While Europe slept - introduction

I must have been one of them, because I didn't notice this book, which was published in 2006. The Spanish translation is from 2007, which is what I read (From Isabel Gonzalez- Gallarza).

While Europe slept... Where does that remind you off? Knowing that the author Bruce Bawer is a journalist working in Europe. Wasn't Kennedy a reporter too? His career in journalism started with a thesis about the appeasement of Munich and his first book was called "why England Slept." But this time Europe sleeps during the threat of the Islam extremists, unlike before the WWII when there was another enemy. Again the enemy comes from within: "How Radical Islam is destroying the West from Within."

First of all this book is a must read for anyone interested in European and American culture.

Bruce Bawer had a personal motive in writing this book (which becomes clear on the first page, when he writes: my partner and I...), but his background is in journalism and he investigates the threat mentioned in the title.

When writing this review I cannot other then smile sometimes for example now when commenting the structure of the book: which is very simple. There are three chapters, the first is titled: Europe's Blindness.

I personally found this the best chapter, as it is the one that is most accurate and less personal. It seems to me that as the story continues the anger of the author increases.

At the very opening I realize that Holland is very well represented in the book. The opening is about the death of Theo van Gogh. The book starts in continues like this:

Mark? Hi Bruce. Did you find out about what happened to Theo van Gogh? This personal approach makes the book very realistic. Theo van Gogh is a Dutch Filmmaker and columnist who was murdered by Mohammed Bouyeri, "born in the Netherlands, from Moroccan parents and part of radical Muslim organization. The tone (of the book) is set.

The Dutch reader will then find a very precise sketch of the Dutch society, with words like "gezelligheid," so important in the Netherlands. It can hardly be translated but means something like: coziness. And one can even wonder whether the word is not familiar to the already mentioned "appeasement." Not only in Holland but also in other European countries the abstract concept of peace is analyzed (The example in the book point especially to the Scandinavian countries where it is not a coincidence that "the Nobel Peace Prize" is a Swedish invention). Another fact about the Dutch society can again only be described by an authentic word: "verzuiling," meaning that every religious group had its own structure in society; the Catholics, the Protestants, the Jews, etc. had their own political party, their own news station, their own labor syndicate, etc. When discussing the use of diminutives in the Dutch language "biertje, vriendje" (bier, friend), which show that "these people are concerned not to exaggerate and not to expect too much from anything." When reading all this I thought: he this is someone who knows our culture very well. Later he comes with much more examples which are embarrassing to read (the joke about languages).

But the Dutch had a problem: the country well known for its tolerance had to tolerate an intolerant group of extremist. And that is when the conflict settled with the murder of van Gogh.

Bruce's his first observation about Muslims in the Netherlands is in Amsterdam, where the Muslims in the center are completely adapted and nearly use no "niqab or burka," but in some of the "ugly" suburbs they do. He explains the difference to us.

He then continues his journey in the book to other countries like Norway and shows that Norway isn't that different from the Netherlands. The Dutch are more cosmopolitan where the Norwegian are more provincial, but (later the reader learns) the role of the authority is the same. This is the first and fundamental critique on Europe: they do not only sleep when they shouldn't but they can not form an independent opinion as anything is ruled by the establishment. A variety of examples follow where newspapers and political parties are dominated by the same network of intellectuals. That he is right will appear later when his book is already published and the Dutch translation as well as this Spanish translation is changed due to the critique he uttered to a Dutch news editor.

This establishment is a very rough network that I know from experience is very hard to change. If you are not part of this network your opinion doesn't count. That was what strokes me; as not many have elaborated on this topic. As far as I know. One of the reasons why innovation is such a tough subject is precisely that, the role of the establishment and the academics that work as professional gatekeepers; they determine what is acceptable and what not. (but this is a personal opinion not mentioned in the book).

In the US it is very normal that a politician has a background in business or a career like actor, in Europe the politicians enter directly from the university and pursue a career in politics with the final objective to enter "Brussels." The examples mentioned of "Schwarzenegger and Reagan (he was a bodyguard in his former life) in the US are unacceptable in Europe, with a single exception: Berlusconi in Italy..."

