Bangladeshi residents and others in Monfalcone say decisions to prohibit worship at cultural centres and banning burkinis at the beach is part of anti-Islam agenda

The envelope containing two partially burned pages of the Qur’an came as a shock. Until then, Muslim residents in the Adriatic port town of Monfalcone had lived relatively peacefully for more than 20 years.

Addressed to the Darus Salaam Muslim cultural association on Via Duca d’Aosta, the envelope was received soon after Monfalcone’s far-right mayor, Anna Maria Cisint, banned prayers on the premises.

“It was hurtful, a serious insult we never expected,” said Bou Konate, the association’s president. “But it was not a coincidence. The letter was a threat, generated by a campaign of hate that has stoked toxicity.”

Monfalcone’s population recently passed 30,000. Such a positive demographic trend would ordinarily spell good news in a country grappling with a rapidly declining birthrate, but in Monfalcone, where Cisint has been nurturing an anti-Islam agenda since winning her first mandate in 2016, the rise has not been welcomed.

  • thisisbutaname@discuss.tchncs.de
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    9 months ago

    Probably because there is a, perceived or cultivated, associations between Muslims and immigrants/people of color. And if you can’t outright punish someone based on “race” you go after the closest thing.

    • Gympie_Gympie_pie@sh.itjust.works
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      9 months ago

      It’s not about skin colour, it’s about a way of life that is considered too radically different from their own: racists assume that muslims don’t want to integrate in Italian society, don’t follow the rules, abuse women with their hijabs and restrictions of movement (muslim women can’t drive nor go anywhere without a male relative). The native Muslim community is so minuscule in Italy that most Muslims are immigrants and speak other languages Italians don’t understand and makes them suspicious. They are concerned they could hide weapons under their tunics and hijabs. They don’t like that they cover their face and can’t be identified. It’s the lifestyle that they are bothered with, the skin colour is irrelevant. Italians were equally racist against Albanians in the 90ies because they were migrating in Italy by the thousands per day and were committing a lot of crimes, and Albanians are caucasians.

      • redcalcium@lemmy.institute
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        9 months ago

        muslim women can’t drive nor go anywhere without a male relative

        This only true in middle east. Muslim women in south east asia don’t have this restriction and can do whatever they want like living alone, drive cars and hold any job, even leadership positions such as president and ministers.

        They are concerned they could hide weapons under their tunics and hijabs. They don’t like that they cover their face and can’t be identified.

        People can already conceal weapons beneath their jacket or suit, and covid basically normalize wearing masks in a lot of countries (not sure about Italy, is it normal for a person to walk around wearing masks there?).

      • fastandcurious@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        muslim women can’t drive nor go anywhere without a male relative

        That’s actually not true, it is accepted that as long as one remains within the border of a city or county, there is need for a male to escort, the dispute is only about traveling outside of the city, some say it’s not necessary even then, some say it is necessary if they need to stay for a night, some say 3 nights, but this ‘can’t travel anywhere without male’ is completely wrong, this is might be stated by conservative(s) or maybe racists idk about that

    • BaardFigur@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Wrong, it’s all about culture. Most muslims has fairly light skin anyways. A skin colour is very superficial, what’s important is whether you integrate or not. I have nothing against people of colour at all, but Islam makes me very uncomfortable

      • fastandcurious@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Well, you are not obliged to follow it, you can’t use this as an excuse to take away their rights, I don’t like iPhones so I am going to ban them

        • BaardFigur@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Why are they coming in the first place. If they wanna come to a foreign country, it’s their job to adopt to the local culture, not the other way around

          • fastandcurious@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            What do you mean by ‘local culture’, if that means that one should stop practicing their religion, than that goes against your own constitution, if you want a place like that, then by all means, make a ‘local culture’ where everyone is only allowed to do what you or the majority wants, but then spell it out clearly in your book, then if someone goes against, they are at fault, but you put on the image of secularism and freedom of expression, and then deny one particular group this right

            And the word for these kind of people rhymes with ‘fascist’

            • BaardFigur@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              It’s about not tolerating the intolerant. There’s no rights for women, illegal to be gay etc, according to sharia law. Muhammed was a slave owner, and had multiple wives (including a 6 year old child) and concubines. Most muslims in western countries do far more crime than the locals. Why should we be ok with these people tearing apart everything our ancestors built?

              • fastandcurious@lemmy.world
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                9 months ago

                Huh? Why does every discussion on muslim rights always start getting to Muhammad when y’all can’t justify your hypocrisy, how many modern day muslims have slaves or multiple wives/marry under the present age of consent in your country? The topic is why are you taking away their basic rights guaranteed to them by your country itself, if they do any of the things mentioned above in the present day, then that should be dealt separately

                Most muslims in western countries do far more crimes than locals

                Sauce?

                And arab countries are not a very great example in most things but one thing you can’t deny is that they have extremely low crime rates

                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_the_United_Arab_Emirates

                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Saudi_Arabia

                A simple google search was enough from on your side, but since you don’t seem to be arguing in good faith, I put some wiki links for you

                  • fastandcurious@lemmy.world
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                    9 months ago

                    Can you provide me an English link? My browser can’t seem to be able to translate it

                    Edit: nvm got it

                  • fastandcurious@lemmy.world
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                    9 months ago

                    I can’t seem to find one that sorts by religion, can you provide me an English with link to the exact page?

                    And if having a death penalty for being a rapist (I am not talk about minorities here) means a lot less no. of overall women raped, than I am more than happy tbh, the rules are strict but they also mean it is a lot lot safer, a person is gonna think twice before stealing your hard earned mac because of the fear of amputation (even though it’s not commonly done)

                    My current city is suffering with a rape epidemic, and the reason for that is most people can get out of jail after a few months if they provide enough money or have enough power, if they just announce that death penalty, I’d be happy

                    But we are drifting off topic here

        • BaardFigur@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Italy isn’t the only European country with lots of muslim immigrants though. Idk about Italy, but in Norway it’s 100% the culture people have a problem with

          According to wikipedia you only have about 1% muslims.

          That’s nothing (relatively speaking), and on par with Iceland. In Norway it’s at least 3,1%, with the capital itself having a ridiculous 12%