Is it racist to object to the very structure of your national culture being altered? Is it xenophobic to resist becoming a minority in your own society? That's the question Europeans are going to have to increasingly address.
As I predicted some time ago when I wrote about Europe's options, the pushback by native Europeans against Islamism is beginning in a number of places.
The latest is Switzerland,where the nationalist Swiss People's Party is running on an populist, `anti-immigrant' platform was projected to increase its lead in parliament with a gain of six seats..while the Leftist Social Democrats, who largely favor Muslim immigration ended up dropping nine seats.
The parliamentary elections attracted attention worldwide because of the the SPP campaign poster, shown above, with three white sheep kicking a black sheep out of their pasture, which led the Social Democrats to levy charges of racism.
"To call that poster racist is ridiculous. The poster shows and everybody understands that we do not accept criminal foreigners in Switzerland," said the SPP Party's charismatic leader, Christoph Blocher . "And, the criminals are really not a race."
The issues the way the SPP saw it SPP were not race but fraudulent asylum seekers, the cost of welfare benefits, the loss of Switzerland's national character and the large percentage of crime committed by Muslim immigrants.
The Swiss come from a somewhat different place than most of Europe, being a non-EU country, and thus not answerable to some of the ridiculous diktats the EU has put in place concerning immigrants and political correctness. Switzerland is also historically one of the most independent nations in Europe.
The Swiss, however, were haunted to a degree by their refusal to allow Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust inside their borders and were also influenced by the NGOs and Human Rights organizations that have their headquarters in Switzerland, so under the Social Democrats Switzerland pursued a relatively relaxed asylum and immigration policy. As many of these immigrants came from the Muslim parts of Southern Europe and from the Middle East, their society has been overwhelmed and they are apparently now having some second thoughts...as are most native Europeans, even if a lot of their politicians, many whom depend on Muslim votes to get re-elected are behind the curve.
The Swiss People's Party's radical idea? To deport imigrants who commit crimes in Switzerland with their families, and to be much stricter when it comes to granting asylum and handing out welfare benefits to non-citizens.
It will be interesting to watch how this plays out in the rest of Europe. Different countries will, of course, have very different responses and some may be surprising. France for instance, a country that essentially did nothing to stop Le jihad Francais and the car-B-ques under Chirac has now turned increasingly conservative under Sarkozy. In Britain, the response has been mixed.
What are Europe's options? Essentially, to solve Europe's Muslim problem or to become Islamic. Peaceful assimilation of their Muslim populations is possible but highly unlikely in much of Europe, as Islam generally doesn't `play nicely' with others.
That leaves peaceful expulsions and cutbacks in immigration, or civil war in the streets, especially in areas where leftist politicians depend on Muslim votes or money, or where Muslims decide to up the ante with domestic terrorism and riots.Especially, as we've seen in Britain and other countries since there are nation states and Islamist organizations willing to provide Muslim extremists with training, weapons and support.
I see the Swiss and French elections as a signpost for the future. Only time will tell.
5 comments:
National EU electorates will have less and less over immigration and expulsion policies, as they are increasingly decided at EU level.
Hello, Scorpion.
Well, we'll see. If you're correct, I think we can expect (a) a number of mini-Bosnias in Europe (b) several nations leaving the EU if it expands its repressive policies, as local politicians are unable to buck the rising tide (c)a change in EU policies to reflect the new reality or (D) all of the above.
Europe will either have to deal with the problem of Islamism or go Muslim.
Regards,
FF
It's not racist to preserve your national culture in the least because that's concerned primarily with values, and people of all races can be absorbed into it.
However, it's xenophobic at best and disgustingly racist at worst to insist that you don't want to become a "minority." That kind of thinking led to things like slavery, jim crow, and innumerable other evils.
However, if by minority you mean in terms of values, FF, then I have no objection. After all, we all want more people to share our most heartfelt values, otherwise, why would we hold them? And we certainly don't want people to have values that Muslim fundamentalists hold.
Too little too late? Or never too late?
Hi Nazar,
Well said...with one caveat. Islam, generally speaking does not play nicely with others. An dyou can't use normal standards to deal withit because of its political aspect.
I too know many decent Muslims I'm happy to call friends, but for too many Muslims loyalty to the umma transcends everything. Mo himself said for believers not to befriend Christians and Jews, `for he that befriends them is of them.'
In Europe, the problem is much more intense than it is here, but if the Pew poll is correct where maybe only a decade ahead of the curve.
Talk to Armenians or jews or Ba'hais that lived in Iranduring the revolution and later escaped. They'll explain to you how many secular Muslims, who had been friends of theirs for years changed overnight.
ff
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