From AOL NEWS:
Since the end of World War II Germany has prided itself on being a beacon of tolerance, removed from the petty hatreds that once tore Europe apart. But according to a national survey released this week, a new form of ugly xenophobia — this time focused on Muslims, who make up around 5.5 percent of the population — is gaining mass acceptance. More than 55 percent of those polled by researchers from the University of Leipzig declared that Arabs weren’t pleasant people — up from 44 percent in 2003 — and 58 percent said the practice of Islam should be “considerably restricted.”…
The Sweden Democrats party — which started out as a neo-Nazi movement — last month entered parliament for the first time, winning 5.7 percent of the vote on the back of campaign ads that featured burqa-clad Muslim women knocking aside white Swedish pensioners and grabbing their state benefits. In the Netherlands, the anti-Islam Freedom Party of Geert Wilders — who believes the “fascist” Koran should be banned, along with immigration from Muslim countries — gained a record 24 seats in the June elections. And in Britain, thousands of hooligans from the English Defence League — which claims to be against extremist Islam, and boasts that its membership includes Jews and Sikhs — regularly stages marches in largely Muslim urban areas, shouting anti-Islamic slogans and intimidating local residents…
Sadly, European politicians have not only failed to enter into a much-needed debate on national identity, but have attempted to claw back votes by pandering to the same fears whipped up by far-right groups. In Germany this week, Bavarian premier Horst Seehofer — whose conservative Christian Social Union party is currently faring poorly in the polls — announced that Turks and Arabs should no longer be allowed to move to the country as they struggled to integrate into German society. And France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy has recently attempted to stem the rising popularity of the National Front by banning the burqa — the full head and body covering garment worn by some Muslim women — even though fewer than 1 percent of France’s five million Muslims wear the dress…
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EDITOR’S NOTE: It isn’t just the Muslim’s who are facing discrimination. The Washington Post ran an over the fold , four column front page article last Tuesday headed “Italy closes the door on Gypsies; Crackdown reflects rising anti-immigrant feelings in many European countries. ‘These are dark=-sknned people, not Europeans like you and me.’ – Riccardo De Corato, Deputy vice mayor of Milan.”
