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Racism is Alive and Well in Denmark, While the Danish State Pulls the Anti-Semitism Card Every Time the Zionist Occupation is Criticized
News:
On 26 November 2023, the Institute for Human Rights published a report titled ”Experienced Ethnic Discrimination in Denmark”, in which they present their study of ethnic minority peoples experiences of discrimination in Denmark. In the survey, nearly 4,300 adult ethnic minority people who were born and/or grew up in Denmark were asked about their experiences with prejudice and discrimination in a number of social areas such as the labor market, leisure life, health and education. The report concludes, among other things, that 84 percent of minority ethnic people state that they have experienced discrimination or prejudice because of their ethnic background. 65 percent state that they have experienced illegal discrimination because of their ethnic background.
Comment:
The report from the Institute for Human Rights in fact concludes what was already well known. For more than two decades, the Danish state has pursued a purposefully hostile and discriminatory policy towards Islam and Muslims. Not only in the form of specific political initiatives and legislation, but also in the way Muslims have been portrayed by politicians and in the Danish media. Muslims have consistently been portrayed as a threat to Danish society, as uncivilized and even dangerous, and Islamic culture has been described as oppressive to women, backward and in opposition to any form of positive progress.
The politics of these decades have fertilized the soil for racism, which today is alive and well both in Christiansborg, on the labor market and in the education system. The ethnic Danish citizen’s view of Islam and Muslims has been shaped by this hostile policy. This view has not been shaped by the meeting with Muslims, but rather by politicians’ and the media’s false narratives about Muslims. Therein lies the root of the discrimination that the report documents. A discrimination which, despite clear evidence, is denied and ignored by the Danish politicians, while at the same time they shout about anti-Semitism and Jew-hatred at every opportunity to discourage anyone who dares to criticize the occupation of Palestine and the massacres in Gaza.
The events of the past 2 months in Palestine and the Danish government’s cynical support for genocide have, if anything, exposed this discrimination and racism clearly. While ignoring report after report documenting the discrimination, they accept and pass on pro-Zionists’ claims of widespread anti-Semitism and threats against Jews. While insisting on the occupation’s ”right to self-defense”, anyone who defends the Palestinians’ right to self-defense is accused of supporting terror. While the government’s political, economic and military support for the brutal Zionist occupation continues, charges are brought against those who call for the removal of the occupation by military force.
For anyone who believes that this discrimination is unintentional, the official Danish course in connection with Palestine is clear proof that even human lives do not have equal value in the eyes of the Danish politicians. What can then be expected when it comes to jobs and education?
Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Umais Shoaib