Growing concerns over increased Islamic influence in Europe

GERMANY, December 28, 2012 – In an article published December 27^th, Soeren Kern, a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute, wrote a dire message stating that “as a rapidly growing Muslim population makes its presence felt in towns and cities across the continent, Islam is transforming the European way of life in ways unimaginable only a few years ago.”

No ocuntry was more affected by Islam-related controversies in 2012 than Germany. According to Kern, the Muslim population in the early 1980s stood at approximately 50,000. Today that number has grown to more than four and half million.

Much of the anxiety lies in an increasing divide between Germany’s political elites, who are determined to build a multicultural society regardless of cost, and ordinary German citizens who are witnessing a progression in the erosion of their freedoms. Several recent studies have arrived at corroborating conclusions.

The problem has reached such dynamic proportions that Germans openly discuss the situation with outsiders, tourists and anyone else who will listen.

In a spate of political correctness where mainstream media is giving credence to the demands of multiculturalism by the power elite, anti-jihadists are being classified as “Islamophobes.” It is similar to the manner in which dissenters are called “racists” in the United States for voicing an opinion against another ethnic group.

Among the areas of greatest concern is the refusal of Muslim immigrants to integrate into German society, which inherently brings the institution of Sharia law. Such parallel legal systems will create societal havoc by establishing separate laws for diverging communities within one nation.

One estimate claims that more than 400 Roman Catholic churches and over 100 Protestant churches have been closed since 2000, with 700 additional Roman Catholic churches scheduled to shut down over the next several years.

As the number of Christians declines, the number of Muslims is increasing. There currently are more than 200 mosques in Germany, 128 more under construction and 2,600 Muslim prayer halls throughout the country.

In recent months, several reports have surfaced that hard-line Islamic groups, called Salafists, are working feverishly to establish a Sunni Islamic Caliphate throughout the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. Salafists are a radical Islamic sect based in Saudi Arabia.

Among the goals of the Caliphate is to establish a world governed by Sharia law, Islamic law, which would apply exclusively to both Muslims and non-Muslims.

As part of the program, a campaign called “Project Read” was organized in April of 2012 where Salafists set out to distribute 25-million free copies of the Koran, with a German translation. As Kern points out, it was an attempt to place a Koran in every household in the country.

In his chronological account of every notable Islamic “event” that occurred in Germany in 2012, Kern writes that German Intelligence Chief, Gerhard Schindler, issued a warning in August that Europe is at high risk of terrorists attacks, especially those of the homegrown variety. Many individuals born and/or raised in Europe have traveled to hotbeds of terrorism for training.

As recently as December 10^th, authorities in Germany announced that a man linked to al-Qaeda left a bag containing a bomb on a railway station platform in Bonn. Fortunately, the bomb did not detonate even though it had been activated.

As reported in this column in November, Hamburg, Germany’s second-largest city, agreed to a “treaty” granting Muslim communities broad new rights and privileges with very little in return. Among the terms of the agreement, Hamburg will now begin teaching Islam in public schools with leaders from the local Muslim community developing the curriculum.

By November 30^th, the city of Bremen followed suit by creating a similar pact.

Also in November, a 28-page research study, Fear of the East in the West, produced by the Allensbach Institute for Public Opinion Research, showed that a high percentage of Germans do not trust Islam and fear Muslim Immigration.

The percentages are telling: 64% of Germans believe Islam is prone to violence; 60% say Islam has a tendency toward revenge and retaliation; 56% state that Muslims are obsessed with proselytizing others; and 56% also say Islam strives for political influence.

Experts have been sounding alarms for decades. The situation is growing worse by the day in Germany. A Salafist Caliphate could be on the horizon if we continue to ignore and to appease.

Peabod is Bob Taylor, owner of Taylored Media Services in Charlotte, NC. Taylor is founder of The Magellan Travel Club, which creates, and escorts customized tours to Switzerland, France and Italy for groups of 12 or more.

Inquiries for groups can be made at Peabod@aol.com Taylored Media has produced marketing videos for British Rail, Rail Europe, Switzerland Tourism, the Swedish Travel & Tourism Council, the Finnish Tourist Board, the Swiss Travel System and Japan Railways Group among others. As author of The Century Club book, Peabod is now attempting to travel to 100 countries or more during his lifetime. To date he has visited 71 countries. Suggest someplace new for Bob to visit; if you want to know where he has been, check his list on Facebook. Bob plans to write a sequel to his book when he reaches his goal of 100 countries. He also played professional baseball for four years and was a sportscaster for 14 years at WBTV, the CBS affiliate in Charlotte.