Sunday, July 2, 2017

Recipe for Disaster: Immigration Without Assimilation

A pro-Iranian demonstration in Germany on Al-Quds Day
A pro-Iranian demonstration in Germany on Al-Quds Day (Photo: JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images)
Many countries in the West are seeking to accommodate radical Islamism following the flow of Middle Eastern immigrants to Europe and the North America in the name of multiculturalism and cultural relativism.

This sentiment is expressed, for example, in events such as Hijab Solidarity Day , celebrated widely in the West, attempts to enshrine Islamic (sharia) law into the British legal system and passing what almost amounts to a blasphemy law in Canada (Motion M-103).

This trend in the West is problematic. Under Islamic law, in some countries, thieves face the punishment of having their hand and leg severed; females who commit “adultery” face death by stoning, beheading or hanging. Homosexuality is a crime punishable by death.

Are these cultural values morally equivalent to Western values? In Islamic countries ruled by sharia law, limits are placed on equality of women, such as prohibitions against driving, employment and education.

Is female genital mutilation, which is practiced by many Muslim-majority countries — a morally equivalent value? We will soon see when the FGM case in Michigan goes to trial. Lawyers in the case have said that the doctor accused of cutting girls will claim freedom of religion as her defense.

In Iran, the country from which I escaped, women have resisted over the past 39 years this barbaric legal framework that is incompatible with modern values and basic human rights. Yet, some of these very same sharia laws are slowly being incorporated in the West in the name of multiculturalism.

Iranian women have suffered much due to sharia law: 16 year-old Atefeh Sahaaleh was hanged for having had sexual relations with a 50 year-old married taxi-driver. (The cheating husband was supposed to be executed by the reprehensible act of stoning according to Iranian law; however, he was not punished.)

Iranian women are forced to veil themselves in public and can be picked up by the brutal morality police for violating this rule. However, the West, instead of fighting against sharia encroachment and standing in solidarity with the victims of Islamist oppression, is actually celebrating this misogyny.

Proponents of the multiculturalist doctrine didn’t count on radical Islam taking hold in second generation immigrants.

In Canada, where I live, these kids not only don’t want to be Westernized (although they like to enjoy the benefits of the Western world). They oftentimes do not even identify as Canadians. Rather, they identifying as Muslims and are loyal to the country from which their parents came.

Most people think “diversity” when they think about Canada, yet there is no women’s organization here that will take a hardline stand against sharia. They’re not used to it. They are all so used to bending over backwards for minority groups.

The Western world has a moral obligation to stand up for the voiceless women – and men — whose human rights are systematically taken away from them by repressive regimes run by sharia law, not by adopting or condoning aspects of sharia in the name of multiculturalism.

The Western world must integrate Muslim immigrants rather than bending Western culture to fit the Islamist worldview. In Europe alone, immigration without an emphasis on integration and assimilation is birthing disaster. Crime is skyrocketing like never before. The incidents of rape, murder, theft and bullying are increasing daily.

People are speaking out, but are being gagged for the agenda of a few. This is not moral in any way. This careless trend of elite political decision-making apart from the people, history tells us, is very dangerous and must be stopped.

The exercise of our individual consciences and the safety of our citizens must once again be preserved. We, the people, must hold our authorities accountable.

SA
Shabnam Assadollahi
Shabnam Assadollahi is an award-winning Canadian human rights activist and freelance writer/journalist of Iranian origin who was locked up at age 16 for 18 months in Iran's most notorious prison, Evin. She has a Master’s degree in Social Anthropology. Assadollahi has worked extensively helping newcomers and refugees resettle in Canada. Assadollahi’s primary focus is on the Iranian community and world events affecting women and minority communities. 

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