media, he is Hamas’ top figure in the Netherlands. He is also affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. How much of this is true, I do not know. How much of this is not true, I know even less. That is the problem, and it creates an atmosphere of suspicion.

Over dinner Anne de Jong insisted that it was all lies and that Amin is a terribly nice man with an unbelievable amount of love for the Palestinians. However much I wished I could believe her and those blue eyes of hers, I could not do it. Simply because his involvement with the flotilla was kept secret until the arrival in Greece. And not only vis-à-vis the rest of the world, but also when it came to the flotilla participants. I find this to be detrimental.

During this dangerous action, the participants are laying their lives on the line. It is therefore only fair that they be provided with the relevant essential information.

Amin was there the day the Dutch delegation received a non-violence training but hung in the background. Wilfred van de Poll, a journalist for Trouw, spoke briefly with Amin about his presence and role within the organization. “The brain behind the flotilla” as the man elected to be described, arranged the purchase of the boat. He also provided for the lion’s share of funding, according to Anne de Jong. If he played such a vital role, then why was it kept secret and why couldn’t I know who or what he was?

Our activists were told that the goods [aboard the ship] will be distributed by UNHCR, but it later turned out that this was not 100 percent certain. Few organizations beside UNCHR are capable of performing this task in Gaza. In fact, only one other such entity remains. Hamas. And I wanted to have nothing do with them.

The bottom line is very simple. In a mission such as this one, the activists must be able to fully trust one another, like firefighters entering a burning building. My trust in the organization only diminished the further we progressed.

The moment I expressed reservations about the information which was given out, Anne de Jong’s reacted accusatory and snappy. “Would you rather we told you nothing at all?” she demanded, as though I should applaud her right away for my being allowed to hear anything at all. And as though I had failed to understand the magnitude of the task of setting out against a great power such as Israel.

It is to be regretted that the organization (according to my opinion) missed its mark. The boat is about to set sail, carrying many good intentions, too little experience and too many illusions. I hope everyone will come back in one piece. Over a period of one week I became truly attached to the Dutch group and I am convinced of their honest motivations in sailing.

I hope they remain extra critical. The goal of freeing Gaza cannot be reached without openness. And it’s up to us to set the example.

El Maroudi’s account generated interest in Dutch media. The following articles appeared the next day:

Censorship on the Gaza boat
De Telegraaf, Thursday June 30th, p13, by Bart Olmer

[Half-page article, part literally translated:]

Furious at the paranoia, the dictatorial atmosphere, mutual distrust and outright opposition on board, all Dutch journalists decided to leave the ship on which the Dutch activists seek confrontation with Israeli marines in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas leader Amin Abou Rashed to the left-behind sheik Yusuf al Qaradawi, spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood

According to the four editors who left, they were censored by the activists, who did not like critical questions, such as about the financing of the operational ship, which was bought for nearly three tons. The money is scraped together by for example collections in Dutch mosques, as this newspaper revealed earlier.

Vara editor Hasna El Maroudi decided to quit because the organization did not want to tell her what other people would be on board: “I did not want to be surprised by the presence of figures or organizations that I want nothing to do with. It also remained unclear who financed the boat. Also, I have repeatedly asked about the funding, but the answer was suspended in a web of vague foundations and umbrella organizations.”

Now it appears that the infamous Dutch Hamas leader Amin Abou Rashed also been presented the training of the crew in Greece in recent days. El Maroudi: “Amin was present on the day the Dutch delegation, followed part of the non-violence training. Wilfred van de Poll, journalist for Trouw, just spoke with Amin about his presence and his role within the organization. ‘The brain behind the fleet’ arranged the purchase of the boat. He also has a lion’s share of funding provided.”

El Maroudi: “During the dinner Anne de Jong (one of the driving forces behind the fleet) raved that everything is lies and that Amin is a terribly nice man, who is committed to the Palestinians with incredible love. How much I would like to believe her and her blue eyes, I cannot. Simply because his involvement in the fleet had been kept secret until arrival in Greece. Not only for the outside world, but also for the passengers.”

Trouw reporter Wilfred van de Poll withdrew his participation, because he no longer trusted the organization.

Martijn Dekker, spokesman for the Netherlands-Gaza Foundation, is deeply ashamed for the collective departure of the journalists. Dekker: “We can be quite open about for example the origin of the money that the boat is paid with. We can look into the books of the donating foundation Israa. It shows that all donations come from Dutch individuals, not from a shadowy sheik from abroad.” Foundation Netherlands-Gaza says it can only release the list of passengers until after the fleet departs, as it still being changed. The Dutch action ship left yesterday and arrived today at an agreed rendezvous site, which has three other ships awaiting action.

The foundation was forced to admit that Rashed was present in Greece, because of his involvement in the purchase of the ship. But the organization denies his involvement in training, selection and briefings. A unique picture has recently emerged (see above), where the Dutch Hamas leader Sheikh Amin Abou Rashed stands behind Yusuf al Qaradawi, spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. This Al Qaradawi is hoping to transform Egypt into fundamentalist dictatorship. The Sheikh, a fierce anti-Semite and notorious for his inflammatory speeches, lived in exile in Qatar. After the revolt against Egyptian President Mubarak he returned to Cairo. Al Qaradawi would like to stone gay people and adulterers, would “dismantle” Israel, encourages suicide attacks inside Israel and believes that men should whip “rebellious” women.

Gaza flotilla surrounded by suspicion and deceit
Nederlands Dagblad, Thursday June 30th, p4

[Summary:]

The Dutch journalists who decided not to participate in the Gaza flotilla do not have anything positive to say about the organization Netherlands-Gaza.

Journalist Eric Beauchemin of the ‘Wereldomroep’ says he has never seen an organization as closed as Netherlands-Gaza. No filming was allowed during the two-day training in Greece, and it was kept a secret which Dutch people would participate in the fleet. It was said that well know people would participate, but this was untrue.

It is unclear who is funding the Dutch participation. VARA journalist Hasna el-Maoudi cancelled her trip because she had the suspicion that the Hamas was involved in the funding.

