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137
9
Weak national government
The threats posed by Muslims, outlined above, are made even more serious
by the failures of successive European governments, and by metropolitan
intelligentsias, particularly in London. In the 1950s and 1960s governments
did not foresee the dangers of permitting immigration from cultures so
different from their own. More recently, governments have consistently
failed to police and protect their borders effectively and do not appreciate
the severe dangers posed by Islam in general and Islamism in particular.
They have also failed to insist on full assimilation and integration, while
promoting multiculturalism, political correctness, cultural relativism and the
nanny state. Some of these failures have been exacerbated by the human
rights legislation which governments have introduced against the interests
of Europe’s majority populations. The overall effect has been to appease
Muslims rather than to oppose and control them.
Muslims in Europe: components of alternative narratives (Box 6.4)
1
Barriers t
o
integration
The vast majority of Muslims in western Europe would like to be fully
integrated – though not culturally assimilated – in the economic and
political affairs of west Eur
opean societies. They are prevented from
integrating, however, by a wide range of factors, as summarised in points
2
t
o
5
below.
2
Material disadvantage
Most Muslims in west
ern Eur
ope ar
e
people who came t
o
meet labour
shor
tages, or their childr
en or grandchildren. The jobs they were recruited
to fill were often poorly-paid, dirty and in labour-intensive industries.
Mat
erial disadvantage has been c
ompounded by the c
ollapse of many of
the industries f
or which they were originally recruited and by extensive
hostility – including racist attacks on the streets and direct and indirect
discrimination in employment and the pr
ovision of ser
vic
es. Multiple
har
dships and handicaps continue, as do violence and discrimination,
despite new legislation against them.
3
Negativity in the media and the gener
al climate of opinion
Media coverage of Muslims, particularly but not only in the press, is
almost entir
ely negative and hostile – when, that is, ther
e
is any c
over
age
at all. Specifically, the media present a sense that: all or most Muslims are
the same; they are different from non-Muslims; they are culturally
inf
erior; they ar
e
a
thr
eat t
o
the European societies where they are
settled; and they do not and will not ever truly belong. The media
frequently or typically make these claims with language that is abusive
and off
ensive.
They seldom give a Muslims a voic
e
and a fair hearing, and
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M
uslims, non-Muslims and the UK media
138
seldom permit alternative views of Muslims and their situation in Europe
to be presented
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