The Economist and Euro-Islam
What the paper is missing.
by Stephen Schwartz
07/27/2006 12:00:00 AM

EUROPEANS HAVE BECOME RECEPTIVE to the argument that Israel participates in the global war on terror when it confronts Hezbollah. But the broadening of the context for conflict also means dragging in other issues and constituencies.

So far, the silence among European Muslims about the Israel-Lebanon confrontation has been deafening. Rather than pouring into the streets to denounce Israel, Euro-Muslims appear reluctant to get involved. Yet the background debate over the future of Euro-Islam has not subsided.

On this score, the Economist, the "newspaper" (as it always calls itself) which brilliantly recorded the English social upheavals of the early 19th century, has been a disappointment.
In recent attempts come to grips with the problems of Islam in Europe, the Economist has flopped. Its June 24 issue flaunted a cover with a graphic turning the Eiffel Tower into a mosque and the headline "Eurabia." Inside, the paper came down against the "Eurabia thesis," but failed to mention Europe's notable Islamic asset: the indigenous Muslim communities of the Balkans, especially the Muslims of Bosnia-Herzegovina. the rest