From the Spectator. Lord Black isn’t alone in admiration of French realism towards the perils of the Muslim Brotherhood and other facets of Islam.
Donald Trump made headlines this month when he claimed that London and Paris are no longer recognisable because ‘they have opened their doors to jihad’. It was a characteristically provocative statement from the former US president, and one that had his many enemies huffing and puffing with indignation. Trump was wrong to describe the two cities as ‘unrecognisable’ but he was right in saying that a ‘jihad’ is being waged.
‘Jihad’, at least to non-Muslims, has violent connotations but the word means ‘struggle’ or ‘utmost effort’, and so there are also ideological jihads. This is the jihad that is being waged against the West this century.
In what may come to be regarded as one of the most significant interventions by the government of Emmanuel Macron, Gérald Darmanin – the French Interior Minister – gave a remarkable interview to a newspaper at the weekend. The subject was the Muslim Brotherhood, described by Darmanin as a ‘vicious organisation’. As he explained, the Brotherhood doesn’t wage violent jihad, but deploys ‘much gentler methods…[to] gradually bring all sections of society into the Islamic matrix’.
Darmanin’s remarks were clearly made with the approval of Macron. The president has authorised the Ministry of the Interior to compile a report on the threat posed by the Muslim Brotherhood. In a communique announcing this task, the ministry stated; ‘Islamist separatism is a theorised politico-religious project…aimed at building a counter-society. The Muslim Brotherhood plays a major role in disseminating such a system of thought.’
But the Brotherhood’s most successful achievement has been the introduction into the West of a new word: Islamophobia. ‘This is their word, and it covers their primary strategy, that of victimisation,’ said Darmanin.
For example, when pupils started arriving at school last September wearing Islamic dress, it was a flagrant challenge to France’s secularism laws. But it was twisted by some to make it appear that Muslims were being victimised.
Darmanin’s remarks have been welcomed by specialists in the field of the Muslim Brotherhood. Prominent among them is Florence Bergeaud-Blackler, who has been studying the movement for three decades and as a consequence requires police protection. In her 2023 book about the Brotherhood, she wrote that ‘their goal isn’t to adapt Islam to Europe but to adapt Europe to Islam’.
Austria outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood in 2021, but no other European country has followed suit. Darmanin said there will be no ban in France because ‘that is quite simply impossible’; this is because of the Brotherhood’s secretive nature and lack of defined hierarchy.
Instead, what is required is a ‘European awakening’, which Darmanin said he is pleased to see happening in Germany and Sweden.
One country Darmanin didn’t namecheck as being alert to the threat was Britain. Here the Brotherhood is flourishing in a country notoriously naïve – in French eyes – about Islamism. In his 2019 book about the Muslim Brotherhood, The Project, Alexandre del Valle (who collaborated with MI5 during his time in French intelligence in the 1990s and was shocked by their insouciance) explained that, in the aftermath of the 2005 London bombings, the organisation was seen as the ‘moderate’ voice of Muslims. Del Valle alleged that the Muslim Brotherhood has strong links to the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) – a claim denied by the MAB …(who) responded (to the suggestion that the government consider classifying the organisation as extremist) by threatening legal action.
The Muslim Association of Britain is part of the pressure group, The Muslim Vote, which has just issued Keir Starmer with 18 ‘demands’. They did this on X last week. Demands inlcude 3. Recognise Palestine state; 5. End military ties with Israel; 6. Issue guidance that Muslims are allowed to pray at school;14. Ensure sharia compliant pensions are available at every workplace. So the 1/3 of Muslims without a pension get one: And my personal favorite~ 15. Ensure insurance quotes don’t cost more for someone called “Muhammad”
As Florence Bergeaud-Blackler explained, the Muslim Brotherhood’s strategy is to adapt Europe to Islam; not through Donald Trump’s understanding of jihad, but by a passive political struggle. France has identified the threat, and so have other European countries, but Britain remains cut off from the continent in its complacency.
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One Response
We’ve been here before with the French. Nothing will change. That they won’t even ban the MB is the first giveaway. Lots of organisations are very secretive, particularly the kind that need banning. But that’s not a reason not to ban them.
The second giveaway is how he makes it a problem to be solved on a European level.
All European governments understand the mess we’re in but none has a clue about to how to deal with it. The only difference in the UK is that we don’t even pretend to address it and instead arrest anybody who tries to bring it to public attention.
Slipping gracefully into dhimmitude is the British way.