Category: women’s issues

Class to teach immigrants not to beat their wives or kick their dogs

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is one of those days when interesting news is coming from all directions.   One of my favorite (not) volags, US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) has partnered with an immigration lawyer to teach refugees, men in this case, how to behave in America.   The article from Schenectady, NY started out o.k.  Afterall, we have been advocating for refugees to assimilate.

CAPITAL REGION — Artan Serjanej understands how difficult it can be for new immigrants to navigate the thicket of unfamiliar laws they encounter when they move to America.

Now 43, Serjanej fled the Eastern European country of Albania as a young man, arriving in the United States in 1990. He earned his GED, attended law school and is now an immigration attorney at Tulley Rinckey PLLC in Albany.

Serjanej is leading a series of workshops to help male immigrants understand laws regarding domestic violence, child abuse and animal abuse. He has already held two workshops, one for male Congolese refugees living in the Capital Region and another for Arabic-speaking Iraqi male refugees, and more are scheduled for later this summer.

Then it reveals that really much of this series of classes is geared toward teaching refugees their rights in our legal system.   The participants here will give you some idea of the direction this is going:

The new program, called Legal Rights and Responsibilities in the United States, began two months ago. The workshops have been organized with help from local community groups, such as the Capital Region chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union and Equinox Inc. Last month, Melanie Trimble, the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, and Serjanej conducted basic civil liberties training with the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants staff.

This is so good I couldn’t help copying a large section of the article so that you can get the full impact of what is being said here.

“I’m trying to change their idea of what it means to be a man,” he said. “These people are coming from a very patriarchal [read: Islamic] society. The man of the house is the man of the house.”

Serjanej said he understands these attitudes and why the men have them.

“Albania is a very patriarchal [Islamic] society,” he said. “When I was growing up, once in a while my dad would get physically violent with me. We didn’t have a Department of Social Services. Women had no way to complain [about abuse], and it was socially unacceptable for them to do so.”

He said one of the things he tells the men who attend his workshops is that even if their wives do not complain to the police, other people might.

“Even if the wife is silent, outsiders can call the police,” he said.

“I tell them that if you get upset, you cannot use your hands,” Serjanej continued. “I tell them that you can only talk and that you should talk in a quiet voice. A real man doesn’t have to get physical. I try to convey that they can use their mouth and voice and be respected in this country by all.

“I don’t want people to end up in trouble for something they think is acceptable,” he added. “The idea is to protect them so they don’t have any criminal records. They really need to understand how to live a clean life.”

Notice that Mr. Serjanej is not saying he is trying to protect women and pets and keep them safe from abuse, he is protecting the men from having a criminal record.    It is all about the men!

In the workshops, Serjanej talks about the age of consent and rape laws and how it’s illegal to kick or otherwise abuse dogs and cats.

Assimilating into a new culture is very stressful, Serjanej said.

“Refugees get culture shock,” he said. “They have certain expectations, and when they reach this country, things are not as great as they thought they would be.”

Not so great you say?   You know what my answer is to that!

Brenda Walker at VDARE sends a few zingers on Refugee Resettlement

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Thanks to Paul for sending me to VDARE to read Brenda Walker’s article on the Bush Administration’s celebration of World Refugee Day last month.   Here is a sample of Walker’s no-holds-barred writing: 

The UN’s brief movie about the day suggests that we are surrounded by refugees and should do more to make them feel at home. Some of us would be more inclined to be generous if the displaced were to remain in their home countries, where their upkeep is also less costly. But then professional do-gooders of the Refugee Industry would have to relocate away from their comfy homes to scruffier Third World accommodation.

One of the very helpful things VDARE does is put into its articles loads of links so you can continue to edcucate yourself on the subject.   Note there are many links to the works of Thomas Allen who has an extensive archive on Refugee Resettlement at VDARE and is one of only a handful of people across the country  considered  an expert on the subject (other than those who make a living at it!).

VDARE itself has been a leader in publishing information on refugee resettlement for many years.   

I met Brenda (from CA) at an immigration meeting last year and she is an expert on environmental issues and how the environment is impacted by out-of-control immigration.   She is also passionate and knowledgeable about women’s issues, specifically female genital mutilation, as those issues relate to immigrants.

See Walker’s extensive archive at VDARE here.   If you are one of the readers of RRW who has expressed concern about the impact of immigration on the environment and asked why the big environmental groups are shunning the issue, you can find the answers in Brenda’s archived articles. 

More on the friction between Black Americans and Black African refugees

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update August 20th:  More on this subject here.

A few weeks ago I told you about how tensions are building in black communities between immigrants and American blacks.    Sometimes the tension is between Black American Muslims (BAMs) and IMMs (Immigrant Muslims who are not black).  Sometimes it’s just Black Americans (BAs) and African immigrants no matter what religion, but now comes the revelation that BAMs and BAs generally have some resentment toward Somalis (Muslims of course).   Did you get that?     Maybe not, but read on!