Any interesting fact is his list of immigration defaults as I call them. Finland and Iceland have no immigration but every country has its own main source: In Sweden from Iraq and Iran, In Norway Pakistan, in Denmark from Turkey, In the UK from India and Pakistan, Belgium and Holland from Morocco and turkey, France and Italy from the Magreb, Spain from Morocco, German from Turkey, Switzerland from the Balkan... Then he describes how the immigration started: the immigrant is said to be a refugee, brings no papers with him which makes it impossible to trace the history and to verify the facts. Then all if not most European governments help the immigrant with an ample social security system...

He describes the isolation process as one where the described establishment is "political correct" in accepting the new inhabitants "with behold of their own cultural background." In comparison with the US where every immigrant is American and there is no segregation to religion or ethnic background.

As mentioned earlier, a large number of small anecdotes decorate the book. For example where a Muslim Couple witnesses two lesbian kissing. He describes the intervention of the Muslim couple and this is where it becomes clear where he is aiming at: the values of freedom are at stake, at the same time where the establishment in Europe cannot handle any longer a situation because of a previous acceptance of the new culture and under their terms.. The police and other officials are powerless.

The earlier mentioned political establishment and the displease felt by the citizens leads to a situation where the normal political parties get competition from "populist" parties that have extremism as single topic on the political agenda. These two - the establishment and the new populist parties - conflict obviously. These populist parties have a more American approach: they are against a too proactive government in society influencing people's freedom. As newspaper belongs to the establishment they ignore these parties as much as possible. (This was written in an about 2005 ...).

The big difference (again) between the US and Europe is that Europe listens to an authority and the US citizens listen to what works. They don't care about titles as long as people show leadership...

He than elaborates on the Islam Spokesman for Europe: Tarik Ramadan and about the difference between integration in the US and Europe. An immigrant is not supposed to work as a physician, do European citizens seem to think. This is where Bruce recalls his own neighborhood back in the US, summarizing a myriad of exotic names, but "all of them American."

Copyright © 2009 Hans Bool

For more information on similar and a wide range of different topics have a look at the writer's block note

Freedom of expression - going, going, gone! Loss civilization - Europe at the turning point

Each student of civilization has been exposed to the exciting words, "I can not agree with what a man has to say, but will fight to the death his right to say it." Although widely attributed to Voltaire, it is not in his writings and was apparently developed by a later author as an epitome of the ideal political attitude. The phrase captures the basic concept of democracy, the heritage once proud of European countries, now apparently being sacrificed on the altar of appeasement.

Freedom of expression, a basic principle of democracy, is now voluntarily disavowed in Europe by Governments and intellectuals, rationalization by far as "hatred" (possibly added motivation fear Islamic terrorist reprisals).

The fatwa against Salman Rushdie for his Satanic Verses in 1987 Iranian was an initial indication that European Governments would be back and not to defend their freedom of expression - and this has been.

Author Oriana Fallaci faces charges in an Italian Court that his book "between the cicadas" vilifies Islam - similar accusations against her are also raised in France and Switzerland. Europe today everywhere is obviously willing to sacrifice freedom of expression to appease Islamic critics.

Fallaci, with a first hand knowledge of political Islam, describes him as a force with strong and broad appeal to Muslims who advocate belligerently historical belief of the supremacy of Islam of all peoples and religions.

Reaction of the European Union to Islamic riots against cartoons deemed offensive was the adoption of a law against blasphemy - give centuries of the freedoms of the press and of expression.

In response to protests against cartoons-Muslim, secular and Christian Danish authorities have responded, not with determination to defend their traditions, but the apology and calls for self-censorship.

European newspapers have decided not to jeopardize the impression satirical caricatures on Prophet Muhammad after the Muslim furor generated by Denmark publications.

However, has been banished Christian religious sample: Christmas trees, Nativity scenes, are prohibited even Dutch flags on backpacks.

The shocking reality of young Muslims burning cars in hundreds of French cities (to shouts of Allahu Akhbar) is described in the European press as caused by "criminals", with no more descriptions - freedom of the press also deliberately be restricted.

The pattern of appeasement is evident - Dutch cartoons really evoked little comment when he published originally - then the magnets began they shake and it was awakened international furor - there were riots by Muslims, with dozens of people killed - then came the speeches justifying the riots more demands of religious tolerance in Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran - Europe's responsethey intensify the appeasement.

