Much has been written about the failure of Muslim immigrants to integrate in Europe. A lot of it has to do with the Muslim culture, the failure on the part of the immigrants themselves to want to integrate into the general culture. But that is only a part of the general issue of immigration and integration.
What people don't realize is that no matter how much both sides would try their hardest to make it work, the chances are likely massive immigration would fail. When both sides don't want it to work, it is doomed from the start.
I once saw an article asking "how would the US react if a French community came over, and opened their own French gaming centers all over" etc. But the question is even simpler.. how would a US community react if a French community came over?
Immigration to Israel has always been a special case. Many Jewish immigrants to Israel feel that they're coming back to their homeland. The native population, for its part, is interested in them coming and goes out of their way to help the new immigrants, welcoming them back home.
A small village in Israel has in the past few years accepted dozens of Jewish-French families. Immigration to Israel from France has been picking up the past few years due to rising anti-semitism and Muslimization of France. In this case, the village community wanted to help out the immigrants. Each French family was supplied with two "adoptive" Israeli families and the community extended as much help as they could offer. The French, on their part, wanted to integrate into the general community. There was no issue of "they came to take our jobs" or any of the social issues plaguing Europe. It was simply two groups, who share a lot in common but have a different culture and language, who wanted to get along with each other and put in the effort to do so.
However, overall, the 'experiment' failed. The village was overwhelmed by the French, and the French had a hard time integrating when they had so many French neighbors around them. Some of the French left for other parts of Israel while the native villagers were left with a bitter feeling.
This might be a special case. It might have to do with the people involved. But I think it's really a matter of numbers. Massive immigration is hard for both sides. Israel managed to somehow do it throughout its history, but when it comes to Europe - when there is no goodwill on either side, what are the chances it would work?
5 comments:
Did the experiment really fail? Some French migrants left for other parts of Israel, but they did stay in Israel, and presumably became normal citizens (ie not always blissfully happy, but also not so totally alienated the State of Israel, that they want to destroy it and its people). The others...stayed in the same village? I don't think this is evidence of failure; it sounds more like assimilation to me!
Of course the issue here is different. Israel had to deal with mass immigration and despite various complaints had mostly done it successfully.
I am not sure what happened with all the French immigrants, though I can check. However, what could have been a more successful integration process became just by the fact of numbers, a "we vs them" problem.
When discussing the Muslims in Europe, numbers are a critical issue. Even if theoretically a Muslim would come to Europe fully meaning to integrate, he would have severe problems just by reason of him coming as part of a wave of immigration.
I lived a year in Israel and stayed in several communties. On a Kibbutz which was from 1947 I think there were many French speaking Jews. Quite a few of them did not speak Hebrew. They could hardly leave the Kibbutz because they could not interact with the rest of Israel. Not everybody is suited to emigrate to another society, even if it is a society of his own people. Anyway the problems in Israel are not such political problems because there is no case of a threatening demographic taking over the country. In Europe the immigration is such a problem because people feel the political implications, even if they do not want to admit it. The Israelis have an advantage as well that they do not try to be so holy as other Westerners. They are more honest or to say it differently, less sensitive.
Snouck, it's kind of ironic of you to say that. The 'demographic threat' is one of Israel's greatest worries and fears. Almost every political action is defined today by whether it does something about it. The Gaza withdrawal was a direct consequence of this fear, though of course - the Arabs are still there. Though Muslims now make up about 17-18% of the population (all together, many places have a Muslim majority), and there are places in Europe which are not that far off from it.
Yes I meant there is no threat from Jewish immigration, like those French Jews. Naturally the demographic threat from the Arabs in Israel, whether inside the green line or outside is a different matter altogether. Which is way I think that if push comes to shove the Israelis just have to become even less sensitive and practise transfer. En brera. Of course the world will moan and bitch, like the world did when Israel bombed the Osirak nuclear facility in 1981. So it will be in Europe. Time is passing. We are not getting closer to the Muslims. The Muslims are not getting closer to us. Rather it is the other way around. So sooner or later we have to learn the lesson, apply it and push the millions of Muslims in Europe back to the Middle East. So sorry! I apologize in a most Christian fashion to my Muslim friends but you leave us little choice. Anyway, this is an old history of mankind and it is ugly and disgusting but lying about it makes no sense.
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