The Collapse of Europe
May 24th, 2007
By Michael van der Galien
An interesting article by Gideon Rachman at the Financial Times.
If you happen to be passing though Malibu next month, why not pop into an intriguing-sounding conference at Pepperdine University on “The Collapse of Europe”. One of the early sessions is entitled - “Eurabia: Is Muslim domination of Europe inevitable?”
My answer to this is “No” it’s not inevitable. In fact, given that the Muslim population of Europe is just 4% at the moment, I would say it’s highly unlikely. But don’t trying telling that to an audience of American conservatives. The idea that Europe is about to be submerged by the Muslim hordes seems to be almost recieved wisdom over there. It is certainly a notion that has launched a great many books. There is “Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis†by Bat Ye’or; “While Europe Slept – How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within†by Bruce Bawer; “The Death of the West†by Pat Buchanan; and “The Cube and the Cathedral†by George Weigel.
I was depressed to see that Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali-born Dutch politician is taking part in the Pepperdine conference. She is a highly intelligent and courageous woman, so it’s a shame to see that she is mixing with buffoons like Mark Steyn, who is giving the keynote address at the conference.
Steyn is the author of the most successful recent book about the alleged Muslim takeover of Europe. “America Alone†earned its author a place in the New York Times best-seller list and praise from President Bush.
While the average might be 4%, I find it worrisome that within a few years time, immigrants will form the majority in the biggest cities of the Netherlands, such as Rotterdam and Amsterdam. Rachman might consider those facts a minor detail, but to the Dutch, they matter. It’s not just about extremism, it’s also about a change in society most people don’t welcome. Sure, there is some Islamophobia going on, but there are also very real concerns anyone who ever visited one of our biggest cities will understand: there truly is an integration problem. I’m believe that we should not refer to the problem as “an immigration problem” but as an integration problem. The problem isn’t that foreigners come to Europe, more specifically the Netherlands, the problem is that quite some of them come here, but refuse to learn to speak the language, hate our values, detest democracy, don’t work, don’t finish their education, cause trouble (see soccer match), etc. In other words, foreigners, yes ‘even’ Muslims, who come here, learn to speak our language, work hard, integrate, embrace our values, etc. are more than welcome.
This entry was posted on Thursday, May 24th, 2007 at 6:35 am and is filed under Integration, Muslims, Immigration, Europe. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
