May 2005

House of Islam: The Future for Europe?

Radek Sikorski, Bart Jan Spryut

In a May 20-21 conference hosted by AEI's New Atlantic Initiative, experts examined Muslim immigration to Europe and considered how Europe should integrate Muslim populations into their societies and avoid further Islamic extremism. Panelists also considered whether Islam is incompatible with democracy and the degree of influence Muslims have over politics in the Western world.

Friday, May 20, 2004

Hans Jansend
Utrecht University

Islamic communities tend to develop two categories of “elites” (defined as communities whose power is disproportionate to their size): Muslim religious professionals (ulema), and young Muslim men between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five, the “testosterone jihadists.” The ulema have a de facto pact with their Muslim governments in which the governments provide them with a religious monopoly by shutting out missionaries and scholars of other religions, while the ulema, in turn, give their public support to the governments. Meanwhile, the testosterone jihadists see themselves at the forefront of creating the Muslim dream--the triumph of Islam and sharia law. Unfortunately, the Dutch government does not distinguish between these two groups because the Dutch treat the Muslim community in the same way they treat every other immigrant community. Islam, however, is both missionary and legalistic. The combination of the two means that both categories of elites may criticize and condemn the non-Muslim population in their societies in the name of God. This, of course, leads to questions regarding Muslim participation in government and the way in which Muslims view secular institutions. The challenges for the Dutch government will be to make a distinction between the reality of Muslim immigrants and the actions of the ulema and Muslim youth and to find a way of appropriately dealing with both.

Marco Pastors
Rotterdam Town Hall

The city of Rotterdam has reached its absorption capacity for underprivileged inhabitants and is finding it increasingly difficult to deal with the problems associated with the community’s rapid growth. Rotterdam is home to between 175 and 400 young Muslims who are considered highly susceptible to Islamic fundamentalism. The city must begin to address these problems, taking several steps over the course of the next few years to reduce the threat posed by Islamic fundamentalism. First, the city should assess the conditions which give rise to fundamentalism, specifically analyzing neighborhood development trends. Second, Rotterdam should join forces with the state to develop an immigration policy that focuses on the removal of illegal immigrants, places requirements on family formation and reunification, controls domestic migration, and requires integration as a prerequisite for permanent residence. The municipal and state coalition should also encourage housing reform by attracting more desirable residents to troubled neighborhoods and enforcing better control of underprivileged residents. These first two elements are prerequisites for the third element, which is to encourage cultural integration. The Dutch government should not aim to assimilate immigrants but should require them to accept Dutch common liberal values and principles, including the emancipation of women and respect for human rights and the rights of homosexuals.

Resul Kazanci
Mevlana Mosque

There are forty-three mosques in Rotterdam, each of them unique. The Mevlana mosque is a Turkish mosque sponsored by the Turkish community of Rotterdam. The mosque’s imam, however, is appointed and paid for by the Turkish government. Every four years the imam is recalled to Istanbul, and a new appointee is sent to the mosque. This often creates language problems for the imam, who preaches in Turkish, and the community, many of whom only speak Dutch. Despite this, the Mevlana mosque serves important social functions by offering Dutch classes and tutoring for students in all subjects and job application training. One of the Muslim communities’ largest problems in the Netherlands is that parents are concerned about their children--many of which have serious identity problems--feeling neither completely Dutch nor completely Muslim. The Mevlana mosque is an example of this tension of identity.

Debate: Is the United States the Best Place in the World to Live for Faithful Muslims?

Tariq Ramadan
Author and University Lecturer

It is easier for faithful Muslims to live in the United States than it is for them to live in the Middle East. The comparison between the United States and Europe, however, is not as straightforward. Muslim immigrants in the United States tend to be wealthier and better educated than Muslim immigrants in Europe. This makes Muslim integration in Europe more difficult because it has a social as well as a religious dimension. We must compare like with like. Take for example African-American Muslims who often do not even feel “American.” This does not mean that it is easier for Muslims to live in Europe, but that Muslims living in the United States face more difficulties than most Americans realize. To make matters worse, pressure by the American government on the American Muslim community has increased significantly in the aftermath of 9/11. It has become difficult for American Muslims to speak out against the war in Iraq. Likewise, questions have been raised about whether the rights of American Muslims are being infringed upon at U.S. customs, in the issuing of visas, and in the monitoring of their daily activities. It is a mistake to idealize American society, and the above examples can be seen as signs that the Bush administration is losing touch with the American Muslim community.

Saturday May 21, 2005

Panel 1: Integration of Muslims in Europe and in the United States--Success or Failure?

