> by daniel pipes
>
>
> Some analysts of Islam in Western Europe argue that the continent cannot
> escape its Eurabian fate; that the trend lines of the past half-century
> will e
> continue until Muslims become a majority population and Islamic law (the
> Shari'a) reigns.
>
> I disagree, arguing that there is another route the continent might take,
> one of resistance to Islamification and a reassertion of traditional ways.
>
> Indigenous Europeans - who make up 95 percent of the population - can
> insist on their historic customs and mores. Were they to do so, nothing
> would be in their way and no one could stop them.
>
> Indeed, Europeans are visibly showing signs of impatience with creeping
> Shari'a. The legislation in France that prohibits hijabs from public
> school classrooms signals the reluctance to accept Islamic ways, as are
> related efforts to ban burkas, mosques and minarets. Throughout Western
> Europe, anti-immigrant parties are generally increasing in popularity.
>
> That resistance took a new turn last week, with two dramatic events.
> First, on March 22, Pope Benedict XVI himself baptized, confirmed, and
> gave the Eucharist to Magdi Allam, 56, a prominent Egyptian-born Muslim
> long living in Italy, where he is a top editor at the Corriere della Sera
> newspaper and a well-known author. Allam took the middle name Cristiano.
> The ceremony converting him to the Catholic religion could not have been
> higher profile, occurring at a nighttime service at St. Peter's Basilica
> on the eve of Easter Sunday, with exhaustive coverage from the Vatican and
> many other TV stations.
>
> Allam followed up his conversion with a stinging statement in which he
> argued that beyond "the phenomenon of Islamic extremism and terrorism that
> has appeared on a global level, the root of evil is inherent in an Islam
> that is physiologically violent and historically conflictive."
>
> In other words, the problem is not just Islamism but Islam itself. One
> commentator, "Spengler" of Asia Times, goes so far as to say that Allam
> "presents an existential threat to Muslim life" because he "agrees with
> his former co-religionists in repudiating the degraded culture of the
> modern West, and offers them something quite different: a religion founded
> upon love."
>
> Second, on March 27, Geert Wilders, 44, released his long-awaited,
> 15-minute film, Fitna, which consists of some of the most bellicose verses
> of the Koran, followed by actions in accord with those verses carried out
> by Islamists in recent years.
>
> The obvious implication is that Islamists are simply acting in accord with
> their scriptures. In Allam's words, Wilders also argues that "the root of
> evil is inherent" in Islam.
>
> UNLIKE ALLAM and Wilders, I do distinguish between Islam and Islamism, but
> I believe it imperative that their ideas get a fair hearing, without
> vituperation or punishment. An honest debate over Islam must take place.
>
> If Allam's conversion was a surprise and Wilders' film had a three-month
> run-up, in both cases, the aggressive, violent reactions that met prior
> criticisms of Islam did not take place.
>
> According to the Los Angeles Times, the Dutch police contacted imams to
> gauge reactions at the city's mosques and found, according to police
> spokesman Arnold Aben, "it's quieter than usual here today. Sort of like a
> holiday." In Pakistan, a rally against the film attracted only some dozens
> of protesters.
>
> This relatively constrained reaction points to the fact that Muslim
> threats sufficed to enforce censorship. Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter
> Balkenende denounced Fitna and, after 3.6 million visitors had viewed it
> on the British website LiveLeak.com, the company announced that "Following
> threats to our staff of a very serious nature... Liveleak has been left
> with no other choice but to remove Fitna from our servers." (Two days
> later, however, LiveLeak again posted the film.) Three similarities bear
> noting: both Allam (author of a book titled Viva Israele) and Wilders
> (whose film emphasizes Muslim violence against Jews) stand up for Israel
> and the Jews; Muslim threats against their lives have forced both for
> years to live under state-provided round-the-clock police protection; and,
> more profoundly, the two share a passion for European civilization.
>
> Indeed, Allam and Wilders may represent the vanguard of a
> Christian/liberal reassertion of European values. It is too soon to
> predict, but these staunch individuals could provide a crucial boost for
> those intent on maintaining the continent's historic identity.
>
> The author is director of the Middle East Forum and Taube/Diller
> Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford
> University during the spring semester.
>
>