Ольга Кравцова - Английский язык для специальных и академических целей: Международные отношения и зарубежное регионоведение. Часть 1

Look at Libya, Tunisia and Turkey — all main sources of migration for Europe. The CIA World Factbookplaces Libya at 97 percent Sunni Muslim, Tunisia at 98 percent Muslim, and Turkey at 99.8 percent Muslim. In addition, many immigrants also come from other majority-Muslim nations in the Middle East and South Asia.

“Europe's Muslim population has more than doubled in the past 30 years and will have doubled again by 2015,” an article by the Telegraph stated. “In Brussels, the top seven baby boys' names recently were Mohamed, Adam, Rayan, Ayoub, Mehdi, Amine and Hamza.”

While Muslims constitute only about 4.6 percent of the total population, cities generally have higher numbers. For instance, the International Business Times noted that Austria's Muslim population is only 2.2 percent, while its capital, Vienna, is estimated at 10 percent.

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A Pew Research study called “The Future of the Global Muslim Population” revealed, “France had an expected net influx of 66,000 Muslim immigrants in 2010, primarily from North Africa. Muslims comprised an estimated two-thirds (68.5%) of all new immigrants to France in the past year. Spain was expected to see a net gain of 70,000 Muslim immigrants in 2010, but they account for a much smaller portion of all new immigrants to Spain (13.1%). The U.K.'s net inflow of Muslim immigrants in the past year (nearly 64,000) was forecast to be nearly as large as France's. More than a quarter (28.1%) of all new immigrants to the U.K. in 2010 are estimated to be Muslim.”

The study estimated that Muslims will account for 8.2 percent of the EU population in 2030, up from approximately 4.6 percent today.

Many native Europeans are wary of continuous waves of immigrants. A poll showed that 60 percent of Britons feel immigration is bad for the country. Eighty percent feel the government needs to impose stricter controls. A 2010 study by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation published by the BBC showed that 30 percent of Germans believe foreigners are overrunning the country.

While public apprehension can be fed to some degree by prejudice, it is understandable. One only has to recall a number of extremist attacks. Britain's government reports that as many as 20 Britons are in Pakistan training to launch suicide attacks on England's capital city.

In addition, news articles have detailed two UK residents who were linked to a terrorist group planning shooting sprees in Britain, France and Germany. And French citizens fear their country will be overrun when they see hundreds of Muslims blocking public streets while praying.

European governments are responding to public sentiment: French authorities banned women from wearing a full-cover veil, called a burqa, and cut the number of immigrants entering the country by 10 percent. Italy passed a law making illegal immigration a crime punishable with fines as high as 10,000 euros. The British government proposed a permanent cap on immigrants from outside the EU.

Speaking in Munich, Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain needs to build a stronger national identity. He warned Muslim groups they would lose government funding if they do not endorse women's rights or promote integration.

Why should Europe, which has long promoted religious freedom, fear an influx from Muslim nations? The answer runs deeper than the “terror” stigma Islam has gained since the United States September 11 attacks.

The current wave of European immigration started just after the Second World War, as the economies of devastated nations began to bounce back in the 1950s and 60s.

To meet the growing demand for workers, Europeans recruited immigrants to do jobs they were unwilling to do. These were deemed "guest workers.” Most people expected they would eventually return home after working several years.

After the OPEC oil crisis of 1973 triggered an economic slowdown, many European governments stopped issuing work visas — but by then it was too late. Having settled into life in their adopted countries, most temporary migrants never returned home, and instead convinced family members to come live with them in Europe.

Natural disasters, weak economies, and abject poverty spurred another migration wave in the 1990s, this time by refugees primarily from North and sub-Saharan Africa, and the Indian subcontinent. As more arrived, Europeans permitted them to receive welfare benefits, even if they had never worked in the EU. This was especially true of those who claimed refugee status.

Because many immigrants did not know the language of their new countries, they began to congregate in specific neighborhoods with others from their home countries. This gave rise to the large immigrant neighborhoods now characteristic of European cities.

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This has caused numerous problems. Immigrant communities tend to be poorer, and have higher crime and unemployment statistics. They often cite harassment from law enforcement as the reason for their troubles with the law and non-acceptance by the indigenous population for the reason they have not integrated. This has created a generation of young people who do not identify with the European countries in which they were born.

"As morally indignant young Muslims turn away from what they view as decadent German culture, some are cultivating feelings of superiority,” a Der Spiegel article stated. "While their immigrant parents and grandparents tried to assimilate, at least on the surface, some young Muslims deliberately flaunt the fact that they are different by wearing strict Islamic clothing in public.” According to a survey by the newspaper, 71 percent of Muslims believe "sexual morals in Western society are totally degenerate” and 65.6 percent believe "Islam is the only true religion.” These ideas clash with the relaxed approach many Europeans take toward lifestyle choices, including the way they view religion.