Related information on the Gaza flotilla, courtesy of Dymphna:

From the “Stand With Us” internet task force [pdf]:

Nine Facts about this year’s Flotilla battalion’s intent to violate international law. International leaders, from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the EU, have urged the organizers to cancel…

Email contact for anyone who wants to join: israel@standwithus.com

Up the Ladder to the Roof

“No mosque here!”
Members of Vlaams Belang made it all the way to the top today — the top of a building which the city of Antwerp plans to convert into a mosque:

Belgium: Flemish Nationalists Climb on Future Mosque Roof

(AGI) Brussels — Some members of Vlaams Belang, an intensely xenophobic Flemish nationalist group, occupied the roof of an Antwerp building that the municipal authorities will turn into a mosque. The protest against “the islamisation of Antwerp” and the “supermosque” (as Vlaams Belang leader Filip Dewinter defined it) may continue next week with a pork barbecue in the same building.

Hat tip: C. Cantoni. Many thanks to Vlaams Belang for sending us the photo.

Halal Puppies

A reader sent the following photo, which he took himself. He says it deserves a place alongside Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff’s report on halal food in D.C.

No further explanation is required:

No Comment

What can one say, after all?

From Reuters:

U.S. Shifts to Closer Contact With Egypt Islamists

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - The United States will resume limited contacts with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirmed on Thursday, saying it was in Washington’s interests to deal with parties committed to non-violent politics.

While Clinton portrayed the administration’s decision as a continuation of an earlier policy, it reflects a subtle shift in that U.S. officials will be able to deal directly with officials of the Islamist movement who are not members of parliament.

The move, first reported by Reuters on Wednesday, is likely to upset Israel and its U.S. supporters who have deep misgivings about the Brotherhood, a group founded in 1928 that seeks to promote its conservative vision of Islam in society.

Under president Hosni Mubarak, a key U.S. ally, the Brotherhood was formally banned, but since the ousting of the secular former general by a popular uprising in February, the Islamists are seen as a major force in forthcoming elections.

“We believe, given the changing political landscape in Egypt, that it is in the interests of the United States to engage with all parties that are peaceful, and committed to non-violence, that intend to compete for the parliament and the presidency,” Clinton told reporters at a news conference.

“Now in any of those contacts, prior or future, we will continue to emphasize the importance of and support for democratic principles and especially a commitment to non-violence, respect for minority rights, and the full inclusion of women in any democracy,” she added.

Clinton would not say whether the Obama administration had already begun such contacts or at what level it planned to deal with the group.

On Wednesday, a senior U.S. official disclosed the decision to Reuters, saying that where U.S. diplomats previously dealt only with group members in their role as parliamentarians, a policy he said had been in place since 2006, they will now deal directly with Brotherhood officials.

Brotherhood Welcomes Move

In Cairo, a spokesman for the Islamist group said it would welcome any formal contacts with the United States as a way to clarify its vision, but no such contacts have yet been made.

“We welcome such relationships with everyone because those relations will lead to clarifying our vision. But it won’t include or be based on any intervention in the internal affairs of the country,” spokesman Mohamed Saad el-Katatni told Reuters.

“Until now no contacts have been made with the group or the party,” said Katatni, who is also secretary-general of the Brotherhood’s new Freedom and Justice political party.

“This relationship will clarify our general views and our opinion about different issues.”

There is no U.S. legal prohibition against dealing with the Muslim Brotherhood itself, which long ago renounced violence as a means to achieve political change in Egypt and which is not regarded by Washington as a foreign terrorist organization.

But other sympathetic groups, such as Palestinian Hamas, which identifies the Brotherhood as its spiritual guide, have not disavowed violence against the state of Israel.

The result has been a dilemma for the Obama administration. Former officials and analysts said it has little choice but to engage the Brotherhood directly, given its political prominence after the fall of Mubarak.

Clinton sought to play down the shift, which former U.S. diplomats viewed as all but inevitable given the group’s political heft and the fact that with parliament dissolved after Mubarak’s toppling, U.S. diplomats had to find another way to justify dealing with Brotherhood officials.

“The importance here is that this is not a new policy, that it is one that we are re-engaging in because of the upcoming elections, but there will be certain expectations set and certain messages delivered,” Clinton added.

“We hope that the move toward democracy that is taking place in Egypt will actually result in the kind of inclusive, participatory political system that we would like to see.”

Widely regarded as Egypt’s best organized political force, the Muslim Brotherhood is expected to do well in parliamentary elections that are scheduled for September.

But it has said it does not want a parliamentary majority, nor will it field a candidate for president.

Egypt’s military rulers, who took over on Mubarak’s toppling after massive street protests against his authoritarian rule, have promised a presidential vote by the end of 2011.

Hat tip: AC.

Inala Market and Sunnybank for lunch.

Inala Vietnamese Market @ around 9 in the morning.

My favourite PEAR and GRAPES!

Say "Hi" to Avocado. (I don't really like it :/)

Looks exactly same like "Chai Tiam Ma" laaaaa ~

Bananas are so FREAKING EXPENSIVE in Australia.

Chestnut!

DURIAN DURIAN DURIAN

(I still prefer Penang one~ :p I mean during season ;])

Hello, PAPA! *Wave*

Oranges are beautiful! but still, I don't really enjoy Avocado ;(

Although it's cheap, but I'm not going to eat this kind of Durian -.-

LOVE SWEET POTATOES.

One of the butcher shop named "An kang" -.-

Fish Market in Inala ;)

This is the 3rd year for me to stay in Australia and this is also the first "Ham Chim Peng" in Aus. IT's TASTE SO NICE!

Things that we bought in the Inala market and Sunnybank :)

Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/29/2011

It was a real cliffhanger, but at the last minute the Greek parliament voted by a narrow margin to implement the austerity measures that will allow the country to receive its next tranche of EU bailout money and avoid insolvency. Protesters in downtown Athens, who object to the new austerity plan, were confronted by riot police using tear gas and plastic bullets to drive them into the Syntagma Square metro station, which they thought would serve as a refuge. However, the police threw tear gas grenades down into the station, afflicting the rioters with the gas in an enclosed space. Respiratory distress and other injuries reportedly sent a number of the protesters to local hospitals.

In other news, three jihadis in New York were sentenced to 25 years in prison for planning to shoot down military planes and execute attacks on two synagogues.

To see the headlines and the articles, open the full news post.

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Mary Abdelmassih, Nick, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Commenters are advised to leave their comments at this post (rather than with the news articles) so that they are more easily accessible.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

Camp of the Saints: The Flood Resumes

I predicted last night that the lull in the Mediterranean refugee crisis wouldn’t last long, and I was right — less than twenty-four hours later Lampedusa was inundated again. As a result the Cultural Enrichment Thermometer in the above graphic has had to be updated, but it required a close look at the various news stories to decide by how much.

