Europe and the Ambiguities of Multiculturalism

http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/013959.php ^ | Bat Ye'or

[ventanax5]

The globalization of our world and the policies that have led to large-scale Muslim immigration, adopted by the European Community from 1973, has introduced into Europe conflictual situations and prejudices common in the Muslim world against non-Muslims that have been documented by Orientalists familiar with Islamic theology, law and history. But the politization of history initiated by Edward Said has obfuscated the root causes of Islam’s traditional hostility toward Jews and Christians from the seven century onward. Edward Said was a Christian raised in Egypt and educated in America; he taught English literature at Columbia University. A great admirer of Arafat and a member of the PLO’s top Committee, he endeavored to destroy the whole scientific accumulation of Orientalist knowledge of Islam and replace it with a culture of Western guilt and inferiority toward Muslims victims. The obliteration of the historical truth that he constantly pursued from 1978 – starting with his book Orientalism – as well as his hostility to Israel, has prevented an understanding and the resolution of problems that today assail Europe and challenge its own survival

[Lorianne]

I wish he would post links to the original article or speech, which I cannot find anywhere on the web.

Good speech.

[Max in Utah]

At the end of this article, posted by sonomaca

One other point regarding my disturbing youthful years in Berkeley:

I believe that I have a somewhat unique perspective in that I have inside information about leftist thought and also about how conservatives view the left.

Most conservatives believe that left and right share the same goals, namely freedom and democracy. Well, yes and no. The problem is that left and right do not understand these ideas in the same way.

From the left's perspective, democracy as is practiced traditionally in the US benefits only the powerful and so is, in and of itself, inherently undemocratic. Freedom, likewise, is understood as a mere license to abuse others.

In order to create true freedom and democracy, therefore, it is necessary to ELIMINATE or SEVERELY RESTRICT freedom and democracy as we on the right understand these concepts.

So, what is my point in all of this? Well, if we understand this divergence of thought, we also understand why the left prefers communism or Islamism, for example, to our own political system. These are seen as better able to achieve the left's version of freedom and democracy. The structure, methods, rules, and mores of these other systems are of no consequence. What is important is the end result.

That is why those on the left are able to praise Hezbollah, Hamas, Chavez, Ahmedinijad, and pretty much any other custodian of alternate political systems who purport to speak for those "oppressed" by Western freedom and democracy.

The larger point here is that the left, and again I speak from personal experience here, covertly seeks to destroy the very democracy and freedom they pretend to embrace.