The Berlin Opera in September 2006 cancelled the representation of an opera by Mozart - an epitome of culture - because of telephone threats anonymous on a scene that represents the head of the Prophet Muhammad. The Opera was accused in the German Parliament of "fall on his knees before the terrorists".

Iraq and Afghanistan - United States and Allied "occupation" to overthrow threatening dictatorships and terrorist regimes, along with the introduction of democratic institutions of Government, is widely criticized in the media detailing real or imagined problems - omit is any mention of the very biggest hits in maintaining the conflict far us banks, the Elimination of oppressive local rulers or the democratic achievements of the peace, such as openings of schools, hospitals and small businesses.

A soft quote, comment by Pope Benedict XVI in Islamic history, in September 2006, provokes reactions from around the world, including the shooting of a nun - the call by Muslim leaders of Muslim tolerance and moderation of those murders - instead the European press renews its call for self-discipline in European speeches (blaming the victim)!

Aaron Kolom qualifies as a "scientist" with more than 50 years aerospace engineering: stress analyst head of structural Sciences in many military aircraft, Corp. Director of structures and materials, program Assistant Chief Engineer shuttle through three first flights (award-winning NASA public service medal), Rockwell International Corp.; Program administrator of Concorde SST, VP Engineering TRE Corp.; Aerospace consultant.

Aaron l. Kolom - brainwashing ** and miracles **

The perceived mentality of the Secular evolution of Darwin re Elite!

** To believe in them, have faith - in science and logic!

Visit the website [http://www.brainwashedandmiracles.com] to learn a little bit about the Bible, from conflict to the confirmation of science vs.

Is Islamophobia in Europe Leading to Another Holocaust?

After the tragic murder of Dr. Marwa el-Sherbini, the majority of Egyptian newspapers had given broad coverage to her death, describing the veiled woman as a "martyr" and suggesting that the killer was motivated by a hatred of Islam.

I saw also that it has been too long since Egyptian bloggers came together under the same banner, but that crime was a good reason for them to unite again, condemning international media for ignoring such incidents against Muslims in the West

People also used Twitter, the blogs, Facebook and Youtube to spread this news and expressed their thoughts about what happened.

So we saw a Facebook group called "Marwa Al-Sherbini, we will always remember you", which drew an astonishing 1,403 members within hours.

The majority of comments stated that Marwa el-Sherbini was the latest victim of fanaticism, hatred and Islamophobia in Europe.

It is very easy to understand the anger that the murder of Marwa el-Sherbini in Germany has provoked in Egypt, but there were some questions in my mind, which I didn't have an answer too:

Is Islamophobia in Europe leading to another holocaust?

Can "the clash of civilizations" be avoided if we realize that intercultural dialogue and mutual respect is the only way forward?

Is there any inherent tension between the secular-liberal order of "modern" Europe and the more "traditional" model of society associated with (Muslim) migrants?

The enlargement of the European Union has brought new opportunities for many, but it also creates new divisions and inequalities. The borders of Fortress Europe have moved but the inhumane migration and asylum policies are still tightening up. In the difficult international climate stereotypes are reinforced and the fear of the "other" is a serious problem in Europe today.

I posed these questions to some experts to know the answers, and I was lucky to interview Riem Spielhaus (a German researcher in the field of Islamic studies, and teaches at the South Asian department of the Institute for Asian and African studies at Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin) who replied: "I do not use the term Islamophobia for many reasons. To me it seems to be brought to actually be a good descriptive term. That means it starts from people being afraid from Islam, which after terrorist acts being conducted in the name of this religion is an understandable reaction and even many Muslims feel insecure in this context though they know it is not the heart of the religion that creates violent acts of hatred.

However being afraid (phobic) needs to be separated in description and analysis from the much more grave feature of performing acts of violence and insinuating hatred by different means. Another aspect we need to discuss in Europe is that Muslims feel excluded from parts of societies be it because of their religion or because of lack of education or economic power. This all leads to the conclusion that reality needs a more complex approach with which the term Islamophobia does not cover.

