By By: Sujata Dand
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-580059.mp3
Dallas, TX –
(Nats - boat sounds)
Sujata Dand, KERA Reporter: The sunlight twinkles on the boats as they glide through the Copenhagen canals. The cityscape is breathtaking - brightly colored buildings painted on a sky blue canvas. The musicians serenading outdoor diners and drinkers give life to this portrait. The Danes are proud of their Nordic village where most share the same language, religion, and heritage.
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| Sujata Dand/KERA |
Jacob Nielsen, Danish Journalist: This is quiche lorraine with bacon and cheese
Dand: Yacob Nielsen is putting the finishing touches on dinner when his wife Charlotte comes home from work.
Nielsen: I was doing the cooking - Rebecca was on my arm. Not always easy.
Dand: Charlotte quickly shifts from international TV correspondent to mother of two sweet blond-haired blue-eyed children: Lucus and Rebecca. Yacob is an editor for a Danish newspaper. He's taking a two-year sabbatical so Charlotte can focus on her career.
Nielsen: In Denmark, it's very much about Danish values like gender rights, democracy, freedom of speech, and things like that. There's a tendency to see it as something particularly Danish, and that is a sign that people want foreigners to really assimilate and become Danish to accept our values.
Dand: The Danes like to boast that it's these western values that have shaped their perfect egalitarian society. Most don't mind being taxed up to 65% of their income to support Denmark's tremendous social welfare system. Free health care, education, child care and generous unemployment benefits result in a quality of life that ranks among the top 5 in the world. And, that makes Denmark an attractive destination for immigrants.
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| Sujata Dand/KERA |
Nielsen: It has been a very difficult thing for Danes to accept the society is going multicultural and then all of a sudden being Danish is not necessarily the same as being white, as being Christian, as having Danish as your own mother tongue.
Dand: Most of the 300 thousand immigrants living in Denmark are Muslim. And, their presence is becoming increasingly visible - Charlotte is surprised by the growing number of women she sees who wear scarves and even full veils on the streets.
Charlotte Nielsen, Danish Journalist: I don't mind what people wear but if it's because the women that wear these clothes are not allowed to take a job or to speak up for themselves then I don't want to accept it.
Dand: And, perhaps, Charlotte's internal conflict is at the heart of Denmark's struggle with Muslim integration. Most Danes believe Danish values like women's equality and freedom of speech clash with Islamic traditions. Certainly that was the assertion a respected Danish newspaper was trying to make in 2005. The editors of the Jyllands-Posten believed Danish illustrators were censoring themselves out of fear of violent retribution by Muslims living in Denmark. So, the paper tested this theory by asking cartoonists to depict the Prophet Mohammed.
John Hansen, Jyllands-Posten Cultural Editor: I remember cartoons with Jesus Christ that were, well, in the same manner.
Dand: John Hansen is one of the editors who decided to print the cartoons. Four months later, more than 100 people were killed in demonstrations in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, and several of Denmark's embassies were attacked by protestors.
Hansen: Had we known that people would die, Danish companies would lose hundreds of millions on the boycotts, would you have pressed the button? Then, of course, any sensible person would say no because this can not be in any way worth it.
Dand: Bent Bludnikow, an opinion writer for a conservative newspaper in Denmark, disagrees.
Bent Bludnikow, Editorial Writer: We're seeing self censorship now. The left wing in Denmark is seeing all of the Muslims in Denmark as victims - even compared to Jews in the 30 and 40s. It's a deplorable thing that the left wing which should fight for freedom of expression and democracy are doing the opposite.
Rushy Rashid, Journalist: Yes you have a lot of Muslims who are screaming about the cartoons. I'm not screaming, I'm not shouting, but I'm hurt as well.
Dand: Rushy Rashid is a famous author and tv journalist of Pakistani descent.
Rashid: But, I'm screaming more about the embassies that were set on fire. I'm crying more about the Danish flags that were torched. I don't like to see that.
Dand: Rashid's life has unfolded like a soap-opera in Danish media. Always a vocal supporter of Islam, she made headlines when she married a Christian Dane a few years ago. The Pakistani community in Denmark turned its back on her saying she was an example of what happens when a girl gets too much freedom. But that did little to shake Rashid's Islamic faith.
Rashid: Being a Muslim, I feel that my religion has been taken as a hostage in this huge crisis because what I've been taught is not violence but peace. What I've been taught is respect that you would like them to respect you in the same manner. So, that is my foundation and I don't see a conflict in my foundation and the democratic foundation that I have taken to myself from the Danish society.
Dand: Rashid worries fear of Islamic extremism is taking a toll on moderate Muslims like herself. In Denmark, the radical right wing People's Party has tapped into fears of xenophobia, pushing through some of the most restrictive immigration laws in Europe. Consequently, immigrants feel unwelcome and they cluster in isolated communities making integration difficult.
(Natural sound:music)
Dand: No where is that more noticeable than in Gellerup --a suburb of Denmark's 2nd largest city. Here, 11 thousand Muslim immigrants from more than 70 different cultural backgrounds live in one square kilometer.
(natural sound)
Dand: On this busy Sunday, the central bazaar is crowded with shoppers.
(natural sound - hi's laughs)
Dand: Lars is a young Danish police officer who lives and works here.
Lars, Danish Police Officer: I like to talk to people and if you have this slow steady approach to people out there, there are not many problems. They know me. It's safe.
Dand: Danes tend to blame the social welfare system for the high unemployment rate among immigrants. In Gellerup, it's almost 60%. Lars says the problem is much more complex. Most of the immigrants are refugees and a third suffer from post-traumatic stress disorders. Lars is working with the local government to help create more job training programs.
Lars: I think the key is treatment of post traumatic stress and employment, that's the main key. And leave the integration key. It will come automatically. It's the other issues that are important.
Dand: Sala, a young woman from Somalia, clothed from head to toe stands quietly to the side listening. She nods, accepting Lars answer, and then, adds her own perspective.
Sala, Refugee from Somalia: All the people, they like freedom.
Dand: Lars smiles. He is a devout believer in Danish values. After the cartoon crisis heightened political extremism, he says openness and mutual tolerance are the only ways to calm the culture clash between Danes and Muslim immigrants. For KERA, 90.1, I'm Sujata Dand.
Read and listen to the rest of Sujata Dand's immigration series:
A View from the Other Side: The US and Europe
A View from the Other Side: Immigration in Denmark
A View from the Other Side: Philanthropy in Europe
A View from the Other Side: Smoking in Europe
For more information, go to these Web sites:
GMF: The German Marshall Fund of the United States
ELIAMEP (Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy) article