We are at a crossroad...
Reader comment on item: [Theo van Gogh and] "Education By Murder" in Holland

Submitted by Bruno Gissara (United Kingdom), Jul 8, 2005 at 07:43

I am an Italian citizen living in the UK and have been here since 1978... yesterday the capital of this multicultural country was attacked by 7 bombs; an attack not against politicians, businessmen or prominent figures of British society, but against the masses... For too long we have allowed large swaths of non-Europeans to settle in this country, have bent backwards to accomodate them, feed them, give them free health service and even tried to pacify them and appease them by removing symbols of Christianity such as the bible and cross from hospitals and schools.. We have bent over backwards to accomodate them and changed certain ways of living to make them feel welcome when they should be the ones to integrate in our society.... They could easily practice religion and live side by side with us without us having to change things for them... but this large swathe of immigrants has come at an enormous price.... we spend more money feeding and clothing them and caring for them than we do on our population... A small minority has now declared war on our country, and although I am left-wing and deplore the actions of both Bush and Blair in having dragged us to war in Iraq, it is high time that we close our borders to any more immigrants, and start sifting through records and get rid of any that do not work, that have connections with radical groups, formal, informal or otherwise.... and kick them out!!!

Why does it take a long-winded and expensive trial to remove a well known Islamic cleric who preaches jihad against the British nation, when all you need to do is take every civil liberty from him and freeze his assets, confiscate his British passport and remove him from our shores?

Why is it that this country that has always been welcoming to non-Europeans should suffer the consequences... and watch its steps when it investigates people of dubious origins and morals? I say we reclaim our shores, reclaim those powers and rights that we have given over to Brussels, and when necessary tear up the rights to free speech and free movement when it is necessary to do so........... I would welcome it if the British Government, in these times declared martial law and put Islamic citizens in safely guarded transit camps, where they would be treated well and fed and made comfortable but would be kept under watch till we could find out which ones of those have links to Al-Quaeda and similar Islamic Fundamentalist groups.. Freeze their assets, confiscate their passport and turn them over to the United States for a long, warm holiday in Guantanamo Bay...

I am a left wing and a pacifist but even I am getting sick and tired of seeing this country not only bending over backwards for non-Europeans to accomodate them, and feed them, and nurse them to health at the expense of my taxes and the taxes of every hard-working citizen in this country, but also see them criticizing us and attacking our way of life and committing acts of terrorism....

It is time we put our foot down and shout in one voice: "NO MORE... YOU INTEGRATE YOURSELF IN OUR SOCIETY AND BEHAVE OR FACE THE FULL BACKLASH OF OUR LAW!!"...

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments. For informational purposes, we identify countries from which comments are sent.