First of all, consider this brief report from ANSAmed:

Over 500 Sub-Saharan Migrants Land on Lampedusa

(ANSAmed) — Rome, June 29 — Two large boats carrying immigrants landed on the shores of Lampedusa in the early morning hours today. On the boats, which were assisted by port authority patrol boats, there were an overall 553 migrants including about 50 women and 17 children. The immigrants are from Sub-Saharan Africa and may have weighed anchor from Libya.

The longer story below is plainly a somewhat more detailed account of the same two landings:

Two Boatloads of Immigrants Land in Lampedusa

Women and children among more than 500 arrivals

(ANSA) — Lampedusa, June 29 — Two large boats carrying more than 500 immigrants landed on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa early Wednesday.

Port authority officials met the first boat with around 225 immigrants as it arrived at the entrance to the port, while coast guard officials then intercepted the second boat carrying around 328 people two miles off the coast.

The immigrants were mostly from sub-Saharan Africa and the boats included more than 50 women and 17 children.

Both boats are believed to have departed from Libya and the new arrivals were immediately transferred to the island’s immigrant welcome centre.

But this report from AGI seems to describe a separate incident involving a single boat carrying more than 800 enrichers.

840 Refugees Arrive in Lampedusa, 117 Women 28 Children

(AGI) Lampedusa — A record 840 Libyan refugees arrived in Lampedusa tonight, including 117 women and 28 children. The refugees arrived in Lampedusa shortly after 7.30pm aboard an about 20-metre-long boat which had been rescued earlier today some 16 miles off the island. The migrants, all of them from sub-Saharan Africa, left Libya some days ago. It is the largest single landing of immigrants on the island ever. Some weeks ago, 932 immigrants arrived in Pozzallo, in the province of Ragusa.

The total from all three boats is around 1,400, which brings the year-to-date number of arrivals in Italy to just over 46,500.

Almost all of the newcomers are from sub-Saharan Africa — that is, they are among the poorest, least skilled, and least employable migrants in the world.


For previous posts about the Mediterranean refugee crisis, see The Camp of the Saints Archive.

Hat tips: C. Cantoni, Fjordman, and Insubria.

Islam Does Not Belong in Europe

The following op-ed was published last month in Die Welt (subscription required), and has been translated for Gates of Vienna by JLH.

I’m amazed that this article appeared in the German MSM. Yes, I realize that the author’s arguments have their deficiencies — I can see them as clearly as you. However, as with a dog walking on his hind legs, the amazing thing is not how well it is done, but that it is done at all.

Ideology of Power
by Josef Lödin

Islam, as am ideology does not belong to Europe. It is not willing to regard religion, society and politics separately. Freedom, nucleus of the European Enlightenment, is alien to it.

Everyone — regardless of race or religion — can feel at home in Europe, provided he accepts and internalizes the essential values of European civilization. They were fought for and won in difficult battles between state and religion, individual and society, philosophy, science, art and faith. The nucleus of European Enlightenment is the freedom of the individual. This freedom is the greatest of possessions; with it comes questioning tradition, choosing a life different from that prescribed by the collective. This freedom was often paid for with one’s life. People allowed themselves to be burned at the stake, accepted torture, persecution, murder. We know that “spiritual progress” (Freud) is not a one-way street; that retreats in our European Enlightenment were often more powerful than advances; that barbarism was always and everywhere a reality. Nonetheless, the world will not get around the idea of freedom. And Islam too will founder on this idea. As Europeans, we are not prepared to give up our idea of freedom.

We are not talking about the individual who comes from Islamic culture and wants to be a Muslim, but about Islam as a philosophy and “idea of civilization.” Islam does not belong in Europe because it does not wish to regard religion, culture, society and politics as separate, but decisively wants to support its own unity. This mindset is not unknown to Europe. Both Judaism and Christianity are acquainted with this idea of unity under the banner of a faith. All religions would like have the effect of building civilization, but, in an arduous battle, Europe has distanced itself from the idea of omnipotence in religion.

Islam does not belong in Europe, because in this respect it is dragging along centuries behind. Because it places faith above science and enlightenment. It knows no Reformation. It has not experienced the battle between philosophy, science and church, for which the church paid by giving up its claim to omnipotence. With all due tolerance to traditional beliefs, European civilization cannot accept the superiority of faith over philosophy, science, art and enlightenment. Above all, Islam does not belong in Europe, despite Ataturk, because it is a stranger to the separation of politics and religion. Islam is in its essence a political theology. It is not by chance that its expansion came with the sword. Islam is an ideology of power. In its developing phase, it was not carried by a tradition of powerlessness, as was Judaism (“We were slaves in Egypt”) and Christianity, which had to defend itself against persecution and repression. Islam, to the contrary, played the part of master of the world from the start. Even though nothing of that is left, the claim has been internalized.

Islam is not European, because it put the collective above the individual, because it is not prepared to defend the individual from the collective, because it disregards the rights of minorities and because — all lip-service to the contrary notwithstanding — it maintains the greater value of the man. The culturally internalized inferiority of the woman has been a reality in Islam for centuries. You have to have a lot of sand in your eyes to justify or deny this. Islam can never be European, because the non-Muslim is an incomplete human being. Islam cannot be part of Europe, because criticizing it is forbidden, because apostasy of a Muslim is punished by death, because heresy is seen as more serious than all crimes against civil law. Islam does not belong in Europe, because it cruelly persecutes sexual minorities and is capable of no effective tolerance.

All these reasons form the causes of the backwardness of the Islamic world — its distaste for science, art and enlightenment. Any Muslim can become a European and practice his religion within European civilization. Because of its archaisms, Islam as an idea of civilization cannot be recognized as a part of Europe. Europe would limit itself; we would bow to the aggressive demand of Islam.

We must distinguish clearly between Islam as a religion and Islam as a civilization. Islam is not content to be a creed, but threatens secular European civilization with an imaginary alternative. Europe must reject this idea of an Islamic civilization. Many Europeans are lulling themselves with illusions, when they do not take Islam's claim to overlordship seriously. The do not understand that this pseudo-idea of a civilization drives millions of Muslims, who want to free the world from our decadence.

