Tuesday, November 08, 2005
European Powder Keg
Radio Blogger: "This is a fuse that's been lit all over Europe. " These are Mark Steyn's words from a Hugh Hewitt interview.
It was 20 years ago that I was in France, 7 months in Paris and a year in other parts. The Arab enclaves existed then but they were certainly not threatening. In fact, I found the Arabs (and I'm lumping all of the Muslims whether from the Levant, North Africa, Iran or elsewhere unfairly into one clump, but that was the terminology we used), very friendly. They were always willing to talk and especially to argue. Late one night, a "gang" of Arabs in their teens and twenties were the only other people in the subway with me and another guy. They had a fight among themselves but were very civil to us. In fact, the only guy that ever threatened me, a guy in the mandatory military service and apparently home on leave came at me with a broken beer bottle but his designs were frustrated. One weird experience was being invited into the home of a Lebanese Muslim listening to the radio as live reports were coming in of fighting between the marines and Shiites (as I recall) -- he was a shiite. My how times have changed. It doesn't sound like an American would be welcome at all in those enclaves anymore.
It was 20 years ago that I was in France, 7 months in Paris and a year in other parts. The Arab enclaves existed then but they were certainly not threatening. In fact, I found the Arabs (and I'm lumping all of the Muslims whether from the Levant, North Africa, Iran or elsewhere unfairly into one clump, but that was the terminology we used), very friendly. They were always willing to talk and especially to argue. Late one night, a "gang" of Arabs in their teens and twenties were the only other people in the subway with me and another guy. They had a fight among themselves but were very civil to us. In fact, the only guy that ever threatened me, a guy in the mandatory military service and apparently home on leave came at me with a broken beer bottle but his designs were frustrated. One weird experience was being invited into the home of a Lebanese Muslim listening to the radio as live reports were coming in of fighting between the marines and Shiites (as I recall) -- he was a shiite. My how times have changed. It doesn't sound like an American would be welcome at all in those enclaves anymore.
// posted by Zerin Hood @ 9:51 AM 
