Europe's Future, Newsweek's Fantasy

The Italian newspaper Il Foglio asked for a reaction to a 1,500-word analysis by William Underhill, "Why Fears Of A Muslim Takeover Are All Wrong," in the Newsweek dated today. My response:

Newsweek's "Myth of Eurabia" cover.

Three schools of thought compete to predict the future of Europe, those of "Eurabia," "expulsion," and "symbiosis." The first two make grimly plausible arguments about an ancient civilization either disappearing or standing up for itself, but these pessimistic expectations remain minority viewpoints. In elite European circles, especially, a wide consensus holds that symbiosis, assimilation, good feeling, compromise, and muddling through will prevail.

Underhill, a hitherto little-known reporter, has got the fur flying with a provocatively titled article that argues for a happy outcome on the basis of two points: Muslim birthrates in Europe are declining and many Muslims "appear strangely content with the established [European] order."

Even granting his arguments, however, Underhill ignores so many other factors as to render his analysis useless. He says not a word about Muslim immigration, legal or illegal, nor about European emigration; nothing about the development of Muslim no-go zones, enclaves, street muscle, Shar'i courts, madrassahs, and slaveholding; not a peep about hijabs, jilbabs, niqabs, burqas, nor honor killings and harems; and he stays silent about Islamist intimidation in schools and hospitals, about the curtailment of freedom of speech, and government patronage of Islam.

In brief, while we may not know where Europe will end up, Underhill's implied symbiosis is a fantasy. (July 20, 2009)

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