Allen West: still on a tear about Islam (and lying about Malmo)

July 25, 2010 · Posted in Allen West, Elections, Florida, Islam, News and Current Affairs, People, Politics, Religion

Tea Party Republican Allen West in convinced that persons unnamed in Washington are allowing our “culture” to be overtaken by Islamic radicalism, and thus are guilty of “appeasement,” due to “multiculturalism on steroids.” No, he really thinks we’re being taken over, as a country and a culture, by Islamic radicals. And not just the ones in his closet and under his bed. Watch, courtesy of his fans at The Shark Tank:

One thing West did say that is true, is that what we have to worry about is “an ideology that is totalitarian, theocratic, political and imperialistic in nature.” It’s called the American right wing. Oh, and West also tells a story that contains a fundamental lie.

His story in the above clip, about Malmo, Sweden, being “down to just 769 Jewish residents” because of the evils of radical Islam, is an example of the “grain of truth” strategy of the right — coming up with stories that have enough of a kernel of truth to them that their side will swallow the whole story. Malmo has become something of a cause celebre for the Christian right, because it has been the scene of increasing numbers of anti-Semitic attacks, as reported in the conservative UK Sunday Telegraphback in February:

In 2009, a chapel serving the city’s 700-strong Jewish community was set ablaze. Jewish cemeteries were repeatedly desecrated, worshippers were abused on their way home from prayer, and “Hitler” was mockingly chanted in the streets by masked men.

“I never thought I would see this hatred again in my lifetime, not in Sweden anyway,” Mrs Popinski told The Sunday Telegraph.

“This new hatred comes from Muslim immigrants. The Jewish people are afraid now.”

Malmo’s Jews, however, do not just point the finger at bigoted Muslims and their fellow racists in the country’s Neo-Nazi fringe. They also accuse Ilmar Reepalu, the Left-wing mayor who has been in power for 15 years, of failing to protect them.

Mr Reepalu, who is blamed for lax policing, is at the centre of a growing controversy for saying that what the Jews perceive as naked anti-Semitism is in fact just a sad, but understandable consequence of Israeli policy in the Middle East.

In other words, the town isn’t “down to” just over 700 Jewish residents, it already had that number, and the paper goes on to say that some families, up to 30 in fact, have left the area. Sweden’s Jewish population numbers around 3,000, with most living in three towns, including Malmo. But note also that the attacks, which are undeniably horrible and anti-Semitic, are not the result of some sort of Islamicization of Sweden, as West implies. They’re blamed on a handful of young Muslims, … and … wait for it … right wing Neo-Nazis, who have apparently posed a problem for Sweden’s Jewish community almost since the country opened its doors to Holocaust victims after World War II. But West isn’t worried that “Western civilization” is under threat by them. From Canada’s Jewish Tribune:

Skånska Dagbladet highlighted the case of Marcus Eilenberg, a 32-year-old father of two who has decided to move to Israel.

“My children aren’t safe here. It’s going to get worse,” he told the newspaper.

Eilenberg’s family on his mother’s side has roots in Malmö that date back to the 1800s, while his father’s parents came to Sweden in 1945 after surviving Auschwitz.

He describes for the newspaper how people call him “damn Jew” when he walks to synagogue and that his friends are frequently harassed and threatened.

“Imagine that my family can’t feel safe in fantastic Sweden. It’s really terrible,” Eilenberg said.

He blamed part of the problem on passive local politicians who he believes have failed to openly distance themselves from antisemitism and refuse to act when members of the Jewish community find themselves under constant threat.

Sieradzki agrees that the attitudes of Malmö politicians, especially Social Democrat city council chair Ilmar Reepalu, have allowed antisemitism to fester.

“He’s demonstrated extreme ignorance when it comes to our problems,” Sieradzki explained. Speaking with Skånskan, Reepalu is quick to point out that “every type of threat and oppression directed at a particular ethnic group is totally unacceptable.

“Obviously children with a Jewish background shouldn’t be subject to harassment. Nor is it okay to shoot an imam at a mosque,” he told the newspaper.

When asked to explain why Jewish religious services often require security guards and even police protection, Reepalu said much of the violence directed toward Malmö’s Jewish community come from members of extremist right-wing groups, a theory which baffles Sieradzki.

“I’m not saying we don’t have problems with neo-Nazis, but the threats aren’t as concrete,” he explained.

“More often it’s the far-left that commonly use Jews as punching bags for their disdain towards the policies of Israel, even if Jews in Malmö have nothing to do with Israeli politics.

“It’s shameful and regrettable that such a powerful politician could be so ignorant about the threats we face.”

As well as the far-left, Sieradzki said that a “very small segment” of the city’s growing population of Muslim immigrants from Arab countries in the Middle East are also responsible for growing antisemitism.

“This is a small group of extremists who have decided to go after Jews wherever they are in the world and regardless of their relationship to Israel,” he said.

In other words, a combination of disdain for Israeli policies, the presence of Neo-Nazi skinheads, a particular politician, Mr. Reepalu, and threats and nastiness from some Muslim immigrants are what’s behind the problems in Malmo, not the creeping tentacles of Islam taking over Western culture. What is going on in Malmo is a failure of governance and an apparent dereliction of duty by police. So what does that have to do with “protecting” America for a hostile takeover of our culture by “radical Islam”?

Exactly. Nothing. The Malmo situation has nothing to do with the United States, and nothing to do with supposed “appeasement” of radical Islam. As this article in Ha’aretz points out (albeit with a bit of policy bias) the issue has more to do with a growing alienation of Europe writ large from the demographic policies of Israel. Anti-Israel sentiment across Europe is growing, even as pro-Israel retrenchment is increasing among the American right (and also among Democratic politicians otherwise of the left.) The growing rift between Israel and much of Europe over its domestic policies and continued occupation of the Palestinian territories is an interesting, important subject, and one on which you’d hope a potential Senator would be conversant. But it has absolutely nothing to do with what Allen West was talking about.

Makes a good tea party yarn, though.

BTW, it’s kind of ironic that the people of West’s ideological camp are the ones attacking Muslims in this country, and trying to drive their houses of worship out of cities towns across America, in much the same way far right extremists — Christian and Muslim — are going after Jews in Malmo…

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Tags: Allen West, Allen West is nuts, Black Republicans, Islamophobia, Republicans, tea party Republicans

Comments

2 Responses to “Allen West: still on a tear about Islam (and lying about Malmo)”

jay salby on July 26th, 2010 8:54 am

We have friends in Malmo. One of them, a science teacher told us that her high school classroom had become a blackboard jungle because of the behavior of thuggish muslim boys.She also reported that a zone of Malmo where muslims are a majority is so rife with crime that ambulances do not enter without a police escort. Luckily for her she is now retired.
Lies, damned lies, and SharkTank.net : The Reid Report on July 27th, 2010 10:15 am

[...] someone appropriately labeled “in the tank” did not enjoy my recent post about Allen West (who I reiterate, is insane…) And so they posted this lengthy rebuttal, in which your humble [...]