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Eurabia conspiracy theory

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File:Economist Eurabia cover.jpg
Cover of The Economist magazine, June 24-30, 2006 edition

Eurabia denotes a scenario where Europe allies itself and eventually merges with the Arab world.

In the critical context, the term was popularised by Bat Ye'or, who stressed the European-Arab hostility to Israel, and European (EEC) support for the PLO. Since then, its meaning has expanded and shifted. It is now primarily used to describe an alleged transformation of the European Union, where Islam and Sharia law become the dominant value systems, and where the population consists increasingly of Muslims. (Usage of the term is no longer limited to Europe's relationship with the Arab world). The term is generally used in combination with dhimmitude, denoting an alleged attitude of concession, surrender and appeasement towards Islamic demands.

There is no specific name for belief in the Eurabia scenario, and no official ideology of "Eurabia-ism." Those who see the scenario as true, generally believe that Islam is hostile to, and incompatible with, the values of the Western world, that there are substantial numbers of Muslims in Europe that their presence there is a deliberate strategy, that Muslims will form a demographic majority within a few generations, that all or most Muslims seek to Islamise Europe, and that part of the European political and cultural elite supports this goal. They are hostile to multiculturalism, which they see as part of the Eurabia strategy, and they are eurosceptic, since the EU is seen as implementing the strategy. [1] Eurabia is used by some to denote a conspiracy, and their version be described as a conspiracy theory: Oriana Fallaci referred to those behind the Eurabia strategy as "the biggest conspiracy that modern history has created". [2]

Template:Muslims and controversies

Origin of the term

Eurabia was originally the title of a newsletter published by the Comité européen de coordination des associations d’amitié avec le monde Arabe. [3] 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).[4] There is no group of this name at the University of Geneva, but there is a Groupe de recherche et d'études sur la Méditerranée et le Moyen Orient (GREMMO) at the Université Lyon 2, [5] and one of its members is the Institut universitaire d'études du développement (IUED) at the University of Geneva. [6]

During the 1973 oil crisis, the European Economic Community (predecessor of the European Union), had entered into the Euro-Arab Dialogue with the Arab League. [7] Bat Ye'or later used the journal title Eurabia, to describe the Euro-Arab Dialogue (EAD) and associated political developments. The term originally had no pejorative intent, and no connotation similar to its present usage: Bat Ye'or was the first to use it in that way, especially in her 2005 book Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis. (In Germany, 'Eurabia' is used in the names of several businesses, such as the Eurabia Schifffahrts-Agentur GmbH and Eurabia Tours).

Bat Ye'or on Eurabia

Bat Ye'or sees Eurabia (the political process) as the result of a French-led European policy originally intended to increase European power against the United States by aligning its interests with those of the Arab countries, and regards it as a primary cause of European hostility to Israel. She describes it as follows:

File:Eurabia.jpg
Book cover of Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis
"A machinery that has made Europe the new continent of dhimmitude was put into motion more than 30 years ago at the instigation of France. A wide-ranging policy was then first sketched out, a symbiosis of Europe with the Muslim Arab countries, that would endow Europe - and especially France, the project's prime mover - with a weight and a prestige to rival that of the United States. This policy was undertaken quite discreetly, outside of official treaties, under the innocent-sounding name of the Euro-Arab Dialogue... This strategy, the goal of which was the creation of a pan-Mediterranean Euro-Arab entity, permitting the free circulation both of men and of goods, also determined the immigration policy with regard to Arabs in the European Community (EC). And, for the past 30 years, it also established the relevant cultural policies in the schools and universities of the EC... The Arabs set the conditions for this association:
  1. a European policy that would be independent from, and opposed to that of the United States
  2. the recognition by Europe of a Palestinian people, and the creation of a Palestinian state
  3. European support for the PLO
  4. the designation of Yasser Arafat as the sole and exclusive representative of that Palestinian people
  5. the delegitimizing of the State of Israel, both historically and politically, its shrinking into non-viable borders, and the Arabization of Jerusalem.
From this sprang the hidden European war against Israel, through economic boycotts, and in some cases academic boycotts as well, through deliberate vilification, and the spreading of both anti-Zionism and New anti-Semitism."[8]

More succinctly, she summarizes it in the National Review as follows:

"Europe's economic greed was instrumentalized by Arab League policy in a long-term political strategy targeting Israel, Europe, and America... Through the labyrinth of the EAD system, a policy of Israel's delegitimization was planned at both the EC's national and international levels... Strategically, the Euro-Arab Cooperation was a political instrument for anti-Americanism in Europe, whose aim was to separate and weaken the two continents by an incitement to hostility and the permanent denigration of American policy in the Middle East."

Current usage

File:The Spect.jpg
Cover of the Nov 12, 2005 issue of The Spectator magazine.

