Europe Faces a "Melting Pot Question" Over Muslim Population

November 26, 2004

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1126/p08s02-comv.html?s=hns

On November 26, 2004 The Christian Science Monitor reported, "The van Gogh case resonates partly because of the brutality of the killing and the clash of two extremists: a strident filmmaker who referred to Islam as 'garbage' and whose recent film denounced the treatment of Muslim women in a way distasteful to many Muslims; and a young Islamic militant with Dutch-Moroccan citizenship who allegedly referred to van Gogh's insults in a note left on the victim. But beyond this was a perplexing question: How could such a crime occur in one of Europe's most tolerant countries?...Quite simply, Europe faces a melting-pot challenge. While the US has had centuries to work at this problem, it's being suddenly thrust upon the Europeans. Governments are responding with a two-pronged approach: Identify and expel Muslim radicals, but orchestrate the integration of mainstream Muslims. Germany's new immigration law, for instance, follows the French example by making it easier to observe and deport Islamic extremists. At the same time, the new law sets up German language and civics classes for immigrants."