So, I rather speak of people who feel unease when confronted with Muslims or Islam, of exclusion of Islamic communities and Muslims in society in diverse ways and of anti- Muslim or anti-Islamic discourse. Finally and this seems to be the case in the shocking events in Dresden last week, there have been several acts of violence conducted against Muslims and Islamic places like mosques, and for the first time a family has been robbed of its mother, wife and daughter and even of the life of an unborn child just because she was Muslim.

- Is Islamophobia in Europe leading to another holocaust?

I have been thinking a lot about this question and I am shocked by the question itself - to be honest. NO! I do not think so.

Spielhaus doesn't believe and doesn't hope that the current situation in Europe could lead to another holocaust.

"To ask this question to a Muslim living in Germany to me seems to be rather cruel or is showing that the one asking doesn't know much about the holocaust. We can at no place in Europe today see something even by far similar to the machinery connected to the extinction of Jewish life in Europe during the Second World War.

However, the unimaginable brutality of the third Reich in Germany and the exclusion of Jewish Germans in European history before that should be a strong reminder that any exclusion of people because of ethnicity, background, color of skin or religion should not be tolerated or ignored but needs to be countered by a strong statement of the civil society." Continued Spielhaus.

"Even though many Muslims in this country and in Egypt might be worried about the reluctance of officials to comment on the recent events, Germany is characterized more by what its engaged citizens are saying and therefore the communal statement of Jewish and Muslim leaders together against any hostility against Islam and Muslims has an important relevance that cannot be underestimated." She said.

During the last days members of nearly all German parties made strong statements against hatred of Islam and urged the German government to take action against anti-Muslim sentiments and acts like the one that happened in Dresden.

Many may believe in intercultural dialogue as a promised way to dispel the myth of the "Clash of Civilizations," but such a dialogue should go through different challenges and examinations to prove it so.

So can "the clash of civilizations" be avoided if we realize that intercultural dialogue and mutual respect is the only way forward?

Riem Spielhaus: The 'dialogue of civilizations' is reflecting and perpetuating the same dichotomy that Samuel Huntington has introduced into global policy with his influential thesis. Clashes and conflicts are as I believe only to be overcome, if people accept each other as equals in their citizenship and their engagement for mutual understanding and the enhancement of societies, neighborhoods, the environment and the human kind. Some people draw the strength for their engagement from religion, others find other sources that drive them but this is a difference that needs to be respected if the aim is the same.

But is there any inherent tension between the secular-liberal order of "modern" Europe and the more "traditional" model of society associated with (Muslim) migrants?

No! Question rejected! These simplistic ideas of Muslims and immigrants being something strange or/and other to Europe are leading to exclusion and alienation. Many Muslims in Europe are first of all Europeans, European by birth, conviction and citizenship AND Muslim by faith. Many problems that we are facing today are resulting from some European societies and countries of origin identifying Muslims with immigrants and thereby not as parts of the societies they live in though many especially young Muslims are longing to be accepted as Germans, French or British. Media coverage, political debates and academic writing that perpetuates the exclusion of Muslims in narratives, which situate them outside European for instance by stigmatizing them as immigrants societies are contributing to a discourse of exclusion. We all need to ask ourselves the question: When does immigration stop? In which generation? Isn't the fourth enough?

Then she continued: "I can not answer the question what 'Islam' in Europe is - the statement is to broad to carry any meaning. Either Islam is a revelation - than it is the same everywhere but people are shaping its practice and understanding. Or you understand Islam as the way Muslims live their religion - an understanding that I do not share - but find rather confusing. But in this case replacing 'Islam' by 'Muslims' or 'Muslim life' seems to make sense.

So Muslims in Europe seem to be in their majority moderate. Not all Muslims seem to be religious though - please have a look at the Religion Monitor for answers to the question. It carries a lot of interesting information and it is just too late to rewrite them. You might find a good approach to grasp the term 'religious' because it is actually hard to describe what it means. And this survey gives a good interpretation of the term and it covered the answers of 3000 Muslims in Germany..."

On the other hand Dr.Abdeslam Maghraoui the Associate Professor of the Practice of Political Science and Core Faculty in the Duke Islamic Studies Center defined Islamophobia as the fear, hatred, resentment towards Islam, Islamic cultures, and peoples. It is often irrational but reasonable individuals may also exhibit symptoms. Islamophobia is based on the belief that Islam and Muslims are violent, uniform, backward, and resist modernity.