In this discussion, Europeans must insist that it is not about religion: everyone can practice that within the framework of the law. The question is: What else does Islam have to offer? What civilization is it suggesting, what legal system, what system of public order, what educational system, what infrastructure, what opera houses, what libraries and hospitals, what answers to ecological questions? Only taking care of these things can claim the name of civilization. Everywhere that Islam has "civilized" in the last 600 years, it has left in its wake poverty, illiteracy and backwardness. In the realm of civilization, Islam has utterly failed. Since the Renaissance, it has dozed through the modern age. Whoever is unable to cope is happy to offer religion as a cure. In this case, religion is not an intellectual-historical heritage, but really just the opium of the people.


The author was born in Afghanistan in 1951 and came to Germany in 1960. Presently, he works in Zurich as a neurologist and psychiatrist. He is active as a psychiatric training analyst in Paris and Berlin.

Coming Soon to a School Cafeteria Near You

Blazing Cat Fur just posted this astonishing story about what’s going on at a middle school in the Toronto area.

I strongly recommend that you pass this report around, especially if you live in Canada, or have friends or relatives in Canada. Included are the phone numbers and email addresses of those responsible for this travesty:

Islamic Ritual Prayer Conducted at Toronto District School Board Middle School

I received this e-mail from Mark Harding. I phoned Valley Park Middle School, who in a panic directed me to call the TDSB directly @ 416-397-3000. The TDSB “Communications Dept.” is so far incommunicado -they are away at a meeting.

Islamic ritual prayers are done in my 13 year old daughter’s middle school on every Friday.

Every Friday my daughter’s school cafeteria changes into a mosque as dozens of Muslim boys and their imams (Islamic preachers) lead Islamic ritual prayers and no one else can even walk through the cafeteria.

Some imams (Islamic preachers) come from the outside of the school and lead Muslim students in the Islamic prayer and this happens at the school Cafeteria after the lunch on Fridays. All other non-Muslims are in classes in the afternoon when they are using the cafeteria as mosque. There is a mosque nearby but the Muslim kids pray in the school

School administration take part preparing the Cafeteria and making it into mosque every Friday and no one but Muslims can use the Cafeteria during the Islamic prayers on Friday.

And there are a number of other incidents involving Islam and other anti-Christian issues that I complained about, including a white convert to Islam who was a supply teacher and who openly promoted Islam and bashed Christianity last year!”

The school’s name is: Valley Park Middle School, and the address is:

130 Overlea Boulevard
Don Mills On, M3C 1B2
Phone: 416 396 2465
Email: ValleyPark@tdsb.on.ca

Hat tip: Vlad Tepes.

When the Drums Begin to Roll

I’ve just been having discussions with some of our British friends about the general fastidiousness and disdain shown by the English middle- and upper-classes towards the working-class “fascist brutes” of the English Defence League. It put me in mind of a certain poem by Rudyard Kipling, especially since the leader of the EDL has taken “Tommy Robinson” as his nom de guerre.

So let’s dedicate this one to Tommy Robinson and the English Defence League:

Tommy
by Rudyard Kipling

I went into a public-’ouse to get a pint o’ beer,
The publican ’e up an’ sez, “We serve no red-coats here.”
The girls be’ind the bar they laughed an’ giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an’ to myself sez I:
     O it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, go away”;
     But it’s “Thank you, Mister Atkins”, when the band
          begins to play,
     The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
     O it’s “Thank you, Mister Atkins”, when the band begins to play.

I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but ’adn’t none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-’alls,
But when it comes to fightin’, Lord! they’ll shove me in the stalls!
     For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy,
          wait outside”;
     But it’s “Special train for Atkins” when the trooper’s on the tide,
     The troopship’s on the tide, my boys, the troopship’s on the tide,
     O it’s “Special train for Atkins” when the trooper’s on the tide.

Yes, makin’ mock o’ uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an’ they’re starvation cheap;
An’ hustlin’ drunken soldiers when they’re goin’ large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin’ in full kit.
     Then it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’
          “Tommy, ’ow’s yer soul?”
     But it’s “Thin red line of ’eroes” when the drums begin to roll,
     The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
     O it’s “Thin red line of ’eroes” when the drums begin to roll.

We aren’t no thin red ’eroes, nor we aren’t no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An’ if sometimes our conduck isn’t all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don’t grow into plaster saints;
     While it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy,
          fall be’ind”,
     But it’s “Please to walk in front, sir”, when there’s trouble
          in the wind,
     There’s trouble in the wind, my boys, there’s trouble in the wind,
     O it’s “Please to walk in front, sir”, when there’s trouble
          in the wind.

You talk o’ better food for us, an’ schools, an’ fires, an’ all:
We’ll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don’t mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow’s Uniform is not the soldier-man’s disgrace.
     For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Chuck him out,
          the brute!”
     But it’s “Saviour of ’is country” when the guns begin to shoot;
     An’ it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ anything you please;
     An’ Tommy ain’t a bloomin’ fool — you bet that Tommy sees!

Cross Dressers, Cartoons and Carnage

Fox News and other outlets are running a brief AP story about the latest capture of another AlQaeda cross dresser terrorist leader caught while disguised as a woman:

A senior leader of an Al Qaeda-linked terror group has been captured in northern Afghanistan dressed up like a woman — the latest in a recent series of cases involving male militants disguised as females, the U.S.-led military coalition said Tuesday.

A “male militant”? For heaven’s sake! These cowardly contortions of language strain one’s good will toward… toward our own side, actually. Both the U.S. military leaders’ equivocations and the trained-dog repetitions by our press make one’s eyes glaze over.

Meanwhile in Egypt there’s an outrage outbreak over a Mickey Mouse cartoon. I love cartoon rage; inevitably it ends up mocking itself.

This time, the richest businessman in Egypt (a Copt — it figures) thought it would be amusing to tweet a bearded Mickey Mouse cartoon. The Telegraph questions the man’s motives:

Mr Sawiris’s firm, Orascom, owns Egypt’s largest mobile phone company, Mobinil.

[…]

…Although Mr Sawiris claimed to be acting in jest, he is a Coptic Christian and religious tensions, particularly between Salafis and Christians, having been running high since the fall of President Hosni Mubarak in January…

Since January?? Since when haven’t “religious tensions” toward Copts been “high”? Copts show up for their services on Sundays and they’re easy pickings for an angry, hungry, illiterate hoi polloi. The question is why the Telegraph jornolists elide enough information to permit one infer that these “tensions” are a result of the recent political turmoil when in fact persecuting Copts is simply what Egyptian Muslims do.

Meanwhile the dervish dance must go on: calls for a boycott begin; the lawyers are lining up; Facebook pages o’ rage proliferate. These steps have long been choreographed by a culture in love with its own grievance rage.