Current usage of the term is wider than the version given by Bat Ye'or, with less attention for Franco-Arab relations, and more for immigration and Muslim demographics. Others, such as Bernard Lewis and Bruce Bawer have presented comparable scenarios, for which the term 'Eurabia' is now also used. It can no longer be exclusively identified with the work of Bat Ye'or. The Eurabia theory, as its supporters present it in the media, blogs, internet forums and online magazines, includes these elements:[9]

  • Islam is incompatible with European (western) values, and hostile to the Western world. The West is engaged in some form of war or civilisational conflict with Islam.
  • Islam seeks to replace European civilisation and values with its own. It envisions a Europe where mosques replace churches, and sharia replaces the European legal tradition.
  • Western civilisation is explicitly Judeo-Christian, and the Islamic hostility is partly religious.
  • Muslims make continual demands in order to impose their own values, and concessions inspire fresh demands. Most if not all Muslims have this demanding attitude, since such demands are a part of their religion.
  • These demands are also intended to place non-Muslims (Jews and Christians) in the status of dhimmi, and most Muslims find that the only appropriate status for them.
  • These demands should be resisted, but European governments, media and elites consistently fail to do so. They even pre-emptively make concessions to Muslims, including self-censorship. Their attitude is that of dhimmitude - the servile attitude of the weak dhimmi in a Muslim-dominated society. Dhimmitude is effectively an act of treason against western civilisation.
  • Muslim immigration to Europe is a strategy, intended to gain control of Europe, by replacing its non-Muslim population with Muslims - it is not primarily economic in character.
  • The growth of the Muslim population in Europe by natural increase (high birth rates) is also part of this strategy - "outbreeding the enemy." There are already many more Muslims in Europe than official statistics admit, and within several generations (at least by 2100) they will form a majority. European governments have actively facilitated this strategy by allowing continuous immigration from Muslim countries, which is also tantamount to treason.
  • Even before they are a majority, Muslims will dominate European politics because of their numbers and the complaisant dhimmitude of politicians and elites, who consistently fail to offer any resistance to them.

The sceptical Matt Carr describes the scenario as follows:[10]

According to the worst-case Eurabian predictions, by the end of the twenty-first century, most of Europe’s cities will be overrun with Arabic-speaking foreign immigrants, much of the continent will be living under Islamic Sharia law and Christianity will have ceased to exist or be reduced to a state of ‘dhimmitude’... In the nightmare world of Eurabia, the future will become the past once again and Christians and Jews will become oppressed minorities in a sea of Islam; churches and cathedrals will be replaced by mosques and minarets, the call to prayer will echo from Paris to Rotterdam and London and the remnants of ‘Judeo-Christian’ Europe will have been reduced to small enclaves in a world of bearded Arabic-speakers and burka-clad women.

Degree of support for the theory

The term Eurabia has gained currency, partly because it reflects a more general political tendency, which sees Islam as a major threat to Europe and its values. Justin Vaisse, who is sceptical of the claimed transformation into Eurabia, spoke of this mood at the Brookings Institution (spelling corrected): [11]

... I toured the bookshops and I was looking for books on Islam in Europe. And the only titles I could find, the only books I could find, bore titles like While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within, by Bruce Bawer; The West's Last Chance: Will We Win the Clash of Civilizations, by Tony Blankley; Eurabia, The Euro-Arab Axis by Bat Ye'or; or Menace in Europe: Why the Continent's Crisis is America's, Too, by Claire Berlinski... And more generally, even more serious authors like Bernard Lewis or Niall Ferguson write things or give interviews speaking of the Islamization of Europe, the reverse colonization, the demographic time bomb that is threatening Europe, et cetera, with the suggestion that the sky is falling.

Others who have supported the Eurabia theory, and express related views, include Fjordman[12], Oriana Fallaci, [13] Robert Spencer, [14] Daniel Pipes, [15] Ayaan Hirsi Ali, [16] Melanie Phillips, [17] and Mark Steyn. [18] While still a cardinal, Pope Benedict XVI expressed concern about the erosion of the Christian nature of Europe, and opposed the accession of Turkey to the European Union. In 2005, the Pope granted an audience to Oriana Fallaci (herself an atheist), who praised his support for Europe's Christian heritage.[19]

Without specific surveys it is impossible to determine the amount of support for the Eurabia theory. However, surveys of attitudes to Islam in western Europe have shown substantial suspicion, fear and hostility.[20] Interest in the Eurabia scenario reflects this polarisation, at a time when the former consensus on multiculturalism in western Europe has been eroded. [21] The Thomas theorem indicates that belief in the scenario can have a social and political effect, regardless of whether it is an accurate prediction of future developments.

Implications and response

The Eurabia theory construes the expanding Muslim population of Europe, and the religious demands thereof, as a subversive and insidious threat to Western European civilization. Lars Hedegaard of the Danish 'Free Press Society' sees Europe possibly fragmenting into enclaves: [22]

"Basically there are two possible outcomes: Either the Western populations accept their inevitable fate as dhimmies under new Muslim rulers, or they counter the emergence of Muslim parallel societies by setting up their own. i.e. they split their countries into mutually hostile enclaves like in Northern Ireland during the Troubles or in Yugoslavia or Lebanon. The third option -- that the Western states decide to side with their old majority populations and with those newcomers who want to live like them and with them -- would require a transformation of Churchillian proportions that I cannot envision."

