'No Go Zones' and 'Parallel Societies'

by Eileen Toplansky 

For years, author Mark Steyn mentioned no-go zones and unassimilated communities. In 2017 Raheem Kassam authored the book No Go Zones: How Sharia Law is Coming to a Neighborhood Near You. A comment about the book included the following:

“As I read this book, I had forgotten how many people have been murdered in the West in the name of Islam. The commonness with which these attacks are occurring is frightening and even more so, is how numb we’ve become to it.  How much blood will be shed before politicians acknowledge the root cause of the problem? Europe is being transformed before our very eyes and everyone is just averting their gaze. This ignorance is allowing these extremist attitudes to fester and the unwillingness to criticize Islam is the catalyst of this problem.

Now almost a decade later, the New Direction – the Foundation for European Conservatism has published “No-Go Zones Immigration, Islamisation, and the rise of Parallel Societies.”

Nicola Procaccini MEP, President of New Direction, explains: “For too long, the term ‘no-go zone’ has been dismissed by some as a political exaggeration or a media myth. Yet, for many citizens living in the heart of our major European cities, these zones are not a theoretical debate -- they are a daily, lived reality. This report by New Direction aims to break the silence surrounding this phenomenon, offering the empirical clarity and political courage that have been missing for far too long. Across the European Union, we are witnessing the emergence of parallel societies where the laws of the State are increasingly replaced by the codes of radicalisation and the rule of violence. We must be honest about what we are seeing: there are now districts in our most historic capitals where a woman cannot walk alone, where homosexuals are targeted for who they are, or where those who simply refuse to conform to radical dictates are treated as unwelcome outsiders.”

“While academic literature often hides behind euphemisms like ‘urban marginality’ or ‘parallel societies’, the reality is far more severe. This reluctance to name the problem has created a dangerous gap between the public debate and the empirical truth, leaving key questions unexplored.

“Understanding the existence of no-go zones is not only a matter of security; it is an existential question for the future of European social cohesion. It forces us to confront the failures of uncontrolled immigration, the lack of effective integration policies, and the abdication of responsibility by local governments. If we allow these enclaves to grow, we are not just losing control of our streets, but also the very values of freedom and equality that define our civilization. We cannot fix what we refuse to see [emphasis mine]. It is time to reclaim our cities and ensure that every corner of Europe remains a place where the law of the land and the light of liberty prevail.”

Indeed, “[w]ithin European Muslim communities… Salafism, Tablighi Jamaat, Millî Görüş, and Muslim Brotherhood networks have reinforced norms of cultural and moral separation [which] frequently promote doctrines incompatible with liberal democratic norms (such as gender segregation or rejection of secular law), enabling a socially insulated communal sphere.”

In fact, “in most no-go zones, crime has a predominantly imported character. Across Europe, the pattern is consistent... mass immigration from culturally distant regions has produced fragmentation rather than integration. The violence and criminality in these areas are not merely side effects of poverty or social inequality, but are often driven by imported cultural norms, [emphasis mine] sustained by strong intra-community solidarity and enabled by the permissiveness of modern Western societies.”

Moreover, “[t]he growth of Muslim populations in Western Europe, primarily driven by mass migration, has inevitably affected the political balance in democratic countries.”

“Muslim communities in Western Europe display clear majorities in favor of left-wing parties, typically ranging from 70% to 90%.

As a result, “the influence of Muslim votes on left-leaning parties is causing a weakening of core liberal values with the result that the Muslim vote has created local leftist strongholds.”

It is vital to understand that “national integration models, whether assimilationist or restrictive, tend to ignore the cultural and ideological barriers posed by certain immigrant populations.” 

Put succinctly, these Muslim communities are absolutely opposed to embracing Western values and ideas.

As a result, “in Western Europe, especially in France and the UK, community-based Islamic structures are establishing parallel normative systems that operate independently of national laws. The most emblematic example is the United Kingdom, where Sharia Councils function as unofficial religious courts. Although lacking formal legal authority, these councils wield significant moral power within close-knit Muslim communities: for instance, many women seeking a divorce must obtain not only a civil divorce but also a religious divorce, which only the Islamic council can grant.”    

In fact,              

“Investigative reports revealed disturbing practices: women pressured to return to abusive husbands, divorces denied without the husband’s consent, and blatant inequality in child custody and property division. Officially, these councils claim to operate within British law, but in practice, they prioritize patriarchal religious norms over civil rights. Other European countries are facing similar issues.

In essence, Islamic laws pose a threat to civil liberties and human rights. They create changes that are foreign to European customs and unfavorable to women.

In a deliberate process known as “decivilization,” violence is now a daily routine of society.

A solution highlighted in this report entails “controlling and stopping massive migration flows by reducing family reunification, which currently represents a significant driver of immigration, exacerbating communal isolation.”

In Denmark, new relocations have been halted. Moreover, enforcing territorial quotas based on Denmark’s Anti-Ghetto Law (2021) have effectively prevented the formation or expansion of isolated ethnic communities. Strict conditions on family reunions (like minimum age and income requirements) help reduce inflows and encourage self-sufficiency.

The report highlights the fact that “no-go zones have long remained a blind spot in European public debate. Ignored by many policymakers, delegitimized by mainstream media, and underexplored in academic research, these areas are nonetheless real and growing.”

It is important to note that “[t]his territorial dynamic is not random.”

After all, the “Muslim Brotherhood has already spent five decades embedding itself within Western institutions while maintaining ideological opposition to democracy and pluralism.”

Consider how much they have already accomplished. The Muslim Brotherhood has never ceased in adhering to its 100-year plan to take over the West. This “civilization jihad” is already Europe’s nightmare.

Consequently, “Europe now stands at a crossroads. An increasing segment of the European population is now rejecting the values, symbols, and collective identity of their country of citizenship, giving rise to a new class of nationals who feel no allegiance to the nation-state and do not recognize themselves in its cultural roots and project. If current trends continue, the most likely scenario is a progressive fragmentation of urban space, growing separatism, and the normalization of enclaves governed by alternative norms.”

Civil war, anyone?

Will Europe finally “break from patterns of denial and openly acknowledge the direct connections linking uncontrolled immigration, heightened religious communitarianism, and surging criminal activities?”

And will America understand the implications of these findings for our own country as we continue to hear about sharia compliant communities, jihadists winning local and national elections and deep infiltration of our educational systems or will we stand up and fight this existential threat?

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2026/05/no_go_zones_and_parallel_societies.html