Europe’s new Fears & Concerns (post 9/11)

For centuries, the West has been free to intervene in the Third World, massacre or fence off the natives, grab their land & resources, install compliant dictators. No Third World country has been able to counter the onslaughts of the West, still less retaliate militarily on western soil - until the attacks on 11 September 2001. Hence the shock and disbelief.

It was a turning point, a watershed in the relations between the West and the rest. Western hegemony could no longer be taken for granted. A tough response was felt necessary – the US promptly launched its War on Terror and President Bush warned, “If you are not with us, you are against us”. There was no attempt to reflect on the colonial legacy or foreign policy for a possible cause. The EU is a partner of the US in this war against terrorism. Muslims remain the principal target.

Euro new fears & concerns

The ongoing war against terrorism is creating a new world order and re-shaping the very foundations of European political culture. Muslims and people of Middle East appearance are regarded with suspicion in Europe – as the ‘enemy within’. European states are adopting tough anti-terrorist and immigration laws. The War on Terrorism, immigration and racism are now intertwined.

But there are wider concerns.

 - western civilisation and way of life is perceived to be under threat;

 - white population is in decline because of a falling birth rate.

 - western society is in decay (widespread breakdown of family and community, decline of Christianity, rise of pop & drug culture);  

As a response to these concerns, we see

- across Europe: greater support for anti-immigrant and far right parties.

- on TV: more programmes on History & Greek-Roman mythology to shore up interest in Europe’s past and its values & to fuel patriotism

- in sports & other competitive events: more flag waving.

[S Review Oct 2001]

Samuel P Huntington, a Harvard professor, wrote the book the Clash of Civilisations and the remaking of the World Order. He has been at the heart of the American establishment for 4 decades, a former director of security planning. The book is endorsed by Henry Kissinger and writer Francis Fukuyama finds it ‘dazzling’. For Huntington, it is the different civilisations that are creating world problems. He doesn’t precisely define what he means by ‘civilisation’ – it may be territorial, religious (like ‘Islamic’) or national. His venom is reserved for Muslims: ‘Islam’s borders are bloody, and so are its innards.’ He has forgotten that Islam’s borders in the Middle East were created by western states after WWI.

It was Huntington who recommended the saturation bombing of Vietnam so as to destroy peasant support for the Viet Cong. He suggested the ‘direct application of mechanical and conventional power on such a massive scale as to produce a mass migration from countryside to cities.’ This was the logic of carpet bombing & napalm.

The US defeat in Vietnam led to the Trilateral Commission (an elite global think-tank) producing a report on the Governability of democracies. Huntington wrote the US section The Democratic Distemper in which he said the US was facing ‘an excess of democracy’. [Chomsky talks of the crisis of democracy.]

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The Far Right – standard bearers of Euro civilisation

The Far Right seems to be fashioning a new cultural politics based on the Clash of Civilisations thesis of US professor Samuel Huntingdon:

Proposition 1: As globalisation breaks down the nation state and diffuses local identities, the source of conflict will shift from the ideological and economic to the cultural. People will rally round a broad cultural or ‘civilisation based’ identity. Large cultural groups will seek security in kinship, a return to their roots and in the case of whites: a pristine civilisation – white and Christian.

Proposition 2:  This civilisation is under threat from an enemy within. The big enemy is the Muslim. Other enemies are the civil right activists, the anti-capitalists and the multiculturalists.

The standard bearers of this European civilisation are the politicians of the Right and of the Far Right (Fascists). Italian head, Silvio Berlusconi, said during his visit to Germany in Sept 2001: “We should be conscious of the superiority of our civilisation, a value system that has given people well-bring in those countries that embrace it, and guarantees respect for human rights and religion, in contrast to the Islamic countries... The West will continue to conquer peoples, even if it means a confrontation with another civilisation, Islam….” 

[There was no reference to the land, blood, sweat and tears of non-Europeans from distant regions that have built the European civilisation and Third World resources that keep it going.]

In his book Against the Islamification of our culture, Dutch far right leader, Pim Fortuyn, had written that Dutch values of tolerance and pluralism were under attack from the ‘backward culture’ of Islam. Fortuyn had forgotten how his ancestors had plundered Indonesia for centuries and maintained the apartheid system in South Africa.

Pia Kjaersgaard of the Danish People’s Party argued that “A clash of civilisation would indicate that there are two civilisations but that’s not true. There’s only one civilisation and that’s ours.”  Said a DPP leader, Kristian Dahl, “Islam is a serious threat to the West; it devours us from within, destabilises our societies.”

In France, fascist leader Bruno Megret, said that while “Islamism threatens world peace, immigration is the breeding ground of Islamism.”

Europe for whites, multiculturism under attack

Driven by fear of population decline & Third World resurgence

Minorities have never been wholeheartedly accepted in Europe. They are forever labelled immigrants, they never become settlers. Over the last decade or so, European politicians & EU documents have been using words like multiculturism, pluralism, diversity not out of a sense of commitment to racial justice and genuine integration but as a gesture to placate the multicultural lobby. Multiculturism and diversity were tolerated at the community level but never accepted in the public sphere. Since 11 Sept, these buzz words have been largely jettisoned in favour of the old monocultural vision of a white, Christian Europe. Christianity is clung to as a pillar of European culture, even though few practise it. The orthodox view has returned: good race relations in Europe means tough immigration controls to ensure fewer non-white immigrants. It also means disciplining minorities already settled in Europe & keeping them in their place. Non-white labour is required in two areas: 1) in lowly occupations (domestic, cleaning, security, fruit picking in remote farms, caring old people), 2) in certain specialised fields such as IT.

