–by Anna Kleckerova, European Correspondent
The situation with immigrants is getting worse with every day. These people are coming from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, filling up all European countries. Many of them went to Greece first. They want to get to Germany, Austria and Great Britain because the economies are good and the migrants often speak the languages, but they are not always accepted. Germany is accepting many of them. The Germans are really trying to help them and show the whole world that they are a better country than what many remember from their past. Immigrants with valid ID cards have the greatest chance of getting accepted. Other countries usually don’t have much mercy for the immigrants and send them back to the country from which they came.
I want to show you how brutal ISIS is to get you to better understand how important it is to help the migrants. A life in Syria is horrible. ISIS totally took control of everything there. They are an extreme sect of Islam. News organizations report members of ISIS murder, arrest, rape, enslave, and terrorize people who believe in another religion or don’t keep to their rules, often using the Quran as justification.
Rashid Khalidi, a professor of modern Arab studies at Columbia University, disputes that the Quran offers any justification for [things such as] beheading. He cites the lines coming immediately after one of the two verses used to justify the act: “Therefore, when you meet the unbelievers, smite at their necks.” But the very next line, contained in Chapter 47, Verse 4: “At length, when ye have thoroughly subdued them, bind the captives firmly. Therefore is the time for either generosity or ransom.”
So basically, Khalidi said, there’s nothing about this passage that justifies the cutting off of heads.
“It just shows that they don’t know anything about Islam and they probably don’t know how to read this properly,” he said.—PBS NEWSHOUR
ISIS has been taking prisoners (soldiers, journalists) and cutting their heads off while they were recording the whole process. The Czech News reports many young Syrian men are coming to ISIS because it is an easy way to get women as slaves, and their violence is constantly increasing.
The European Union is trying to solve this huge problem. Countries that are members of this Union had a meeting in Brussels and were talking about this immigration crisis. Their final verdict was that European countries have to split 120,000 immigrants between each other. All European countries now must support the vote in Brussels. One of the theories is to provide an island for this mass of people and send them there. But Europe has to start doing something with this or it will have a horrible impact on the whole continent, and America should help, too, because Europe will never be able to accept so many new people who are coming there every single day.
*Anna Kleckerova was born and raised in the Czech Republic, most recently coming to us from Prague. She is now a senior at PVS.
Mr. Buck says
The response to the Syrian refugee crisis has brought out the best and worst of the European Union. As we encourage developed countries such as the United States and EU member states to provide relief, we should also pressure Middle Eastern nations to play a larger role. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates all rank within the top ten of countries with the highest GDP per capita. They need to do more.
szachik@pvs.org says
I believe that Middle Eastern nations should help, too.