The extremists in this case being a particular brand of European racist who uses a peaceful Muslim holy feast to desecrate - again - the tombs of hundreds of Algerian, Moroccan, and Tunisian soldiers at one of France's largest World War I cemeteries last night. The tombs of Jewish soldiers were also defaced with swastikas. The photo at left was taken after graffiti was removed from a previous desecration earlier this year.
Today is the feast of Eid al-Adha or Aid al-Kabir, which coincides with the end of the pilgrimage to Mecca. The world over, Muslim families are gathering for a feast of lamb, and perhaps a visit to a cemetery. Whoever desecrated the soldiers' graves knew the significance of their act.
The first time we experienced the Eid was in Tunis, in a middle class neighborhood where each back garden was sure to have orange or lemon trees. In the days leading up to the Eid, the bleating of lambs was added to the occasional barking of dogs or street cats battling it out over garbage left on the sidewalk.
Until the Eid, when the bleating stopped.
All over Europe, authorities have taken steps to accommodate their Muslim citizens' need to slaughter sheep. Here in Brussels, where at least 17% of the population is Muslim, this has included setting up several additional temporary slaughterhouses. In some neighborhood schools, principals can expect up to 90% of their pupils to miss class, since the Eid doesn't have the status of a school holiday like certain Christian feast days.
The Economist recently featured an article that chronicles the impact of large Muslim populations in many of Europe's major cities:
In some of these places bad relations between Muslims, non-Muslims and the authorities are creating political opportunities for the far right. Yet talk of civilisational war in Europe’s cobblestoned streets is out of line in one respect: it understates the ability of democratic politics, especially local politics, to adapt to new social phenomena. For cities to work, compromises have to be struck and coalitions assembled.
Here in Brussels and in other cities with large immigrant populations, first and second generation Muslims have run for and been elected to office. Even where the local politicians are not Muslim, they are attuned to the needs of their voters. We should expect this, and take it as a natural part of the process of immigration and assimilation that has always taken place. I wouldn't object to hearing the occasional call to prayer - it would bring back memories of Alexandria or Algiers. Or maybe the ecumenical mix of Melilla in northern Morocco, where the Spanish enclave featured muezzins and church bells.
Speaking of church bells reminds me that it's not just the Eid this December 8. It's also the Catholic feast of the Immaculate Conception. Happy feast day, and Eid mubarak. And a plague on the house of all extremists who can't live with a little bit of religious diversity in their midst.