Fallaci Reconsidered

Harry's Place has an interesting discussion of the pros and cons (mostly the latter) of Oriana Fallaci's view of contemporary Europe:

I've read her two post 9-11 books, Anger and Pride and the Force of Reason, and while she makes a strident criticism of Islamism she goes beyond a political attack on a political movement to make alarmist generalisations about Muslims in Europe. She also argues for a reinforcement of Christian values in Europe as a way of countering what she sees as an impending Islamic takeover.

If you haven't read her books (and I'm not recommending you should) there is a taste of her views in a sycophantic interview with Opinion Journal today:

"Europe is no longer Europe, it is 'Eurabia,' a colony of Islam, where the Islamic invasion does not proceed only in a physical sense, but also in a mental and cultural sense. Servility to the invaders has poisoned democracy, with obvious consequences for the freedom of thought, and for the concept itself of liberty."

....The increased presence of Muslims in Italy, and in Europe, is directly proportional to our loss of freedom."

The phrase Eurabia is one you can find on a number of, usually right-wing American, blogs which promote the idea that our continent has been 'invaded' as part of a Muslim plot to take over Europe, impose Sharia law and force non-Muslim Europeans into a servile state of dhimmitude. It is a conspiracy theory albeit one that is given a certain credence in parts of the media as you can see in the writings of Melanie Phillips and Mark Steyn.

Both the post and the comments are well worth reading.