Eurabia conspiracy theory: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Threeafterthree (talk | contribs)
21,164 edits
rm cat per talk
yes, i know that Indonesia has more Muslims but cite a source please. Thanks.
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Islam in Europe by country}}
{{Islam in Europe by country}}
{{Criticism of Islam sidebar}}
{{Criticism of Islam sidebar}}
'''Eurabia''' is a political [[neologism]] that refers to the premise that the [[Muslims in Europe|Muslim population in Europe]], due to continued [[immigration]] and high [[birth rates]], will [[Demographics of Europe|become a majority]] within a few generations. The term is a misnomer, as it equates [[Arabia]] or [[Arab]] with [[Islam]].
'''Eurabia''' is a political [[neologism]] that refers to the premise that the [[Muslims in Europe|Muslim population in Europe]], due to continued [[immigration]] and high [[birth rates]], will [[Demographics of Europe|become a majority]] within a few generations. The term is a misnomer, as it equates [[Arabia]] or [[Arab]] with [[Islam]].{{citation needed}}


==Origin of the term==
==Origin of the term==

Revision as of 19:51, 25 July 2011

Islam in Europe
by percentage of country population[1]
  90–100%
  70–90%
  50–70%
 Bosnia and Herzegovina
  30–40%
 North Macedonia
  10–20%
  5–10%
  4–5%
  2–4%
  1–2%
  < 1%
This article is of a series on
Criticism of religion
By religion
By religious figure
By text
Religious violence
Bibliographies
Related topics

Eurabia is a political neologism that refers to the premise that the Muslim population in Europe, due to continued immigration and high birth rates, will become a majority within a few generations. The term is a misnomer, as it equates Arabia or Arab with Islam.[citation needed]

Origin of the term

Further information: Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis

Eurabia was originally the title of a newsletter published by the Comité européen de coordination des associations d'amitié avec le monde Arabe.[2] According to Bat Ye'or, it was published collaboratively with France-Pays Arabes (journal of the Association de solidarité franco-arabe or ASFA), Middle East International (London), and the Groupe d'Etudes sur le Moyen-Orient (Geneva).[3] During the 1973 oil crisis, the European Economic Community (predecessor of the European Union), had entered into the Euro-Arab Dialogue (EAD) with the Arab League.[4] Bat Ye'or later used the journal title Eurabia to describe the associated political developments.

In her book Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis, Bat Ye'or states that Eurabia is the result of the French-led European policy originally intended to increase European power against the United States by aligning its interests with those of the Arab countries. She regards it as a primary cause of European hostility to Israel, referring to joint Euro-Arab foreign policies that she characterizes as anti-American and anti-Zionist.[5] The term is generally used in combination with "dhimmitude", another term introduced by Ye'or, denoting an attitude of concession, surrender and appeasement towards Islam. Her definition of the term is:

Eurabia is a geo-political reality envisaged in 1973 through a system of informal alliances between, on the one hand, the nine countries of the European Community (EC) which, enlarged, became the European Union (EU) in 1992 and on the other hand, the Mediterranean Arab countries. The alliances and agreements were elaborated at the top political level of each EC country with the representative of the European Commission, and their Arab homologues with the Arab League's delegate. This system was synchronised under the roof of an association called the Euro-Arab Dialogue (EAD) created in July 1974 in Paris.

Current usage

Current use of the term differs from than that of Bat Ye'or, with more attention focused on Muslim immigration and demographics, and the difficulties of assimilating Europe's Islamic populations. Niall Ferguson wrote in the New York Times that the idea of Eurabia has

...gained credibility since 9/11. The 3/11 bombings in Madrid confirm that terrorists sympathetic to Osama bin Laden continue to operate with comparative freedom in European cities. Some American commentators suspect Europeans of wanting to appease radical Islam. Others detect in sporadic manifestations of anti-Semitism a sinister conjunction of old fascism and new fundamentalism.[6]

The term has been popularized by writers such Oriana Fallaci,[7] Robert Spencer,[8] Daniel Pipes,[9] Ayaan Hirsi Ali,[10] Melanie Phillips,[11] Mark Steyn[12] (and several web sites[13]). Others, such as Bernard Lewis[14] and Bruce Bawer have presented comparable scenarios.

Waleed Aly, in an article published in The Age (Melbourne), responding to Raphael Israeli's call for controls limiting Muslim immigration to Australia (lest a "critical mass" develop) observed that Raphael Israeli's comments are a cause for concern "because they are not as marginal as they are mad." Aly continues that Israeli's latest book "is an unoriginal appropriation of the 'Eurabia' conspiracy thesis of Jewish writer Bat Ye'or: that Europe is evolving into a post-Judeo-Christian civilisation increasingly subjugated to the jihadi ideology of Muslim migrants" and that the theory has received "enthusiastic support" from intellectuals in Europe and activists in the USA.[15]

In 2009, a video connected to Eurabia was uploaded to YouTube, with the title "Muslim Demographics". The video reached 10 million views in just a bit over two months, notably leading to the investigation of the figures put forward in the seven-and-a-half minute video by a BBC News program. The program concluded; "So how reliable are the statistics in the Muslim Demographics video? The short answer is: not very. But the long answer is more interesting, because the video is mix of the right, the wrong and the unknowable."[16][17]

