Islam & the European Elections

For some European countries, Islam and the issues which Muslims generally care about have become fairly important for some of the major political parties.

I'm talking about the Left and the mainstream, not the supposedly Islam-obsessed Right. Pandering to the prejudices of Muslims is becoming necessary for political parties in many European cities and regions which have a rapidly changing zeitgeist.

The fielding of Muslim candidates is also growing.

Perhaps the most disturbing example of a party which has a blatantly Islamic agenda is 'Liste Antisioniste', the anti-Zionists.

Here is one of their campaign posters:

The premise of this party is allegedly that the end of Zionism will mean world peace. Its founder is the viciously anti-semitic comedian Dieudonné M'bala M'bala.

This is what it promises:

"FOR A FREE EUROPE!" Free from Censorship, speculators and NATO.

So in other words, free to promote Islamic propaganda, free to desert our cultural and historic allies to Islamic violence, free to align ourselves with the Muslim world.

From the Netherlands, we have an example of a mainstream party which is trying to woo the Muslim vote through any means necessary.

CDA politician Rena Netjes was recently interviewed by Al-yaqeen.com. This website is run by Dutch Muslims, including a hate preacher based in the Hague, and as far as I can gather it attempts to foster 'understanding'; i.e. Islam is pleasant and terrorism is often quite understandable. It also seems to promote the idea that Islam is compatible with the rights of women.

So what did the erstwhile Miss Netjes, a woman married to an Egyptian Muslim, have to say for herself?

"I want to go on the record for the Muslims, because I find it very bad what is happening [presumably the rise of Wilders and the 'demonising' of Islam] and this must stop. I will put my neck out for you.

I think it is honestly nicer than in the Netherlands in those [Muslim] countries . What I appreciate is that Muslims are very serious about their faith and how many have respect for God."

She has also said in the past that she would never have met a man as 'respectable' as her husband in the Netherlands. This quote caused most controversy:

Q: Finally: We've heard many promises. Why should Muslims trust that you will keep them?

A: People just need to google my name and they could see everything that I've done in the past. I also appear on TV programs in the Middle East. From both sides I try to cultivate understanding. It is also easier for me to stand up for Muslims than somebody with a Muslim background. For such a person, people could think that he has another agenda. Additional, I also understand the ideas of the ethnic Dutch, therefore I can also 'deal' with them. I understand both opinions well and I have both worlds united in me.

Oh, I think I understand you perfectly, Miss Netjes - you are what we call a Qusiling.

But this re-alignment isn't just a phenomenon in the European Parliament elections. It is happening the local elections, too.

Italy will see its first ever veiled female Muslim candidate who is running for the communal council in Perugia:

Maymouna Abdel Qader, an Italian of Palestinian descent, is a political science graduate of the University of Perugia.

She is running for Perugia's communal council for the Sinistra e Liberta coalition, which is made up of mainly socialist, anti-war and secular parties.

"Though being the first veiled Muslim woman that has ever run for elections in Italy, until now I have received a positive response from the people, who have also appreciated my choice, and look at me as a novelty of the local political scene," said Abdel Qader in an interview with Adnkronos.

Abdel Qader - who is the daughter of the imam of Perugia Mohammed Abdel Qader and is also one of the founders of the Young Italian Muslims association - said she is personally campaigning and distributing fliers to promote her candidacy.

"These days I am personally distributing fliers for my candidacy in order to ask the citizens of Perugia for their vote. Many have wished me well, after they see that I am Italian and not a foreigner," she told AKI.

Abdel Qader also said her objective is to represent Italy's second generation of Muslim immigrants in Italy, that are now what she calls "The new Italians".

Among the things she wants to promote if elected, is that Perugia's public pool can be reserved solely for women, at least once a week.

"It is a battle that it not just limited to Muslim women. The pool will be open to all women, and I count with the support of many women about this."

In Brussels, many local council candidates are Muslim, primarily of North African and Turkish descent.

The following information is translated by Islam in Europe:

The posters in these areas belong mostly to the Francophone Reformist Movement (RM), Humanist Democratic Party (cdH), and Socialist party (PS).

In 2007 Muslims were estimated to be 7.5% of the French Community and 11.8% in Brussels, and on the increase. This electorate is potentially more important, since youth make up 32%, compared with 23% elsewhere.

Muslims are voting Left - in recent elections the Socialists got 43% and the CdH 18.7%, which between 2004 and 2007 got an infusion fo votes from MR. Today the Socialists get most of the Muslim votes, despite having an atheist ideology, while traditional ethical values play a fundmanetal role in voting for CdH, whch was founded on religious identity.

Just a third of the Muslim electorate of 2007 attended a mosque regularly. Two thirds said they were not practicing.

Samira says that Muslims vote for the Left for socio-demographic causes. Muslims belong to the disadvantaged group: workers, employed and unemployed, and women, who make up just 6.6% of the Muslim electorate, tend to vote Left.

Dutch language blog In Flanders Field looked at the Socialist Party and published a list of the apparently Muslim candidates. 26 of the 72 PS candidates (36%) are Muslim.

Meanwhile, the Francophone Humanist Democratic Party tried to hide (1, 2 NL) the Muslim headscarf of one of their canddiates - Mahinur Ozdemir, number 21 on the list.

The party denies that it asked to hide the headscarf and says that the poster was prepared by outside sources. Ozdemir (bottom left above, and below with hijab) first said that she's deeply shocked and insulted, but later spoke to the publishers and agreed that it is not the party's fault.

However, Belgian broadcaster RTBF says that this is not the first time and that the CdH also tried to hide Ozdemir's headscarf in the municipal elections of 2006.

Interesting that they should attempt not only to Islamify the party list, but then hide the fact they have done so from less observant voters.

Perhaps they fear another change in the zeitgeist?

Hat tip: Atlas Shrugs, Islam in Europe & Geenstijl.