Everyone Understands English As Long As You Speak It Slowly Enough

John Howard speaks his mind on Muslim refusal to integrate:

"Fully integrating means accepting Australian values, it means learning as rapidly as you can the English language if you don't already speak it," the Prime Minister said during a radio talkback discussion.

"And it means understanding that in certain areas, such as the equality of men and women ... people who come from societies where women are treated in an inferior fashion have got to learn very quickly that that is not the case in Australia."

Despite his words coming after a rather dhimmi-like preface:

Mr Howard said: "There is a section, a small section of the Islamic population, and I say a small section, which is very resistant to integration."

Islamic groups were nonetheless outraged:

"There's a whole lot of other ethnic communities whose parents, whose grandparents don't speak the English language, and it's never a problem in the mainstream Australian community for them to go on living their everyday life without speaking language.

"Yet as soon as it's a person of a Arab descent or a Muslim person ... politicians feel like they need to bring it to mainstream attention as the only group, like marginalising us even more then we already feel marginalised today."

Actually, born and bred English-speaking Aussies have always been pissed off at migrants of any race or creed who won't learn the language. But they've also been willing to put up with non-English speaking Greek grandmas and Italian poppas because they weren't trying to kill us:

(Howard) told The Australian in February: "You can't find any equivalent in Italian, or Greek, or Lebanese (Christian), or Chinese or Baltic immigration to Australia. There is no equivalent of raving on about jihad, but that is the major problem."

One doesn't mind the monetary cost of the Prime Minister's Muslim Reference Group - at $35M, it's cheap - but one is concerned about some of the outcomes:

Under the $35 million strategy, the Government has agreed to a series of programs ranging from a university for imams to issuing police with a detailed booklet explaining Islam.

Would this be an instruction book such as that issued to British police, telling them to respectfully take off their shoes before entering a terrorist's house?

It would be more useful to issue a booklet to arriving Muslim migrants. In fact, it could be given to all new arrivals as the disastrous experiment of multiculturalism slips into the trashcan of history. The booklet would be cheap as it needs only one page:

"If you don't like where you've come to, go back to where you came from."

That should do it.

-- Nick

UPDATE:
In the story Nicky referenced, these two paragraphs caught my eye:

In a section titled "Addressing isolation and marginalisation", the group says society must be more inclusive to keep young Muslims away from radicalism.

"A more inclusive Australian society is a key issue in making rigid thinking and possible involvement in terrorism less attractive to those at risk," the 26-page report says.

A more inclusive society? Do tell.

Australian society is government by a secular rule of law which does not distinguish between race, creed or colour. Obey the laws and you can practice your religion without sanction, go about your daily lives without government interference - in short have the life you choose.

And the laws are quite simple - don't put people in harms way, everyone contributes their fair share for common amenities.

The dirty little secret is Muslims don't want a more inclusive society, they want the rest of the world to bend to their dictates.

They want what was promised them in the Koran - great riches, rule over the infidel, Sharia Law to reign supreme.

The 'radicalisation' of young Muslims comes from the fact that they want to claim their birthright and they will kill to get it.

Dr Santy, a pyschiatrist, has an excellent primer on Shame, the Arab Psyche and Islam:

Other expressions of the shame culture that are obvious is the rampant psychological projection and refusal to accept responsibility for the atrocities committed in the name of Islam. Not only are we regularly subjected to imams, religious leaders, and leaders of Muslim states stating even now that 9/11 or the London bombings were not committed by Muslims; they also regularly blame the Jews for such acts. In this way they can avoid the shame that taking responsibility for evil.

Additionally, the emphasis by CAIR and other Muslim organizations in demanding that any statement that criticizes or even suggests blame or responsibility by Islam for terror, be retracted or apologized for, is also just a part of the shame-avoidant dance that leads the culture into the blurry realms of delusion.

Finally, it is not surprising that the most murderous thugs espousing religious ideals as they brutally cut off the heads of infidels are hidden behind masks and dare not reveal themselves to the world. I suspect that on some deep level they know that their "pride" in their sick behavior would be more difficult to boast about if they were not anonymous. "If no one knows it is me committing these acts, then I am not shamed," after all.

This also goes a long way to explain why the general Muslim community remains either silent whenever terrorism is uncovered or plays the victim card.

The truth of the matter is even 'moderate' Muslims read the same Koran and see the same promises. While they say they abhor the violence, they do laud the goals.

Columnist Michael Medved hits the nail on the head:

For anyone who takes Islamic teaching seriously, the current state of the world offers a glaring, painful example of cognitive dissonance: the backwardness, poverty, and endemic misery of Muslim societies—particularly compared to the privilege and prosperity of the West—either undermines the validity of the Holy Koran, or proves that evil infidel conspirators have upset the natural, proper, and Godly order of things.

Next time it might be worth asking five simple questions.

-- Nora

UPDATE 2: 'Back off Johnnie or we'll riot'

UPDATE 3: This comment from Chom Fa on news.com's discussion of the issue says it all really (so there's no permalink available):

Ms Iktimal Hage-Ali, the "youth" member of the Prime Minister's advisory group, said there were not enough free classes teaching new migrants English. She states,"There are resources but they cost money. How can they afford the fees?" she said. "I can't imagine an 80-year-old grandmother running out to learn English." Ms Hage-Ali is relying on ignorance to make her fallacious claims; claims which look more like agit-prop than anything aimed at amicable solution-finding. She shows a maturing in the art of 'taqiya', but would be best served by sticking to facts. The AMES (Adult Migrant Education Services) offers free English classes to migrants,in every state, city and regions, and has done so since 1951. Its website says that,"in 2004, AMES helped more than 49,000 people with their English". Over 500,000 people have used AMES and related programs since their inception. I am not up to speed with the current set-up, having last worked for AMES in 2000, but during the Afghan/Iraqi refugee influx, the Government provided additional funding for "special" classes; 200 hours of "private" tuition - necessary because dominant Muslim (male) leadership would not allow their families to mix with "non-believers". These programs died stillborn. I, personally, was involved in setting up "special classes" for 14 refugee families who were "settled" in Canberra, after a period in Baxter Detention Centre. None ever attended. None. Male, female, parent, child, aged or young. Not one. But the demands for material benefit were incessant... and met. Not all Muslims, of course, are this recalcitrant and unbending; I've had many positive experiences with Muslim students, and have formed lasting relationships, but it is well known amongst ESL teachers that a majority of Muslims are problematic, even when conditions of exclusivity are arranged. Certain attitudes are not conducive to language acquisition - apartheid being one of them. Ms Hage-Ali has made demonstrably false claims. She is engaging in a propaganda exercise which, under examination, can only hinder satisfactory outcomes for, and damage the reputation of, the people she purports to represent. (I have been married to an Asian woman for 15 years, and lived in Asia for ten. I support Multi-culturalism. Multi does not mean all.)
Posted by: Chom Fa of Churchill 9:16am today