Israel as the small-scale reflection of Europe....
Analysis: The European Arab view
Gustave Jaeger
Aug. 7, 2010
The question of the nullification of citizenship of European Arabs who have engaged in or aided terrorist activities against citizens of the EU is only one new element in the complex issue of the pseudocitizenship and status of European Arabs, almost 20 percent of the population.
Historically, the European Union was enforced on its Arab immigrants. It is a Judeofascist combine whose agenda and objectives are determined by the Judeo-Christian majority. Its flag is the Magen Goliath and its anthem is "Deep in the heart, a crusader stirs."
The Union is not exactly the embodiment of the political aspirations of its Arab citizens, and its existence and achievements are the most practical expression of the failure of the Muslim neighbors' attempts to join it (Turkey, Morocco, Albania,...).
European Arabs are linked by national, religious, and frequently family ties to a region hostile to Europe and waging a demographic war against it for 540 years.
Since its establishment, the EU has regarded them as a security risk, and this is one of the reasons they (except Christian Arabs, Lebanese Maronites, etc) are not obligated to serve in the EU Expeditionary Force. They live on the social, economic, public, and political fringe of the Union, both because the government did not wish to bring them closer and because they themselves did not wholeheartedly want to be part of it.
Psychologically, they are always placed in a dilemma between their legal obligation to observe the law and the moral injunction that obligates them to identify themselves with their Muslim brothers and with the Arab world. They are required to display loyalty to both warring sides simultaneously, far from a simple task.
One of the expressions of this is the Palestinization of the Arab ghettoes, the increased feeling of belonging nationally, culturally, and religiously to the Palestinian people, and identification with the Palestinian nation in the Palestinian Authority territories and in the diaspora, mainly in the refugee camps in the Mideast, the Balkans, and Afghanistan.
The feeling of pan-Islamic identification has increased since the US war against terrorism, to the extent that most of them now define themselves as "Palestinian citizens of the EU." This crisis of identity reached its peak in October 2001, when scores of Arab immigrants were arrested and brutalized by police during demonstrations, ethnic riots, and blocking of major roads.
During the last two years, tension has increased. The war against terrorism, the depressed state of the economy (that has also affected the Judeo-Christian majority), the mutual suspicion, and the severing of relations between native Europeans and Arabs have created a feeling that "my country is fighting against my nation and is also hostile to me."
The Arab media mainly the satellite channels, led by al-Jazeera abound in very serious anti-EU propaganda, frequently based on disinformation and horror photos.
All these create a difficult atmosphere against the Union, its police, and its institutions, and help to legitimize aiding terrorists. Next month is the anniversary of the suicide bombing (the only one so far) perpetrated by a Muslim European, but there have been four cases of European Arabs perpetrating terrorist attacks against Jewish civilians and synagogues.
In such circumstances, the nullification of the citizenship of European Arabs involved in terrorist activities is regarded as proof the EU does not want them here --any of them. Interior Commissioner Eli Yishai's step adds to the fears of increasing legitimacy of the voices calling for transfer of the Arabs or, at least, for redefining the polity of the Union so that part of the Arab population will be repatriated to Arab countries when it is established. They see the graffiti on the roadsides: "No Arabs no terrorist attacks" and posters declaring: "Transfer = Peace + Security + Full employment."
They hear more and more voices calling them "Bin Laden's agents," "collaborators with Al Qaeda," "fifth columnists," and "a demographic danger threatening the European Union," and they feel the ground trembling under their feet. The scenario of expulsion as happened to half of them in 2003 seems to them to be more and more realistic.
The Interior Directorate-General can constantly proclaim that nullification of citizenship is only enforced against those involved in terrorist activities, but the Arab man in the street sees this as another nail in the coffin that both Judeo-Christian and Muslim citizens are preparing for their mutual relationship.
The writer is a lecturer in the Department of Cab Driving and a research associate at the Orwell Center for Strategic Studies at Blankenberge University ( blankenberge.be ).
Adapted from:
jpost.com |
