Intercultural Madness

As Pat Condell noted earlier today, Multiculturalism has been completely and thoroughly discredited with the ordinary people of Europe. The multicultural ideal has not died out, however, among the political and academic oligarchs.

The bien-pensants who run Belgium — which stands as the model for the European Union: a non-nation cobbled together for political reasons without the consent of its citizens — have devised an updated version of Multiculturalism. They hope to sneak it under the political radar by renaming it “Interculturalism”, but it’s the same old decaying rose, and by any other name smells just as fetid.

Our Flemish correspondent VH has compiled a report on this undead version of Multiculturalism, drawn from an official report and the reaction to it by the Flemish separatist party Vlaams Belang.

VH includes this note:

You won’t believe the latest from the non-nation known as Belgium.

GeenStijl has just reported on this as well, under the headline “Belgium abolishes itself”, a reference to the title of Thilo Sarrazin’s book

“No stronger retrograde force exists in the world…” than Multiculturalism.

First, a translated article from the Vlaams Belang website:

Intercultural madness

[November 9, 2010] While German Chancellor Angela Merkel has declared the multicultural society dead and stated that the integration has totally failed, after which she was openly joined by Yves Leterme, there are still organizations and politicians in this country [Belgium] who just cannot get enough of it. Although it is now called something different: interculturalism. The lyrics to the tune are the same, but they just have to add some other notes to it.

Behind secure walls, the previous year (from September 2009 to September 2010) a motley collection of politicians, sociologists and multicultural organizations have been chattering under the ornate title “Round Tables of Interculturalism”. The core idea is that we must deal with ‘diversity’ in a better way, and that the ‘authentic Belgians’ must add (even) more water to the wine. The unworldly world club has just — in the presence of the minister Joëlle Milquet [of the “Humanist Democratic Centre”, CDH, previously called “Parti social chrétien”, PSC, a Christian Democrat/Humanistic left wing, French-speaking party] and Prince Philip — presented its remarkable set of recommendations.

The Roundtable again lights the fuse of the quite flammable headscarf debate and is of the opinion that the government should allow headscarves, except in “authority functions”: the judiciary, police and the army. That is in flat contradiction to the principle of neutrality in public administration. Headscarves in schools, according to the Round Table, should be allowed from the secondary, the fourth year onwards, at about 15 years of age. That is also in flat contradiction with the growing consensus in Flanders for a headscarf ban in public education.

Five Catholic holidays (Easter, Pentecost, Ascension and Assumption and November 1 [All Saints Day — translator]) are to be removed. Oops… they forgot Christmas. This is incomprehensible, because that feast is also of course obviously offensive to Muslims… Every religion would be allowed to choose two holidays. No, July 11 [Battle of the Golden Spurs — translator] is not in the package. Street names that may shock ethnic minorities must be removed. The Roundtable also calls for anonymous job applications and quotas for the recruitment of immigrants.

To tackle the alleged “racism” of the police, there should be cameras installed everywhere: in police cars and police stations. And to top it all off: with housing, now even the allocation of private rental property should be entrusted to “social housing societies”. In brief, if it does not go well with integration, that is primarily the fault of the natives, landlords, ‘discriminatory employers’, or ‘racist officers’ …

It should be clear that the proposals have a high away-with-us-content. Moreover, they themselves confirm the victim-cult of immigrants. In other words, this is complete madness. In the Flemish and federal parliaments there will quite a bit of squabbling over this. In any event, we are not going to mince matters. The Flemings must make it clear that Madame Milquet can get up on the roof with this cultural nonsense. And we should not waste many more words on this. “Non” Joëlle Milquet will understand, surely? “Mille fois non”, a thousand times no!

Here is VH’s translation of the report itself:

Round tables of interculturalism: final report

The final report of the Round Tables of Interculturalism, as the Committee has is prepared, was just recently presented to the Minister for Employment and Equal Opportunities, in charge of Asylum and Migration [Joëlle Milquet].

This report contains recommendations in many areas (education, employment, governance, housing and health care, social life, culture and media) to ensure “the success of society based on respect for cultural peculiarities, diversity and non-discrimination, and a society that stands for the introduction and sharing of common values”.

The main suggestions addressed to those with political power are the following:

1.		The students of the highest three years of secondary education are free to decide on the wearing of religious signs in schools and within the framework the compulsory education. For students in the lowest three years this shall be prohibited.
2.		Concerning the wearing of religious symbols in public service, there is a general freedom to wear the aforementioned signs, with a ban that will remain limited to those who deliver public services with an authoritative function.
3.		The introduction of a system of socio-economic monitoring.
4.		The elaboration by competent authorities of a system of temporary quotas. This should lead to people from minority communities being employed.
5.		The extension of the term “reasonable accommodations” so that it no longer only refers to persons with disabilities but also can be applied in other situations, particularly where religious or philosophical beliefs are at stake.
6.		The reform of the calendar of public holidays: The following five holidays are to be maintained: January 1, May 1, July 21, November 11 and December 25. Everyone is free to choose two holidays, according to his culture or religion. There will be three new non-religious holidays established. Those may coincide with international day of diversity and the combating of discrimination, such as: the International Women’s Day (March 8), the International Day against Racism (March 21) and the World Day for Cultural Diversity (May 21).
7.		The scrapping, within the law against negationism, of the explicit reference to the genocide that the German Nazi regime committed, so that the law can also be applied to other genocides.
8.		The acknowledgement by the political authorities of the colonialist past. Thus, the younger generations can grow up in a country that acknowledges that historical dispute and expresses its responsibility for it, and apologizes for these dramatic events.

[the report may be downloaded here (pdf).]

Notes:

According to newspaper De Morgen, in the first seven months of this year alone, no fewer than 16,353 sans papiers (illegals) were rewarded with a residence permit in Belgium. Now there are already more than there were in the whole year 2009 — with 14,830 regularized, already a record year — and nearly double that of two years ago. “That altogether is as a medium-size city, but most of all another sign of the non-policy on asylum and migration that is currently being conducted,” says Yves Desmet about what is happening now. [source]

And this all while Belgium is growing ever closer to the secession of Flanders.

Intercultural campaign posters and such may be found on this page.