Then he added that Islamophobia has been gaining a lot of influence and it is much more widespread than we think. The recent elections to the European Parliament show that right wing extremist parties in many countries in Europe (Spain, England, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Germany...) have a strong popular base. These parties are anti-immigrant, anti-Arab, and definitely anti-Muslim. Still, I don't think that another Holocaust in Europe is likely.

He also pointed out that Intercultural dialogue is important but often not enough. I attended many intercultural dialogues and interfaith discussions that are frank and polite. But once you leave the conference or the meetings another reality hits you. With dialogues, there is a need to emphasize civic rights and duties, the relationship between citizenship and culture/religion, the limits and possibilities of multiculturalism. These are extremely important issues, especially for Muslims leaving in the West.

"In principle, there should be no contradictions. Liberal democracy claims to be culturally neutral among different cultures, religions, and races. The United States is the most advanced in this regard. Europe is far behind as citizenship is still (informally) includes cultural components. A Muslim born in Europe is less likely to feel part of Europe if he/she lives according to Islamic principles. The problem is that Muslims express or live their spiritual lives differently. Some are moderate; others are conservative; yet others may embrace extreme versions or interpretations of Islam. The problem is that outsiders (or non-Muslims) are not always capable of distinguishing different forms of Islam. So they are really confused. "Maghraoui said.

And he agreed that the overwhelming majority of Muslims living in Europe are moderate Muslims. For decades, millions of Muslims in France, Spain, Holland, Italy, the UK, and Belgium have been living peacefully. But racism has been a problem in many countries (France, Germany in particular).

And by asking him about the media role in promoting diversity and religious tolerance in Europe he replied: "The role of the media is to expose instances of racism, hatred, and Islamophobia. AND it is incumbent on the media to address the social problems within Muslim communities (women's rights, acceptance of religious difference, respect of the lifestyles of Europeans, etc...). It is not helpful to simply blame the Europeans or Muslim communities." He commented.

By: Jasmine Elnadeem

La islamofobia y el militante Europa

Islamophobia is a new tool at the hands of the far-right which they are using, quite successfully, to gain political ground. The question is not why they are using Islamophobia, but the question is, why is it working? Why are people buying the hatred for a certain religious group and rejecting peaceful multi-cultural parties. Hatred and Xenophobia is breeding & thriving within the large masses of European population and we might see another fascist Europe, with segregation laws against Muslims in effect, with in the next 10 years. But again, the question is: Why is hate working?

The Present Situation

The present situation Europe depicts largely a pre-War Europe suffering from The Great Depression, with unemployment and inflation on the rise. Strong dictators came forward to seize the power with great public support. Such situation might happen in present day Europe, with anti-Semitism swapping places with anti-Muslim sentiments. Many of the European countries are already implementing laws which specifically designed to have their effects only on the Muslim population. Legislations prohibiting the wearing of Hijab and Burka and the Swiss law prohibiting the construction of Minarets may give way to further legislations that confine the freedom for Muslims. Such laws are no different than the draconian Nuremberg laws that the Nazi Germany applied over Jewish population. Five of the states in Germany ban the female Muslim teachers to wear the headscarf but allow the wearing of Christian symbols such as a nun's habit. Such legislations raise concerns whether the European republics are discriminating in their behavior towards a specific religious group, especially Muslims.

Where the Islamophobes stand?

Europe's political face has been transforming at a rapid rate. In 2001, 12 European states were under the right-wing or conservative ruling parties' and 14 states were governed by left-wing or liberals. But in the present year, only 5 European states are under political ruling of left or center left, with right-wing or conservatives in 21 states. Right-wing, Eurosceptics, Islamophobes, anti-immigrants, neo-Nazis and Nationalists are on the move to the parliaments of their respective countries. In Netherlands, the Partij voor de Vrijheid (Freedom Party), led by a great Islamophobe, Geert Wilders, came out of obscurity to win four seats out of 25. Norway saw the Progress Party, which was once supported by Anders Breivik, winning 22.9% of the vote in 2009 elections. Similarly, Lega Nord (Northern League) in Italy, National Front in France, Felmish Interest in Belgium, Danish People's Party, Sweden Democrats (famous for using swastikas and Nazi uniforms in the past), True Finns in the Finland, The Jobbik party in Hungary and Freedom Party in Austria have made astonishing gains in the political arena and won considerable votes.