Hans Jansend
Utrecht University

Two problems plagued Muslim immigration to the Netherlands during the 1970s. The first was the unwillingness of Muslim immigrants to be educated in Dutch rather than in Turkish. The second was the high number of marriages arranged in order for Turkish immigrants to gain Dutch citizenship, which produced large and often uncontrolled family reunions. After the 1970s, intermarriage rates dropped significantly and remained low throughout the 1980s. Today only 20 percent of Muslims marry non-Muslims. These two factors have had lasting consequences on the integration of today’s immigrants, undermining it from the outset. Moreover, new immigrants tend to seek the help of the existing Muslim community rather than the help of the government, effectively shutting themselves out of Dutch society and contributing to the growth of a non-integrated Muslim minority.

Zainab Al-Suwaij
American Islamic Congress

The United States emphasizes freedom and individual rights while at the same time offering immigrants the chance to become a part of the American collective. After 9/11 Americans remarkably began to reach out to the American Muslim community rather than assume that all Muslims are terrorists and members of al-Qaeda. At the grassroots level, many Muslims began to condemn the terrorist attacks and engage in a broader interfaith dialogue. Unfortunately, these efforts were not institutionalized into new Muslim organizations. Existing Muslim organizations continued to focus their energy on condemning hate crimes against Muslims rather than condemning violence carried out in the name of Islam. The predominant problem in Europe is one of identity. The definition of European citizenship and culture must be broadened so that Muslims can maintain their religious and cultural identity while at the same time being truly European. This does not mean that Europe should tolerate any form of terrorism, but it is imperative that the European values of democracy, freedom, and human rights be the foundation of a Muslim-European identity.

Bart Jan Spruyt
Edmund Burke Foundation

The attitudes of the United States and Europe towards immigration differ in two fundamental ways. First, the United Sates offers its immigrants a cultural identity to assimilate to: being American is a value. In the Netherlands, national identity is too weak and not yet substituted by a European identity, leaving immigrants without a homeland to aspire to. Second, Europe allows immigrants to rely upon the welfare state and unemployment subsides, which drag individuals to the bottom of the social ladder, rather than forcing them to quickly integrate into society.

Panel 2: Islam and Democracy--Two Irreconcilable Ideas?
            
Danielle Pletka
AEI

There are several fundamental questions which must be answered when analyzing Muslim integration in the Netherlands. First, what does it mean to become Dutch? If nationalism is perceived as dangerous, what identity does the Dutch government have to offer its immigrants? Second, is Islamic radicalism only the result of young, marginalized youth, or is it also becoming a fashionable political movement that some Muslims embrace as a means of protesting a way of life they disagree with? Finally, are we talking about the compatibility of Muslims and democracy, or of Islam and democracy? If the latter is the case, are young Muslims learning about democracy in Islamic schools?

Rémi Brague
Sorbonne University

Islam and democracy are incompatible. Modern democracies find their legitimacy in their secularization and in their electoral processes. Islam lacks both. Given the chance, Islam would support the power of the ulema to rule by sharia law. Islam and the democratic idea of “rule of law” are incompatible--for Islam, sharia, the word of God, is the rule of law to enforce in every society.

Bart Labuschagne
Leiden University

Islam and liberal democracy have radically different ideas about politics. Liberal democracy relies upon Christianity, which differentiates between a spiritual realm on the one hand and a political realm on the other. According to Islam, Mohammed was a prophet and a statesman at the same time, as are the mullahs and the ulema of modern times. In Europe, there is a chance for Islam to progress towards separation between the church and the state, but this will only happen if the imams are educated in Western schools that put an emphasis on the respect of liberal democratic values.

Paul Cliteur
Leiden University

It is difficult to say whether the rules of liberal democracy are reconcilable with the Koran. The dominant attitude in the Islamic world is to let the holy scriptures determine the rule of law. Other religions, Christianity for example, put the UN Declaration of Human Rights before the Old Testament. To be compatible with democracy, Islam needs a complete separation between church and state as well as a separation of religion and morals, which must be determined by individuals and not imposed by religious authorities.

Reuel Marc Gerecht
AEI

Can we go far enough to make Islam comply with democracy? Is the Western model competitive enough to win over the hearts and minds of Muslims? Like other religions, Islam has evolved and adapted to several changes over time, and there is no reason to believe that further developments are impossible. Democracy is slowly but continuously spreading to the Middle East, and it is proposing itself as a competitive way of living and ruling. Muslims are no different from other people in what they long for. Even if their historic tradition has gone against liberal democracy, in today’s world they strive for what everyone else strives for--a better future for their children. Muslim immigrants today suffer because of the lack of an institution that welcomes them and makes them feel part of the society into which they immigrate.

Panel 3: Political Influence of Muslims in the Western World--How Far Does It Extend?

