Surfing the continent

GERMANY: Germans unhappy with Islam. "When asked what they think of in association with the word 'Islam' some 93 percent of Germans said 'oppression of women', 83 percent said 'terror', 82 percent said 'fanatics and radicals', 70 percent said 'dangerous', 66 per cent said 'backward', 45 percent said 'hospitality' and 6 percent said both 'tolerance' and 'nice'. "

THEN THERE IS THE GOVERNMENT VIEW. Belatedly, the German government is moving to ban an Islamic "Congress" planned for October in Berlin. Previously they had refused to act, deferring to Berlin to take the heat make a decision. The group planning the "First Arab Islamic Congress in Europe" aims to support "the resistance movement against aggression and occupation in Palestine and Iraq." (taken from their web site.) They deny, however, they are catering to Islamic extremists. Interior Minister Otto Schily thinks it would pose a security threat.

But Schily appears loath to take any chances in letting the conference go ahead, especially considering how hard the government has worked to avoid having Germany look like a haven for Arab radicals in the past couple of years.

The authorities became particularly concerned after it became known that several of the men involved in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington had lived for several years in the northern German city of Hamburg.

ELECTIONS ON SEPT. 19TH don't look promising for Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats. I guess building a social welfare system to buyoff voters based on an economy subsidized by cheap oil smuggled by French firms from Iraq through Syria is, apparently, a poor economic model.

UPDATE: (Sept. 20th) The Lebanese organizer of an Islamic conference with anti-semitic, anti-American overtones planned for August in Berlin has been deported.

SPAIN: It's a matter of semantics. Police raid netted ten Pakistani men in Barcelona from two flats in an investigation of forged passports. The regional police however denied they were part of a terrorist cell. A police spokesman said: "We are not talking about an Islamic terrorist group but a support group for radicals outside Spain." Glad he clarified that.

FRANCE: Nothing good can come of an industry association plan to improve service as the French hotel and catering industry's main trade association, UMIH, plans for the notoriously awful cafe industry. If you've ever encountered a French waiter, you know snottiness is a job qualification and hygiene is a variable standard. Inspections would be a helpful, but with French corruption, no one will hold out for changes anytime soon. But, hey, it sounds good.

NETHERLANDS: The European Parliament finally got around to condemning the violence in Darfur. About 50,000 too late.