By Debbie Schlussel
Young Man, There’s a Place You Can Go . . . . Oh, wait, you cannot go there because it’s sharia Muslima swimming time. Yup, it’s no longer “fun to stay at the YMCA.” And you can “no longer hang out with all the boys,” either.
Hey, It’s the New & Improved Muslim Village People Approved YMCA . . .
It’s stark symbolism of what’s happening in America: YMCAs–ironically once Christian organizations–are embracing sharia and Muslims to stay afloat. And they’re getting tax money to subsidize this–in the form of police escorts and funds, which is completely unconstitutional. Where is the ACLU when you need them? Cricket noises abound.
When I was a little kid, my parents sent me to the YMCA for swimming lessons. But the suburban Detroit YMCA where I learned to swim doesn’t exist anymore. It’s now some sort of industrial park warehouse location. And that’s indicative of what is happening with “the Y” all over the country. YMCAs are dying out fast. The organization–the acronym for Young Men’s Christian Association–is now best known as the topic and title of The Village People’s 1978 disco song.
And, so, how does YMCA stay afloat? By providing gender-segregated, Muslim-only swimming lessons for Muslima chicks in Minnesota.
Yup, the YMCA is now the YMMA or perhaps the YMShariaA. FYI, when my Orthodox Jewish parents sent me for swimming lessons, they didn’t demand that all little boys and non-Jews be removed. We would never dream up such an intolerant, absurd demand. That’s not how we are. But it is, sadly, how Muslims are . . . in swimming, and in many countries, in who gets to live. And the separate swimming lessons for Muslim girls are a preview of what’s to come (and what is, actually, already here).
Another thing on this is that the swimming lessons program “specifically caters to the needs of Somali [DS: that means Muslim] girls.” Um, is there something about their bodies that makes them sink? Something about them that makes the way they swim different from the rest of the human population? (It’s a myth that Blacks can’t swim due to some fictional “body density.”) I mean, I understand it’s far more difficult to navigate the waters when you have on scuba gear and bombs you’re about to detonate. But, I mean, other than that . . . .
Rayan Dhamuke, 12, doesn’t get to swim a lot, unlike her brothers. During the past summer, she had to visit the pool at 5 a.m. so that she would have the privacy she needed to enjoy the water while still adhering to her family’s cultural and religious beliefs. To better accommodate girls like Dhamuke, the downtown St. Paul YMCA, in partnership with the St. Paul Police Department, has started a swim group for Somali-American girls. The group, which began in October, is serving as an outlet for girls ages 5 to 17 to learn the basics of swimming.
One evening last week, the din of girls’ laughter and splashes filled the windowless, humid pool room of the St. Paul downtown YMCA. . . . Special considerations have to be made to address modesty concerns so that the Muslim girls can swim and not reveal too much of themselves. During the hourlong swim practice, all other swimmers are cleared out of the pool. The men’s locker room is locked. Female life guards are brought in. The pool, which is on the building’s third floor, has no windows so they don’t have to worry about prying eyes from outside. Read the rest of this entry »