Not all supporters of the theory see 'Eurabia' as inevitable. Some advocate the prohibition of Islam, [23] and some advocate a direct confrontation. In an article entitled Confrontation, not appeasement, Ayaan Hirsi Ali demands a confrontational policy at European level, to meet the threat of radical Islam, and compares non-confrontational policies with Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler. [24] Specifically, she proposes:

  • careful monitoring of the demographic growth of the Muslim population in Europe (EU)
  • registration of all violent incidents against women, Jews and homosexuals, including the (religious) identity of the perpetrator
  • Europe must recognise the United States and Israel as allies in the struggle against radical Islam
  • a European immigration policy, which makes entry conditional on allegiance to the national constitution: Immigrants should sign a contract to obey the Constitution, and should be deported if they break it.
  • ideological confrontation with the generation "infected by radical Islam": all Muslims must explicitly renounce radical Islam.
  • "offer good education, close all Islamic schools, and prohibit the opening of new ones."

Critique of the Eurabia theory

The first academic work to address the Eurabia thesis is Integrating Islam Political and Religious Challenges in Contemporary France, by Justin Vaisse and Jonathan Laurence. Laurence says of it: [25]

Those who utter the term 'Eurabia' conjure up a mutant European continent under pressure from oil-producing states that has all but abandoned its values and policies to a horde of Arab immigrants. Our book attempts to dismantle that position by exploring the actual evolution of French policies towards Muslims and organized Islam since the 1970s. We try to do away with one of the false premises of 'Eurabia', namely, that French and European governments - fuelled by self-loathing multiculturalist policies- have capitulated to Muslims’ cultural and religious demands.

Justin Vaisse says the book intends to debunk "four myths of the alarmist school." Using France as an example, he says:

  • The Muslim population is not growing as fast as the scenario claims, since the fertility rate of immigrants declines
  • Muslims are not a monolithic or cohesive group
  • Muslims do seek to integrate politically and socially
  • Despite their numbers, Muslims have little influence on foreign policy (e.g. policy toward Israel)

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Sources for Eurabia views include the blogs Gates of Vienna [1], Islamophobic [2] and Brussels Journal [3], Free Republic [4], Front Page magazine [5], and the websites of Robert Spencer, Daniel Pipes and Bat Ye'or, especially the four-part article The Eurabia Code by 'Fjordman' posted at Jihad Watch [6]
  2. ^ The Fallaci Code, Brendan Bernhard, LA Weekly. [7]
  3. ^ Archive list Universités de Paris, [8]
  4. ^ Observatoire du Monde Juif, 2002. [9]
  5. ^ GREMMO websites [10] and [11]
  6. ^ IUED website [12]
  7. ^ MEDEA: Euro-Arab dialogue EURO-ARAB Dialogue
  8. ^ [13]
  9. ^ See for example the blogs Gates of Vienna [14], Islamophobic [15] and Brussels Journal [16], Free Republic [17], Front Page magazine [18], and the websites of Robert Spencer, Daniel Pipes and Bat Ye'or, especially the four-part article The Eurabia Code by 'Fjordman' posted at Jihad Watch [19]
  10. ^ You are now entering Eurabia, Matt Carr, 2006. [20]
  11. ^ Integrating Islam: Political and Religious Challenges in Contemporary France. [21]
  12. ^ The Eurabia Code, Brussels Journal
  13. ^ "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." Oriana Fallaci in Corriere della Sera, 15 September 2006. [22]
  14. ^ JihadWatch weblog and Dhimmiwatch weblog
  15. ^ Website Daniel pipes [23]
  16. ^ "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." Ayaan Hirsi Ali, 2006, Europe's Immigration Quagmire, LA Times, [24]
  17. ^ Melanie Phillips: Londonistan: How Britain is creating a terror state within, London, Encounter (ISBN 1-59403-144-4)
  18. ^ Mark Steyn, 2006. America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It (ISBN 0-89526-078-6)
  19. ^ 'A man with little sympathy for other faiths' . Guardian, September 19, 2006. [25]
  20. ^ Britain: Islam poses a threat to the West, say 53pc in poll. 25 August 2006. [26] Germany: 2006 survey by the Allensbach Institute shows that 56% of those surveyed wanted the government to ban the building of mosques, 91% linked Islam to the oppression of women and 71% believed Islam was intolerant. 40% of the participants believed that "tough limits should be imposed on the practice of Islam in Germany." [27]. Spain: 2006 Instituto Elcano poll shows 68% consider Muslim societies as "violent," and 79% as "non-tolerant." [28]
  21. ^ "All the recent evidence shows that we are, as a society, becoming more socially polarised by race and faith."(Trevor Phillips). Guardian, October 23, 2006: Muslim veil debate could start riots, warns Phillips [29]
  22. ^ Lars Hedegaard (website [30]) at a Front Page Magazine symposium, September 2006, [31]
  23. ^ Manifesto at Le devoir de précaution [32]
  24. ^ Confrontatie, geen verzoening in De Volkskrant, 8 April 2006, online at [33]
  25. ^ Integrating Islam: Political and Religious Challenges in Contemporary France. [34]

Further reading

Supporters

Skeptics

Media reports

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