Saturday, June 04, 2011

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

A couple of weeks ago we reported on the Bulgarian nationalist party Ataka and its physical assaults on Muslims praying on the street outside the Grand Mosque in Sofia.

As a result of the incident, a Bulgarian court fined Ataka for its disorderly and violent behavior, levying the maximum allowable fine under the law. I assumed that the Muslims in Sofia would consider this a victory, and step up their ostentatious public displays while increasing their demands for concessions.

However, this does not seem to be the case. Perhaps the application of actual, physical violence got their attention in a way which was not mitigated by a mere court case against their attackers. According to a recent news article, the Muslims at the Grand Mosque are making conciliatory gestures, reacting to the grievances which moved Ataka to assault them in the first place:

Downtown Sofia Mosque Turns Loudspeakers Down

The sound of the loudspeakers at the Banya Bashi mosque in downtown Sofia will be turned down and one or two of them, located in the mosque’s entry hall, will be removed.

The agreement was reached during a meeting between the Mayor of Sofia, Yordanka Fandakova, the Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, and the Chief Mufti, Mustafa Hadzhi.

The mosque’s Board will also apply all possible effort to limit the number of Muslims, praying outside, on the sidewalk, by using the second level of the building which can hold 900 people, Hadzhi says.

So the loudspeakers could be made quieter, after all. And there was really no necessity for all those prayers on the street — there was extra room in the mosque all along.

Funny about that.

The article continues:
Tsvetanov explained no events are to be held from now on in the mosque’s vicinity during the Friday prayer.

On May 20, supporters of the far-right, nationalist Ataka party, led by party Chair, Volen Siderov, shocked Bulgaria as its rally protesting against the use of loudspeakers by the mosque in downtown Sofia got out of hand, and activists of Ataka assaulted praying Muslims in front of the mosque.

Notice that the concessions listed above were offered even after the Bulgarian establishment engaged in all the groveling, cringing, dhimmi behavior we’ve come to expect from European countries lying on the western side of what used to be the Iron Curtain:

The incident has had wider repercussions, all the way from Bulgarians flocking to lay flowers at the mosque as a sign of apology, to the start of investigation of Ataka for stirring ethnic and religious hatred and the consolidation of the voters of the Bulgarian ethnic Turkish party DPS (Movement for Rights and Freedoms).

The Interior Minister informed about 6-7 individuals have been identified from video cameras, some not from Ataka; they have all been interrogated, but the Prosecutor’s Office is yet to request anything else.

It was reported meanwhile that Siderov had refused to officially acknowledge the receipt for the fine of BGN 2 500 imposed on Ataka by the City Hall over the incident.

Bulgaria’s former Tsar and Prime Minister, Simeon Saxe-Coburg, wrote Wednesday, in his personal blog, the incident is a disgrace for Bulgaria.

What conclusions can we draw from all this?

When dealing with Muslims, actions speak louder than words.

More specifically, violent actions. Ataka’s violence gained the attention of Sofia’s Muslim community much more fully than did the dhimmi groveling of celebrities and politicians. Violence is, after all, the only language which Islam fully understands.

However, a couple of days later the Turks of Sofia did manage to come up with a new demand: they need another mosque:

Bulgarian Ethnic Turks Demand Having 2nd Mosque in Sofia

Bulgaria’s ethnic Turkish party, Movement for Rights and Freedoms, DPS, is demanding to have a second mosque built in the capital Sofia.

The request to the cabinet and the City Hall was made in the Parliament Friday by the DPS Deputy Chair, Luytvi Mestan.

“You will hear from us good words about Mayor, Yordanka Fandakova, only after the procedure to build a second place for Muslim prayer is launched. This will resolve the issue with people praying on rugs on the sidewalk. We do not understand what is stopping the decision about having a second mosque or how is it possible to oppose the right to protest to religious freedoms,” Mestan said.

So if the Muslims of Sofia are allowed another barracks mosque, there will be no more annoying public prayer, and all will be well. Hmm…

Notice that the Bulgarian minister of culture is himself a Muslim of Turkish descent:

On behalf of his party, the MP appealed the executive and legislative power to not become in any way collaborators in attempts to conceal the truth about what happened on May 20, telling Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov and Culture Minister, Vezhdi Rashidov, who is from ethnic Turkish background, they know better the incident does not involve simply setting prayer rugs on fire.