Anders Behring Breivik, perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks, wrote in his manifesto that Muslims were conducting "demographic warfare" to impose "Eurabia".[18]

Implications and response

In 2006, Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi delivered a speech predicting Europe would become a Muslim continent in a "few decades". He quoted various figures: that there were 50 million Muslims in the EU, that adding Turkey to the EU would add 50 million Muslims, that Bosnia was more than 50% Muslim, that Albania and Bosnia were already a part of the EU. He concluded by calling on the US and Europe to either become Muslim or "declare war on the Muslims".[19][20] Geert Wilders reiterated Gaddafi's prediction that Europe will become Muslim and said "for once in his life, Gaddafi was telling the truth."[21]

However, not all supporters of the theory see 'Eurabia' as inevitable.[22] Some advocate a total prohibition of Islam.[23] Ayaan Hirsi Ali proposes treating radical Islam like Nazism. Domestically, she proposes monitoring the Muslim population, and registering the religious identities of criminals who target women, Jews or homosexuals. She also seeks to ban all Muslim faith schools. She believes all new immigrants should pledge allegiance to the constitution and should be deported immediately if they "break it". Internationally she proposes reduction of the dependance on oil (by way of developing alternate energy).[24]

During the conference "The collapse of Europe" at Pepperdine University, Ayaan Hirsi Ali asked for "reform, meaning, to reduce government, where government is unnecessary, and especially the welfare state."[25]

According to Johann Hari, "Steyn's wider response to Islamism is to make democratic societies more like the one the Islamists want to build."[26]

Criticism of the concept

The Economist, acknowledging that integration of immigrants was a difficult process, nevertheless rejected the concept of Eurabia as "scaremongering".[27] Scholar Matt Carr writing in Race & Class expressed his concern that the theory of Eurabia had moved from (what he called) "an outlandish conspiracy theory" to a more mainstream and "dangerous Islamophobic fantasy".[28]

Justin Vaisse, co-author of Integrating Islam Political and Religious Challenges in Contemporary France, seeks to discredit, what he calls, "four myths of the alarmist school," using Muslims in France as an example. Specifically he wrote that the Muslim population growth rate was lower than that predicted by Eurabia, partly because the fertility rate of immigrants declines with integration.[29] He further points out that Muslims are not a monolithic or cohesive group,[30] and that many Muslims do seek to integrate politically and socially. Finally, he wrote that despite their numbers, Muslims have had little influence on French foreign policy.[31]

David Aaronovitch writes that the proponents of Eurabia confuse Islamists with mainstream Muslims. He acknowledges that the threat of "jihadist terror" may be real, but that there was no threat of Eurabia. Aaronovitch concludes that those of study conspiracy theories will recognize Eurabia to be a theory that combines the Sad Dupes thesis to the Enemy Within idea.[32]

The "Eurabia" theory has been compared by British columnist Johann Hari to historically antisemitic writing. He calls the two "startlingly similar" and says that "there are intellectuals on the British right who are propagating a conspiracy theory about Muslims that teeters very close to being a 21st century Protocols of the Elders of Mecca."[33]

