Posted on 11/14/2004 2:52:30 AM PST by Cutterjohnmhb
The streets of Rotterdam are silent apart from a whistling wind. Flickering neon signs advertising Halal butchers and falafel bars punctuate the grey facades of the tower blocks.
Splintered glass from a broken window that no one has bothered to repair is slowly trampled into the autumn leaves. In the distance, a mosque's minarets pierce the fog and drizzle.
Almost half the population of Rotterdam is of non-Dutch origin and the city is studded by grim ghettoes. Fifteen-year-old Rafih Bourdin has hunched his shoulders up against the cold. His head is wrapped in a red bandana and covered by a heavy, hooded top that almost entirely obscures his eyes.
The article states that the population is 6% Moslem; At least it's not higher; wake up call, many Americans have been complacent even in the aftermath of 9-11.
Too much news to keep up with, that same Telegraph page has a link to a Moslem crisis in China! I don't know if that has even been posted on FR.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/11/14/wchin14.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/11/14/ixworld.html
"Muslim conflict now hits China as 148 die in ethnic violence
By Damien McElroy in Zhengzhou
(Filed: 14/11/2004)
A convoy of military lorries roared along the dirt track leading to a fertile valley of rice paddies and ridges of garlic shoots in central China. Green-uniformed soldiers equipped with razor-wire and cannons stared out blankly at Chinese police, who stood to attention as they passed through a checkpoint.
They were heading for two neighbouring villages, Nanren and Weitang, which have co-existed peacefully for centuries - but where, earlier this month, martial law was abruptly declared after a row over a traffic accident escalated into pitched battles that left 148 people dead.
The soldiers' mission was to prop up the facade of ethnic harmony, constructed by the country's Communist dictatorship over the past 55 years but dramatically undermined by the eruption of conflict between Hui Muslims and their Han Chinese neighbours. The troops sealed off the villages to prevent other militants coming to the aid of their fellow Muslims and stop the fighting spreading across China.
Seems you are right. My source was a round table discussion in Front Page magazine that implied that there is still a jihad component. Lost the reference. The students, I'm sure, are completely unaware of the previous genocide against black Christians and animists.
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