Rabbi David Rosen contacted us over the weekend in response to our article, “Rabbi David Rosen: Europe Risks being Overrun by Islam,” (which was based on a quote from an EU Observer article with the same title), seeking to clarify his comment and distancing himself from others quoted in the article.
Here is the quote in question:
Speaking to journalists at a meeting in Jerusalem on Friday (26 November), Rabbi Rosen, the director of inter-religious affairs at the Washington-based American Jewish Congress, said that a predominantly secular and liberal Western European society is under threat by the rapid growth of Islamic communities that do not want to integrate with their neighbours.
“I am against building walls. My humanity is my most important component. But Western society very clearly doesn’t have a strong identity. I would like Christians in Europe to become more Christian … those who do not have a strong identity are easily overrun by those who do,” the rabbi warned.
“I think there is a pretty good chance that your grandchildren, if they are not Muslim, then they will be very strong Roman Catholics,” he told one Italian reporter. “I don’t think a tepid identity can stand up to the challenge.”
This is Rabbi David Rosen’s comments:
Dear Loonwatch.com,
The article that you reproduced from EUobserver.com grossly misrepresented me. The headline and the first paragraph are entirely the reporter’s tendentious fabrication. The quotes are correct, but connecting mine with the others in the piece even distorts the quotes. I was addressing a group of journalists on the subject of Religion and Identity in the M.E. In question time they asked me about Europe and the prognosis of an eventual Muslim majority. I said that I didn’t think one needed to be afraid of such a prospect, if the Muslim population was appropriately integrated in Europe as it sought to be. However if the prospect causes them concern, then the only appropriate and valid response is to strengthen their own identities and this is unlikely to succeed without a religious basis. I would be grateful if you would put this clarification upon your site.
Thankyou,
Rabbi David Rosen
A poor choice of words from the Rabbi initially but his clarification spells out his repudiation of the Muslim demographic take over conspiracy, though in reality all indicators reveal that Muslims in Europe are in a post-integration phase and have already been integrated into society.