Thus will we have crowds with ugly signs, the even uglier Rage Boy participants, and the special flammable flags. That last one might be a bit tougher here — unless Mr. Sawiris’ mobile phone company has a handy logo. They could jam paper copies onto sticks and wave them before settling down to a weenie roast. Halal weenies, of course. It’s unlikely any of them will actually cut their Mobinil connections. They’re crazy and stupid, but not that stupid. How else could they transmit their circuses to the waiting world of breathless MSM morons?

Although this bearded Mickey image Sawiris sent out is supposed to be “all over the internet” I haven’t found it. And no bonfires over Minnie in all her veiled glory. Perhaps it’s because Minnie is a woman so who cares? Or maybe the move against Sawiris is useful?

Michelle Malkin reminds us of the pictures drawn with the other hand — i.e., all those Jew-bashing cartoons that are ubiquitous in the Arab world. She has a few of the milder images up for your perusal.

What would be cognitive dissonance for a Western mind doesn’t present any problems at all for a Muslim. Come to think of it, their double standard is a direct inheritance from Mohammed: one rule for the believers and another (lethal) rule for the infidels. Hey, it works for them: cartoons for the Jihad but carnage for the rest of us. Yes, indeed: it’s in the Koran.

Oh…and the real reason for Mr. Sawiris’ jest and the Salafist-driven reflix rage?

[He has] founded a new political party, Free Egyptians, to contest parliamentary elections scheduled for September, on a secular, liberal platform. He has previously said the growing use of the veil by women in Egypt has made him feel like a “foreigner”.

That piece of information was in the Telegraph report linked above. Jornolism grows increasingly schizophrenic. So-called news stories are simply bits of discrete information disengaged from one another. The new J rule appears to have these nuggets float in the same murky medium accompanied by nudges, winks, and “who, me?” innuendo.

They “report”? Hardly. Think of it as the zen of news management: an artful arrangement of factoids where the overall design is understood only by other afficianados. The rest of us can go fishing.

A Brief Note From Fjordman: Closing Comments on Future Essays

The noted blogger Fjordman is filing this report via Gates of Vienna.
For a complete Fjordman blogography, see The Fjordman Files. There is also a multi-index listing here.


I have decided to close comments on some of the future essays I post here at Gates of Vienna. I will continue to write about controversial subjects, and I suspect that my most controversial texts have yet to be written. However, precisely due to the sensitive nature of some of the issues we talk about here we have to carefully balance how we present them if we want it to have an effect and let the message sink in with the right people. If you walk into a minefield you have to be extra careful with what you do, otherwise the result could be unpleasant.

I believe we are about to enter a prolonged period of great turbulence, financially, politically and ethnically, possibly involving wars in several Western countries as a direct consequence of non-European mass immigration. I will continue to talk about these issues, as I have done in the past, but I know from experience that these subjects have the potential to trigger a great deal of online turbulence that is not always very fruitful. For this reason, I will close comments when dealing with the most controversial subject-matters. I don’t intend to close comments on all of my posts but will watch how it goes with this policy for the time being.

Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/28/2011

The big news today concerns the Taliban attack on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, which killed at least twelve people before NATO took out the attackers. See Dymphna’s post for more details.

While that was going on, a two-day general strike was underway in Greece in protest of the austerity measures required by the “troika” before the next tranche of bailout money can be released. Prime Minister Papandreou’s popularity has plummeted, and protesters in downtown Athens threw firebombs and fought with riot police.

In other news, the departure of the new Gaza flotilla has been delayed by the intervention of an Israeli advocacy group. One of the flotilla’s vessels was sabotaged in a Greek port and made unseaworthy. The possibility that the flotilla might not be covered by maritime insurance policies, due to its participation in terrorist-related activities, has caused some vessels to withdraw, and only ten ships and fewer than 300 passengers are now expected to be involved.

To see the headlines and the articles, open the full news post.

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Caroline Glick, Fjordman, Gaia, heroyalwhyness, Insubria, JD, Nick, Nilk, Srdja Trifkovic, Steen, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Commenters are advised to leave their comments at this post (rather than with the news articles) so that they are more easily accessible.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

Camp of the Saints: Another Lull?

I was away for several days last week, and have been trying to catch up ever since, so the “Camp of the Saints” news has been neglected. However, during that time there has been somewhat of a lull, and not much has happened over the past week or so.

There’s just one story about a new boatload of culture-enrichers. It’s from Expatica, and concerns the rescue by the Spanish navy of 54 migrants:

Spanish Navy Rescues 54 North Africans From Sea

A total of 54 people sailing from North Africa towards the Spanish coast were rescued at sea early Thursday, Spanish maritime sources said. The group including two pregnant women and two babies were aboard a rubber boat when their boat were seen by a spotter plane and rescued by a Spanish Navy craft 52 nautical miles off the coast of southern Spain, the sources said. Spain is a major entry point for a wave of illegal immigrants fleeing poverty in Africa for the European Union.

Of the enrichers already in Italy, six escaped from a holding facility in Cagliari, on the southern coast of Sardinia, and caused some headaches for the local authorities:

Tunisian Immigrants on the Run, Cagliari Airport Closed

(AGI) Cagliari — Cagliari Airport was closed from 11 pm last night to 6:42 am this morning following instructions by ENAC.

The measure was taken for precautionary reason after 6 Tunisian immigrants escaped from the First Reception Center of Elmas, in the nearby military airport, where they had stayed for almost a month.

Tonight’s final article once again concerns the issue of responsibility for the would-be immigrants who have perished at sea while attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. As discussed in previous posts, NATO vessels — particularly French ones — were accused of deliberately ignoring a stricken vessel and leaving it to drift on the water until most of the passengers died of hunger and thirst.

The Council of Europe, however, has extended its attention beyond that single incident, and is investigating the deaths of many other boat people.

Now, we all know who will ultimately be held responsible….

…white Europeans (or Americans).

It can’t be the Libyans or the Tunisians, with their corrupt kleptocracies and despotic governments.

It can’t be the people smugglers, who send their clients across the water in leaky and antiquated boats after demanding an extortionate price.

It can’t be the enrichers themselves, who choose to set sail without resources or visas in an attempt to reach the Land of Milk and Welfare Benefits.

No, only white people are considered to have agency, so only white people can be to blame. Everyone else is an innocent dupe, or a pawn, or a prisoner of circumstances beyond his control.

