Friday, February 24, 2006

When did the Cartoons Crisis start?


Two young immigrants going to a Danish courtroom. They give the press the fuck up finger. It's from a campaign poster Venstre, the Liberal Party in Denmark, used before the election in 2001 that swept the party into the government offices.

The text on the poster says: An immigration policy that is both just and with consequence. "Just" for whom? - For the huddled masses running away from persecution? No, primarily for the Danes' sense of justice. "They'll come to justice", or "justice will come to them", If I may quote a well-known American president. And "with consequence" means, justice has to be carried through to the end. No soft leniency for such scumbags! - Which they may well have been, but that is not the point here.

The poster's implied criticism of the Social Democratic goverment in office is quite clear: Their immigration policy was too lax. An immigration policy with consequence was one of the main ways by which the liberal party could win over a large enough number of voters to win the election.

Since then the immigration issue has been used to win popular support among ethnic Danes. For the first time in more than a century a liberal conservative government can remain in office for more than one election period. The voters reward it because it is generally believed that an immigration policy that is both just and with consequence can only be delivered by such a government. This has hardened the "climate" of political debate considerably in Denmark. There is a straight line from this election campaign up to the publication of the cartoons. Gradually, without people noticing it public debate on immigrant issues in Denmark has hardened.

"Don't you come and provoke us with your fuck up fingers. This is our country. Don't you come here and put your mark on it". They even have the cheek to smile and seem unaffected by the situation. Along with these kinds of sentiments went suspicion that a large part of the immigrants were primarily "economic migrants". The Danish phrase "refugee of convenience" was coined.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sad you've deleted the post on the transvestite PM here... It's part of your free speech, I think, just go on!

2:44 PM  

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