Although the two cultures believe they possess completely different mindsets, they actually have more in common than they realize, according to Der Spiegel: "Ironically, many Muslims in Germany ‘tend to be lax when it comes to religion,' says Katajun Amirpur, a Berlin expert on Islamic studies. According to Amirpur, religion ‘doesn't play a very dominant role' in their daily life, and yet they would characterize themselves as devout Muslims — even if they ‘occasionally drink a glass of Arrak or Raki' [liquor] and ‘sometimes forget one prayer or another.' They are easily their Christian fellow citizens' equals when it comes to disobeying the commandments of their faith.”

Why then are they not able to co-exist?

Just as "multiculturalism” is generally a codeword for tensions between Europeans and immigrant Muslims, Europe is a codeword for Christendom. The continent's historical roots are steeped in traditional Christian culture, teachings, morals, values. Put simply, multicultural problems are a result of tensions between two religions: Christianity and Islam.

In a forum sponsored by Pew Research, Bernard Lewis, Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University, said the source of the Islam and Christendom conflict comes not from the two religions' differences but from their similarities.

"These two religions, and as far as I am aware, no others in the world, believe that their truths are not only universal but also exclusive,” Mr. Lewis said. "They believe that they are the fortunate recipients of God's final message to humanity, which it is their duty not to keep selfishly to them-selves.but to bring to the rest of mankind, removing whatever barriers there may be in the way."

Because both believe they hold the key to human salvation, Mr. Lewis said tensions between Christendom and Islam occur because each have “aspired to the same role" — bringing God's message to the whole world — “each seeing it as a divinely ordained mission."

How does this apply to today, a time in which many people call Europe a “post-Christian" continent? Even though Europe is not dominated by religion as it once was, centuries of Christianity's fingerprints are still found across the continent.

“In order to understand what is going on, one has to see the ongoing struggle within this larger perspective of the millennial struggle between the rival religions." Mr. Lewis said.

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The scars from the competing religions can be found most easily on Jerusalem's Temple Mount, which switched hands repeatedly during the Crusades. Muslims took the mount in AD 700 and built a wooden Al-Aqsa Mosque on the foundation of a Roman temple. Christian crusaders then violently seized the Holy Land and, in the early 12th century, reconstructed an earthquake-damaged Al-Aqsa Mosque as the Temple Solomonis and the Dome of the Rock, renamed the Temple Domini. Crusaders revamped both buildings, adding altars, icons, new mosaics, and Christian inscriptions — crosses replaced all crescent moons. Muslims recaptured the area in 1187, reclaiming the mount's two mosques. Islamic followers purged the Catholic icons and renovated the marble mosaics and inscriptions. These two mosques remain standing today.

During that time, Christian Europe clashed with the Islamic caliphate, constantly shifting control of the land. The caliphate, an Islamic empire established after Muhammad's death and ruled by a caliph, clashed with the Byzantine Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, and then Western European empires. It was not until 1924, when the creation of the Turkish Empire deposed the last caliph, that this religious rivalry faded from view.

Since that time, entire generations of Europeans have grown up not understanding the constant battles that once took place between the rival belief systems. Therefore, when they were presented with the idealistic option of a multicultural society, it seemed a good idea. Indeed, the concept was born out of a desire for tolerance and peace.

But history makes one point clear: these two religions do not get along. In fact, they cannot. Today, when EU Christendom and Muslim immigrants alike refuse to give up their respective cultures, it should come as no surprise. These two religions have never budged.

Historical tensions shed new light on the multicultural woes in Europe. Without substantial change, the increasing Muslim presence in Europe could bring back violent clashes of religion.

Europe's changing demographics make this clear. According to Newsweek, the number of deaths is expected to outnumber births in 10 of the 27 member-states in 2015. The article stated that this means, starting in 2015, Europe's population will experience negative natural population growth, and by 2050 the population is projected to decrease by as much as 52 million from its present level. The United Nations has said that Europe needs as many as 1.6 million immigrants per year just to maintain the current population level through to 2050. This represents at least 60 million new residents.

On the other hand, the Muslim population is predicted to soar to 20 percent of the European population by 2050, with countries such as Spain, the United Kingdom and Holland showing even higher increases.

Clearly, for Europe to emerge as an economic superpower, it appears to have one choice — Muslims and Christians must learn to get along.

European policymakers have a tough road ahead of them. How can they find concessions in a millennia-old rivalry between Islam and Christianity? The prospect seems as insurmountable as bringing peace to the Middle East.

Take a step back, and remove Islam from the equation. Despite sharing a similar government, history, culture and religion, the common mode for the 27 European Union member-states is to disagree — about everything. On an international scale, the United Nations attempts to bring peace between countless combinations of ideologies, cultures and government styles. In fact, any two different governments (say communist China and the democratic United States) likely have vastly differing ideas for mankind's future. Despite his best intentions, man cannot find peace.