Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Right wings Parties in EU elections: what is the role of the Arabs?

Dr. Leila Nicolas
Within a month, between 22–25 May 2014, the European Parliament elections will be held in all member states of the European Union. The rise of right-wing populist movements across Europe has started to raise concerns not only to European governments but also countries around the world and the immigrants in Europe as well.

Since the end of WWII, and after all the miseries and casualties the European countries suffered due to the Nazi and Fascists policies, the Right- wings parties scattered, and couldn't get appeal in the European communities. However, and for the first time since the end of the Second world war, European countries are witnessing the revival of the right wings parties. The Great Recession and resultant Euro Crisis seem to have strengthened these parties, reinforcing euroscepticism and leading many frustrated people by a stagnant economy to embrace xenophobia, and social conservatism.

As these are the European trends, it seems legitimate that the Arabs and Muslim citizens are getting more worried about their future in Europe, especially after the developments in the Arab world and the so called "Arab spring" which highlighted  the issues of universal "Jihad" and terrorism. However, it seems that the threat of the right -wings policies has been exaggerated, and some questions can be raised in order to determine the responsibilities of all sides in this issue:

- Is there a real difference between the left- wings' policies and the right ones? Aren't the leftists who accepted the American policy blindly in the middle East, aiming to destabilize the Middle East in the name of "constructive Chaos", then promoting the Muslim Brotherhood rule in the MENA region, thus leading to the displacement of Christians of the orient? As politicians use populist rhetoric to win votes, one should examine and question how such groups differ from far-left parties, or even the political mainstream policies.

- What did the leftists' do to the Palestinians? and what is the historical role of the Europeans in the formation of Israel on the Palestinian territories?

- How did the Arabs benefited from the "Socialist" policies of the French president Francois Hollande?

- After the observation of the West-backed revolutionaries in "maidan" in Kiev, and the role of the New Nazis' in overthrowing the Ukrainian president, is it true that the European Leftist ideas are in real clash with the right wings ideologies?
and then the more important questions:

- how can the Arabs blame European citizens for their xenophobia, or for voting to the right-wings parties as a punishment to his governments supporting radical Islamic groups; while Arabs, themselves, had listed these groups on their terror lists, and are trying to convince the European governments to ban them as terrorist movements? How can we urge the European citizens not to vote for the rightists, and support the previous political trends, who supported radical terrorist groups in order to get rid of Bashar Asaad, and opened media, embassies, and foreign ministries to such terrorists who are now swaggering in the streets of Brussels, Paris, London etc., and summoning online threats to the Europeans every day?

Actually, the answers of these questions may not dissipate legitimate concerns of  Arabs and Muslims in Europe, but the fear of the rise of the far right-wings in the forthcoming elections should make them reconsider their aggressive speeches against those who hosted them, integrate more in European societies, and mainly, accept cultural diversity, renounce terrorism, and never allow fanatics and radicalism to spread in their European environments.