The End of Multiculturalism?

I used to be a proud supporter of multiculturalism, even before it became broadly known in what became the post-national world. 

Globalization led many to believe that multiculturalism was the way of the future, and that the nation state would be subsumed by a global village in which all shared their cultural wealth and respected differences.

Sadly, this seems to have died out and replaced globally by rabid nationalism.

When I came of age in Montreal in the late sixties and early seventies, most of my friends were immigrants or the children of immigrants from all over the world. At home my family spoke Spanish, and outside we spoke English and French. 

My parents were immigrants who embraced Canada with all the diversity it had to offer, but who respected Canadian values and never dreamed of changing Canada into a version of what they had left behind. Immigrants came determined to give their children a brighter future and usually met with acceptance by locals.

The truth may have been different in European countries, that all had a history of cultural wars and where historically homogenous populations were not used to or welcoming to people who were different from them and were more resistant of immigrants. 

In France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, waves of Muslim immigrants and guest workers from Arab states and Turkey often congregated in ghettos, and their children, who were neither locals nor citizens of their country of origin, felt a deep void that many filled by turning to Islam and embracing the religion as their sole identity, finding comfort in their fellow coreligionists.

Saudi Arabia fueled this transition by funding the construction of thousands of mosques across the world and sending Wahhabi imams to indoctrinate susceptible youth into this extreme variant of Islam. 

As collateral damage, they also attracted disaffected Western youths who became rabid supporters of this ideology and as such a fifth columns for Al Qaeda, ISIS, and other extremist groups determined to destroy Western culture and religion and to subjugate the world to the diktats of Sharia law. 

In the beginning, extreme right-wing parties on the fringe of the political spectrum began to feed off the fear of many of increasing Islamic terrorism and concomitantly began to fuel antipathy towards immigration from Islamic countries – at precisely the time when millions of Arab and Muslim refugees were landing on their shores and well-meaning yet naïve centrist and leftist politicians were vying to accommodate them in their countries.

The global reaction to the barbaric terrorist attack on Israel on October 7th appears to be the straw that has broken the camel’s back. Supporters of Hamas have taken to the streets to attack not only Jews and Jewish interests, but also domestic institutions, calling for revolution and the imposition of Sharia law everywhere and the destruction of Western culture and religions.

This is not a parochial fight against Israel. 

It is a global jihad that is attracting left wing moderates and radicals who militate for what they call human rights but is in reality a licence for these groups to grow and proselytize. 

LGBTQ groups have come out in force as pro-Hamas, even though they would be executed for the sexual preferences in Muslim countries. 

Women’s groups, even UN Women, have strongly supported Hamas even though women are mere chattel in Muslim countries and are being slaughtered in Iran and Afghanistan for insisting on basic human rights and decent treatment. This, not to mention the rapes and butchery that the terrorists and Gazan civilians imposed on innocent Israeli women during and after the attacks. 

Coming back to the land of my youth, the Canadian government of Justin Trudeau appears to be more concerned with Islamophobia than with the exponentially increasing antisemitism that is visiting violence on Jews throughout the country.

On the whole, the Liberal government appears to be more concerned with the Muslim vote than in the long-term interests of Canadian voters.

For thirty-seven years I represented Canada abroad in a variety of diplomatic posts, espousing Canada’s international mantra of being a cultural mosaic and an example of the emerging post-national state.

This has unfortunately died.

There is a fifth column determined to change Canada into a replica of a Sharia state rather than adapting to Canadian values and norms. It is gaining political force and has already led the province of Quebec to pass laws forcing secularization on immigrants by prohibiting government employees from using any religious induments when working. 

This has been criticized by many, but the vast majority of Quebecers stand against any religious presence in government circles, believing that all Quebecers should espouse Quebec values.

I doubt that other jurisdictions can avoid not following a similar path as voters become increasingly fearful of and disgusted by the religious violence being unleashed in the streets of the world, thus creating an “us vs. them” conflict that could well result in increasing violence and chaos.

The dream of many of multicultural societies living in harmony and mutual respect appears to have died and is being replaced by the current “Clash of Civilizations” as described by Professor Samuel Huntington in 1994.

Muslims and others who would immigrate to other countries with best intentions to become good citizens will suffer for the sins of what I sincerely hope are the minorities who espouse violence and chaos.

As is usual, the innocent will suffer the sins of the guilty, and many could continue to die as a result. At this point, however, it has quickly become an existential issue.

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Edición: Fernando Sierra