In Britain and Germany, the right-wing British National Party and the National Democratic Party respectively, are not able to make any gains into the parliamentary system. The Best ever performance by BNP was in the local elections where the party was able to win 3 local council seats.

With the right-wing participating in the parliamentary race, violent neo-Nazi, Islamophobic and fascist groups are not very much in the shadows either. Notorious organizations are on the loose, which are free to spread their message of hate, bigotry, terrorism and violence. Some of these Islamophobic and Neo-Nazi groups like The English Defence League, The Swedish Resistance Movement, National Socialist Workers' Party, National Socialist Movement of Denmark, Bloed, Bodem, Eer en Trouw (Blood, Soil, Honour and Loyalty) of Finland, Nomad 88, Bloc Identitaire, Autonome Nationalisten, Tricolor Flame, Veneto Fronte Skinheads, Netherlands National Youth, Dutch People's Union, Vigrid, BootsBoys and their likes are already responsible of violent marches and protests and some of these groups are convicted of planning terror attacks in Europe.

Maybe, just maybe, The Norwegian Terrorist Andhers Brievik was just a lone gunman, with no links to global terrorism but what about these Islamophobic organizations which are still at large, in and around Europe? Brievik's misguided ideas were not just a creation of his own mind. Surely there were many other "inspirations" that made him carry out the horrible act of terrorism in Norway, which he confesses in his manifestation of death, "The Manifesto 2083: The European Declaration of Independence". The madness behind the terrorist Breivik, was excited to a great degree by Islamophobic & hateful writings of Robert Spence & Pamela Geller, which Breivik cites at great lengths. Neo-pagan writer Koenraad Elst and Daniel Pipes are also mentioned as sources of inspiration.

With a phobic obsession on the prospect of "Islamic Jihadi culture" and Immigrant Muslims turning into "radicals", the local authorities turned a blind eye to their own white supremacists, racist terrorists, and Christian Terrorists. Writings and publications of hate should be banned and discouraged just like any terrorist multimedia material is banned. Or else new Anders Breiviks will be created every day. Masses will be brainwashed and terrorists like Breivik will find sympathizers in the public. Norway Terror attacks and London riots should be enough to show the politicians that instead of dumping everything on "Islamic Terrorism" and promoting further Islamophobia, they should do something to stop their own fascist threat that is knocking on their doors.

This is what is happening in Europe. But why is it happening? Let's read further.

Post 9/11 Policies:

It seems that the west, especially Europe, has been declining, both in economy and tolerance. And both these factors are strongly intertwined with each other. Islamophobia is the new "trend" among the Europe's right-wing. Ever since 9/11 took place, the focus shifted from the "Communist threat" to the "Islamic threat" and thanks to mainstream media, a phobia has been fed constantly in the minds of ordinary people that every Muslim is a potential suicide bomber. The United States, UK and more than half of the Europe went to war with Afghanistan and even after 10 years, peace seems no where in sight. After the Afghan war, UK blindly went to war with Iraq as well. Although the decision was taken by mostly left-wing parties, but like with every war, religious sentiment was exploited to be used as a fuel of war, just as Afghan Mujahideen were collected from all over the world to fight the "Afghan Jihad", a war which had plain political ends to destabilize the Soviet Union. A large mass of Media was utilized to give the justification of going to a war.

The Politicians and media deliberately refused to tell their citizens the cost of waging a long war. With President Bush claiming it as a "Crusade" and Tony Blair following his lead, the tolerance for Muslims in western society degraded further and it promoted what can be correctly termed as "European Terrorism". With constant loss of lives, property and crunching effects on the world economy, the frustration among the populace is on a high tide. Many families lost their loved ones at the hands of local insurgency in Afghanistan and Iraq and the anti-Muslim hate just kept on increasing. With the liberal parties failing to deal with the economic effects of war and with media still blaming everything on "Moslems" instead of utterly wrong decisions made by their own politicians, the right wing started gaining grounds, riding on the backs of anti-Islam hate and bigotry.