According to Expatica:

Europe Probes Migrant Deaths in Mediterranean

The Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly on Thursday said it has opened an investigation into the cases of 1,000 migrants who went missing in the Mediterranean while fleeing unrest in North Africa. The Strasbourg-based body said it will issue a report in October to establish responsibility in the deaths of around 1,000 migrants who perished at sea while trying to reach Europe from turmoil-wracked North Africa since January.

“There have been allegations that migrants and refugees died after their calls for help were ignored,” said Dutch lawmaker and parliament member Tineke Strik who is tasked with the inquiry. “Such a grave allegation must be urgently investigated,” she said, adding she will examine how the migrant ships were intercepted by different national coast guards, military vessels and EU border agency Frontex. Last month reports said 61 boat people had died after distress signals had been ignored by armed forces operating in the Mediterranean.

Things have been pretty quiet for a while. But the “Camp of the Saints” doesn’t normally observe any seasonal lulls, nor does it take any vacations. We can expect more enrichment news in the next few days.


For previous posts about the Mediterranean refugee crisis, see The Camp of the Saints Archive.

Hat tips: C. Cantoni and Fjordman.

The “Non-Existent” Islamization of America

Below is a brief report on some of the peripheral events that occurred during Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff’s recent visit to Washington D.C.


The “Non-Existent” Islamization of America
by Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff

As the Baron has been reporting for the past couple of days, he and I attended the ACT! For America National Conference in Washington DC. From June 22 through June 24.

Apart from “official” business such as the meeting with Congressman Allen West and collecting donations for my defense fund, I was able to catch up with some friends from various ACT! chapters who came in from across the nation. In addition, I spent a day in my favorite outlet mall in Woodbridge, VA.

On the last day of the conference, I had dinner with chapter leaders from Michigan and Texas. We decided on an Indian restaurant near the hotel: “Rajaji Curry House” on Connecticut Avenue. The still ongoing happy hour and the mouth-watering menu made our decision to spend the evening in this restaurant particularly easy. As we sat down, we immediately ordered our drinks and some appetizers while perusing the menu in detail. The menu did indeed promise good food. However, while the others chatted I took a closer look at the menu and imagine my shock and horror when — on the very last page and in fine print — the menu read: “We serve halal food.”

I cried out: “Sorry, you guys, but we have to get out of here! I cannot eat halal food. I am leaving. Now.”

The others immediately concurred with my decision. We motioned for the waiter and told him we would pay only for our drinks; the food order was canceled as the food was halal. The waiter was only very mildly indignant. He obviously realized that we knew exactly what halal meant. We ran outside and had an excellent meal across the street at an Irish pub. Very definitely not halal!

I always spend the early part of the day of my flight home at an outlet mall. Like last year, my destination was Potomac Mills Mall in Woodbridge, Virginia. Imagine my dismay when this year I saw this huge banner displayed in the mall, one that wasn’t there a year ago:


The Petra Grill, as in Petra, Jordan. Halal food has now arrived at Potomac Mills Mall. And how many of those thousands of shoppers know what “halal” means? How many would even boycott the mall or protest if they did know?

And why do so many still insist that there is no Islamization of America?

This monster is staring us in the face, ready to devour us whole. Get up and do something about it! Support ACT! for America.

Fjordman: The Flaws of Edward Said’s Orientalism

Fjordman’s follow-up essay on Edward Said has been published at Jihad Watch. Some excerpts are below:

Salah al-Din or Saladin (ca. 1138-1193), the general loved by Muslims for his victories against the Crusaders, is renowned in Western history for his supposedly tolerant nature. Very few seem to recall that his son and heir Al-Aziz Uthman tried to demolish the world-famous pyramids at Giza outside of Cairo, Egypt, just three years after his father’s death. The only reason why we can still visit them is because the task at hand was so big that he eventually gave up the attempt. They were hard to build, and hard to destroy. The Pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest of the three major ones at Giza, was nevertheless visibly damaged on one side.

This detail is almost always left out when apologists write about how tolerant and enlightened Muslims supposedly were compared to the primitive Europeans. This attempted destruction was not carried out by Saladin himself, but it would not be unreasonable to mention when writing about him that his devout Muslim son did this shortly after he died. There are also indications that a process of pillaging ancient monuments had begun during Saladin’s reign.

Mark Lehner is an American archaeologist with decades of experience excavating in Egypt. He is widely considered to be one of the foremost living experts on the Giza Pyramids, having devoted his life to studying them, and has appeared on numerous television documentaries. Here is what Lehner says in his book The Complete Pyramids [1997, hardback], page 41:

“Abd al-Latif reports the destruction of a number of small pyramids by the Emir Karakoush during Saladin’s reign (AD 1138-93). It must have been Karakoush who removed the satellite pyramid south of Khafre’s pyramid, and who began dismantling Khufu’s subsidiary pyramids. Other stones, probably from the two larger pyramids, were used for walls in the growing city of Cairo. The plunder of casing stone from the Great Pyramid continued during succeeding generations until the outer mantle was finally stripped bare. Abd al-Latif also enthused about the Sphinx, already known by its modern Arabic name, Abu Hol, ‘Father of Terror’. He described its handsome face, ‘covered with a reddish tint, and a red varnish as bright as if freshly painted’. He specifically mentions the nose, which leads us to think that it was still intact, contrary to indications that it may have been missing as early as the 10th century. It is certain that someone removed it before the early 15th century when another Arab historian, al-Maqrizi, wrote about it. The nose was long gone, at any rate, by the time Napoleon visited Giza in 1798, although he is often blamed for its removal.”

A photo on page 41 of Lehner’s book shows damage done to the Pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest of the three large pyramids on the Giza Plateau. While it still stands, scars from the attempted destruction are still clearly visible to visitors today. Mark Lehner states that “In AD 1196, Malek Abd al-Aziz Othman ben Yusuf, son of Saladin, mounted a concerted attack on the pyramid of Menkaure to dismantle it and remove its stone. Eight months’ work merely damaged the pyramid’s northern face. Such enormous – and unsuccessful – efforts increase our admiration for the skill of the ancient builders in creating such durable monuments.”

The great Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan were demolished by the Taliban regime in 2001, who decreed that they would destroy images deemed “offensive to Islam.” The Taliban Information Minister complained that “The destruction work is not as easy as people would think. You can’t knock down the statues by dynamite or shelling as both of them have been carved in a cliff. They are firmly attached to the mountain.” The statues, 53 meters and 36 meters tall, the tallest standing Buddha statues in the world, turned out to be so hard to destroy that the Taliban needed help from Pakistani and Saudi Arabian engineers to finish the job. After almost a month of non-stop bombardment with dynamite and artillery, they succeeded.

