[We’re back after a one week hiatus for this series.] We’ve been talking about how much of Europe – (especially Western Europe) – has been in a state of cultural and increasingly legal surrender to the forces of Islam that have come to invade that continent in the guise of immigrant workers from the Middle East – (many of them Arabs) – there to sustain the economy. The land of Luther and the great cathedrals has, in some circles, come to be known as Eurabia. The result has been creeping Sharia, a precipitous rise in crime – (most notably rapes and gang rapes) – perpetrated by those of Middle Eastern origin – (a fact routinely hidden by government authorities) – and a cultural surrender to the demands of the Muslim community. [To be fair, things are a little better in Eastern Europe, where the resistance to tearing down the historical European Christian culture is much stronger.] All of this did not just appear overnight. Today we’ll look at some of the factors that brought us here.
PART VIII – A CUP OF TREMBLING
We live in a day when we Christians, especially American-Israel-supporting Christians, routinely expect our allies to side with Islam against Israel. We’ve become used to it. Increasing Middle Eastern immigration and a purposeful policy committed to the Arab position on most international issues has altered Europe in the last 30 years or so. To take actions in opposition to – that sometimes even endanger Israel is common fare. Some sell arms to terror sponsoring regimes, or blithely give a blind eye to the murder of civilians by Palestinian homicide bombers. They have made an economic / political bargain with Arabia and they toe the line faithfully. In their submission to that line, they have made Jerusalem and the Arab-Israeli conflict a central concern of their collective foreign policy.
But the European dream was more than that. Envisioned, was a Euro-Arab Empire that would eventually dwarf American political and economic power. And it would be buttressed by shared hate for a common enemy; the historically reviled Jews. Remember, for centuries prior to the Second World War, there was little tolerance for the native Jewish population. By 1974 this had become institutionalized in the European Arab Dialogue and the Parliamentary Association for Euro-Arab Cooperation. This latter, consisting of over 600 members is active in the general European Parliament as well as in the legislative bodies of the various European States. And it is driving European policy, – both foreign and domestic. Therein lies the explanation of unwavering European support for all of the numerous anti-Israeli resolutions voted in the General Assembly of the United Nations.[ii]This policy did not arise out of a vacuum. Long proud Europe, was somewhat humbled by the state of affairs it faced in the post WWII political economy. It no longer remained a major player on the world stage, giving way instead to the Super Power rivalry between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. Once proud France was especially humbled by the new reality. The French had fallen early and easily to the German war machine in 1940, before being redeemed through the efforts of the British and Americans. France’s World War II hero and post-war leader, Charles De Gaulle was determined that France should again hold its rightful place among the nations. Still no fool, he realized that it would take a united Europe to rival American and Soviet power. So the pro-Arab policy had its immediate antecedents in De Gaulle’s 1967 announcement that cooperation with the Arab world is the “…fundamental basis of our foreign policy.”[i] This was done in the wake of the Arabs defeat by Israel in the Six Day War. The Arab League was in need of allies. And France was acting from what it believed was a position of strength.
So both the Arabs and their European allies, see the Palestinian Cause as the key to stability of the Middle East and hence the entire world. To these Europeans, creating a successful Palestinian State is the centerpiece necessary to secure world peace. Zechariah 12:2-3 reads; “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.” The surrounding Arab nations as well as the European Community have indeed, become increasingly obsessed with the fate of Jerusalem and Israel. There have been proposals floated to make Jerusalem an international city, equally a home to the world’s three great religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The Papacy itself has expressed approval of such an arrangement in agreements signed with the late terrorist -leader Yasser Arafat.[iii] This mode of thinking made humanly inevitable, Europe’s reaction to President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.Now part of the pattern of support for Arab causes is the encouragement of more Arab immigration. This increased immigration has actually changed the demographics of countries like France, and therefore the politics of Old Europe. This in turn reinforces the trends that brought the immigration into being in the first place. It brings Europe’s perceived interests more in line with those of the Arab Street. The Islamic Factor has no strong rival here. European culture has become a wasteland of relativism and hyper-tolerance. It will in fact tolerate just about anything, including evil. That tolerance is extended to everything but Christian thought, with its strong sense of black and white, right and wrong.
In their anti-Jewish obsession, the Euro-Arabists have been able to draw on various allies; all movements founded on hate. Their policies have drawn support from such diverse elements as communists, neo-Nazis, Jihadists and anti-Americans. Bat Ye’or argues that the ethic of this new Eurabia was birthed from the cult-like survivors of the Nazi-Arab cooperation of WWII. Whatever the cause, European actions, especially in France, Belgium and Spain, reflect the historical relationship between a triumphalist Muslim society and a subservient Christian one. This relationship, called Dhimmitude is defined in the Koran. Dhimmitude first appeared on the world scene during the Islamic conquests that preceded – and in the end, gave birth to the Crusades. [We must never forget, that no matter the excesses of their execution: The Crusades were instituted as a reaction to Islamic conquest and slaughter.] Islamic Law, or Sharia, clearly defines the proper relations between the religions. Islam must dominate. Europe is increasingly falling into a pattern of submitting its interests to the greater Islamic cause. Old Europe has sacrificed its values, self-interest and even its identity, – on an altar of economic greed and dreams of lost glory and power.
[i] Interview with Bat Ye’or, By Jamie Glazov FrontPageMagazine.com September 21, 2004
[ii] Bat Ye’or, Eurabia and Euro-Arab Antisemitism, Front Page Magazine, April 5, 2004
[iii] A Covenant Between the Pope and PLO Leader Yasser Arafat, Temple Mount Faithful, – Describes an agreement between the Church and the Palestinian Authority dated February 15, 2000
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