ropean hegemony had seemed destined for a millennial reignrnat the end of the 19th century, the 20th has proved it to be asrnfrail as the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem and the other temporaryrnconquests of the Crusades.rnWhat Islam proved unable to achieve by military means,rneither against the industrialized nations of the West orrnagainst the Jewish immigrants in the Holy Land, it is now accomplishingrnby other means, by an Islamic version of the Volkerwanderungenrnthat overwhelmed the Western Roman Empire.rnPopulations are being violently displaced; the highlyrnpublicized “ethnic cleansing” with which the Serbs arerncharged is but a pale reflection of what the Muslim Turks didrnto their Armenian Christian population in the second decadernof this century. At the beginning of this century, one-third ofrnthe people of what is now Turkey were Christians, but the persecutionrnand genocide of the Armenians early in the century,rnand the flight of Creeks after their ill-fated attempt to recoverrnConstantinople following World War II, have left Turkey withrnonly a tiny fraction of non-Muslims today. Even Israel may ultimatelyrnbe more Muslim than Jewish.rnThe nations of the West still possess highly refined weaponsrnand, in many cases, well-trained and numerous military forces.rnLIBERAL ARTSrnPEACEFUL COEXISTENCErn^^Tslam believes in cultural communication amongrn1 nations and refuses setting up barriers and embargosrnand sees that it is our right to remove those barriersrnin the diplomatic means; however, when othersrnintend to launch wars against it, Hizbollah finds it arnnatural right to defend itself.. . .rn”Islam . . . is a message that aims at establishing justice,rnsecurity, peace and right for all people no matterrnto any nation, race or religion they belong; we don’trnhave any complex toward others, but we feel the responsibilityrntoward them, to make them understandrnthe essence of our religion away fi-om obligation andrnfanaticism.rn”We don’t seek the application of Islam by force orrnviolence but by peaceful political performance, whichrngives the opportunity for the majority in any society tornadopt or reject it. if Islam becomes the choice of thernmajority then we will apply it; if not, we will continuernto coexist and discuss till we reach to correct beliefs.”rn—from the official website of Hizbollahrn(‘www.hizbollah.org/rnIt would be suicidal for Turkey to attempt to storm Germany orrnfor the Algerians to assault France. But Western Europe isrngradually being subjected to invasion by immigration, if we canrncall it that. The Turkish population of Cermany is large andrngrowing, and the new Socialist-Creen government, which isrnopenly hostile to Christianity, intends to make their presencernpermanent without Germanizing anything but their language.rnA similar phenomenon exists in France, where the nativernFrench population is stagnating while the Algerian and otherrnNorth African presence grows, only slightly moderated by thernpresence of African Christians. The wandering Volk may accomplishrnwhat no invading army could do.rnThe establishment of the state of Israel and the hitherto unsuccessfulrnattempts of the Arabs to dislodge it by war (declaredrnand undeclared) or by terrorism have diverted attention fromrnthe fact that Islam is spreading everywhere by what appears tornbe an inexorable biological energy. After the end of Frenchrnrule, Algeria has been “ethnically cleansed,” if we may use thatrnphrase, of its substantial European minority. With the end ofrncolonial rule, Muslim rulers in several African states, withoutrnregard to the presence of large numbers of Christians and adherentsrnof African tribal religions, are establishing IslamicrnShari’a law, often with tremendous cruelty, noticed by its victims,rnbut not by the West. Both Christians and animists in thernSudan are fair game for Muslim slave-traders.rnThe pressure and atrocities committed by adherents of Islamrnin Africa merit little attention in Western diplomatic circlesrnand in the press. The African Christians and animists, like thernLebanese “right-wing Christian militias,” belong to whatrnJacques EUul called the “uninteresting poor,” whose sufferingsrninterest only themselves.rnThe Roman Empire in the West was becoming Christianrnbefore it was overwhelmed and subjugated by the Volkerwandeningenrnof the Germanic peoples. The success of the barbariansrnin penetrating and overthrowing the empire in the Westrnwas facilitated by the moral and spiritual fatigue of the old Romans.rnThe imperial idea was no longer commanding, butrnChristianity was there as a vital force for the rebuilding of thernancient world. The resulting interaction between Hellenisticrnculture, Christian faith, and the vigor of the barbarians producedrn”Christian culture” and Christendom.rnThe peoples of the West are tired, having exhausted much ofrntheir strength in what amounted to wars of extermination in thernfirst half of this century. Reformed demographer PierrernChaunu speaks of a “demographic winter,” of the gradual dyingrnout of whole populations. But the Muslim peoples, afterrncenturies of stagnation, are resurgent. They, too, may experiencerna demographic winter, but it will set in later. Their oldrnambitions again seem within their reach, stiengthened as theyrnare by the tremendous importance of their vast reserves of oil.rnMany of the tiaditional religious foundations of the West arerneroded; it is not yet apparent whether emergent signs of revivalrnindicate a rejuvenation of Christendom or only a few “brandsrnsnatched from the burning.” Nominal Christians seem to carernlittle for the fate of their religion or even the destiny of their nations;rnfervent and convinced Christians, fewer in number, arernsurely more vigorous, but the eyes of many are fixed on the “cityrnthat is to come” (Hebrews 13:14). Is there enough vision andrnstiength to rebuild the walls of the West? Or will we succumbrnto a quiet jihad, in which what could not be gained by violencernis achieved by erosion?rn20/CHRONICLESrnrnrn