Study finds France and Netherlands most intolerant of Islamization

As you may have gathered from this morning's post, Walt is north of the world's longest undefended border this week. I may not be able to post as often as I might wish. Canadian internet and mobile charges are shocking, compared with those in the USA.

Perusing the Canadian media today, I came across an excellent article in the very liberal and PC Toronto Star. In "The new Europe: alone, together", Andrew Chung presents a lengthy (for the Star) analysis of attitudes to the flood of Muslim immigrants which has already inundated European cities such as Paris and Amsterdam.

Seems Europeans dislike being "Islamized" even more than do North Americans. According to the article, the Council of Europe, the guardian of the European Convention on Human Rights -- as long as you're not talking about rights for Christians -- has warned about a "drastic growth of hostility" toward Muslims throughout Europe. In other findings, the Council has determined that the Pope is Catholic and bears really do defecate in the woods.

The most anti-multicultural (meaning anti-Muslim) countries of "the new Europe" are France and the Netherlands. So says Prof. Keith Banting, of Queen’s University. (Interesting that Banting's "Multiculturalism Policy Index" should have been developed at Queen's, located in Kingston, ON -- one of the WASPiest cities of North America.)

Prof. Banting's index gives France's attitude to Muslim immigrants a score of 2 out of a possible 8. That puts France right down there with the Netherlands, also scoring 2 -- down from 5.5 in Y2K. Sweden is the most Muslim-friendly country of those studied, with a score of 7.5 out of 8. But remember, the study is talking of official government multiculti policies, not the feelings of your average Swede or Canadian. (Even under its Conservative regime, Canada scored a very liberal 7.)

Even in liberal and progressive Sweden, people are heard muttering darkly (geddit?) about the need for more "selective" immigration policies, like those being adopted by the Canadian government. "Skill-based immigrant selection" lessens the need for more repressive integration policies, says Dr. Christian Joppke, of the University of Bern, Switzerland (of course) in a new position paper.

The good doctor says Europe should begin to "select the 'right' immigrants". [Better check the transcript. Was that an "r" or a "w"? Ed.] All the same, the Star article quotes Dr. Joppke as saying Europe would still have a problem even if it adopts Canadian-style policies. He says most skilled immigrants prefer to come to Canada or the USA, where they get immediate welfare benefits and almost instant citizenship.

By contrast, he describes European countries as "settled, ethnic societies" where immigration is seen as a peripheral phenomenon and not widely liked. A master of understatement, that Dr. Joppke.