An Islamic Europe?

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EURABIA:

THE EURO-ARAB AXIS

By Bat Ye'or

Fairleigh Dickinson, $23.95, 270 pages

REVIEWED BY JULIA DUIN

In Europe, the cathedrals are empty and the mosques are full. One reason the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI this spring is because the 115 cardinals who gathered in Rome saw Europe's rechristianization as their top priority. They wanted a man who could not only fight the Islamic and secularist tides sweeping the continent, they needed a candidate who understood the profound hostility both cultures have toward a Christian Europe.

Hostility? Yes, says Bat Ye'or, a scholar living in Switzerland, who says the battle of Tours, where Charles Martel and the Franks in 732 turned back the Muslim armies, is being refought. This time, says the author, who has written three previous books on conditions of Christians and Jews living in Islamic countries, Muslims will suceed in Islamicizing Europe, with immense consequences for the United States. Despite diplomatic niceties, Christians and Jews are -- and always will be -- considered as infidels for refusing Islam's truth, writes Ms. Ye'or. As Muslim immigrants pour into Europe, what is emerging, in her view, "is a new Eurabian culture with its own dogma, preachers, axioms and rules."

Listing an array of conferences, speeches and documents from Islamic groups intent on forming Europe into an Islamic state, the author documents several trends to support her thesis:

-- Middle Eastern Muslims in search of jobs and greater political freedom have immigrated to Europe in droves, particularly France, which is now eight percent Muslim.