Judging from the experiences with the Bamiyan Buddhas, it is tempting to conclude that the main reason why the pyramids of Egypt have survived to this day is because they were so big that it proved too complicated, costly and time-consuming for Muslims to destroy them. Had Saladin’s son Al-Aziz had modern technology and engineers at his disposal, they might well have ended up just like countless Hindu temples in India or Buddhist statues in Central Asia.

Read the rest at Jihad Watch.

The Taliban’s Lethal Response to Obama’s Speechifying

*** UPDATE ***
From the Guardian, NATO brought it to an end:

Nato helicopters fired on and killed members of a Taliban squad who attacked a landmark Kabul hotel on Tuesday night where senior Afghan officials were staying.

At least six Taliban, some of them suicide bombers, were involved in the assault on the Inter-Continental, which began when militants in civilian clothes burst into the hotel while many guests were in the dining room and others were attending at least two receptions, including a wedding party.

The Nato rocket attack appeared to have brought an end to the fighting, which lasted for more than four hours.

Go to link at the Guardian to see a photo that is sure to make the rounds. Compelling.


They didn’t even wait a fortnight after Obama revealed his plans to draw down troops in Afghanistan before the Taliban did a Mumbai-style attack on a hotel in Kabul which caters to Westerners.

Bill Roggio says [my emphasis — D]:

…Initial reports indicate that 14 people may have been killed while fighting is still underway.

A heavily armed Taliban assault team, estimated at six fighters strong, penetrated several rings of security at the Intercontinental and have entered the hotel. Three or four members of the assault team broke through the security, entered the hotel, and began targeting the guests, many of whom are foreigners. Many of the hotel guests were in the restaurant at the time of the attack. At least one Taliban sniper is said to have opened fire on security forces using rocket propelled grenades and a rifle from the rooftop. Afghan security forces have surrounded the hotel, cut off power, and are engaging the remaining Taliban fighters.

The Taliban, via their spokesman, Zahibullah Mujahid, claimed credit for the attack in a statement released to the press.

Meanwhile, back at the White House last week, we were treated to a schedule of events. Here’s the Wall Street Journal’s report of the speech back then, “Obama Sets Afghan Rollback”:

…President Barack Obama ordered the withdrawal of 10,000 troops from Afghanistan this year, leaving the bulk of U.S. forces in place into the summer of 2012, when fighting is fiercest, but also signaling the beginning of the end of America’s role in the 10-year war.

[…]

Mr. Obama faces reelection in November 2012, and some critics said the timeline he set for pulling out 33,000 surge troops-leaving about 70,000 troops in the country-was influenced by politics, a charge the White House strongly denied.

“We are starting this drawdown from a position of strength. Al Qaeda is under more pressure than at any time since 9/11,” Mr. Obama said. “Of course, huge challenges remain. This is the beginning-but not the end-of our effort to wind down this war.”

Well, let’s see exactly when the New York Times, Obama’s pet ventriloquist’s dummy, says the Q word.

Anyone taking bets on any MSM jornolist belching out “quagmire” within the hearing of White House staff?

Funny thing about language: Bill Roggio’s headline is Taliban Suicide Assault Team, while Aljazeera says Fighters Attack Hotel. Then AJ goes to an Associated Press regurgitation. Gosh, no embeds, y’all??

Of course most folks who live in Real Land will think back to Mumbai. The others will say “‘Mum’ what? You must be crazy. No connection at all.” Uh huh.

Well, let’s just put another little X mark in the column where it says “Fate is Working Against Obama…it’s not his fault”. It’s never his fault, and the buck, for what it’s worth now, never stops at the desk in the Oval Office. Let’s see... blame this one on...eenie, meenie... I know! Let’s blame it on Meanie Bush. Yeah. It’s his fault.

…but never fear, Our Feckless Follower will just keep leading from the rear. I like it when he stays in character.

The Millions Yet to Come

The Eurozone is on the verge of implosion. The current economic downturn has driven millions more European workers into long-term unemployment. The welfare states of Europe are facing eventual bankruptcy. The European Union is pushing for an increase in its centralized soft-totalitarian power.

Yet, in the midst of all this doom-and-gloom, Germany remains an economic powerhouse. So what do ordinary Germans have to look forward to?

Millions and millions of new immigrants.

In the interview below, the head of the German research group Ifo talks about the additional waves of immigrants that can be expected in Germany in the coming years. Not all of them will be Muslims, and many of them will come from other parts of Europe.

Note: “Ifo” is an abbreviation for “Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung”. The acronym is formed from the words Information and Forschung (research).

Many thanks to JLH for translating the article from FOCUS:

“We are expecting millions of immigrants”

FOCUS editor, Nadia Matthes interviews Ifo head Hans-Werner Sinn

Since May 1, East Europeans have been allowed without limitation to work in Germany. Ifo head Hans-Werner Sinn explains why we cannot do without this immigration.

Workers from the EU countries of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Hungary have had to wait seven years. How well prepared is Germany for the new job seekers?

Excellently! We are having an economic boom like nothing for 20 years. Because of the financial crisis, money from savings is no longer flowing out of the country, but is invested here. Investments are an internal thing and furthermore are creating work positions. And exports are flourishing. The situation could not be better for the opening of the borders.

How many immigrants will come to Germany?

We can count on millions of immigrants in the next ten years.

Can you be more exact?

No. Dependable prognoses are hardly possible. However, I expect many more than the 140,000 per year assumed by the federal employment agency. Such low predictions do not sufficiently allow for what is happening in financial markets and differential economic development in the Eurozone. You must take into consideration that a long-term economic lull is to be expected where the immigrants have been going until now, while Germany will boom because it is no longer sending its capital abroad.

But are the East Europeans really that mobile?

In just the past ten years, 2.3 million EU citizens have migrated to Spain, 650,000 to Ireland and over 600,000 workers plus dependents to England, etc. There is a potential of several million mobile people. And a considerable portion of them will come to Germany. In addition, our own citizens from the economically becalmed West European countries, as well as East Europeans who find it too long a way to Spain or Ireland, will immigrate to Germany.

With this forecast you are far beyond the assumptions of many politicians and jobs market researchers. What is driving people to us?

