Merkel's words almost exclusively directed at Muslim community (archives)
Photo: Reuters
Shaul Rosenfeld
Multiculturalism has failed
Op-ed: European leaders finally starting to understand dangers of Muslim immigration
Multiculturalism is an utter failure, German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted
over the weekend, even if she made sure to balance the painful truth with the required lip service to the master of European liberalism – political correctness – saying that Islam today is part of the Modern Germany.
In her statement regarding Islam’s attachment to Europe, Merkel exposed her confusion and embarrassment (as well as that of many of her European colleagues) at this time, when the sword of Islam threatens the continent’s longtime cultural and demographic character.
It’s not quite clear how the chancellor’s logic corresponds to her claim regarding the utter failure of multiculturalism, when everyone knows that her words were almost exclusively directed at the Muslim community and its overwhelming commitment to the spirit of Islam.
New Germany?
German politician says country's values only drawn from Judeo-Christian tradition, not Islam
Meanwhile, the leader of Germany’s Christian Social Union, Horst Seehofer, chose to adopt a more Lieberman-like and less Merkel-like rhetoric. He recently declared that the country does not need more immigrants from foreign cultures (meaning, of course, Muslims.) By uttering these works, Seehofer angered quite a few local politicians, who are having trouble (openly at least) accepting the grave news of multiculturalism’s premature demise.
Similarly to more and more European politicians and residents, Seehofer too is finding the foolish multicultural notion as increasingly less appealing. This of course guarantees that he and his colleagues will be facing the harsh resistance of “progressive forces.”
These forces, which largely dominate the media, cultural, and academic spheres in the Western world, manage to convince many that a humane, enlightened person should accept cultural divergence, especially in light of Western colonialism’s effect on oriental nations. Indeed, European “fans of progress” feel this divergence must be lauded, regardless of whether Muslim immigrants view their very presence in Europe as a means to reinforce their isolationism, while shaping their new abode in the spirit of their own religion and culture.
Of course, not every European Muslim strictly adheres to the decrees of Islam and Jihad, yet when the options one faces are Europe and its culture on the one hand, and Mohammad’s religion on the other, the overwhelming majority of Muslims prefer the values they grew up with at home over the ones promoted by their new European home.
Willful blindness
European authorities are of course aware of it, yet this does not prevent them from turning a blind eye to it, in the same way they ignore the methodical repression of women, violation of human rights, and wide-ranging incitement by imams at European Muslim communities (as confirmed by several unbiased European and international human rights groups.) Meanwhile, these governmental cover-up experts enjoy the support of liberal forces, which as we know raise a hue and cry every time a slight suspicion emerges in respect to Israeli human rights violations.
And if that’s the case, is it any wonder that Professor Robert Redeker from France had to run for his life, while quitting his place of work, only because he dared criticize the Islamic belligerence in Europe, while the abovementioned “progressive forces” remained silent? This was not much different than the “liberal support” accorded to Iranian artist Sooreh Hera, who was also forced to flee after seeking to present Mohammad and his partner as a homosexual couple at a Dutch museum.
Meanwhile, Geert Wilders continues to face various threats on his life following his film, “Fitna,” while cartoonist Kurt Westergaard barely survived an assassination attempt after drawing a Mohammad cartoon.
Indeed, the commitment of enlightened Europeans to glorious multiculturalism was maintained after the terror attacks in Madrid in 2004, the murder of Theo Van Gogh in Amsterdam in 2004, the terror attacks in London in 2005, the publication of the Mohammad cartoons in Denmark in 2005 (which led to more than 1,000 deaths worldwide,) the attempt to blow up seven European plans above the Atlantic in 2006, and the recent plot to carry out terror attacks at several European states (by “loyal” Muslim residents of Europe.)
However, the incredibly effective ideological steamroller utilized by “progressive forces” in Europe for so long cannot face the pressure, and the rotten multicultural fruit are prompting many Europeans to wonder whether the time has come to put an end to this. And so, with almost no exception, the overwhelming majority of initiatives presented in recent years in a bid to start disengaging from the multicultural mirage and from the threatening Islamization are granted wide-ranging popular support.
Europe’s leadership is still far from crossing the ideological Rubicon, even if a leading figure like Chancellor Merkel may end up being the first great harbinger of the termination of Europe’s multicultural spring.
Dr. Shaul Rosenfeld is a philosophy lecturer
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