The Muslims Are the Jews of the 21st Century

After the 9/11 Attacks, Muslims are facing a serious crisis in the West and in Europe in particular. Switzerland's ban on new minarets is an example of many decisions that are not in favor of Islam. France has prevented Muslim women from wearing the hijab in public institutions and the Prophet was ridiculized in a Danish cartoon. Why all these attacks on Islam and why now?

The Europeans -of course not all of them- are fearing from Eurabia: the state in which Europe becomes Arabized and Islamized. Bernard Lewis said that in 25 years Europe will be predominantly inhabited by Muslims. The whole world has adopted the Western style of life so why this scare? The immigrants from Muslim countries and their descendents can change the European identity and universalize it but they represent an important brainpower in the age of fierce economic and scientific competition. Also, according to the Arab Labor Organization, 450 thousand Arabic engineers, physicians and researchers had immigrated to the developed world in the last decade. It's a scientific exodus. The state in Europe is not that bleak as they are "exploiting" an army of experts, a brain trust of hundreds of thousands of people. As Europeans are fearing from the Islamization of Europe, they are trying to devoice the Muslims, their citizens! The minaret represents the voice of the muezzin, they are silencing that voice not for religious reasons but for political and cultural ones. If Europe follows this intolerant course, Arabian Gulf countries will be more liberal than the European ones. If you walk in Dubai, you will see women wearing the burqa and others wearing the miniskirt.

We can understand the fears from the Muslim immigrants but those citizens have contributed a lot to the European progress. Europe is betraying its ideals; tolerance and human rights are pillars of its societies.

How to Preserve the Diasporas' Identities?

Diasporas are growing everywhere; their numbers are accelarating. Many of the members of those diasporas are fearing to lose their identities and their roots. I understand those fears but many measures can be taken to preserve those weakening identities. Language is an essential part of one's identity and culture and a lot of third-generation immigrants are not speaking a single word of the language of their fathers . They, later, deplore the loss of their identity. Parents should speak at home the language of their fathers in order for the kids to be accustomed with that language or accent. Also, the names of the newly-born babies should be related to the culture of the original identity, thus society becomes multicultural and diverse. History has proven that multi-ethnic societies are stronger than the mono-ethnic ones. The interaction between those ethnicities is a source of creativity. The diasporas should also worship the religion of their ancestors and venerate the saints of their original lands. For Christian Lebanese who are outside Lebanon, it is Our Lady of Lebanon which should be venerated. Frequent visits to the fathers' land are also encouraged in order for the new generations to know where do they originated from. Parents ought to instill in their children and grandchildren the notion that they should be proud of their origins. Grouping a certain diaspora in institutions and associations is a unifying factor for the immigrants and their descendents. The diasporas should be treated by their original states as full citizens and they should be granted citizenships, the right to vote and seats in the parliaments. An emphasis can be put on the original cuisine and on media related to the ancestors' land. Maintaining the diasporas' identities is a burning issue but previously-given clues can be very helpful.

Identity or No Identity?

Identity has undergone a tremendeous change. Today, we don't see a homogeneous identity but it's rather heterogeneous and hybrid. Since the waves of immigration from Europe and other parts of the world to the New World, we have started talking about identity as doubled. Also, the Old World itself is no longer homogeneous; it's becoming more and more multicultural. The partisans of globalization say that time has come to talk about the world citizen and demographic realities on the ground stand by their idea. The evolution of international traffic has accelerated people's immigration thus identity has changed. We are more and more talking about the roots, the descent and the origin. Identity is more hyphenated than it was in the past. Hyphenated adjectives like Italian-American or Algerian-French are present everywhere. Besides, we started talking about multiple citizenships and not only two; Monica Seles and Carlos Ghosn are perfect examples of this multiplicity. For globalists the one-citizenship age is falling apart. For nationalists, it's still strong. We cannot control human migration because it's a natural human phenomenon. It's not an artificial one. One of the chracheteristics of the human being is to move, to settle and to resettle and history has proven that.

Leadership at the Time of No Leadership

The notion of leadership has undergone many changes throughout the ages. Nowadays, we don't have the type of leaders like the prophets and Alexander the Great. We don't have lands to conquer and monotheistic religions to preach but we have markets to conquer and minds to reach. Thus, the vision of the leaders has changed. Also, we don't have a crisis of leadership as the number of leaders is mushrooming and the margin of maneuver is lessening. The leaders who want to be remembered by history should explore new fields in order to be innovative and pioneering.

The Illusion of the Coincidence

Most often, people consider that they can become in a VIP position by just reading influential people's biographies. A fighter jet pilot thinks that he can become the U.S. president just because George W. Bush was once doing the same job. This is mere illusion and this thinking diverts the person from knowing the abilities that are specefic to him. Maybe the aspiring pilot does not have the leadership skills to become a president. It's unwise to make comparisons because it's rare to find two people who have the same abilities.

Life Lesson: Don't Be Impatient to Get Results

Do not expect to get results at a fixed time. What you will do will have lasting effects.Let's learn from hydromechanics: if you open the water valve you will not receive water immediately. You will discover that what you have done in the past still produces results and you will be surprised by that.

Why Is It Almost Impossible for Morocco to Get Ceuta and Melilla?

Many factors hinder Morocco from getting Ceuta and Melilla. In the Spanish mind those two cities are considerd Spanish as Algeria was once considerd French. Also, the demographics are in favor of Spain: The ethnically Spanish people who were born there consider their birhplace as the hometown and if Morocco acquires them what she will do to those dwellers? Also Spain invaded the enclaves many centuries ago when modern-day Morocco didn't exist. It seems that history wiped out all the Moroccan calls for sovereignty over the two lands.

A Smart Defensive Military Tactic

If an army starts to invade a country, the least thing that the invaded can do is the following. Plough the land that the invader is going to walk through in order to take hold of strategic places. By doing that, you will exhaust the troops, delay their arrival and distabalize them psychologically. The toops will not be as confident as they were when the operations stareted. A similar tactic was coducted by The British War Office in World War II when it burnt the seashores to prevent the Germans from getting in. If the soldiers reached the English shorelines, they would be burnt alive.

About Me

salah almhamdi, born on October 7, 1984, is a freelance writer. He writes non fiction: politics, society, business, strategy, history, media, religion, spirituality, New Age, anthropology, languages, translation, self-develpoment, management, etc.

A Simple Way of E-Search for a Job

Tired of searching jobs on sites like Monster and wants to see quick results instead of wasting time on irrelevant adds, if yes what you have to do is to just follow this step. if you got an MBA and wants a job what you have to do is to just write "MBA + job" on Google's search box. You will get plenty of job adds. This technique may seem primitive but it is highly efficient and time-saving in fact.