Name: Europe's Debates over Migrant Crime & Terrorism
Start: 2018-08-19T13:00:00-04:00
End: 2018-08-19T15:00:00-04:00
Location: Cafe Walnut

We're currently hosting our discussions at Café Walnut, near the corner of 7th & Walnut in Olde City. The cafe's entrance is below street level down some stairs, which can be confusing if it's your first time. Our group meets in the large room upstairs.

Since we're using the cafe's space, they ask that each person attending the meetup at least purchase a drink or snack. Please don't bring any food or drinks from outside. If you're hungry enough to eat a meal, they have more substantial fare such as salads, soups & sandwiches which are pretty good and their prices are reasonable.

The cafe is fairly easy to get to if you're using public transit. With SEPTA, take the Market-Frankford Line & get off at the 5th Street Station (corner of 5th & Market), and walk 2 blocks south on 5th and then turn right on Walnut Street and walk 2 blocks west. With PATCO, just get off at the 9th-10th & Locust stop and walk 3 blocks east & 1 block north. For those who are driving, parking in the neighborhood can be tough to find. If you can't find a spot on the street, I'd suggest parking in the Washington Square parking deck at 249 S 6th Street which is just a half block away.

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INTRODUCTION:

EUROPE'S DEBATES OVER MIGRANT CRIME & TERRORISM: SEPARATING THE FACTS FROM VIRAL RUMORS & MEDIA SPIN

This meetup will try to facilitate some fact-checking of common claims swirling around in the media and on the internet about the ongoing conflicts between Europe's secular culture and its growing Muslim minority in the wake of the migrant crisis of 2015-2016. We'll start by we'll look at the effects of immigration on Europe's crime rate in general, as well as allegations that there's a "migrant rape epidemic" taking place across Europe, with a particular focus on Germany & Sweden. Second, we'll discuss the UK's problems with sex trafficking of teenage girls by "grooming gangs" often run by 2nd-3rd generation Muslim immigrants, and we'll look at the Rotherham scandal in particular. Third, we'll address the problems in Europe's Muslim ghettos that have supposedly devolved into de facto "no-go zones" where Sharia law is enforced and even the police are afraid to venture. Lastly, we'll look at homegrown Islamism & jihadism in Europe, and in particular we'll look at the debate over stats on ISIS recruitment of European Muslims & the danger posed to Europe by returning ISIS fighters.

NOTE: This meetup will be directly followed by another meetup from 3-5pm hosted by the Philadelphia Political Agnostics which will explore some of the broader economic, political, demographic & cultural implications of Muslim immigration to Europe. To check out the discussion outline & RSVP, go here: https://www.meetup.com/Philadelphia-Political-Agnostics/events/xvbrznyxlbzb/

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DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR OUR DISCUSSION:

The videos & articles you see linked below are intended to give you a basic overview of some of the major debates over Islamic terrorism & crime in the wake of Europe's migrant crisis. As usual, I certainly don't expect you to read all the articles & watch all the videos prior to attending our discussion. The easiest way to prepare for our discussion is to just watch the numbered videos linked under each section - the videos come to about 48 minutes total. The articles marked with asterisks are just there to supply additional details. You can browse and look at whichever ones you want, but don't worry - we'll cover the stuff you missed in our discussion.

In terms of the discussion format, my general idea is that we'll address the topics in the order presented here. I figure we'll spend about 30 minutes on each section. As you can see, under each topic I've listed questions we can try to answer by looking at the linked materials.

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I. MIGRANT CRIMES & THE ALLEGED "RAPE CRISIS" IN EUROPE:
- HAVE CRIME RATES SPIKED RECENTLY IN WESTERN EUROPE DUE TO MUSLIM MIGRANTS?
- DOES THE "IMMIGRANT-CRIME PARADOX" HOLD TRUE FOR THE LATEST INFLUX OF MIGRANTS, OR HAVE THEY COMMITTED MORE CRIMES PER CAPITA THAN THE NATIVE POPULATION?
- ARE MIGRANTS PRIMARILY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RECENT SPIKE IN STABBINGS & ACID ATTACKS IN LONDON?
- ARE MASS SEXUAL ASSAULTS LIKE WHAT OCCURRED ON NEW YEARS' EVE 2015 IN COLOGNE A COMMON PRACTICE IN ARAB COUNTRIES KNOWN AS "TAHARRUSH GAMEA" (A.K.A. RAPE GAME)?
- HAS THE MIGRANT CRISIS LED TO A LARGE INCREASE OF SEXUAL ASSAULTS IN EUROPE?
- IS SWEDEN'S HIGH CRIME RATE FOR RAPE DUE PRIMARILY TO CHANGES IN THE LEGAL DEFINITION & HIGHER REPORTING RATES, OR AN ACTUAL INCREASED INCIDENCE OF RAPE?

