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Europe's Complacency in the Face of Extremism and Anti-Semitism

(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Freddy Eytan - The recent elections for the European Parliament illustrate the gradual breakdown of the "European Union" ideal in favor of a closed and inward-looking nationalism. Over a quarter of the members of the new parliament are active in neo-Nazi movements or parties fighting for the dissolution of the EU and the expulsion of foreign immigrants. There are two primary reasons for the political upheaval in Europe: a record number of abstentions and utter apathy, and a dangerous downswing in economic conditions, with 27 million unemployed. The success of the extremists in the European Parliament also derives from the fact that since Europe's international borders were opened, there has been a huge surge of millions of immigrants from North Africa, black Africa, and Eastern Europe. Brussels has a majority Muslim population and there are currently over 30 million Muslim immigrants in Western Europe alone. Recent years have seen an increase in anti-Semitic attacks. Since the 1980s there have been terrorist attacks against Jewish restaurants, schools, and synagogues, and Jewish cemeteries across Europe have been desecrated. Europe is consciously overlooking the fact that Enemy No. 1 is within it. Its name is Islamic Jihad. Instead of using all possible means to deter and uproot this most dangerous phenomenon, Europe chooses instead to occupy itself with the Palestinian problem and endless condemnation of Israeli government policy. Amb. Freddy Eytan, a former Foreign Ministry senior advisor who served in Israel's embassies in Paris and Brussels, was Israel's first Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.
2014-05-28 00:00:00
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