“Dark forces”, “grotesque attitudes” and “they must go home”.
Such words are used by representatives from the Danish parties Venstre, Socialdemokraterne and Dansk Folkeparti about the participants in the memorial ceremony for the deceased Iranian dictator Ali Khamenei, which took place on Sunday evening in Copenhagen.
But one of the organisers, Mohamad Ali Haidar Saleh, insists that it is possible to be a supporter of an Islamist dictator and nevertheless be well integrated in Denmark, writes Danish TV2. They may perhaps be right, if Denmark is in the process of being transformed into an Islamist country.
– I should be able to express my opinions without having to move back home again. I was born in Denmark and am Danish, says Saleh.
He boasts that he is a trained teacher and engaged in the local community as a football coach. But anyone with a little experience knows that there are people who are both dreadful teachers and terrible coaches.
Something similar happened in Trondheim, and my colleague Bente Haarstad was removed from the area with support from the police.
Sørget over Khameneis død: Jeg ble jaget vekk: – Aldri opplevd lignende
The 28-year-old Mohamad Ali Haidar Saleh is a Danish citizen. His parents actually fled to Denmark from Iran’s neighbouring country Iraq.
They are Shia Muslims and support the clerical regime in Tehran. So does their son, who has been in Iran approximately ten times to visit family and friends.
– It is the struggle that our parents fought before us, and which we now continue, in an attempt to stand against these two superpowers (the United States and Israel, ed.), he says, and calls Khamenei a “spiritual and religious leader”.
What genuine refugees send their children on visits near the country they have fled from more than ten times? The fraud can hardly be more obvious. Nordic taxpayers receive the bill.
Why did they not flee a few kilometres to the neighbouring country they loved and admired?
Ayatollah Khamenei stood behind a bloody regime that has killed thousands of political opponents.
As recently as January, international media reported that the clerical regime had killed at least 3,000 Iranians in connection with the suppression of demonstrations across the country. The real number is probably at least ten times as high.
– It is the same man you praise who has behaved brutally towards his own people?
– I would not say that he has been extremely brutal towards his own people. That is not my experience, he says.
– But it is not only an opinion, it is also demonstrable. When you organise a memorial service, does it not matter that there are examples of how brutal he has been?
– They say that he has been so brutal towards his own people. But why not look at someone like Donald Trump or Israel, and also Denmark’s and the West’s involvement in these wars and destructions that have taken place in the Middle East.
Saleh believes Denmark are hypocrites because they treat countries such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt better than Iran. It does not appear to occur to him that Iran constitutes a greater threat to the United States and the West than the aforementioned Arab countries.
Danish party leaders lined up to criticise the statement.
– Ayatollah Khamenei should not be a role model for anyone in Denmark or the rest of the world. And the fact that there are dark forces in our country who praise him only confirms my conviction that we must tighten immigration policy in Denmark, said Troels Lund Poulsen from Venstre in a written response to TV 2.
Inger Støjberg from Danmarksdemokraterne demands that the values of people who apply for Danish citizenship should be examined, while Morten Messerschmidt from Dansk Folkeparti simply believes that the participants “should go home”.
Liberal Alliance believes that people who participate in such events should lose the opportunity to become Danish citizens.
– We want a screening model that ensures that persons with totalitarian tendencies, who in general seek to undermine Danish democracy, do not obtain Danish citizenship. And if you think that Khamenei rhymes with memorial ceremony, then it also rhymes with not wishing the best for Danish democracy, explains the party’s spokesperson on immigration, Steffen Larsen.
Rosa Lund from the socialist and green party Enhedslisten is also outraged by the incident, but calls it “nonsense” and “strange” to mix citizenship with the episode.
Just as in the rest of Europe, there appear to be no politicians in Denmark who realise how simple this is.
- Never distribute citizenship
- Cut 100 per cent of all forms of financial support to foreign citizens
- Send everyone out of the country immediately if they commit criminal acts
Saleh refers to freedom of expression, as if this were something that exists in Iran and other Islamic countries. Nor does he appear to understand that freedom of expression also applies to those who criticise him.
Who actually believes that Islamists such as Saleh make Denmark a better country?