By: Dr Andreja Valič Zver
An outrageous event occurred in the metropolis of the United Kingdom when the police attacked unarmed participants of a procession celebrating St. George’s Day. The trigger was supposedly waving an umbrella in front of a police horse’s nose, followed by the typical accusations from most media outlets labelling them as “far-right extremists” chanting “England until I die”. Six people were arrested. One wonders what was the purpose and message of this attack by the authorities on citizens in the heart of the world’s democracy. At the forefront of the procession were people wrapped in white flags with a red Christian cross. As we know, these are the flags of St. George, the patron saint of England. Additionally, historical memory tells us that these were the flags of European Crusaders who, since the 11th century, went to fight against Muslims in the Middle East.
If we delve into the historical treasury, we will discover facts that explain many aspects of the current time, marked by conflicts in the Middle East, illegal migrations into Europe, terrorist threats, and attacks, along with distorted reactions from European authorities. Then we will better understand the weakness and vulnerability of our European civilisation, which – at least it seems – is shrinking under the pressure of the invasive Islamic civilisation. European history teaches us that since the 7th century, Islam has been rapidly spreading under the leadership of Arab tribes across vast regions of Asia, Africa, and Europe. The spread of the faith is dictated by the Quran, the holy book of Islam. Of course, economic, and political factors also contributed to the conquest campaigns. Islam penetrated the gates of Western Europe in the first decades of the 8th century. After conquering the Iberian Peninsula, it was confronted by the army of the Carolingian king, defeating the Arabs in the Battle of Tours in 732. The situation was much worse for Europeans in South-eastern Europe, where Islamised Ottomans or Turks conquered Balkan states one after another. After capturing the Christian capital of Constantinople in 1453, it seemed that the Turks had a wide-open path to Central Europe. Indeed, they threatened the heart of Europe until 1683 when they were defeated by the Polish king Jan Sobieski in front of Vienna, from where the Austrian emperor fled with his retinue.
Even our Slovenian ancestors trembled before the “dogheads”, as folk tales called them. The Slovenian archetype is marked by mortal fear of wild men on horses, who sowed hell on earth: terror, death, destruction, rape, abductions. The tale of Mikla’s Zala from Carinthia, who was abducted on one of their wild raids and dragged to the Turkish harem, is just one of the many stories that have left an imprint on Slovenian historical memory.
But let’s return to the rebellion of Christian Europe against Islamic conquerors. Among them are the Crusades from the 11th to the 15th century. When Pope Urban II called European knights to a crusade to liberate the Holy Land, he initially received a massive response. Later, enthusiasm for the Crusades diminished considerably, and the Crusaders performed all kinds of tasks for money and in exchange for passage on ships. We must not turn a blind eye to the dark sides of the Crusader period, but the spirit of the struggle for European values based on Christianity has nourished the European spirit for centuries.
Today, we are witnessing a revival of Islamic fundamentalism, which threatens with Sharia law and inhumane actions. One only needs to look at the Iranian theocratic regime, which in recent days has again executed several women simply for daring to oppose compulsory hijab. To acquiesce to totalitarian regimes that threaten Europe from all corners is a kind of suicidal behaviour. To all those who, for whatever reason, occupy universities and chant in favour of Hamas, I would advise them to go to the Middle East and experience first-hand what it is like to live in an uncivilised totalitarian world.
To all those who, disguised as police officers, attack participants for the re-conquest of the United Kingdom, I can only say that they are on the wrong side of history. With their actions, they enable an Islamic revolution like we have not seen before. They destroy their own culture and import an intolerant foreign one. To make the paradox even greater, the latter is winning with democratic means – an increasing number of mayors and other high-ranking politicians on British soil are non-Christians.