I was reading an article from the Economist (Tales from Eurabia) about the relations between the USA, Europe and the Arabo-Muslim world. They were saying that Americans had an increasingly strong new image of Europe called ?gEurabia?h, representing "an ever-growing Muslim Europe-within-Europe?\poor, unassimilated and hostile to the United States".
This is unfortunately true. Well, the Muslim community in Europe has grown fastest between the late 50's and late 70's, but problems are only growing stronger with generations of Muslims born in Europe, and still not integrated. One of the worst consequence of this poor integration of Muslims in Europe was certainly the 9/11 attack, in which Muslims based in Europe played a major role. This was followed by the Madrid and London terrorist attacks, the murder of a Dutch film maker - all presumably committed by Europe-born Muslims. More recently, thousands of teenage France-born Muslims torched thousands of cars throughout France for weeks.
Yet, British or Spanish Muslims are supposedly better integrated than French, Belgian and Dutch ones. Personally, living and travelling in various European countries, I have never felt so much tensions between the Muslims and non-Muslims than in Belgian cities (esp. Brussels and Antwerp). No wonder that the extreme-right and anti-Islamic Vlaams Belang party is now surveyed to be the most popular party in Flanders, with 27% of public support (sources), something unique in Europe.
It is in the USA's best interest to help Europe deal with its uncontrolled rise of Islamic violence and terrorism. Where I disagree with the Economist is that Europe could copy the melting-pot model of the US. Europe wasn't built on immigration, and each country has its own distinct culture, customs and tolerance. Often such cultural differences exist within a same country. In tiny Belgium, extreme-right parties are rife in Flanders, but not nearly as much in Wallonia. It is a much more complex situation than in the US. One thing that does not really differ across Europe is the Muslim's lack of integration and lack of understanding toward European culture and society, as the Mohammed cartoons protests showed.
What can be done ?
This is unfortunately true. Well, the Muslim community in Europe has grown fastest between the late 50's and late 70's, but problems are only growing stronger with generations of Muslims born in Europe, and still not integrated. One of the worst consequence of this poor integration of Muslims in Europe was certainly the 9/11 attack, in which Muslims based in Europe played a major role. This was followed by the Madrid and London terrorist attacks, the murder of a Dutch film maker - all presumably committed by Europe-born Muslims. More recently, thousands of teenage France-born Muslims torched thousands of cars throughout France for weeks.
Yet, British or Spanish Muslims are supposedly better integrated than French, Belgian and Dutch ones. Personally, living and travelling in various European countries, I have never felt so much tensions between the Muslims and non-Muslims than in Belgian cities (esp. Brussels and Antwerp). No wonder that the extreme-right and anti-Islamic Vlaams Belang party is now surveyed to be the most popular party in Flanders, with 27% of public support (sources), something unique in Europe.
It is in the USA's best interest to help Europe deal with its uncontrolled rise of Islamic violence and terrorism. Where I disagree with the Economist is that Europe could copy the melting-pot model of the US. Europe wasn't built on immigration, and each country has its own distinct culture, customs and tolerance. Often such cultural differences exist within a same country. In tiny Belgium, extreme-right parties are rife in Flanders, but not nearly as much in Wallonia. It is a much more complex situation than in the US. One thing that does not really differ across Europe is the Muslim's lack of integration and lack of understanding toward European culture and society, as the Mohammed cartoons protests showed.
What can be done ?
