Europas langer Weg zur Moschee
W. Laquer, Die Presse
July 4 2010

“Eurabia”, namely the idea than Moslems will one day become the majority in Europe, is not Western, but Arab. It has to do primarily with demographics: with Europe's low birth-rates and aging population, Moslem immigration is clearly a reversal of the tendency. Immigration has already changed the physiognomy of Europe's cities and is vital to the very survival of the Old Continent. More important than demographics, however, is the question of culture. The history of Europe is a history of migration. But cohabitation between different cultures is not always easy. The second and third generations of immigrants tend to be more radical than the first. This radicalism does not stem from a presumed religious fundamentalism, but rather from the frustration of the younger generations of immigrants who feel discriminated against. Their ideology is a blend of religious and nationalist elements. There is a real danger that such victims will give rise to a sub-class akin to those dubbed by French historians in the 19th century “classes dangereuses”. The key to managing the phenomenon is the integration of immigrants, who represent a slow but irreversible process. How much longer must we wait before Europe gives room to rapidly-growing minority which is faced not only with a difficult process of social and cultural integration, but one which it often rejects?