British prime minister David Cameron gave an enormously important speech in Munich last week. He began by stating a basic fact which is nevertheless seldom spoken in polite Western company: the overwhelming majority of terrorism around the world is committed in the name of Islam. To which he added another uncomfortable truth: Much of that terrorism in Western countries is homegrown.
None of the familiar excuses for terrorism said Cameron can explain that form of Islamic terrorism — not poverty not grievances about Western armies in Muslim lands. Many of Britain’s homegrown terrorists he noted have been solidly middle class and university graduates. Indeed the university campuses are where much of the radicalization process takes place.
At least with respect to Britain’s homegrown terrorists Cameron laid the blame on the doctrine of state multiculturalism which has “encouraged different cultures to live separate lives apart from each other and apart from the mainstream.” Multiculturalists view the state as little more than an amalgam of the various separate communities living within its borders. In the multiculturalist model national culture shared ideals and even a common language have no place.
Multiculturalism has resulted Cameron charged in “tolerance” that would never be shown to deviants of Anglo-Saxon stock being shown to minority cultures. “When a white person holds objectionable views” said Cameron “we rightly condemn them. But when equally unacceptable views or practices come from someone who isn’t white we’ve become too cautious — frankly even fearful — to stand up to them.” He gave forced marriage in Muslim communities as an example of a practice to which authorities have for too long turned a blind eye.
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