Thanks for offering a perspective, from someone who I believe has lived in Israel since the late Intifada or before even (?).
On this first point and possibility: I used to believe those causing troubles could be deported, en masse not emptying the sea with a spoon as I’d literally translate the French expression. I don’t believe it much anymore now. Seems like that ship has sailed as you’ve witnessed recently with the Parliamentary elections in France where the far-right was supposedly winning a majority and a sufficient number of seats to govern and give Macron headaches. Right or wrong it hasn’t happened and we’re headed to a status quo or worse: having the left/far left gets its PM.
Also would like to add that while Brexit wasn’t only an immigration issue, since it happened immigration and illegal one at that has worsened there. Not going back to Tony Blair who let in millions then but in recent years.
Now that’s something more likely, some also mentioned a Balkanization of our societies. The Balkans are a complex issue as well, but the Kosovo « Heart of Serbia » turning predominantly Muslim over the last century is also worth considering at the difference that we Western Europeans have numerous cultures and ethnicities when the Serbs had Albanians / kosovars making the Lebanon analogy more likely. A Tower of Babel of minorities as Pat Buchanan called it then.
Just as an ado, as an also Houellebecq aficionado and reader. He used to be prophetic « Platform » one of his novel that impressed many then called the Bali attack in 2002 against mainly Aussies back when he was writing it three year before, two years before 9/11 too.
I like the author and now actor. He’s not God, just a writer and most of his books have called things right, he’s also incredibly morose.
I've been living in Israel since 1995, so yes, from before the second Intifada has started.
Also, to continue the discussion, there is the third "Israeli" option. I didn't mention because I'm not sure how realistic it is given the European realities, but for whatever it's worth, here it goes:
Israel is a very interesting case of working out its own version of coexistence with Arab Muslim minority (there are other minority community, but this one is by far the largest and most "problematic").
The Israeli model has three main components:
1. Unapologetic assertion of the national identity - no multiculturalism, no nothing. Those things don't really exist in our political vocabulary, even on the left side of the mainstream political spectrum. The most basic foundation of state explicitly stated in the Declaration of Independence - Jewish and Democratic. A formula, which is being repeated like mantra during whatever political arguments we are having.
2. Extremely low tolerance to any violent challenge of public/political order - the cases of mass scale violence on the order we witness in the West (now, BLM riots, etc) are very rare and relatively quickly and aggressively suppressed. I'm not talking about Intifada, BTW, this was different event - basically, insurgency. I'm talking about internal civil unrest. Having an extremely acute sense of self-preservation has its benefits.
3. Given all that, maximal accommodation (
not integration, about this later) of the local Arab/Muslim minorities within the Israel civil society. This includes public education system and gov. services in Arabic, Sharia Courts (existed in Israel pretty much since the state establishment), some affirmative action policies (job programs, higher education), full political representation, full civil rights and explicit anti-racial discrimination laws and policies. There are three main Arab parties in Israel more or less constantly represented in Knesset - Arab nationalists, communists and Islamists. There are Arab judges in courts (including Supreme), ministers in gov., high-ranking police officers etc etc.
Now about the integration:
Nobody in Israel is trying to "integrate" the Arabs, the way it's usually understood in the West, i.e. accept our culture/values or any such nonsense. We are all too acutely aware about how the differences are fundamental and unbridgeable. Whenever there is any "integration" talk in the context of minorities (as opposed to Jewish immigrants, lets say), it's usually strictly confined to access to education, job market etc - the real practical issues. The idea is to preserve our dearly acquired nationhood, whilst providing the minorities maximum wellbeing without compromising the foundations of the state. The fact, that the Jewish and Arab communities historically live mostly separately does help to facilitate all this.
I'm not going to pretend it's all perfect, there are tonnes of problem, but... given the sheer challenges Israel experienced during 70+ years of its existence, the Israeli democracy is nothing short of a miracle.
I call this model the Enlightened Nationalism (or, somewhat more provocatively - and to make a point - Enlightened Chauvinism).The kind of nationalism, which builds upon
dominance and
primacy of a given culture/religion in the given polity, as opposed to- and in contrast to
domination and
supremacy. It's about priorities and protection of the societal foundations vs establishment of some sort of effed-up absolutist anti-human hierarchy, which allows for anything to be done to those below. Just my personal formulation of the Israeli model. I'm reasonably confident Hungary, Czech Republic etc are making their way in more or less the same direction.
