- Dec 12, 2000
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These riots in Paris are an unfortunate occurrence and a reminder of the fragile social relationship between 'classical' Europeans and immigrants from their former colonies. I hate to say it, but there will be a backlash against immigrants. There will be Parisians and other French angry at what they are seeing in the news and they will demand more security, tighter controls on immigration, and even deportation. And I haven't even gotten into the religious differences yet! But my point is that when these voices rise up, leaders will try to exploit this. We will see ultra-conservatives and extreme left factions demand an end to Islamic immigration into their countries, and they will label the rioters as 'terrorists'. France, Germany, the Netherlands are already tense. These riots might be a flash in the powder keg, so to speak.
That brings me to my question. Do you think we might see European Muslims mistreated in the same way as European Jews were from the Spanish Inquisition to post-WWII? Will there be the same "not in my backyard" mentality? From the looks of the situation in these Parisian suburbs, it appears that a lot of Muslim immigrants are already segregated into poor communities (though by their own choice) so it might not be much different from the Jewish ghettos of Europe at the turn of the century.
Yeah, its late and I'm probably reaching here, but I'd hate to see a situation where we have another war in Europe started by some fascist trying to rid the world of Muslims, and then 15 years later we're creating an Islamic homeland somewhere, and then 50 years after that we're questioning the wisdom of that decision...
That brings me to my question. Do you think we might see European Muslims mistreated in the same way as European Jews were from the Spanish Inquisition to post-WWII? Will there be the same "not in my backyard" mentality? From the looks of the situation in these Parisian suburbs, it appears that a lot of Muslim immigrants are already segregated into poor communities (though by their own choice) so it might not be much different from the Jewish ghettos of Europe at the turn of the century.
Yeah, its late and I'm probably reaching here, but I'd hate to see a situation where we have another war in Europe started by some fascist trying to rid the world of Muslims, and then 15 years later we're creating an Islamic homeland somewhere, and then 50 years after that we're questioning the wisdom of that decision...