1a) BBC, "Acid Attacks In The UK: Myths Vs Facts" (video - 1:58 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pZIl2EwlvY

1b) Angry Foreigner, "Is Sweden really the Rape Capital of Europe?" (video - 6:56 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV-5nLoAVwE

1c) DW, "Do more refugees mean more crime [in Germany]?" (video - 4:05 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMm9TI-aaFo

* Dan MacGuill, "Did ‘Muslim Immigrants’ Commit the Most Knife Crimes in London in 2017?A right-wing Facebook page published a meme that was heavy on Islam-blaming but light on evidence." https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/london-knife-crime-muslims/

* Lameen Souag, "'Taharrush gamea' and the perils of reasoning from lexicon to culture"
http://lughat.blogspot.com/2016/01/taharrush-gamea-and-perils-of-reasoning.html?m=1

* Bethania Palma, "Crime in Sweden, Part II: Are Refugee Men Overrepresented in Swedish Crime? Claims that newly-arrived asylum seekers are causing a crime wave in Sweden are not supported by data or local officials."
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/crime-sweden-part-ii-refugee-men-overrepresented-swedish-crime/

* The Federalist, "Yes, Violent Crime Has Spiked In Sweden Since Open Immigration. United Nations data says Sweden had the second-highest rate of rape in the world in 2010. Subsequent data shows the 2010 number was only slightly higher than the 2015 number."
http://thefederalist.com/2017/03/01/yes-violent-crime-spiked-sweden-since-open-immigration/

* Emily Larsen, "FACT CHECK: Is Crime In Germany Up Over 10 Percent After An Influx Of Migrants?"
http://checkyourfact.com/2018/06/21/fact-check-crime-germany-10-percent/

* Leonid Bershidsky, "Germany Must Come to Terms With Refugee Crime. Rare statistical data on violence by asylum seekers confirm the far right's fears, but not its recipes."
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-01-03/germany-must-come-to-terms-with-refugee-crime

II. THE ROTHERHAM SCANDAL & "GROOMING GANGS" IN THE UK:
- ARE THE YOUNG MUSLIM MEN INVOLVED IN SEX TRAFFICKING TYPICALLY RECENT IMMIGRANTS OR 2nd-3rd GENERATION?
- ARE MUSLIM MEN *DISPROPORTIONATELY* INVOLVED IN SEX TRAFFICKING?
- IS IT MORE ACCURATE TO REFER TO SEX TRAFFICKERS AS "SOUTH ASIAN" RATHER THAN "MUSLIM" IF IT APPEARS THEY'RE NOT PARTICULARLY DEVOUT (I.E. WEAR WESTERN CLOTHES, FREQUENT NIGHTCLUBS, DRINK ALCOHOL, DON'T REGULARLY ATTEND MOSQUE, ETC.)?
- HAVE OVERALL RATES OF SEX CRIMES - BOTH LONE OFFENDER & MULTIPLE OFFENDER - IN THE UK INCREASED RECENTLY? IF NOT, HAS SEX TRAFFICKING IN PARTICULAR INCREASED?
- DOES SEX TRAFFICKING BY SOUTH ASIAN/MUSLIM MEN REPRESENT A LURID BUT FAIRLY "NORMAL" FORM OF ETHNIC SUCCESSION IN THE CRIMINAL UNDERWORLD, OR IS THIS AN EXCEPTIONAL PHENOMENON?

2a) Sky News, "New Quilliam Report - Dissecting Grooming Gangs" (video - 3:13 min.)
https://youtu.be/AUngnhT3cqc

2b) BBC Newsnight w/ Muhbeen Hussain, Anira Khokhar, Saba Zaman & Mobeen Azhar, "DEBATE: Should street grooming be framed as a Muslim problem?" (video - 12:48 min, start at 4:02)
https://youtu.be/K7sEIhMJgSI?t=243

* Ben Sixsmith, "Britain’s Grooming Gang Crisis"
https://quillette.com/2018/03/14/britains-grooming-gang-crisis/

* Siema Iqbal, "Generalising about Britain's grooming gangs scapegoats Muslim communities. In order to have an honest debate about sexual violence, we need to stop sensationalising it and expressing outrage only when the perpetrators are brown and the victims white."
http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/when-will-we-effectively-deal-sexual-violence-1811870485

* J. Spooner & J. Tubbs, "Grooming Gangs: Quilliam & the Myth of the 84 Percent"
https://medium.com/@Reg_Left_Media/grooming-gangs-quilliam-the-myth-of-the-84-percent-cc834b57fcf3

III. ALLEGATIONS OF "NO-GO ZONES" & DE FACTO SHARIA LAW IN EUROPEAN CITIES:
- DO MUSLIM NEIGHBORHOODS IN EUROPE TEND TO HAVE A HIGHER CRIME RATE?
- ARE MANY MUSLIM NEIGHBORHOODS IN EUROPE EFFECTIVELY OFF-LIMITS TO POLICE?
- DOES A HIGH-CRIME NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE POLICE OFTEN GO, BUT WHERE AMBULANCES, SOCIAL SERVICE WORKERS & NON-MUSLIM RESIDENTS FEAR TO GO COUNT AS A "NO GO ZONE"?
- HOW COMMON ARE "PARALLEL SOCIAL STRUCTURES" IN EUROPE'S MUSLIM NEIGHBORHOODS WHERE RESIDENTS TURN TO LOCALS FOR MEDIATION OF DISPUTES RATHER THAN POLICE?
- HOW COMMON ARE "SHARIA PATROLS" THAT TRY TO ENFORCE ISLAMIC LAW (E.G. HIJAB & CONSERVATIVE DRESS FOR WOMEN, PROHIBITIONS ON ALCOHOL & GAMBLING, ETC.) IN EUROPE'S MUSLIM NEIGHBORHOODS?
- HOW COMMON IS STREET HARASSMENT OF GAYS & JEWS IN EUROPE'S MUSLIM NEIGHBORHOODS?

