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Europe’s Muslim dilemma

EUROPE is on edge.

Europe’s Muslim dilemma

In fear: The most dangerous ramification of IS terror is the rise of intolerance.



S Nihal Singh

EUROPE is on edge. The most piquant symbol is the move by French beach resorts to ban the burkini, a full body covering swimsuit with a cap for Muslim women in contrast to the revealing bikini. But the disquiet is deep in many European countries leading to alarm bells ringing on the dangers of Islamophobia, with key elections in France and Germany next year adding to the troubled mix.

A series of terrorist attacks linked to IS sympathisers in Belgium and France in recent months has made the population jittery. And even in Germany, less prone to terrorist incidents, at least three attacks linked to jihadist sympathisers have roiled the political class. The gainers are the extreme right and anti-immigrant parties.

In France, presidential eletions are due next year, with the fortunes of the extreme right Marine Le Pen of the National Front soaring. While politicians are already lining up as candidates for the main conservative party, now in the opposition, President Francois Mitterand’s poll figures are at a historic low while it is widely believed that Ms Le Pen will reach the deciding second round in the presidential election.

Even more fragile is the outlook for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who showed bravery and leadership in accepting more than 1.1 million refugees last year from the conflict-ridden Syria and other parts of the Middle East and Afghanistan. Inevitably, there was a backlash and the rise of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) anti-immigrant party. Most of the other members of the EU let down Ms Merkel by refusing to share the burden in any significant way.

Ms Merkel sought to recoup some of her domestic support by agreeing with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on a dubious deal to stem the flow of refugees. It did slow down dramatically but it is doubtful how long it will last, given Ankara’s wholesale arrest of thousands after a failed coup and the receding prospect of Turks being granted visa-free entry to the EU. 

The problems linked to Muslims are somewhat different in the two main continental countries. In France, which has philosophically always prided itself on its version of secularism and equality, a large underclass of persons of largely Arab ancestry, the wages of the old French Empire, has grown up living in squalid conditions in the outlying suburbs of big cities. Some of them are ready recruits to the cause of the Islamic State. Belgium, which faces a similar problem, has the highest proportion of jihadists in relation to its population.

However, Germany, unlike France, is not a multi-cultural country. Even the few million Turks brought in as labour for a booming economy and now settled in Germany have largely lived segregated lives. Thus the induction of more than a million, largely Muslim, refugees has upset Germans who had first welcomed them with open arms. The fact that some of those indulging in terrorist acts had slipped through with genuine refugees has not helped matters. And the searing incidents in Cologne  of sexual assaults on women involving refugees last New Year's eve has become imprinted on German psyche.

Europe’s efforts to live with Muslims and the Muslim world come at a time of change. With Brexit, the power balance on the continent has changed even as mainstream leaders are trying to cope with some truants in their ranks. The new dispensation in Poland, a great beneficiary of the EU, has gone nativist and is flouting the ground rules of a democratic state. And Hungary has for some time shown a cavalier attitude to democratic norms. Democracy is the benchmark of the coming together of old warring nations after World War II.

The question many Europeans are asking themselves is how they can reconcile with the new Muslim problem created by the events leading up to the formation of the Islamic State. Obviously, the values and culture of Europeans are inimical to the extreme version of Islam espoused by the jihadists. European countries such as France have failed to integrate their Muslim population for a variety of reasons. It  has the biggest Muslim population in Europe.

Perhaps the most dangerous ramification of the problems created by the Islamic State is the rise of intolerance. European thoughts in an election season are focused on coping with this phenomenon. Both the centre-right and centre-left are nervously looking over their shoulders as pollsters suggest growing support for parties suporting extremist causes.

In France, Ms Le Pen now strikes a more confident note and leaders of the Alternative for Germany are preening themselves. All is far from lost but centrist leaders are struggling to find a new mantra to dispel their gloom. Democracy is for the large part underpinned by centrist politics and most sober politicians' effort is to bring back the pendulum to the centre.

In a sense, much will depend on Ms Merkel’s political future. She had enjoyed great popularity at home until the refugee crisis and much admiration abroad for dominating European affairs with aplomb. In the ultimate analysis, will she be able to win back popularity at home in spite of the dilemmas refugees have created for her country?

On a larger scale, Britain still has to begin formal negotiations on its departure from the EU by triggering an article that would give it two years to complete the process. London’s dilemma is how to continue to belong to the vital EU single market while restricting immigrants, a major cause of the ‘vote to leave’.

Misfortunes, as the famous adage has it, never come alone. European leaders must balance their endeavour to complete the process of Brexit with fighting the new menace of the growth of extremism in their respective countries. It must be the hope of much of the world that Europe will succeed. It is indeed a tantalising moment for the world’s future trajectory.

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