Europe and Muslim immigration: a creeping civil war

Austria-Israel relations

Beck begins by reviewing his new book, which deals with the complex relations between Austria and Israel. He describes how Austria, Hitler’s birthplace, managed to present itself as the first victim of Nazism and evade paying reparations. Despite this, Israel was quick to establish diplomatic relations with it. Beck recounts a series of crises in the relationship, such as during the time of the anti-Zionist Jewish chancellor Bruno Kreisky, who was the first in the West to grant legitimacy to the PLO and the two-state solution idea. Additional crises revolved around the election of Kurt Waldheim as president and the rise of Jörg Haider’s Freedom Party. Haider was close to Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi. The turning point, according to Beck, came with the rise of Sebastian Kurz, who turned Austria into one of the most pro-Israel countries in the European Union.

Eastern Europe versus Western Europe

Beck distinguishes between Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe. According to him, countries like Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic, which freed themselves from communist rule, strongly oppose being flooded with Muslim immigrants. He emphasizes that this is not an opposition to immigration in general, as these same countries absorbed millions of refugees from Ukraine without difficulty. The opposition stems from a fear for their national and Christian identity, an identity that was suppressed for decades under communism. In contrast, illegal immigrants prefer Western European countries, like Germany, Austria, and Scandinavia, due to their more generous welfare policies. As a result of the 2015-2016 migration crisis, the human landscape in Western cities has completely changed, and the Arabic language is heard everywhere. Beck claims that among these immigrant communities, the rate of crime and involvement in criminal organizations is high relative to their share of the population.

Three types of antisemitism

Boris Gorelik asks if antisemitism in Europe today comes only from the Muslim population. Beck replies that one must distinguish between three types. The first is religious anti-Judaism, which existed in Christianity and Islam. The second is “old” antisemitism, a political and racist movement from the 19th century that viewed Jews as an inferior race. The third type is “new” antisemitism, which is essentially an import of the old antisemitism to the Middle East, using the Israeli-Arab conflict as a pretext for hating Jews under the guise of anti-Zionism. According to him, the old antisemitism still exists in neo-Nazi far-right circles, and these surprisingly support the Palestinians, Iran, and Hezbollah. He notes that there is an alliance between radical left and radical right elements against Israel, and gives as an example an Austrian party named “Gaza” that ran in the last elections and was composed of left-wing activists, former Israelis, and the daughter of a senior Hamas official.

The Netherlands as a center for organized crime

Beck describes the Netherlands as a special case. The country became a global hub for Moroccan drug cartels, which exploited immigration from Morocco to establish their operations there. The cartels took over significant parts of the Dutch economy through the gray economy, and the country effectively lost its sovereignty in certain areas. Dutch governments, he says, have avoided confronting the problem over the years.

Civil war in the West

Beck expresses pessimism about the future. He argues that the success of the October 7th attack ignited an Arab-Muslim intifada in the West, aimed at conquering parts of Europe and North America. In his view, this is not a centrally organized effort but a “zeitgeist” stemming from the Islamic ideology of dividing the world into “Dar al-Islam” and “Dar al-Harb” (the house of war). The clashes between pro-Palestinian protesters and police forces in European capitals are, in his eyes, a manifestation of a civil war that is already happening. The Palestinian flag, waved at demonstrations, is in fact a war banner against the entire West. He believes that the only solution left for governments that decide to reclaim their sovereignty will be to deploy military forces within cities, because the police forces have been neutered and are no longer able to handle the situation. However, he commends Germany, where the government has recently been taking a tougher stance against violent demonstrations.