The European June: Riots, Stonings, and Brawls

 

by David J. Rusin

 

Islamists' long march through the West involves three interlocking campaigns, each of which can be advanced violently or nonviolently: provoking conflicts with authorities (governments, courts, police, etc.), intimidating the non-Muslim public, and bullying insufficiently radical Muslims. All three facets were on display in Europe over the past month, as tensions enabled by shortsighted policies erupted into physical altercations:

·                     Islamists versus the authorities. Rinkeby, a Muslim-heavy suburb of Stockholm, Sweden, is fast becoming Europe's latest "no-go zone" after riots rocked the area, which is dubbed "Little Mogadishu" and serves as a recruiting spot for al-Shabaab terrorists. When a group of "youths" was denied entry to a party on June 7 and police tried to disperse the crowd, junior jihadists used the opportunity to rampage against the state:

 

They then began to pull up street cobblestones and slabs of pavement and throw them at police. Then they started setting light to parked cars, and even a local bank ended up being set on fire. Firemen who came to put out the fires were then also set upon by the gang of up to 60 youths, according to news agency TT.

 

Disturbances started again Tuesday as night fell, and arsonists torched motorbikes and cars, as well as trying to light the local police station. They then moved on to a high school in the area, razing it to the ground. Firefighters were unable to get close enough to the school to fight the fire due to the stone-throwing youths.

"We are soldiers," one ruffian explained, "and the police are our enemy."

 

·                     Islamists versus non-Muslims. Two ugly cases of Islamist intimidation befell Jews in Germany. On the 19th, Arab "youths" attacked a Jewish dance troupe on stage at a street festival in Hannover, tossing stones at the performers and shouting "Jews out!" Days later, a Palestinian assaulted a pair of young Israeli men at a Berlin club; in a microcosm of Europe's approach to the Mideast dispute, the bouncer used pepper spray against the Israelis rather than the Palestinian perpetrator, who managed to flee.

 

·                     Islamists versus other Muslims. A June 6 brawl at an amusement park in Helsinki, Finland, was instigated by Somali Islamists seeking to impose Shari'a upon more secularized Kurds. YLE reports: "One of Sunday's fights started with an argument over the use of headscarves. According to the 25-year-old woman, the Somalis denounced Kurdish women for not wearing scarves."

 

Another Kurd offered a previous example of these overlooked intrafaith tensions: "When I was [in] a Finnish language course … one Somali prevented us from listening to music, saying that it is banned under Islamic law."

 

While there can be no excuses for this behavior, Western governments do help lay the foundation by permitting Muslim enclaves, condemning Israeli self-defense, and promoting identity politics. No doubt Europe's summer of discontent will only grow hotter from here.

 

 

David J. Rusin

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