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Europe and Islamic Fundamentalism

Europe and Islamic Fundamentalism. Challenge to the European Dream. The Fundamentalist Wedge. According to the Times “Islamic fundamentalism is causing a 'clash of civilisations' between liberal democracies and Muslims”

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Europe and Islamic Fundamentalism

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  1. Europe and Islamic Fundamentalism Challenge to the European Dream

  2. The Fundamentalist Wedge • According to the Times “Islamic fundamentalism is causing a 'clash of civilisations' between liberal democracies and Muslims” • Increasingly, since 9/11, Islamic Fundamentalism (Islamism) viewed as incompatible with European values • Challenge to European value of multiculturalism • Compounded by lack of assimilationist ideology: “There is no French, Dutch or other European dream. You emigrate here to escape poverty and nothing more.“ • Fundamental extremism fuels intolerance across Europe

  3. Muslims in Europe • Thought to be around 12-13 million practicing Muslims in Europe today • Europe’s naturally declining demography is creating a need for migrant labor • EU needs at least 1.2 million new immigrants each year to preserve its demographic balance. • Immigration from Algeria (France), Morocco (Spain and France), Pakistan, Egypt and Palestine (UK), Turkey (Germany) • Fuels fear of “loss” of European culture and values to Islamic Fundamentalism

  4. France

  5. Germany

  6. The Case of the Missing Imams • Imams across Europe have come under increasing scrutiny • Netherlands, Free University in Amsterdam to train Imams on Dutch society, government and culture • Fueled by murder of Dutch film-maker Theo van Gogh in Nov, 2004 • France, foreign-born Imams must attend classes in French language, government and culture and must preach in French • Fueled by honor killings and outspoken pro-al Qaeda clerics • French have deported Imams for justifying intolerance (wife-beating, honor killings)

  7. The Mood in Holland Dutch viewpoints after slaying of van Gogh: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3994539.stm

  8. In France . . . • Institute for Human Sciences (IESH) • Est. in 1990 in ‘la France profonde’ • "Here a generation has grown up with French as its mother tongue. These people need imams to pass on the religious values of their parents. Leaders from elsewhere cannot do it because they do not under-stand the language or the customs and habits that prevail here. They have to come from inside." -- Zuhair Mahmoud, IESH's founder and director

  9. Multiculturalism, Fear and Integration • Study “Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims in the EU,” by International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF), covering 11 EU members states found: • Widespread negative attitudes towards Muslims • Seen as an “enemy within” • In Germany, 80% of respondents associated Islam with “terrorism” and “oppression of women” • “We are concerned that these developments threaten to undermine positive efforts at integration and further increase the vulnerability of Muslims to human rights violations and marginalisation” --Aaron Rhodes, IHF executive director • In part accounts for French hostility and general EU wariness about Turkey’s application

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