If this is a topic that interests you, and frankly I found it fascinating, read this blog entitled Jamerican Muslimah:  Talking it plain.   I’m not sure what the bloggers name is, maybe Jamerican, but I like her a lot.  She does ‘talk it plain’ and so well I didn’t know where to start to give you some excerpts.  Here is how she opens Part I: 

I recently read Sherri Williams’ article entitled “Uncommon Ground” in Ebony Magazine’s July 2008 issue. This article discusses the tension between Somali immigrants/refugees and African-Americans (BAs) in Columbus, Ohio. I felt compelled to share my own thoughts and experience on the subject. After all, I live in the Twin Cities which boasts the largest Somali population in the country. I can forewarn you that what I have to say is not going to be politically correct. I can admit that I’m biased on this subject. Most of the experiences I’ve had with Somalis have not been so great. Needless to say, my perspective on this subject has been tainted by the negative experiences I’ve had. But Alhamdulillah, I’m currently working on it. This is my story. 

In Part II, she says this and a whole lot more: 

It is clear to me that many BAs in the Twin Cities are affected by the anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric floating around the country. On one hand, I feel like they are capitalizing on the sentiment in order to garner favor or acceptance from White conservatives (even if they don’t know that, that’s where the rhetoric originated.) On the other hand, they are upset because they believe that Somalis have been given money and other perks by the government. They see Somalis, who are for the most part refugees, driving new cars, opening businesses, and receiving some of the best housing MPHA has to offer.[Editor: refugees do get special perks and this causes resentment from Americans who are poor whether the American is white or black.]  They see Somalis taking over sectors of the job market which had been previously occupied by BAs. (Think of my cousin’s comment about Somalis at the airport). They see yet another group of immigrants coming in and gaining acceptance as the “model minority.” They see how White people in the Twin Cities often work hard to understand the predicament of Somalis, sometimes excusing their behavior or sympathizing with them because of their experience back home or in refugee camps. Meanwhile, the country and the world has dismissed BAs as being criminal, lazy, constantly crying victim and doing nothing to change their circumstances. There is no sympathy for us or our history. But should that be taken out on Somalis?

I believe that some BAs have a bias against Somalis because they are abashedly and unashamedly Muslim. (I find this to be especially true when the BA has a Christian base). They see Islam as a foreign religion with strange, primitive, stifling customs. The fact that female circumcision is practiced by Somalis- the dominant Muslim group in the Twin Cities- serves as further proof of the primitive nature of Islam and of Muslims…  [Editor:  we had heard that Somalis are practicing FGM in America]

What a revelation all this is, I bet a lot of you white folks in Emporia, KS and Shelbyville, TN have been thinking it’s just you.    Have you wondered if you are racist?  Is that why the Somalis were so hard to deal with?   You can rest easy now, you knew deep down you weren’t a racist.  It is not you!   Black Americans are being put off by Somali refugees too and because of the cancer of cultural relativism rampant in the volag resettlement agencies, no one tells the Somalis they need to fit in to America.

More proof that child marriage is sanctioned in Islam (if you needed proof!)

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday we told you about a UN discussion on the practice, sanctioned by the Islamic ‘faith’, of child marriage that was cut short because critics from Pakistan, Egypt and Iran forced into silence the UN Human Rights Council. 

Now, comes a report from Liveleak in which a Saudi cleric assures listeners that since Mohammad married a child, so could Muslim men today marry a child.  (Hat tip: Bill)

The Prophet Muhammad is the model we follow. He took ‘Aisha to be his wife when she was six, but he had sex with her only when she was nine.

Read the text and see the film clip here.

Spencer: Islamists killing free speech at UN

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Robert Spencer (Jihad Watch), an authority on Islam,  writing today at Frontpage magazine reports that a discussion about practices sanctioned by Sharia law, such as female genital mutilation, child marriage and stoning as punishment for adultery, was squelched at a recent meeting of the UN Human Rights Council. 

As more Muslim immigrants enter the US through refugee resettlement and other immigration programs we have been fearful that brutal practices such as these may creep into America—indeed may already be here!

We have written often about polygamy and honor killings being practiced among immigrants from Islamic countries as well.  See our categories, health issues and women’s issues, for more on all these affronts to human dignity.

Spencer begins: 

The war against free speech is advancing rapidly: Associated Press reported Thursday that “Muslim countries have won a battle to prevent Islam from being criticised during debates by the UN Human Rights Council.” Council President Doru-Romulus Costea explained that religious issues can be “very complex, very sensitive and very intense…This council is not prepared to discuss religious matters in depth, consequently we should not do it.” Henceforth only religious scholars would be permitted to broach them.

“While Costea’s ban applies to all religions,” AP explained, “it was prompted by Muslim countries complaining about references to Islam.” The ban came after a heated session on Monday, when the representative of the Association for World Education (AWE), in a joint statement with the International Humanist and Ethical Union, denounced female genital mutilation, the penalty of stoning for adultery and child marriage as sanctioned by Islamic law. Egypt, Pakistan and Iran angrily protested, interrupting the AWE speaker, David Littman, with no less than 16 points of order, and succeeding in getting the Council’s proceedings suspended for over half an hour. In the course of this contentious discussion, the representatives from the Islamic countries made numerous revealing statements – statements that are well worth examining as Islamic nations and organizations call with increasing insistence for restrictions on free speech in the West.

Imran Ahmed Siddiqui, the representative from Pakistan, echoed the ever-echoing refrain of all Islamic apologists in the West, when he complained that Littman’s initiative on genital mutilation, stoning and child marriage amounted to an “out-of-context, selective discussion on the Sharia law.”

Read the whole Frontpage article here.