Coping with escalating hate in our world
Why do I, as a family therapist, make political statements? During four decades I've been working with families who are considered as the riff-raff of our society; I've worked with young delinquents who have committed serious crimes and with severely disturbed children and adolescents who failed at school and who, as adults, will probably be a lifelong burden for society. I've worked with families where the children are abused, neglected or maltreated and with parents who resist well-intended intervention. Fortunately, only 5% of the families and the youngsters are disturbed. In these cases severe measures must be taken, but a real solution is only possible if these people experience a sense of care from other people. Therapeutic success depends on the establishment of bonds with other people in their own environment. The central role of the therapist is to inspire people to care for his clients. Irresponsible parents and disturbed children have had many miserable and traumatic experiences. They need someone who cares for them, unconditionally and unselfishly; they need someone who never gives them up, despite their unacceptable behaviour. Such a care is true goodness and that is the key for inspiring other people to do good for others. I'm convinced that my therapeutic vision is of decisive importance for more solidarity in national and international politics, since so many people are living in traumatic and awful conditions.
It is so easy and seductive to blame immigrants for all what is going wrong in our society. This is especially the case for Muslims and East-Europeans. In a speech to the Dutch parliament a popular MP related degradation of our society and crime to Islam and to immigrants. He asserted that our towns and villages are the scene of multicultural violence, honour killings, burka's and satellite dishes. Tens of thousands well-educated Europeans leave the country and a huge number of illiterates from the Moroccon Rifmountains and from Turkish Anatolia are imported by fully loaded airplanes. The same MP proposed to expulse all that riff-raff, particularly young Moroccans who terrorise our neighbourhoods. He stated that all those who misuse our hospitality by behaving like beasts, are not worthy to have a Dutch passport; therefore Moroccan juvenile delinquents and their parents must be expulsed. He gave the government the advice to deal first with all the recidivists who terrorise citizens every day, who use violence, who assault homosexuals, who call our women prostitutes. Arrest thousands of these criminals tomorrow, he said.
Ten years ago such a speech in the House of Parliament would inevitably have lead to ostracizing this MP. Nowadays his speech is cited in all journals and probably this MP will gain more and more votes during coming elections.
What he had said is, frow his point of view, the truth, but this truth is frightening because the majority of the population is convinced that Islam, Moroccans, Turks and illegal immigrants pose a threat to our civilization. The day is nearby where proponents of the multicultural society will be considered as traitors of our countries, who collaborate with the enemies of European civilization.
But we must be aware of unfounded generalizations and stereotypes. If we should count all youngsters from non-Western origin who commit crimes or terrorize our streets, then we shall find perhaps some tens of thousands of them. This is a small minority compared to more than one million immigrants who live in a country like the Netherlands. Unfortunately, the majority is associated with the crimes of this small minority. This is very sad because most Muslims and black people from Africa are very kind, hospitable and hard-working.
If we look from a broader perspective, then we observe that most Islamic and African countries are governed by a small group of corrupt and cruel politicians; ethnic or religious groups are massacring each other; the cultural and scientific contribution of these countries to civilization is almost nil. Christians are fleeing from all over the Middle East. Emigration began in the aftermath of World War I and has greatly picked up in the last decade. In Turkey, Christians constituted a population of 2 million in 1920 but now only some thousands remain. Christians earlier in this century represented about one-third of the Syrian population; now they account for less than 10 percent. In 1932, they composed 55 percent of the Lebanese population, now less than 30 percent. More than half the Christians of Iraq have left. Copts began leaving Egypt in significant numbers after the 1952 revolution. Christian Palestinians are also fleeing their country: not so long ago Bethelehem was 80 percent Christian, now one third; today more Christian Palestinians from Jeruzalem are living in Sydney, Australia, than in Jeruzalem itself.
In Islamic countries hundreds of millions of people yearning for peace are the victims of some thousands of inhumane despots and fundamentalists. Education in these countries is of very low quality and the fate of women is appalling. In order to prevent a revolution of the people, their leaders focus on a supposed enemy like Israel or the United States, but the real enemy of the people are their own leaders. I presume that Islam in his pure form can bring peace and well-being, but therefore a deeply religious Islamic empire must emerge in a world where Muslims are treated with respect and fairly. Western politicians are most of the time very naive and hypocritical: they allow one of the most fanatic sect of Islam, the Wahibisme from Saudi-Arabia, to subsidize school in western countries. This can be compared with the Ku Klux Klan who would be allowed to subsidize schools in Europe in order to propagate their racist theories.
In this website I'm looking for a humane solution for ending the insecurity and fear of our citizins and for stopping terror in Islamic and African countries (I'm also seeking what measures we can take for tackling the immense problem of the devastation of nature, first of all the deterioration of the air we respire the whole day long).
I know not much about Islam, so I cannot know what has to be done in order to bring peace, prosperity and well-being for the citizens in those countries. Some famous Islamics claim that violence is inherent to this faith. Others pretend that Islam is pluralistic and in essence a doctrine of peace and tolerance. The fact is that most Islamic countries are characterized by violence and intolerance, but it may be that the leaders misuse Islam for their own profit. The same has been the case for Christianity some centuries ago. A historic change can be achieved if in Europe and the Islamic world all those who want peace and justice are going to work together. With much perseverance they must bring more justice for all. The Muslim immigrants in Europe can play a central role in this cooperation. Concrete measures have to been taken in short time because terrorists can hit at every moment and because hate among ethnic and religious groups is mounting. Experts in Washington confirm that Al Quada's first priority is to smuggle in weapons of mass destruction in the US and other western countries. If such an terror attact would succeed, what will be the reaction of our population? I guess that all Muslims will be expulsed and deported.
I'm looking for a humane solution to the problems of today, especially in case of a major terror attack. That means that justice and compassion with all people must prevail, without regard to their race, social class or religion. But at the same time, I'm convinced that some drastic measures must consequently be applied. What the Dutch MP has suggested, e.g. the expulsion of criminal immigrants, doesn't sound at all bad since that can prevent negative labeling of the majority of immigrants. We have to do more if we want to put a stop to hate, racism and civil war in our own cities. In this website I propose a solution in a broader, international perspective. The answer lies in solidarity between the European Union and Islamic and African countries. The immigrants in Europe can play a central role in the cooperation between these countries and in overcoming tyranny, corruption and injustice. If we succeed, then the stream of refugees will stop because most people want a decent life in their homeland. For Muslims, the true homeland is a restored great Islamic caliphate from Turkey to Sudan and from Morocco to Pakistan, where wise men, the so-called Ulama's, will reign.
If you are willing to participate in action to realize these ideas, call me: 00 32 496105399 or 00 32 3 2307028 or send an email to:juliaan.vanacker@gmail.com