|
|
Sam Westrop, director of the Middle East Forum’s Islamist Watch Project, spoke to an April 28th Middle East Forum Webinar (video) about the threat of non-violent Islamism within Western liberal democracies, and the American and European responses to the threat. The following is a summary of his comments:
Over twenty years after 9-11, the U.S. has largely stopped focusing on the issue of Islamism and its impact on America, whereas European media has concluded that Islamism is a “clear and persistent danger to Europe and the West.” The perceptible difference between how the U.S. and Europe view their respective futures with Islamism raises the question as to why there are such disparate approaches. Europe’s demographics are a significant reason for the heightened concern on that continent.
At 7 percent and 10 percent, respectively, Britain’s and France’s Muslim populations are far greater in both proportion and number than the 2 percent in the U.S. In addition, Islamists have more sway over Muslims in Europe than in the U.S. because European Muslim communities are more “homogenous,” making it far “easier for a single Islamist group to take over.” The UK, where Muslims are mainly of South Asian descent, has the Deobandi Islamist network. In France, the Muslim population is largely of North African origin and hence North African Islamist movements, including the Muslim Brotherhood and various Salafi groups, dominate. In Germany, the Muslims are mainly of Turkish origin and therefore “Turkish Islamism has a very strong presence in the country.”