Saturday, November 03, 2012

The Paradox of Rebranding Islam in Europe

HAARETZ: A kinder, gentler Mohammed was created in Austria by the provocative Israeli Public Movement.

The documentary series “Allah Islam,” which was broadcast on Israel’s Channel 10 last month, drew high viewer ratings. Furthermore, the public discourse that followed in its wake was far more intense than is usually the case with TV series of this genre.

Still, this is no surprise, given the central theme of the series: that Islam is taking over Europe. For certain sectors of the Israeli public, there is no greater fear.

In four episodes, the series presented the emerging failure of the multicultural idea in Western Europe, as well as the phenomenon of Muslim isolationism and the motivation of some adherents of Islam to conquer the Continent and impose sharia law. Zvi Yehezkeli, one of the creators and the narrator of the series, is worried that by 2050 most countries of Europe will have a Muslim majority. He noted that there are 200,000 Iraqi migrants currently living in Sweden and that in the city of Malmo alone they constitute 20 percent of the population. In an interview he gave about the series, Yehezkeli added that already now the most common name for newborn boys in England is Mohammed. SOS! » | Shay Fogelman | Thursday, November 01, 2012