|
In this mailing:
by George Igler
• December 28, 2016 at 5:00 am
- The question
remains, however, why any nation would want to throw out its
sovereignty to institutions that are fundamentally unaccountable,
that provide no mechanism for reversing direction, and whose only
"solution" to problems involves arrogating to itself ever
more authoritarian, rather than democratically legitimate, power.
- Previous
worries over unemployment and the economy have been side-lined: the
issues now vexing European voters the most, according to the EU's
own figures, are mass immigration (45%) and terrorism (32%).
- The
Netherlands' Partij Voor de Vrijheid, France's Front
National and Germany's Alternativ für Deutschland are
each pushing for a referendum on EU membership in their respective
nations.
- Given that the
EU's institutions have been so instrumental as a causal factor in
the mass migration and terrorism that are now dominating the minds
of national electorates, some might argue that the sooner Europeans
get rid of the EU, which is now doing more harm than good, the
better.
In the 2017 elections in the Netherlands and France,
Geert Wilders (left) and François Fillon (right) have good chances of
being elected.
Attention is beginning to focus on elections due to take place in
three separate European countries in 2017. The outcomes in the
Netherlands, France and Germany will determine the likely future of the
European Union (EU).
In the Netherlands, on March 15, all 150 members of the country's
House of Representatives will face the ballot box. The nation is
currently led by Prime Minister Mark Rutte, whose VVD party holds 40
seats in the legislative chamber, ruling in a coalition with the Dutch
Labour party, which holds 35 seats.
In contrast, the Party for Freedom – Partij Voor de Vrijheid
(PVV) – led by Geert Wilders, currently holds 12 seats.
According to an opinion poll, issued on December 21, Wilders's party
has leapt to 24% in the polls, while Rutte's party has slid to 15%. Were
an election to happen now, this would translate to 23 MPs for Rutte's
VVD, and 36 MPs for Wilders's PVV.
by Nima Gholam Ali Pour
• December 28, 2016 at 4:00 am
- It seems clear
that Muslim civil society in Sweden has an ideological direction
that is close to the Muslim Brotherhood's ideology, while they
criticize the laws and measures that prevent Islamic terrorism.
- The Islamic
Association of Sweden (IFIS) writes on their website that they are
members of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE).
There are strong links between FIOE and the Muslim Brotherhood. When
the United Arab Emirates decided to list the Muslim Brotherhood and
all branches of the movement as terrorists, they also listed IFIS as
terrorists.
- The strength of
the political influence of Sweden's Muslim civil society is
evidenced by a 1999 agreement between the Muslim Council of Sweden
and the Social Democrat party, that "Muslims' participation in
social democracy will evolve so that: in 2002 there should be among
social democratic elected representatives Muslims in 15 municipal
lists, 5 county lists and on the parliamentary lists in at least
five counties."
- When a debate
started in 2014 on making it illegal for Swedish citizens to travel
to other countries to participate in jihad, the Muslim Human Rights
Committee claimed that such a law would be racist. Furthermore, they
argued that people who fought in jihad abroad were not even a threat
against Sweden.
- The greatest
threat from Islamism comes not from the suicide bombers who carry
out spectacular attacks, but from Islamists quietly infiltrating our
democratic institutions and normalizing their ideas among us. It is
a threat that must be recognized and addressed.
Mehmet Kaplan was a minister in Sweden's government
until April 2016, when he was forced to resign after revelations that he
compared Israel's treatment of Palestinians to that of the German Nazis'
treatment of Jews. (Image source: Wikimedia Commons/Jan Ainali)
In Sweden, there are a number of Muslim organizations that together
constitute what is known as "Muslim civil society" (Muslimska
civilsamhället). What is important, when discussing Muslim civil
society in Sweden, is their political influence, their ideology and their
structure.
IFIS
One of the most important organizations in Sweden's Muslim civil
society is the Islamic Association of Sweden (Islamiska Förbundet i
Sverige -- IFIS), established in 1981. Some of the goals of IFIS,
which you can read about on their website, are to "influence and
form opinions on issues that concern the Muslim group and its interests
in Sweden" and "increase participation, influence and
representation of Muslims in public institutions and bodies". In other
words, IFIS works as a lobby organization for Muslims in Sweden.
It is a lobby organization that has been successful.
|
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment