Some 200 years ago many Dutch people moved to other countries like Australia, South Africa and the USA. While individuals had to blend into their new society, larger groups of immigrants tended to cling on to their past. In case of South Africa, the difference could not have become bigger as The Netherlands became the worst adversary of the then ruling white minority of which many still carried Dutch names.
A similar situation is happening in Europe. While secular Arabs had to flee to Europe, their offspring is causing major problems. While thousands of Arabs are still trying to escape the violence and intolerance in their home countries, the second and third generation in Europe is oblivious of the reasons of their (grand) parents to escape.
The pendulum is about to swing the other way as Western people are getting more and more fed up with the intolerance and violence expressed by the (grand) children of immigrants that were once welcome in Europe. Soon politicians will leverage on this long existing undercurrent which is already manifesting in more and more countries right now (also see my earlier PEGIDA blog). This pendulum swing is about to bring intolerance to Europe too. Intolerance to minorities. However, ultimately everyone is a minority when you zoom-in long enough.
In his blog Geert Wilders has said that we are at war. Remarkably, the assassins of the Charlie Hebdo office staff would indeed agree with him. However, we are not at war. Islam extremists only hope that we will start thinking that we are at war with Islam. That is their only way to leverage 2.37 billion Christians against 1.57 billion Muslims (source: Wikipedia). The consequences of such an escalation would be very, very dire.
Ahmed Aboutaleb, the mayor of Rotterdam, came to a very different conclusion on national TV. A conclusion that makes much more sense. He stated that there is no place in The Netherlands for people who object to our set of freedoms. He told those people to leave this country if they are not able to blend in. If you don’t like that some cartoonists make a paper then – pardon my French – bugger off! He added that while he is the mayor of Rotterdam, he is also a raging Muslim. He concluded that it is very important for Muslims to object at large.
Aboutaleb indeed comes to the core of this issue. If Muslims want to continue enjoying the European set of freedoms then they have no choice but to follow Aboutaleb’s words. It is the only way forward to prevent some politicians from limiting our set of freedoms.
Real change comes from within. Not from outside pressure. Outside pressure usually works counter productive as defence mechanisms then get fully activated.
Indeed it is very important for Muslims to object at large else their fate in Europe may be doomed.
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