3a) Rewboss, “Did Merkel admit to no-go areas in Germany?“ (video - 5:06 min.)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ozp7PqFbN4

3b) RT, "The number of 'no-go zones' in Sweden increases - Police report" (video - 1:45 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNEZQTSJv4Y

3c) CNN, "London's 'Muslim Patrol' aims to impose Sharia law in East London" (video - 3:37 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcsG-u2GtZE

* Emil Karlsson, "Debunking the Myth of “No-Go” Zones in Sweden"
https://debunkingdenialism.com/2017/01/20/debunking-the-myth-of-no-go-zones-in-sweden/

* Chris Beck, "The Elusive Issue of No-Go Zones in Europe: Conservatives say there are hundreds of them in Europe, while liberals deny they exist."
https://www.splicetoday.com/politics-and-media/the-elusive-issue-of-no-go-zones-in-europe

* Lucy Pasha-Robinson, "'Sharia Police' gang face retrial after German supreme court overrules original verdict. Group patrolled streets of Wuppertal in orange vests, discouraging men from visiting bars and brothels and drinking alcohol."
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/sharia-police-germany-supreme-court-judge-verdict-wuppertal-street-patrol-sven-lau-verdict-a8154196.html

IV. THE MIGRANT CRISIS AS A "TERRORIST TROJAN HORSE" & THE DANGERS OF RETURNING ISIS FIGHTERS:
- WHAT PERCENTAGE OF TERRORIST ATTACKS IN EUROPE SINCE 2015 HAVE BEEN COMMITTED BY MUSLIM MIGRANTS AS OPPOSED TO EUROPEAN-BORN MUSLIMS?
- HAS THE RATE OF TERRORIST ATTACKS IN EUROPE INCREASED SINCE 2015?
- IS THERE A CORRELATION BETWEEN THE AMOUNT OF MIGRANTS COUNTRIES ACCEPTED & THE NUMBER OF TERRORIST ATTACKS THEY SUFFERED?
- IF ISLAMIC TERRORISM IN EUROPE IS MOSTLY COMMITTED BY 2nd GENERATION MUSLIMS, DO IMMIGRATION SPIKES LIKE THE MIGRANT CRISIS SUGGEST WE'LL SEE TERRORISM SPIKE A GENERATION LATER?
- IS IT TRUE THAT MORE EUROPEAN-BORN MUSLIMS JOINED ISIS THAN SERVED IN EUROPEAN MILITARY FORCES?
- IS IT TRUE THAT 1 IN 5 BRITISH MUSLIMS EXPRESSED SUPPORT FOR ISIS?
- HOW MANY OF THE ESTIMATED 5,000 EUROPE-BORN ISIS FIGHTERS HAVE RETURNED TO EUROPE? HOW MANY HAVE BEEN CAUGHT & IMPRISONED OR PUT IN REHAB PROGRAMS?

4a) Fox News w/ Robin Simcox, "Slowing Down the Numbers of Migrants to Europe Key to Reducing Terrorism" (video - 4:40 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sbsr2JJPwTE

4b) Wochit News, “Is Trump Correct In His Latest Claims [About British Muslims Joining ISIS]?” (Video - 1:03 min, start at 0:06)
https://youtu.be/TqdBQY_oDo8?t=6

4c) The Economist, “Returning ISIS fighters: How should governments deal with them?” (Video - 7:35 min, start at 0:30 & watch til 7:12)
https://youtu.be/Ze0OnHC7KpE?t=30

* Robin Simcox, "The Asylum–Terror Nexus: How Europe Should Respond"
https://www.heritage.org/terrorism/report/the-asylum-terror-nexus-how-europe-should-respond

* Manni Crone, Maja Felicia Falkentoft & Teemu Tammikko, "European citizens, not refugees, behind most terrorist attacks in Europe. The terrorist-migration nexus and ways forward for Schengen border policies"
https://www.diis.dk/en/research/european-citizens-not-refugees-behind-most-terrorist-attacks-in-europe

* ITV, "Trump claims that more Brit Muslims join ISIS than army - but is he right?"
http://www.itv.com/news/2015-12-11/trump-claims-that-more-brits-join-isis-than-army-but-is-he-right/

* Channel 4 News, "FactCheck: How many British Muslims support IS?"
https://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/factcheck-british-muslims-support

* Robert Mendick, "Only one in eight jihadists returning to UK is caught and convicted"
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/21/only-one-in-eight-jihadists-returning-to-uk-is-caught-and-convic/

Brian B.

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Europe's Debates over Migrant Crime & Terrorism

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Europe's Debates over Migrant Crime & Terrorism

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