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Fine words cannot disguise it: the clash of civilisations is real
Via DhimmiWatchExcerpt: President Bush, Tony Blair and John Howard, the Australian Prime Minister, have been commendably unflinching in their determination to eradicate the pestilence of Islamist terrorism. Other governments are trying a different tack, which smacks of appeasement. Last week in Madrid, I attended a âDialogue between Cultures and Religionâ, organised by a foundation with links to Spainâs ruling socialists. Here, talk of âdialogueâ between faiths effortlessly mutated into the separate notion, promoted by Spain and Turkey, of âan alliance of civilisationsâ spanning the Mediterranean world. Countries can ally; civilisations generally donât. A banquet in the government quarter elicited the intelligence, from a Moroccan diplomat, that not only was âEuropeâ morally superior to a US symbolised by Bushâs Texas, but that a distinctive âfusionâ culture was emerging in the Mediterranean, âdifferent â from that of northern Europe. One doubts whether the Italians feel that way. The conference opened with protestations of goodwill from Mohammad Khatami, Iranâs former president, delivered by an ambassador who was not among those recalled for failing to reflect the crazed views of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Felipe González, the former Spanish premier, chose to overlook Ahmadinejadâs rant, preferring to contest the notion of a âclash of civilisationsâ, as if this were US policy. At least Miguel Ãngel Moratinos, the Spanish Foreign Minister, managed condemnation of an elliptical sort. He has been a prime mover of the claim that you cannot âfight evil with evilâ, a formula begging many questions about moral equivalences. He favours marginalising extremists through a dialogue with Muslim âmoderatesâ. These included Dr Tariq Ramadan, an Egyptian intellectual, who is on an FBI watch list and banned from France, but welcome in Spain. Posted by: ed 2005-11-08 |
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