No-go zone

The no-go zone is a common phrase and myth used in anti-immigration rhetoric, which claims that certain parts of a country experience so much concentrated immigration that entire streets can be occupied solely by migratory families. While this is reasonable for a country with concentrated migration, the "no-go zone" myth goes further, arguing that because of this, non-migrants are banned from walking into these neighborhoods by gangs. The purpose of the myth is to declare all immigrants to be racist and thus deserving of any prejudice against them. An investigation of the myth by Snopes found examples dating back to the 9/11 attacks.[1]

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Examples

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is often cited as a country with "no-go zones" in which, due to Blairite multiculturalism gone mad, are given devolved powers where Sharia Courts can rule unregulated. It should be noted that Muslims represent only 4.5% of the British population as of the 2011 census. Common examples of cities with higher-than-average Muslim populations such as London, Birmingham, and Bradford are often be cited as particular places with entire districts that Christians are not allowed to enter. Making matters more comical, in 2015 Fox News "terrorism expert" Steven Emerson insisted live on air that the entire city of Birmingham was a no-go zone,[2] before everyone called their bluff and they apologised. Along with Fox News, then-Republican Presidential candidate and best-selling joke Donald Trump jumped on the bandwagon by adding the French capital into the mix,[3] leading to further international condemnation, with then-London Mayor (now Prime Minister) Boris Johnson declaring New York to be a no-go zone due to the presence of Trump.[4]

While defending Trump, his British counterpart in right-wing lunacy Katie Hopkins failed to actually name any such cities with no-go zones live on TV.[5]

A 2019 survey for Hope not Hate found that 32% of the British population believed "there are no go areas in Britain where sharia law dominates and non-Muslims cannot enter". This included 47% of voters for the UK Conservative Party, and likewise 72.6% of UKIP voters.[6]

France

Following the January 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo, the French and American far-right made claims that there were at least 750 no-go zones around France and especially in Paris. Snopes' investigation of the allegations suggested that this was caused by a misunderstanding about "zones urbaines sensibles", areas particularly suffering from unemployment and crime, and people linking them to areas of high migration.[1]

In 2016, there were media reports of men-only bars in Sevran near Paris, focusing on a place called "Au Jockey Club" which reportedly sold alcohol and permitted sports betting (both forbidden by Islam) but where women had been turned away at the door by male patrons. Later a councillor, Clémentine Autain, visited the cafe and took photos drinking coffee at the bar.[7] It's unclear whether the bar was operating an unofficial no-women policy, and it wouldn't be the first bar to do so, but judging by the amount of female investigators and camera crews, this is far from an area too dangerous for non-Muslims to enter.

The Netherlands

In 2015, Michigan Republican congressman Pete Hoekstra made claims that no go zones had been raised in his native country and violence against non-Muslims was to the extent cars were being set alight and politicians assaulted. Following his swearing in as the American ambassador to the Netherlands, he was confronted over these claims and accused it of being fake news until provided video footage of it.[8] CNN reported in 2018, "There is no evidence to support claims of so-called 'no-go zones' in Europe."[9]

This may relate to earlier claims in 2013 that Schilderswijk in The Hague, which has an overwhelmingly Muslim population, was being run by "Sharia police" who enforced dress codes. While there was concern over a failure to integrate, and there may have been some incidents of men hassling women in the street, the area's police chief Michel de Roos said, "We have no indications there is a form of Sharia police here. That is not to say it does not happen, but we are unaware of it."[10]

Sweden

Since Donald Trump (who himself lied about being Swedish[11]) shifted focus to Sweden in a February 2017 rally, the myth of no-go zones especially in Malmö was spread by many fake news sources such as Breitbart[12] and Paul Joseph Watson[13]. While the city has a relatively high crime rate as compared to similar Swedish cities, there aren't any "no-go zones."[14]

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References
  1. Snopes — Sharia Law Muslim 'No Go' Zones.
  2. Ofcom criticises Fox News for calling Birmingham no-go zone for non-Muslims, The Guardian, 21 September 2015.
  3. Donald Trump repeats myth that London and Paris contain 'Muslim no-go areas', International Business Times, 8 Dec 2015
  4. Boris Johnson: The only reason I wouldn't go to some parts of New York is the real risk of meeting Donald Trump: Mayor of London responds to Donald Trump's controversial comments saying some parts of London were 'no-go areas' because of large Muslim communities by Matt Dathan (8 December 2015 16:03 GMT) The Independent.
  5. Katie Hopkins admits she cannot name 'no-go' areas for non-Muslims in Andrew Neil BBC Daily Politics interview, The Independent, 11 Dec 2015.
  6. State of Hate 2019: People vs the Elite, Hope not Hate, 2019
  7. 'This isn't Paris. It's only men here' - Inside the French Muslim no-go zones where women aren't welcome, The Daily Telegraph, 17 Dec 2016
  8. "US ambassador to Netherlands describes own words as 'fake news'", The Guardian, 22 Dec 2017.
  9. New US ambassador to Netherlands regularly made unsubstantiated 'no-go zones' claims, speculated 15% of Muslims could be jihadists, CNN, January 9, 2018
  10. Dutch anxiety over ‘Sharia triangle’ police no-go area in The Hague, Irish Times, May 24, 2013
  11. "Trump incorrectly claimed to be Swedish for decades," The Week, November 28, 2017, accessed July 25, 2019.
  12. Claim: Multicultural Malmö a ‘No-Go Zone’ for Jews Archived from the original at Breitbart, 26 June 2019.
  13. Claim: Multicultural Malmö a ‘No-Go Zone’ for Jews. Archived from the copypasta of the Breitbart article on Alex Jones's Prison Planet webshite, 24 June 2019.
  14. Emma Löfgren, Embassy: No-go zones 'do not exist in Sweden'. Archived from the original at thelocal.se, 23 September 2016.
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