The Islamization of Europe.

When it comes to immigration, Patrick Buchanan has an ally of sorts in Germany. Bassam Tibi, Professor of International Relations at the University of Goettingen, has been speaking out for a long time on the perils of excessive immigration into Europe. Sharing many of the same general concerns as Buchanan, he has expressed particular reservations about Muslim immigrants. What makes Professor Tibi's observations especially poignant is that he is Syrian-born, and a published authority on Islamic religion and culture.

Tibi describes two parallel Islamic communities in Europe. There are the non-orthodox Muslims who are educated and professionally successful. They have integrated and pose no problem. There are also those Muslims, however, who are part of the "mosque community." They defend another culture and reject integration because they don't reconcile democracy and constitutional law with their religion. Rather, they read in German translation the texts of Sayyid Qutb, the father of Islamic fundamentalism. This is the segment threatening the "Islamization" of Europe.

While Tibi acknowledges that Europe needs immigrants, he also believes that countries have the right to choose whom to let in. He believes it imperative to stop Islamic fundamentalists from finding refuge in the West, especially in Europe, where they pursue their anti-democratic activities and build up the logistics to promote them.

Hezbollah wants to establish central headquarters for European "operations" in Berlin. It also has been widely published that the terrorist group is beginning tactical cooperation with al-Qaeda. Hamas has already built up its logistical base in Germany. These developments took place after 9/11.

The financial benefits of European welfare perks, which have continued to expand unabated, help these immigrants build a cultural diaspora, which becomes a recruiting ground for Islamic fundamentalists. The Danish minister for integration acknowledged that there is no incentive for immigrants to work when they sometimes get more money from welfare than the gainfully employed. These benefits include not only unemployment compensation and social security but also generous housing, transportation, and day care allowances, to name but a few.

Europe's relaxed borders and loose immigration policy enable hundreds of al-Qaeda killers to trickle in and apply for asylum. Ramzi Binalshibh, a possible September 11 "twentieth hijacker," applied for political asylum in Germany under a false name in 1995. The application was denied, but later he reapplied under his real name and was granted a visa.

To counter this threat, Professor Tibi asserts that Western Europe needs not only border police, but also stricter legislation regarding so-called refugees. The U.K., Denmark, and the Netherlands have been in the process of laying the groundwork for such legislation.