Ten years ago, most immigration experts expected that inside 10 to 15 years after establishment of freedom of movement 2 to 3 percent of the native populations would emigrate. In actual fact, however, within 4 years, without freedom of movement, 5 percent of Poles emigrated. A great many Romanians are also on the move. Migrations in Europe to date exceed the predictions by many factors. Several EU states opened their borders sooner than Germany. Now the immigrants will divide up anew.

The president of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce declared that Germany is possibly not attractive enough to draw many qualified job-seekers.

That is true for academics. But our wage rates for skilled workers are high and attractive enough to entice immigrants, if there are available positions.

Are these workers the German economy needs?

Yes. There are very many well-trained workers in East Europe who will come to Germany.

And what is the situation with engineers, who are in demand everywhere?

They will come too, even if in smaller numbers. There are no longer so many worldwide possibilities for highly qualified people. The times when academics went to America and got wonderful jobs there are over. In the USA, for example, there are hardly any more positions in the universities. When we advertise Ifo institute positions, we get applications from the USA.

That means that the lack of skilled workers in Germany will solve itself?

I consider the debate about the lack of workers to be a debate about nothing. When a German firm needs workers, it has to put an ad in a newspaper in East Europe. Then it can hire as many skilled workers as it wants. Soon there will be no shortage of skilled help.

Won’t these East European countries do something to hold on to their skilled workers?

I don’t know. To be sure, it does not help the local economies indirectly when skilled workers emigrate. But the emigrants usually send a great deal of money home and they themselves profit from the move. In Budapest, there are ads everywhere from Hungarian agencies who want to send skilled workers to Germany.

But skilled workers are also in demand there, for example, in the auto industry, and not badly paid, measured against the cost of living.

Nonetheless, these countries will not succeed in stopping the flow of emigration. For now, their capacity is not so high that the businesses there can offer salaries that are comparable to those in Germany. But conditions will adjust. Until now, much capital flowed from Germany to East Europe, because pay was lower there. Now, the people are allowed to come to us. That is an exchange in the reverse direction. Together, the two things will lead, in the next 10-20 years, to a new balance with similar pay in the East and West.

To what extent is that true for such poor countries as Romania and Bulgaria, for whom Germany’s borders will be open at the latest in 2014?

Certain differences will remain, but in the long term they will not be as great as between regions of West Europe. Here too, there are weak areas whose economic capacity is only one-half of Germany’s.

German unions and workers are afraid of an adjustment downward and greater pressure on pay and working conditions. Is that justified?

In principle, yes. Normally, immigration means falling wages in the country people are immigrating into. The good thing now is that we do not have to fear this normal situation, because we are experiencing such a strong economic upswing on account of the redirection of savings. If people and capital come here together, there will be no lowering of wages. We can hope for that today, more than would have been the case at another time of opening the borders.

Is that true in all areas? How is it, for instance, with caregiving, which is in demand in Germany, but not especially well remunerated?

Foreign caregivers are inexpensive. We can be happy about that. The need for caregiving in Germany is often ameliorated by using the most diverse ruses to fetch caregivers from the East for a few weeks.

So the caregivers from the East have already been here for some time?

Yes, and they have naturally held down the wages of caregivers in Germany. But they have also often been responsible for the possibility of care. Here too is an all-clear signal for those affected. When the economy booms, people also pay more dues, so that more money is available in the social system to pay higher wages to caregivers.

So much for theory. And what do you say to the Brandenburgers who are afraid that Polish workers will work for very little money in Germany during the day and go home in the evening?

Wage competition cannot be denied, but, as I said, it will be headed off by the favorable economic development at the time. I find the immigration of dependents of the state more problematic than wage competition.

So we have to expect a wave of immigrants who do not want to work at all?

Anyone who does not or cannot work, could also come. Any EU citizen who has resided in another EU country for five years has a permanent right of residence. That is also one reason the French last summer so energetically expelled the Gypsies. In the course of this decade, we will have more and more social migration to Germany.

What are the consequences of that?

An immigrant can receive just as many social benefits as the natives. After five years, he has absolute claim to that without having paid anything in. Many people do not understand that . And it is also not yet clear to the immigrants. but they will learn it and pass it on. The new rule has been in effect since January 5, 2005. Anyone who immigrated at that time was eligible for social benefits for the first time last year.

Is the German social system that attractive?

Social benefits including living expenses normally amount to over €700 for a single person. Free medical insurance is also worth €100-200. That is more than the standard wage in some East European countries.

But living is more expensive here than in East Europe.

Yes, but not that much more expensive. Besides, they can always vacation in their less expensive home country. No one can keep track of how often someone registered here is away and still collecting benefits.

Then why isn’t this country of residence principle being reconsidered in the EU?

People will not give this principle up. It is a sacred cow in the EU. We will never get out of it.

And what does all this mean in the final analysis?

The welfare state will erode, because it must treat natives and immigrants the same and that becomes very expensive. The needy always go where the benefits are more generous. Since taxpayers also look for the country where it is better for them, they will avoid welfare states. Together, these two effects make the benefits impossible to finance. The EU’s idea was to entrench benefits. In truth, they have dug the grave of the welfare state.

So are we putting our social security at risk with our generosity?

I see this danger in welfare with the country-of-residence. It would be better to introduce a homeland principle. Each needy EU citizen would have claim on social benefits at home. Where he spends them would be left to him. But that is not the leading theme at this time. What is really new is that, beginning in May, we will get a migration in work conditions. And that is good news, because it is about people who pay taxes and social dues.

What prevails then: opportunity or risk?

Germany needs more people. Among the OECD countries, we are the one with the smallest number of children relative to the population. We will not manage without immigration. This is the best possible time in a long while for the borders to open.

Gareth Gates in Les Miserables

My dream to watch a live theatre in the West End in London finally came true! (^o^)/

Watched 'We will Rock you' and 'Les Miserable'. 'We will Rock you' was a last minute decision and we bought the tickets 2 hours before the show started, it was really funny ;) but im just gonna talk about the other play in this post (sorry Jeri hehe).

I've been longing to watch Les Miserables since my 1st year in uk!

 Found a good seat online and booked the ticket a months advance.

The play was truly magnificant XD No photos allowed during the play, sorry.

But then,

I just realised something

.

Let me just let you all read my journal

Don't laugh yea XD

Gareth Gates!! OMG!

 I have NO IDEA!

I didn't recognize him, he looks different than how I remember (below).