The Islamized West: A Tale of Two Cities

It’s a tale of two cities, revisited. This time it’s not London and Paris, but Oslo and Prague. Bruce Bawer and his friend K, residents of Norway, went to visit Prague, in the Czech Republic. (via Maggie’s Farm) They tell a tale of Western Europe and Eastern Europe, the one a multicultural paradise where women are routinely assaulted, the other where women retain their freedom of movement and their freedom to not to cover their heads.

They were struck, in particular, by a simple fact. Women in Prague had not been forced to wear head scarfs and veils. Unlike Norway, Prague has not been Islamized. This tells us that the enlightened feminists of Norway are actively supporting a misogynist culture that forces women to dress as they are told. If you think that women are donning hijabs and niqabs voluntarily, get your head out of the sand.

Bawer describes the epiphany he had in Prague:

We had just seen a good deal of Prague, and had passed heaven knows how many thousands of people. Not once had we seen a hijab. Let alone a niqab or burka. 

“In this whole big city, not one!” he cried. “And yet in that little town where we live – in the middle of nowhere! – you can't look out of the window for a minute without seeing one.”

For us, the Islamization of Western Europe had been a constant topic of conversation for almost twenty years. We'd voiced anger, frustration, despondency, cynicism. But I'd never seen him get teary-eyed about it. 

We lived in Oslo for twelve years. During that time, its Muslim population grew steadily. And so did the percentage of Muslim women in head coverings. During our first years in Oslo, we never saw a niqab, which covers everything but the eyes, or a burka, which covers even the eyes. Gradually, however, both became familiar sights.

Seven years ago we moved to the small town where we now live. It, too, has become supersaturated with hijab – and the occasional niqab. 

The fiercely anti-fascist left in Western Europe has also aided and abetted the rise of anti-Semitism. Such overt anti-Semitism does not exist in Prague:

In the morning, I take yet another long walk, and pass families who I realize are heading home from shul. There are several synagogues in the neighborhood. One Jewish toddler runs gleefully down the sidewalk, and his father chases him and sweeps him up in his arms. He catches me smiling and smiles back. There is no sign of the fear that increasingly causes Jews in Western European cities to keep a low profile, to forego their yarmulkes, to move to the U.S. or Israel. Jews are safe here. 

While Western Europe turns a blind and scared eye away from what is happening in its own neighborhood, women in Iran, who have been subjected to relentless oppression, are beginning to throw off their headscarves. Of course, the dress code is not optional. It is compulsory. Any woman who rejects it will be tortured and imprisoned. 

Tyler O’Neill explains what has been happening in Iran:

The brave women in Iran who inspired the world and became the face of a revolution by removing their face veils in protest to the theocratic government are now being beaten, tortured, and charged with "inciting prostitution" in Iranian prisons.

Iranian police sent an official warning about the penalties for removing the hijab. Women who travel and spend time in public places without a hijab would be charged with a lesser crime carrying a penalty of one to two months in prison which could be reduced to a lower sentence. Encouraging other women to remove their veils would carry a heavier penalty, however. This offense would put a woman in jeopardy of one to ten years in prison and could not be converted into a substitute penalty. This criminal charge, "inciting corruption and prostitution," is not only dangerous but demeaning.

Two women arrested for protesting the hijab have been already been informed that they face charges of "inciting corruption and prostitution" for their protest. Narges Hosseini was put on trial last week before an Ershad (Moral Guidance) court in Tehran on this charge. Shaparak Shajarizadeh, who is being held in solitary confinement in a prison near Tehran, faces the same charge.

Women beaten and tortured, imprisoned and brutalized, prosecuted and persecuted… where are Western feminists while all of this is happening? They are putting on their pussy hats to fight against Donald Trump.

Again, when true oppression rears its head, you can only hear the silence of the feminists.