FYI

Jabou

<< COPENHAGEN, March 22 (AFP) -
 Two young Danish women who spent a day out and about dressed as
 Iranian Muslims were shocked by their compatriots' reactions of hatred and
 contempt, the Politiken newspaper reported Wednesday.

 The two women told the paper that they suffered a day of "hell" and
 "the intolerable prejudice of the Danes" when they donned the Iranian
 chador, a traditional black head-to-toe wrap, to go about their day in the
 capital and its suburbs.

 Dorte Magnussen and Lene Iwerse, both 26, undertook the experiment as
 part of their studies on pedagogy and minorities at Copenhagen University.

 "I was shocked at the numerous disgraceful comments and the huge wall
 of hostility we were confronted by when we were walking on the street.
 People went beyond all the norms of respect and good behaviour," said
 Magnussen.

 "Our only crime was to be very different," she added.

 The degree of tolerance, or rather the lack of it, and the hateful
 looks of passers-by were overwhelming, the women said.

 "It was shocking to see people behaving in such a shameful way. It was
 worse than I had imagined. I wanted to go straight home and change.
 Confronting so much hatred was unbearable." said Iwersen.

 The most venomous and degrading comments came from elderly people, the
 two women found.

 Magnussen said she had been terrified by the fact that adults could
 react so violently.

 "Our theory is that they are frightened by things which are unknown to
 them. Surveys show that 80 percent of Danes have had no personal
 contact with ethnic minorities," she said.

 The only highpoint of their day as Iranians was on a bus in the
 Copenhagen suburbs, when a group of children called their friends to come
 and  have a look at the "two Ninjas" after the popular cartoon characters.

 The children looked at them but returned to their seats without
 reacting.

 "The experience on the bus shows that hostility and the creation of
 enemies are things which learned, not something people are born with,"
 the two women said.

 Hostility towards immigrants, and especially towards those from Muslim
 countries who make up nearly half of Denmark's immigrant population,
 is actively encouraged by extreme rightwing organisations such as the
 Danish People's Party and the Progress Party.

 In their campaigns, they have accused Muslims of invading the country
 and threatening its culture and religion.

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