The two Ministers were in the Parliament for the regular parliamentary control session.

The extent of defiance exhibited by the nationalists of Ataka is startling:

On May 20, supporters of the far-right, nationalist Ataka party, led by party Chair, Volen Siderov, shocked Bulgaria as its rally protesting against the use of loudspeakers by the mosque in downtown Sofia got out of hand, and activists of Ataka assaulted praying Muslims in front of the mosque and set their rugs on fire.

“This has no precedent in the history of any other country. Even totalitarian regimes have not allowed such serious incidents. For us this fire equals an attempt to set ethnic peace in Bulgaria on fire,” Mestan declared.

The DPS Deputy Chair further demanded from Tsvetanov to answer what action the authorities are going to undertake, regarding Siderov’s threats, made on May 20, he was to bring next time thousand more, better dressed, people to attack the police.

It will be interesting to see what happens in Sofia if construction ever begins on that new mosque.


Hat tip: AC.

10 comments:

imnokuffar said...

Just what I have been saying all along and been roundly slagged off for - Muslims only respect force.

Interesting that they make a concession then a demand for another Mosque. I don't think ATAKA will take this quietly.

Finally the worm turns - I hope.

Vortac said...

It will be very hard to sell multicultural dhimmitude to all those Balkan countries which have been under Ottoman yoke for centuries. It was so enriching, people still remember it very very clearly. You can fully expect that UK and other Western countries will recruit fighters from that area, when militia-forming times come around.

Malcolm Smith said...

Irrespective of whether a second mosque is built, there is no justification for a call to prayer, with or without loudspeakers. Like church bells, this belongs to a period before clocks and watches. Also, it is useful only in a neighbourhood which is predominantly Muslim. Otherwise, it is just a public nuisance.

Gary said...

The Muslims in Bulgaria are mainly of Turkish origin and they have the cheek to demand another mosque in Sofia. They should instead persuade the Turks in Turkey to the Church of Haga Sophia to the Christians. That gesture will in some minuscule form atone for the atrocities committed by the Turks for centuries against the Christians. This atrocities are still going on against the Christians. The latest was in 2007. Here is an excerpt.
"The three Christians who were martyred in Turkey last week were horribly tortured for three hours prior to being killed, Christian Today has learned, as details continue to emerge.
According to the Washington-DC based human rights group International Christian Concern, the three were put through a horrific ordeal which included multiple stabbings before finally being killed."
An ICC statement tells: "As difficult and sorrowful as it is to learn more, we believe that we must expose the truly hellish nature of this attack for what it is."
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/turkey.christian.missionaries.horrifically.tortured.before.killings/10523.htm

gsw said...

“This has no precedent in the history of any other country. Even totalitarian regimes have not allowed such serious incidents."
Well, yes actually, setting fire to cars in france, smashing stores and buses in England, blowing up churches in Egypt, statues and synagogs.
"no precedent of non-muslims acting like this in the history of any other country" is what he should have said.

Kufar Dawg said...

From what I've heard about Dearbornistan, Michigan, the daily call to prayer wafts over the city 5 times a day like a gigantic, pungent fart, every day of the week.

urah2222 said...

Nas dar to Bulgarian "Ataka" Perhaps France's National Front might consider a repeat of this action in Paris. Good Hunting!

Dr. Shalit

Truthiocity said...

"The mosque’s Board will also apply all possible effort to limit the number of Muslims, praying outside, on the sidewalk, by using the second level of the building which can hold 900 people, Hadzhi says."

They were able to accomodate 900 people the whole time? Then they were not doing it outside because they could not accomodate them inside the mosque as they so often claim.

I take back anything I said in their defence in previous posts about this.

I wonder how many such mosques in france and italy that "cannot accomodate" all their worshipers have 2nd floors?

Mother Effingby said...

Does anyone on this thread have a clue how to jam a loudspeaker? I think it would be a good thing to be able to silence these loud speakers with a push of a button. Shooting them out would require one hell of a good shot, but stealth would be the better part of valor in these cases. I would like a weapon that could actually blow the speakers. Also, a weapon that could blow the speakers of any boom car that I am driving behind.

Kufar Dawg said...

To Jewel,

I used to know an ex-Marine and now a PHD in EE, who told me that he had some sort of electronic gadget while he was in the Corps that could blow out speakers. I think he used it once on someone in a car who had his music blasting.