Twice in history did European armies halt a Muslim invasion: in 732
when Charles Martel's army defeated the Saracens in the battle of Poitiers
in central France, and in 1683 when the invading Ottoman Turks were
repelled at the gates of Vienna.
Since the Second World War, however, Muslims in ever increasing numbers
have migrated from former French and British colonies into France and
Britain. As West Germany's rebuilding efforts in the 1950s caused labor
shortages, "guest workers" arrived from Mediterranean countries,
predominantly from Turkey.
When they were no longer needed, most of the Turkish "guests"
liked Germany's high standard of living and generous welfare system
so much better than the conditions in their less developed home country
that they stayed on indefinitely and had their large families join them.
That was relatively easy to do because the German government had not
set a time limit on their residence and could hardly object to the reuniting
of the Turkish families.
In the meantime, the number of Muslims among Germany's roughly 8 million
foreign-born residents is approaching 3.5 million. Forty years have
passed since the first Turks found jobs with private industries and
in public services. By now, some Turks have opened their own businesses,
often successfully. Yet, they find it difficult to tell you whether
they consider themselves Turk or German. They seem certain, however,
that the third generation will think of itself as German. Many first-generation
Turkish immigrants have mixed feelings about giving up their Turkish
citizenship.
Compared to most other immigrants, Muslims remain culturally more distinct.
Yet, when I requested a guide for an American group at Berlin's tourist
office, we were met by a raven-haired, distinctly Turkish-looking lady
who spoke the unmistakable German dialect of Berlin. She had gone through
the German educational system, earned a university degree, wore a fashionable
suit with a Muslim headscarf, and showed us her mosque and her belly
dancing school. "I love my life in two cultures," she explained.
According to the Central Islamic Institute, 74 percent (2.55 million)
of Germany's Muslims take their faith serious. Average attendance at
mosques in the homeland of Martin Luther is almost twice as high as
in Protestant churches. Of the country's 77 mosques, seven were built
last year, and 123 are in the planning stage. In addition, there are
2,300 prayer houses and cultural centers. Among Muslim parents, 97 percent
want released space and time in public schools for Islamic religious
education, the same practice as exists for Christian children.
Politically, Germany's Muslims are growing into a force to be reckoned
with. The newly enfranchised Turks seem to have contributed decisively
to the thin margin by which the coalition of Social Democrats and Greens
kept Chancellor Schröder in office. It was the reward for his support
of more liberal immigration and naturalization laws and the admission
of Turkey into the European Union. With 160,000 additional Muslim citizens
annually, the number of Muslim voters may reach 3 million within a decade.
With 10 million Muslims and 1 million Jews in France, Germany, and Britain
combined, Europe's politicians cannot afford to ignore the occupation
of Palestinian lands when they result in daily deaths and destruction.
There is no wealthy Israeli lobby in Europe's capitals to reward politicians
with campaign funds for denouncing Arabs in general and Palestinians
in particular.
After the Nazis' destruction of much of Europe's Jewry, anti-Jewish
agitation in Germany remains minimal and support for Israel's statehood
solid. The growing Muslim presence, however, forces European parliaments
to be much more evenhanded than the U.S. Congress. The perpetrators
of anti-Jewish incidents are, more often than not, Muslim immigrants
or students frustrated over the plight of their fellow Muslims in the
Middle East.
Today, the birth rate of Muslims in Europe is three times higher than
that of non-Muslims. If current trends continue, the Muslim population
of Europe will nearly double by 2015, while the non-Muslim population
will shrink by 3.5 percent. In the traditional centers of Christendom,
Islam is on the rise, indeed.