Dane says Denmark has become a far-right, racist country

Kiku Day, a Danish musician living in London, writes in the Guardian that Denmark has moved “in the direction of xenophobia and racism—especially towards its Muslim inhabitants. … The world needs to realise that the Denmark that helped Jews flee from Nazi deportation is long gone. A new Denmark has appeared, a Denmark of intolerance and a deep-seated belief in its cultural superiority.” When in the ‘90s, “we suddenly awoke to find that for the first time in our history we had a significant minority group living among us … Denmark took a step not merely to the right but to the far right. Now, politicians of most stripes have embraced ignorance.”

Sounds pretty serious, doesn’t it? But after all that condemning rhetoric, what is Day’s evidence that Denmark is now a far-right, racist country that embraces ignorance? Here it is:

* “Liberal politicians get away with saying that one of their party’s main aims is to stop Turkey joining the EU.”

* “Denmark has embarked on a self-declared crusade to tell others how to live. The prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, is quoted as saying: ‘Freedom of speech should be used to provoke and criticise political or religious authoritarians.’”

* “The founder of the ultra-rightwing Danish People’s party, Pia Kjærsgaard, felt emboldened to say that in order to qualify for citizenship, immigrants must not only master the Danish language but be examined on their respect for Danish society and its values.”

* “The 200,000 Muslims living in Denmark have been denied a permit to build a mosque in Copenhagen. There is not a single Muslim cemetery in the country.”

* “The People’s party reported that last week it had received almost 17 times as many applications for membership as normal.”

That’s it. That’s Day’s proof that Denmark has become a far-right, ignorant country rife with racism. Day concludes: “Is this the future for Denmark? These are the new Danish values, and the world needs to be aware of the dangers of a country that went off on the wrong track while nobody noticed.”

VFR reader Alex points out:

Like so many Leftists, that Danish musician sounds like such a fascist himself:

“Pia Kjærsgaard, felt emboldened to say that…”

“ “Liberal politicians get away with saying…”

God forbid that a country allow people to “get away with saying” or “feel emboldened to say” what they are thinking. Inadvertently this Leftist is admitting that the Left really considers it scary for people to be allowed to argue the political positions they actually believe.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at February 16, 2006 10:35 PM | Send