Waiting for the Barbarians

In an incredibly informing round robin discussion reported in Symposium: Muslims in France: A Ticking Time Bomb? by Jamie Glazov, we hear from Muslim scholars their opinions about the growing problem of non-assimilation of Islam in France and, to a lesser degree, in the rest of Europe.

The symposium turns nasty at a couple of points because some of the scholars, one Reza Bayegan, a Paris-based university lecturer, political analyst and human rights activist, in particular, were apparently unfamiliar with the background of their moderator, Mr. Glazov. Glazov, as his short biography at the bottom of the Front Page magazine article points out, holds a Ph.D. in History with a specialty in Soviet Studies and has coauthored several books with David Horowitz. The symposium was for the purpose of discussing the history, causes and possible preventive measures for the coming explosion in France by its Muslim minority, which now composes 10% of the French population. Mr. Bayegan was prepared for the symposium with examples of Christian brutality justified by selected passages from the Bible. Christian brutality which he listed as examples were David Koresh in Waco, Adolph Hitler's Holocaust, slaughter of indigenous peoples and taking of their lands by the American government and the burning of witches in colonial Massachusetts. Bad mistake.

Glazov ambushed him immediately. It is obvious that Mr. Bayegan spends all his time in Paris exchanging useless platitudes with the French aristocracy. When he tried that with Glazov he had his whole day just ruined. Mr. Bayegan obviously was accustomed to sitting around with a glass of port making profound statements accompanied by sagely nodding heads, all in French and, after self-congratulatory pats and hugs all around, going home to bed. Not with Mr. Glazov.

The others involved in the symposium, who seemed either to understand why they were there or were damned fast learners, contributed some reasonable thoughts. Their brief biographies provided to us by the magazine are way too brief. I would have liked to know a bit more about them before tackling this very long and detailed article. It is obvious that Glazov did not cherry pick them from the choir.

Symposium participant Laurent Murawiec summed everything up the best:

The problem is that today's world of Islam considers it licit and even recommended to kill Infidels as a way of absolving problems. Al-Azhar says that. Qaradhawi says it. The Saudi shaykhs repeat it endlessly. Arafat built a career on it, as well as Saddam, Assad, etc. The ideology of terror has been promoted, extolled, lionized, and adopted, in the world of Islam as in no other part of the world. It is symptomatic of the generalized blindness that prevails in the world of Islam: a love of destruction, a desire for annihilation: Nihilism has become a principal intellectual force. Blame Khomeini and Shariati, al-Banna and Qutb, as well as Michel Aflaq and the ideologues of secular nationalism. This is what powers the time bomb.

And then this:

To deal with a problem, you would need to recognize it to start with. "I'm alright, Jack," says the French elite. Europe, I predict, will do nothing. It will wait, like the proverbial Roman patricians, waiting for the Barbarians at the gates to enter and slaughter them.

The symposium is chock full of juicy quotes from many different perspectives but you need to read the whole thing. It is quite lengthy so make a pot of coffee first.

Linked to:
HyScience - Special Treament for Muslims
Freedom's Zone - Islam has no tolerance of other religions
Gee Dubya - poses a serious threat to the United States
Media Lies - French working secretly with US.
Howdy's BLOG - Where is the soul of America now?
Daily Pundit - guests meander, abuse forum
American Future - Euopean self-destruction not in our interest
Roadsassy,