by Dan Ritto
On the front page of today’s edition of [Danish newspaper] Ekstra-Bladet you can see the headline ‘Here, sharia law applies’, and a map of the areas of the country where the imams and so-called cultural societies have established an alternative judicial system based on sharia law.
One of these areas is Gellerupparken, where I used to live and participate in what I thought was an effort to integrate immigrants into society. A feature article in the newspaper says that according to experts, these areas will, in the course of 10-15 years, be anti-democratic. I’ll stipulate that depending on what you mean by “democratic”, Gellerup has already turned that corner.
Unfortunately, the criticisms coming from Islam-sceptics like myself are almost always swept off the table with the remark that we are stupid and ignorant. Therefore in the following I will present my credentials and background for talking about conditions in Gellerup, so that the readers themselves can judge whether I am ignorant or not.
When I returned home from seminary in London in 2004, I had no possessions except for some boxes with my books in them — and the clothes on my back. I had no money and no place to live. A couple of months later I got my apartment — in Gellerupparken, because back then as now it was very quick and easy to get an apartment there. On top of that the apartments were actually surprisingly lovely, in spite of the reputation the area had.
Read more at Gates of Vienna »