Pola Manzila Uddin
British House of Lords

The Netherlands has given too much power and attention to Muslim clerics, who are non-elected representatives of Dutch Muslim communities. The United Kingdom, on the other hand, has marginalized Muslim clerics, while simultaneously encouraging the political involvement of Muslim immigrants, an approach which has seen better results in funneling Muslim political influence into institutionalized channels. The attention that the press pays to radical Muslims instead of to moderate Muslims has a terrible impact on immigrants: radicals make the news; moderate and liberal Muslims do not. In order to understand Muslim political influence in the Western world and to grasp its breadth, we must begin paying more attention to the latter, encouraging their contribution to a thriving civil society.

Karel Beckman
Financial Daily

Muslims in the Netherlands have little to no political power. Despite this, a growing number of Dutch people are afraid of being overwhelmed by radical Islam, a fear that reflects a lack of self-confidence in their liberal ideas and values. The Dutch are not accustomed to defending their ideas and principles because they were educated in moral relativism. Immigrants, however, will not go away; they are in the Netherlands to stay. As things stand, the Dutch government has two choices: appeasement or the use of force. Since neither of these options is particularly appealing, the government must try to take a more objective and secular approach and pursue integration over simple cultural assimilation, while simultaneously confronting fundamentalism in a more radical and resolute way.

John O’Sullivan
National Review

American politicians did not pay much attention to the American Muslim community until the last two political elections. The American Muslim community is small, and most American Arabs are Christian. United States Middle East Muslims (USMEMs) are estimated at anywhere between 1 and 7 million. Foreign-born Muslim are estimated at about 1.5 million. By 2010 the USMEM community in the United States is projected to be 10 million. Already fairly prosperous, this community is on its way to becoming a relevant voting bloc, both in terms of absolute numbers and in possible campaign contributions. Moreover, the USMEMs community is distributed all over the country--the top four states by population are California, New York, Texas, and Florida. The sudden growth of USMEMs is likely to retard the assimilation of new Muslim immigrants, who are now able to live a foreign life while residing in the United States. In which political direction is this group headed? Historically, immigrants have been assimilated mostly by the Democratic Party. However in 2001, Republicans actively pursued the USMEMs vote and won a slight majority of it. After the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Muslim support for the Republican Party fell considerably. The short-term question about Muslim political influence in the United States remains whether they will assimilate like other groups. If they assimilate, they will probably maintain certain preferences and allegiances, but will split their vote between the Democratic and the Republican parties. If they remain a compact group, characterized by slower integration, their votes will most likely fall along the lines of the Democratic Party.

Panel 4: Europe’s Demographic Collapse--What Can Be Done to Prevent It?

Paul Demeny
Population Council

Europe’s population decline is not a collapse: successful adjustments to both declining numbers and population aging are feasible by means other than large-scale immigration. Immigration is often presented as a remedy to Europe’s declining population, but while its economic benefits are modest at best, the social costs associated with it are high. Massive immigration to Europe cannot solve the economic and demographic problems of the sending countries, but it could radically transform Europe. Massive population growth in Europe’s southern hinterland, however, is an even more important reality. The situation may become increasingly urgent as past immigration and official assumptions about future net immigration greatly underestimate the size of immigration flows in the twenty-first century.

Joseph Chamie
Center for Migration Studies

By 2050 Europe’s population will be smaller and older, resulting in less creativity and more resistance to change. In order to cope with this reality, European governments are adopting policies aimed at raising birthrates (e.g. giving bonuses to families with more children). These short-term solutions, however, are unlikely to have any impact within the next thirty or forty years. Instead, it is necessary to tackle the issue of population decline now. Immigration can mitigate the aging of Europe, but it cannot resolve the problem. Structural changes are needed. European governments must raise the age of retirement, reduce the welfare state, favor selective immigration that matches their countries’ needs, and pay more attention to the emancipation of immigrant women. Only by involving immigrant women in their societies will European countries be able to accelerate the process of integration of their immigrant communities.

Cyril Widdershoven
Consultant on Islam, Terrorism, and Intelligence

The Dutch government needs to adopt (and enforce) stricter immigration laws. It must distinguish between Muslims and terrorists, but it must fight the latter with resolve. Today’s Dutch society and way of life are sustainable, but the system needs to be adjusted both by limiting immigration and cutting the welfare state.

Andreas A. M. Kinneging
Leiden University and Edmund Burke Stichting

Widespread anti-Americanism has existed in Europe for a long time. The U.S. decision to take unilateral action in Iraq only exacerbated this deep resentment. Europeans argued that the invasion was a violation of international law, as it was not authorized by the United Nations Security Council. Unilateralism, as executed by the United States, was viewed by Europe as the undermining of NATO and the UN, two international organizations governed by international law. However, this European view takes no notice of global developments over the past sixty years. Ever since 1945, the United States has become the first true global superpower, and the world has been in an age of Imperium Americanum. The United States, not Europe, has the means to defend itself against all enemies since Europe’s defense--NATO--is primarily made up of American forces and military equipment. Europe should embrace the leadership of the United States, for where America exerts its influence, it promotes Western values.