OPINION
Europe’s
Muslims hate the West
Young
men like the perpetrators of the Brussels attacks refuse to embrace
the social codes of Belgian life.
By LEON DE WINTER
3/29/16, 2:36 PM CET
The first reaction
to the Brussels massacres among postmodern European intellectuals was
predictable: What did we, Europeans, do to them, our Muslims? How
could followers of a religion that is proudly called “the religion
of peace” commit these kinds of atrocities?
People like Peter
Vandermeersch, the Belgian editor-in-chief of Dutch newspaper
NRC-Handelsblad, and Belgian writer David van Reybrouck, both
accomplished intellectuals, argued that Belgium must have done
something terrible to deserve this. Their line of reasoning: The
terrorists’ fury must be a reaction to their inhumane treatment at
the hands of the West.
So, we blame
ourselves in order to remain blameless. Safer to blame our own
societies and socioeconomic conditions than to blame the religious
and cultural concepts with which terrorists poison their own minds.
There
is poverty in Molenbeek, but that poverty is relative. There is no
starvation, no homelessness, no lack of medical infrastructure, no
lack of schools.
According to
reports, the unemployment figure in Brussels’ infamous Molenbeek
neighborhood — now referred to as the jihadi hothouse of Europe —
is 30 percent. This is a relatively high figure in Western Europe,
but not unusual in southern European countries or the Arab world.
There is poverty in Molenbeek, but that poverty is relative. There is
no starvation, no homelessness, no lack of medical infrastructure, no
lack of schools.
Compared to average
living standards in Morocco or Egypt, the average living standard in
Molenbeek is comfortably middle-class. Like in any other Western
European country, many Belgian institutions and organizations offer
support when families need housing, food, education, and health care.
Opportunities for success, and to study and become a respected member
in society, are countless compared to those that exist in many
immigrants’ countries of origin. Still, there is deep resentment
among the younger generations of immigrant Moroccan families.
Immigration into the
Netherlands from Morocco and Turkey is an expensive phenomenon for
the taxpayer: In the modern welfare state immigrants are more
dependent on the welfare state than the average citizen. Because of a
lack of higher education and the lack of non-skilled jobs, immigrants
absorb a higher part of unemployment and social security payments
than the average citizen. As a group, they receive more money than
they pay in taxes. They also show up much higher in crime statistics
than their numbers would justify. There are many success stories, but
there are also disappointing trends. Like radicalization. And the
situation in Belgium is even worse.
* * *
There is no question
that unemployment is much higher among Muslim immigrant communities
than among the general public. There are two possible explanations.
The first goes
something like this: The Belgian people are terribly xenophobic and
anti-Moroccan, and deny their Moroccan neighbors opportunities to
succeed in life. But if this were the case, the theory can be applied
to every Western European country, as unemployment figures for
Moroccan and other Muslim migrants across Europe are remarkably
higher than average. This would indicate that European xenophobia has
reached unbearable levels. Why would Muslims choose to stay in
societies that showed such deep disrespect for their migrant
population? Because they realize that an unemployed citizen in a
European welfare state run by infidels has a better material life
than an employed citizen in pious Morocco?
Life
in Belgium is exceptionally good and safe for migrants — if they
are willing to integrate into their new cultural environment.
The notion that
Moroccan-Belgians suffer from widespread exclusion, discrimination,
and suppression is ridiculous — and yet completely acceptable among
the politically-correct crowd. Life in Belgium is exceptionally good
and safe for migrants — if they are willing to integrate into their
new cultural environment, if they are willing to act as individuals,
study with passion and openness, and accept the secular system of the
West.
There is no
difference at all in socioeconomic status between youngsters from a
low-education, blue-collar Belgian background and youngsters from a
Muslim migrant background. Both have to struggle, both have to
overcome weak socioeconomic family situations. In Spain, youth
unemployment has reached 50 percent and the welfare state is less
developed than in Belgium, yet Spanish citizens aren’t blowing
themselves up in metro stations.
The other
explanation for the high unemployment figures among Muslims in Europe
has nothing to do with exclusion and discrimination. A large segment
of the migrant population is doing just fine, but a significant
number — some say as many as 50 percent — have not rid themselves
of the mental and cultural conditions that have kept their home
country in its “developing country” status. The denial of equal
rights to women, the lack of separation of state and church, bad
education, excessive religiosity, patriarchal machismo — these are
all on display in areas with a high percentage of migrants, including
Molenbeek.
Many
Muslims take advantage of the West’s unique welfare state, while at
the same time despising its ethics of radical equality.
In December 2013,
Professor Ruud Koopmans of the Berlin Social Science Center published
a study on “Fundamentalism and out-group hostility,” in which he
compared hostility among Muslim immigrants with hostility among
Christian natives in Western Europe. He writes: “Almost 60 percent
agree that Muslims should return to the roots of Islam, 75 percent
think there is only one interpretation of the Quran possible to which
every Muslim should stick and 65 percent say that religious rules are
more important to them than the laws of the country in which they
live.” In regards to Christian citizens he concludes: “Less than
4 percent can be characterized as consistent fundamentalists.”
On hatred of Jews
and homosexuals among Europe’s Muslim population, Koopmans finds:
“Almost 60 percent reject homosexuals as friends and 45 percent
think that Jews cannot be trusted. While about one in five natives
can be considered as Islamophobic, the level of phobia against the
West among Muslims — for which oddly enough there is no word; one
might call it ‘Occidentophobia’ — is much higher still, with 54
percent believing that the West is out to destroy Islam.” Recorded
rates of Christian hate toward Muslims hover around 10 percent.
What
did “we” do to “them”? We opened up our cities, our houses,
our wallets.
“Occidentophobia”
is an interesting term. It expresses a refusal to accept the
essential concepts of life in the West. Young men like the
perpetrators of the Brussels attacks have refused to embrace the
social codes of Belgian life. They were raised on the idea that their
religious ethics trump the ethics of the infidels (close to
non-existent, in their eyes, in any case). Their second-rate
socioeconomic status was therefore a humiliating affront, an
indignity to be destroyed.
Muslim integration
into Europe societies is successful when Muslims are willing to give
up the mental confinement of their home countries — countries,
let’s not forget, which they left in search of a better life. For
as long as they refuse to adapt to a European state of mind, they
will perpetuate resentment and a culture of violence.
What did “we” do
to “them”? We opened up our cities, our houses, our wallets. And
in our secular temples of progress — our metro stations and
airports and theaters — their sons are killing themselves, and
taking our sons and daughters with them. There is nothing for which
we need to apologize. “Occidentophobia” originated in the Muslim
community. We need to demand they abandon it.
Leon de Winter is a
Dutch novelist and political commentator.
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