It is this "European Terrorism" that created Breivik and has caused notoriously violent and Islamophobic groups like the EDL to rise. Organizations like "Stop the Islamification of Europe" are no different than Nazis, which call for the destruction of 1.8 Billion adherents of Islam just because they don't see eye to eye with them, even advocating the use of nuclear weapons over the Holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Media channels like ABNSAT.com are no different than the Jihadi Websites on Internet that promote religious hate and violence.

ECONOMIC CRUSH:

With war come economic problems. But maybe this was a fact that was kept under the rugs by the political leadership that decided to go to war. After 10 years of disastrous war in Afghanistan and a misadventure in the trail of WMDs of Iraq (which were no where to be found), and loss of hundreds of thousands of lives on both sides, the story of the west is a gloomy one. Unemployment on the rise, recession causing inflation, and with most of the world economy sinking, the frustration of the European population is natural.

And with frustration, come anger and anger leads to hate and violence. The ruling political parties tried to protect their own vote banks and instead of pulling out of expensive and costly wars, did everything else. Wrong decisions were made again. Spain, Greece, Ireland, Portugal and even states like UK, Germany and France are observing protests and riots that are solely against unemployment, inflation and degrading standards of living. Austerity protests seem like an everyday routine.

The recent riots in England were enough to portray the frustration and the difference of classes inhabiting in UK. Tottenham, from where the riots originally erupted, is the main hub of unemployment, where a single job vacancy is followed by 26 - 34 people. Analysts carved out the statistics that most of the looting and rioting happened because of unemployment, social exclusion, poverty, the growing gap between rich and poor, drug abuse and economic conditions. With such economic conditions, which were not heard of before the global War on Terror, opportunists, Islamophobes, Fascists & neo-Nazis stand out like a messiah to give a hand to the public, using emotions to win votes, as the rulers failed to take the correct decisions to solve these problems. Today, Europe stares at an uncertain future - its economies mired in debt, unemployment at record levels, with little prospect for growth or jobs and thus, multiracial harmony has strained as a result.

The Future

Let's keep an optimistic view about the future of Europe, but if things keep on the present track, we might see another rise of Fascism in Europe with its target as Islam. The misconceptions and conspiracy theories of "Eurabia" might be used and are being used to cause terror and fear of Islam in general public and thus supporting segregation laws against the Muslim population of Europe.

With falling economic conditions of Europe and the prevailing recession all over the world, failing liberal policies and continuous spread of Islamophobia and negative propaganda, conditions are ripe enough to cause the natural public support for right-wing radicals, neo-conservatives, neo-Nazis and Fascists which can further result in either of the two scenarios; A Fascist Europe reminiscent of the 1930s or a Militant Europe with the rise of armed violent groups.

Either version of such Europe in this century will not only be destructive for its native population but it also might trigger what we don't want to hear, believe or experience - The Clash of Civilizations.

Need an article? Looking for someone to write it? I am an accomplished freelance writer and editor. I offer my services at: http://www.elance.com/s/edit/globalguy26/

I also run a blog: http://project-pak.blogspot.com for Pakistanis and Muslims all over the world, providing them with information on current affairs and current issues.

Follow me on twitter: @syedanasbaqi

The Book of Daniel, Islam, and Europe

Brit Am Israel

Jerusalem News-406

Contents:

1. The Book of Daniel, Islam, and Europe

with Comment by David Ben Ariel

Commentaries to the Book of Daniel quoted in the Brit-Am Commentary understand the Vision of Nebuchadnezzar as explained by Daniel as predicting an eventual attempted union between Ishmael (Islam) and Europe.

Such a union is NOW in preparation. See extracts from relevant articles under the heading We Were Warned!:"Eurabia" in The Book of DANIEL?

The articles in effect describe a merger already in the process of preparation of Continental Europe with Ishmael (Arabic-Islam). This is to be carried through at the expense of Israel and the USA.

It should be noted that the EU heavily funds the Palestinians and that the Palestinian propaganda that brings about the suicide bombings etc would not be possible without EU funding. It should also be noted that the Israeli left-wing with movements such as Peace Now etc. also receives substantial funds from the EU.

The recent violence at Amona had a lot of causes and many interested parties were involved. It would not probably however have taken place were it not for legal actions by the EU subsidized Peace Now movement that could not stand to see nine half-legal Jewish buildings standing in the territory of Benjamin despite the fact that the Arabs have more than 30,000 illegal buildings (that are recognized as illegal without speaking of those that are illegal and not recognized) throughout Israel with much more than 3000 in the Jerusalem area alone.

