Here's a link to an excellent piece on the topic that not only inspired the name of this blog, but also shaped the reason why I started it in the first place. 'Eurabian Follies' The shoddy and just plain wrong genre that refuses to die.
Somehow, perhaps not an entirely unprecedented phenomena, the idea seems to have taken root amongst some groups and individuals, that 'our' identity is under threat, that hordes of Muslims and/or immigrants have been 'flooding' Europe, leaving it only a matter of time until the crescent moon rises high, its shadow all but darkens the very skies, undermining all that is dear and trusted in this, our in fact, continent.
I am tempted to point out that 'Muslim', really isn't an ethnic category, that 'Muslim' comes in white, brown, yellow, red or what have you, that many are not dropped off by ships, but born on the pages of books, in the centre of a prayer room, and that spirituality isn't a choice tied to exotic names.
More pressing however, do I feel the urge to ask what it is that they seek to summon, speaking of the 'Judeo-Christian tradition' of 'European culture. Much like an elusive, all but forgotten house-ghoul, conveniently re-discovered at a time of need to construct and reject the 'other'. In the absence of substantial claims, an image is conjured to re-invent our history to define European identity and to stake out claims of ownership. Disingenuous as many of these attempts are, recent years have shown an alarming rate of success with which this 'ideologizing' of identity has spread across the continent. Far-right nationalists across Europe (BNP, PVV, Front National etc.) have embraced Islamophobia, a beautiful gift, at a time when discrimination on grounds of race is out of fashion, to talk of freedom has opened avenues, that many had hoped would remain closed, a shameful memory of our past.
tbc.
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