Multiculturism has been openly attacked. Said Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Maria Aznar:

“Multiculturism is precisely what splits society. It is not living together, it is not integration.”

Said Peter Westenthaler of the Austrian Freedom Party: “the idea of a multicultural society was buried on 11 September 2001.”

It is not just the extremists who are attacking multiculturism. Mainstream politicians right across the political spectrum are in effect advising immigrant communities to give up their cultural practices and adopt European values – whatever these are. Applicants for British citizenship will be required to attend English language classes and knowledge of British life.

In Austria, the government has introduced requires non-EU foreigners to study German and undergo a course of civics and knowledge of Austria. Those who do not learn German within 4 years will be asked to leave the country.

In Denmark, the marriage age for a foreign spouse is raised from 18 to 23 and the new couple must put up 50,000 kroner ($6000) to ensure they will not use state funds. The foreign spouse will be deported if the marriage breaks down within 7 years.

Euro Parliament Intergroup on Race & Diversity launched on 10 Nov 2004

Claude Moraes, Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the London Region, is President of the European Parliament's Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup - a unique all-party grouping of MEPs drawn from all 25 EU member states, to tackle racism and other concerns across the EU.

The Intergroup, based at the Euro Parliament in Brussels, is supported by the Social Platform of European NGOs and the European Network against Racism (ENAR). It was launched on 10 Nov 2004.
The issues it will address include Islamophobia, the position of the Roma (a widely repressed group with origins in India), the post-9/11 situation, the EU Race Equality & Employment Directives, asylum, the media, trafficking of women & children and the EU-wide debate on culture & identity.
 
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1. Racism has long been accepted as a fact of life in Europe. Instead of tackling the disease head-on, Europe initially made concessions in the cultural terrain. EU states would accept multiculturism - tolerating a mix of cultures. But multicultural practices could operate only through discrete community events, not in the public sphere. Europe's Greek-Roman heritage and Judeo-Christian traditions must remain dominant, together with Enlightenment values such individualism, rationality and a capitalist economy. People of other cultures and beliefs would have to conform and integrate.

2. Since that fateful Sept 11, Euro governments have taken a hard line and multiculturism has being ditched in favour of mono-culturism.

Said Peter Westenthaler of the Austrian Freedom Party: “the idea of a multicultural society was buried on 11 September 2001.”

In his book Against the Islamification of our culture, Dutch far right leader, Pim Fortuyn (later murdered), had written that Dutch values of tolerance and pluralism were under attack from the ‘backward culture’ of Islam. Fortuyn had forgotten how his ancestors had plundered Indonesia for centuries and maintained the apartheid system in South Africa. A Dutch report in Jan 2004 concluded that huge ethnic ghettos are tearing the country apart. The PM warned those young people from the minorities who do not appreciate the dominant culture or fail to learn the Dutch language.

Pia Kjaersgaard of the Danish People’s Party argued that “A clash of civilisation would indicate that there are two civilisations but that’s not true. There’s only one civilisation and that’s ours.”  Said a DPP leader, Kristian Dahl, “Islam is a serious threat to the West; it devours us from within, destabilises our societies.”

In France, fascist leader Bruno Megret, said that while “Islamism threatens world peace, immigration is the breeding ground of Islamism.” French social affairs minister (Fillon) said that the emphasis on the cultural needs of minorities has led to "a guilt complex which makes us doubt our own values and history."

Former Spanish PM had put it bluntly in 2002: "Multiculturism is precisely what splits society."

In UK, there has been a massive 40% increase in stop & search for Asians in London. An idea called 'community cohesion' is not about disciplining the racists but instilling civic responsibility into victimised communities.
Debates on national identity have focused on the assimilative model.

3. The consensus among Europe's heads of states, police and civil servants is that foreigners, especially from the 'Islamic world', constitute a threat to Europe. Germany has been building religious profiles of its Muslim community. The Central Council of Muslims said that the German police have searched more than 80 mosques and in December 2003, the police carried out
the largest raid in post-war history, searching 1170 Muslim homes, businesses and other premises. All foreigners visiting Germany for more than 3 months would be monitored more closely and 22 countries (so far) would be subject to special checks before getting visas to Germany. Germany is taking the lead in setting up a system whereby security services have online access to comprehensive information on foreigners living in Germany. No justification is needed for data requests.

All foreigners visiting Germany for more than 3 months would be monitored closely by cross-referencing with biometric data when visas are issued. National security is now linked to immigration and asylum in much of the EU.
 

References
1. Racism: the hidden cost of Sept II by Liz Fekete (IRR July 02)

2. CARF 67, Summer 2002

3.  IRR, Euro Race Bulletin, Summer 2004, issue No 48