In view of the above the following letter is interesting though I personally feel that the expression used "German-Jesuit" is misleading, a red herring. At all events the EU is in part culpable.

Comment by DAVID BEN ARIEL

Shalom Yair,

Your Brit Am Israel commentaries were most interesting on the possibility of "Eurabia," especially in light of how the EU has been guilty of aiding and abetting many Arab countries whose goal is to wipe Israel off the map (Ps. 83:4). However, it appears that "Eurabia" is dead now since Europe is beginning to suffer from the Islamofascists and will soon turn on them with full fury, as you acknowledge somewhat by giving an honorable mention that:

"There also exists a school of thought that identifies the FEET AND TOES of the great statue with the mixed group of nations comprising the European Union or that the EU is a precursor for a similar organization that will fulfill the prophecy."

Both the Arabs and the Jews are going to get brutally betrayed, stomped by the EU jackboot, when the German-Jesuit EU occupies Jerusalem, after having misled the world to trust them to bring peace. This is elaborated upon within:

UN Resolution 181: Blueprint of the Beast?

Shavua tov (good week),

David Ben-Ariel

David Ben-Ariel is a Christian-Zionist writer in Ohio and author of Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall. With a focus on the Middle East and Jerusalem, his analytical articles help others improve their understanding of that troubled region. Check out Beyond Babylon.

The Positive Impact of Islam on Europe

The Ottoman Empire started conquering Europe in 14th century and by 15th century had most of Eastern Europe under its kingdom. Although traces of Islam have been found a long before Ottoman Empire but Islam flourished appropriately when the Ottoman Empire ruled Europe. Historians are of the point of view that Islam laid the foundation of modern Europe and it is in fact the reality. History has noticed Europe dominating the world in the past centuries through its knowledge and power but if we study the early invention of mathematics, physics and astronomy, not surprisingly; all the credit goes to the Muslim world of science. Muslim mathematicians worked in every field of mathematics such as Al-Jabir founded algebra. Galileo and Newton, the great scientists of their time, would never have been able to formulate the modern theories of mathematics and physics without the basic and important tools invented by Muslim scientists.

Plato and Aristotle laid the institution of classical writing and texts in ancient Europe but these sculptures were lost in the history and were almost doomed during the Dark Age. It was again Muslims who acted as the caretakers of those important writings and preserved them. Even some of that work was present only in Arabic. Ibne-Rushd, a Muslim, known as Averroes in Europe, had a major name in this regard.

European explorers are famous for their voyages and explorations but it was only made possible by the accurate maps produced by the Muslim mapmakers. These maps paved the way for European explorers to discover new worlds in minimum time span.

This is only the tiny amount of donation made by Islam to Europe directly or indirectly. According to global news, there are about 53 million Muslims in Europe. Islam has become the fastest growing religion in Europe and all over the world, there has been establishment of new mosques all over Europe and even non-Muslims are visiting these mosques. The rate of conversion to Islam shot in the recent years especially after 9/11 attacks when Muslims were accused of it. It was the time when non-Muslims especially Christians were more interested to find out about Islam, Qura'an and the teachings of Holy Prophet (PBUH). Although Islam was manipulated to be the religion of extremism and terrorism but when these individuals studied Islam, their views changed and they found Islam to be the complete code of life and the best religion of the world. So they adopted it after their vast researches. The Muslim immigrants from the Muslim world to Europe living there for decades are clear symbols of peace loving Muslim culture.

Today media, in Europe especially, talks a lot about the the disrespect given to women in Islam, but in fact, this is not true. Islam is the only religion that has raised the prestige of women from one of the poorly humiliated creature, in Western culture, to that of a respectful being possessing equal rights to man. Under the wrong ideological concept of child marriage by the non-Muslims, the Muslims have been criticized by the western media but in fact there is no concept of child marriage in Islam and such incidents are purely restricted to few old custom tribes.

As many historians have revealed Islam to be the past of modern Europe we believe that it would be the future of the European world as well.

Jim Fry, Editor, Email: jim@islamtribune.com,
Web: http://www.islamtribune.com