South Tyrolean pupils are also forced to take part in Ramadan

Another example of a misguided integration policy can be seen in the recent event at the Noldinhaus in Salurn,’ said the Freedom Party. While it is apparently ‘unreasonable’ to teach immigrants about our own traditions and values, it is taken for granted that our children have to deal with foreign religions and abstruse world views.

At the so-called ‘Iftar of Friendship’, schoolchildren were brought in to deal with the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan. ‘So while Muslim traditions are being promoted and integrated into the everyday lives of schoolchildren, we have been experiencing a worrying development in South Tyrol for years: out of a misguided sense of tolerance, traditional Christian festivals and celebrations – such as the St. Martin parade, St. Nicholas celebrations and Christmas parties – are increasingly being cancelled or watered down in kindergartens and schools,’ criticised Roland Stauder, Chairman of the Freedom Party, in a press release.

The Freedom Party sees a worrying imbalance in this development: ‘Integration is the responsibility of those who come to the country – not the native population’. It is unacceptable that we have to give up our own customs and traditions in order to accommodate immigrants, while they are not required to adapt to our culture. Integration that demands that only the native population shows consideration is not integration, but a deliberate undermining of our identity, the Freedom Party states. The fact that there is now an Islamist organisation in Salurn that is considering political activity is also particularly critical. A development that raises serious questions about the coordinate system of our values.

‘It is unacceptable that our children are being instrumentalised for political purposes and subjected to religious brainwashing. Integration that is based on one-sided adaptation and represses our own culture is not integration, but ideological re-education,’ says Stauder. The Freedom Party is therefore calling for a return to our values and traditions and an end to this one-sided favouring of foreign customs in our education system.

Südtiroler Schüler bei „Iftar der Freundschaft” – UnserTirol24