In his book Wars of Blood and Faith, US military analyst Ralph Peters states that far from being about to take over Europe through demographic change, "Europe's Muslims are living on borrowed time" and that in the event of a major terrorist attack in Europe, thanks to the "ineradicable viciousness" of Europeans and what he perceives as a historical tendency to over-react to real or perceived threats, European Muslims "will be lucky if they're only deported."[34]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Religious Composition by Country, 2010-2050". Pew Research Center. 12 April 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  2. ^ Template:Fr Archive list Universités de Paris
  3. ^ Bat Ye'or, Le dialogue Euro-Arabe et la naissance d'Eurabia, Observatoire du Monde Juif, December 2002, English translation
  4. ^ MEDEA: Euro-Arab dialogue
  5. ^ 'Eurabia' Defined, Andrew G. Bostom, American Thinker, November 15, 2005
  6. ^ Niall Ferguson, THE WAY WE LIVE NOW: 4-4-04; Eurabia?, New York Times, April 4, 2004 [1]
  7. ^ Template:It "Sono quattr' anni che parlo di nazismo islamico, di guerra all' Occidente, di culto della morte, di suicidio dell' Europa. Un' Europa che non è più Europa ma Eurabia e che con la sua mollezza, la sua inerzia, la sua cecità, il suo asservimento al nemico si sta scavando la propria tomba." in Oriana Fallaci, Il nemico che trattiamo da amico, Corriere della Sera, 2006-09-15
  8. ^ Jihad Watch and Dhimmi Watch websites
  9. ^ Daniel Pipes's website
  10. ^ "The monopoly of force that is now exclusive to states will be challenged by armed subgroups. European societies will be divided along ethnic and religious lines. The education system will not succeed in grooming the youth to believe in a shared past, let alone a shared future. The European states will find themselves limiting civil liberties. Europeans will come to accept the de facto implementation of Sharia law in certain neighborhoods and even cities. The exploitation of the weak, women and children will be commonplace. Those who can afford to emigrate will do so. Instead of an ever-growing union in Europe, future generations may witness an ever-disintegrating one." in Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Europe's Immigration Quagmire, LA Times, 2006
  11. ^ Melanie Phillips, Londonistan: How Britain is creating a terror state within, Encounter, London, 2006
  12. ^ Mark Steyn, America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It, 2006 and 2008; It's the Demography, Stupid (2006-01-04); The future belongs to Islam (2006-10-20)
  13. ^ including Gates of Vienna, Paul Belien's Brussels Journal, Free Republic, Front Page Magazine, Richard Landes's Eurabia article, Fjordman's The Eurabia Code article and Defeating Eurabia compilation (this web page list several web resources)
  14. ^ ref: maybe [2], [3], [4], [5] [6]
  15. ^ Waleed Aly, "Hatred in a head count", The Age, 2007-02-19; see also Raphael Israeli's answer to Australian media coverage, 2007-02-22
  16. ^ "Welcome to Eurabia?". BBC News. 7 August 2009.
  17. ^ Knight, Richard (7 August 2009). "Does 'Muslim Demographics' abuse numbers?". BBC (Radio 4 Blog).
  18. ^ DOUG SAUNDERS.Gunman's manifesto calls for war against Muslims, Globe and Mail, July 24, 2011.
  19. ^ "Al-Qaddafi: Islam taking over Europe - Victory within a Few Decades". Al-Jazeera TV. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
  20. ^ "Will Britain one day be Muslim?". Daily Mail. London. 2007-05-05. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
  21. ^ speech to British Parliament, 2010-03-05
  22. ^ for those who do, see especially "Eurabia represents a geo-political reality" and "Western Europe [...] future is Eurabia. Period.", Bat Ye'or quoted by Jamie Glazov, Eurabia, Front Page Magazine, 2004-09-21
  23. ^ Template:Fr manifesto in Le devoir de précaution
  24. ^ Template:Nl Confrontatie, geen verzoening, de Volkskrant, 8 April 2006, copy here
  25. ^ 2007-06-19, quoted by bigpicweblog.com, conference The collapse of Europe at Pepperdine University with americanfreedomalliance.org; see also "Mark Steyn argues for dissolving Europe's welfare" in Johann Hari, 2 'America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It' by Mark Steyn", New Statesman, 2007-03-12, Bruce Bawer claiming that european "big-government, welfare-state social democracy" is a "kind of fundamentalism" in "While Europe Slept interview with Bruce Bawer", Front Page magazine, 2006-05-23;
  26. ^ in "'America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It' by Mark Steyn"
  27. ^ "Tales from Eurabia". The Economist. June 22, 2006. Integration will be hard work for all concerned. But for the moment at least, the prospect of Eurabia looks like scaremongering. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  28. ^ Matt Carr, You are now entering Eurabia
  29. ^ See also Randy McDonald, France, its Muslims, and the Future, 2004-04-13, Doug Saunders, "The 'Eurabia' myth deserves a debunking", The Globe and Mail, 2008-09-20, Fewer differences between foreign born and Swedish born childbearing women, Statistics Sweden, 2008-11-03, Mary Mederios Kent, Do Muslims have more children than other women in western Europe?, Population Reference Bureau, prb.org, February 2008; for fertility of Muslims outside Europe, see the sentence "The dramatic decline in Iran's fertility provides a recent example of how strict Islamic practices can coexist with widespread use of family planning.", and (the articles) Farzaneh Roudi-Fahimi and Mary Mederios Kent, Fertility Declining in the Middle East and North Africa, prb.org, April 2008, especially the figure 2, Mohammad Jalal Abbasi-Shavazi, Recent changes and the future of fertility in Iran, especially the figure 1;
  30. ^ See also "Merely speaking of a 'Muslim community in France' can be misleading and inaccurate: like every immigrant population, Muslims in France exhibit strong cleavages based on the country of their origin, their social background, political orientation and ideology, and the branch or sect of Islam that they practice (when they do)." in Justin Vaisse, Unrest in France, November 2005, 2006-01-12
  31. ^ See also Justin Vaïsse, La France et les musulmans: une politique étrangère sous influence?, April 2007 Template:Fr
  32. ^ David Aaronovitch (2005-11-15). "It's the latest disease: sensible people saying ridiculous things about Islam". London: The Times. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
  33. ^ Johann Hari, "Amid all this panic, we must remember one simple fact - Muslims are not all the same", The Independent, London, 2006-08-21; see also "It is not an exaggeration to see in these wild conspiracy theories a mutation of Europe’s old, toxic anti-Semitism. What are Fallaci and Ye’or offering but the Protocols of the Elders of Muhammad?" in Johann Hari, "Islam in the West", Dissent magazine, winter 2007;
  34. ^ Peters, Ralph (2007). Wars of blood and faith: the conflicts that will shape the twenty-first century. Stackpole Books. pp. 333–334. ISBN 9780811702744.

Further reading

Books

Supporting

Critical

External links

Look up eurabia conspiracy theory in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Supporters

Skeptics

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eurabia_conspiracy_theory&oldid=441402454"