MarkSilverberg

According to Moorish legend, Boabdil, the last Muslim (Moorish) king of what was left of Al Andalus (the great Moorish Empire in Spain), surrendered the keys to his city Granada on January 2, 1492, and on one of its hills, paused for a final glance at his lost Empire. The place would become known as El Ultimo Suspiro del Moro - "the Moor's Last Sigh." Boabdil's mother is said to have taunted him: “Weep like a woman for the land you could not defend as a man." Over 500 years have passed since the end of the Moorish Empire, but for the Muslim world, the memory and the pain linger. Bin Laden, in the wake of the Madrid rail attacks called for the restoration of the Muslims lost Islamic caliphate. In a strange twist of irony, history may now be coming full circle. If Muslim population growth continues at it’s expected pace, the Europe of today will become the Eurabia of tomorrow. What kind of European Islam will evolve, however, remains to be seen.

In Beirut, rioting Arabs torch the Danish Consulate. In Damascus, the Danish and Norwegian embassies are destroyed. In Gaza City, rioting Palestinians toss a bomb into the French Cultural Center and storm the German Cultural Center smashing windows, breaking doors and burning the German flag. In Hebron, Palestinians attack an international observer mission with stones and bottles. An Italian priest is murdered in Turkey. Swedish peacekeepers in Afghanistan are attacked with guns and grenades. In Indonesia, the Danish embassy is invaded and destroyed. The Austrian embassy in Iran is stoned and firebombed. Angry demonstrators march in Auckland, New Zealand. Danish products are boycotted in the Middle East. Europeans are declared legitimate targets for assassination. Journalists receive death threats. Danes, Scandinavians and other Europeans are threatened with kidnapping and fear for their lives. Calls to behead the editors of newspapers and calls for jihad against Europe are heard across the continent. Screaming demonstrators from London to Manila wave placards threatening further 9/11s and calls for the bombing of Denmark and the “extermination of those who slander Islam” roar through Europe.

The jury is still out on whether or not an Islamic Revolution is underway in France and if so, what will be the implications for Europe as a whole. Many argue that the French riots represent a full-scale insurrection led by immigrant youth who simply resent being marginalized and shunted to the fringes of French society. But there are elements of a wider jihadist agenda that continually creep into this scenario. These elements suggest that the riots are not wholly or solely about economic and social marginalization and that an Islamic agenda may be at the root of it.

On Sunday, July 18th, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called on France's 600,000 Jews to immigrate to Israel "immediately." The French President immediately replied that Sharon was no longer welcome in France. But it appears that neither is French Jewry. The reason is simple. With the Islamic Council in France now controlled by Islamic fundamentalists, and with over 20% of the French voting electorate now Muslim, it comes as no surprise that there have been 309 anti-Semitic incidents in the past 15 months in the Paris region alone, and more than 550 since the second Palestinian intifada broke out in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in September 2000.

"No Muslim territory should ever become non-Muslim…..Let the whole world know that we shall never accept the tragedy of Andalusia (the name of the Arab Empire in Spain between the 8th and 15th centuries).” - Osama Bin Ladin

"The Death Brigades penetrated into the European Crusader heartland, and struck a painful blow at one of the foundations of the Crusader coalition. This is part of a settling of old accounts with Crusader Spain…”

Abu Hafs Al-Masri Brigades of Al-Qaeda, claiming responsibility for the March 11, 2004 bombings in Madrid that killed over 200 persons

It has taken me two years and four months to write this editorial. More specifically, it has taken two years and four months after the events of September 11, 2001, to finally understand why Europe acts as it does and why Jews are begin beaten in the streets of London, Paris and Berlin.

To be perfectly honest with you, I pray I’m wrong, because if I’m right, things will only get worse for our people in Europe. Anti-Semitism in Europe today didn’t just “spring up.” It is the byproduct of a conscious policy of appeasement followed by the business and government elite of Europe designed to pacify the Islamic fundamentalists in Europe and to pander to Europe’s large, indigenous Islamic vote. In effect, Europe’s Jews are being sacrificed on the altar of European expediency.