Sunday, October 14, 2007

Predictable

As I've written again and again, if so-called progressives continue to defend every effort to identify our head-lopping enemies as Islamist fanatics by claiming such efforts are an attack on all Moslems, pretty soon the majority of Westerners will conclude that Moslems in general must be as guilty as Islamist terrorists.

So get used to scenes like this (Tip to Instapundit):

The native backlash has begun. And not just in Switzerland. "It seems our experience here is resonating across Europe," says a Swiss official in Berne.

"Culture clashes" over Muslim religious buildings have erupted in Italy, Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands.

"Christian fundamentalists are behind this," says Reinhard Schulze, professor of Islamic studies at Berne University. "And there's also a lot of money coming in from the Gulf states."

From London's docklands to the rolling hills of Tuscany, from southern Austria to Amsterdam and Cologne, the issue of Islamic architecture and its impact on citadels of "western civilisation" is increasingly contentious.

The far right is making capital from Islamophobia by focusing on the visible symbols of Islam in Europe.


The Guardian blames the far right for this reaction, but the reason the far right can gain traction among ordinary people over mosques is that the far left has declared hating suicide-bombing Islamists out of bounds because hating these head loppers is equivalent to hating all Moslems--"Islamophobia!"

Ordinary people naturally conclude that if there is no difference between jihadis and Moslems, there is no reason not to oppose Moslems in any endeavor they start that could spread their religion or influence.