A Danish conservative member of parliament has struck out at his nation’s lax attitude towards integration, calling it a “haven for Islamists”.
Conservative MP Naser Khader has spoken out, remarking that Denmark really had no idea how to handle the migrant crisis and radical Islam.
Khader believes that Denmark has a larger problem than most European countries when it comes to Islam. He said: “Since Danish newspapers in 2006 published the Mohammed cartoons, we are now among the five biggest enemies of radical Islamists worldwide.
“In the past decade, the security authorities have foiled attacks several times in this country. And we have in Denmark very liberal laws that make it very easy extremists and make this quasi-Denmark a dream for radical Islamists.”
Speaking in an interview with Der Spiegel, the MP notes that it is difficult for Danish authorities to track radical Islamists because the Danish constitution guarantees more freedom of speech than the German equivalent. In the interview he says that Holocaust denial is not an offence in Denmark, whereas in Germany merely giving a Hitler salute can land a person in prison for years. “One can say and spread what you want basically,” he said.
Khader is not in favour of draconian laws against free speech though saying that the focus must be directed specifically on radical Islam. “We need a legal means to put radical preachers away,” he said and told the interviewer that the infamous Aarhus mosque should be closed because it is a den for hate preachers.
“Nearly 30 men who have travelled to Syria or Iraq for jihad frequented there – the mosque almost acts like a travel agent of the Islamic State. The young man who is said to have planned attacks on schools had links to this mosque,” he said. The MP also said that a man and a woman who were arrested for planning to kill children at Jewish schools across Copenhagen had links to the mosque.
When asked about the role of so-called moderate imams Khader put it bluntly: “I find the behaviour of many representatives in any event fatal: instead of getting up and distancing themselves from radical preachers, they are now criticizing the television station, which has revealed the hate speech, and inventing new conspiracies against Muslims. We need something else: a proper motion against the radicals.”
Naser Khader was born in Syria and moved to Denmark when he was 11 years old. He joins other migrants who have integrated into European society that warn of the dangers of mass migration and radicalization of Muslims in Europe, like Arabic poet Adonis who said that “Islam can’t be modernized,” and that the religion is, “based on a totalitarian system. The religion dictates everything: How to run, how to go to the toilet, who one has to love”.