Despite it being tediously dull - one graphic slowly replaces another while an actor speaking in a monotone narrates statistics - the video has attracted millions of viewers. The message is that Muslims will make up 50 percent of Europe's population by 2050.
By Mohammed Amezian
According to a fragment from the seven-minute video Muslim Demographics, "In a matter of years, Europe as we know it will cease to exist. Yet the population of Europe is not declining. Why? Immigration. Islamic immigration. Of all population growth in Europe since 1990, 90 percent has been Islamic immigration".
The video alternates moving letters on a black background with pie charts, block graphs and statistics. The voiceover is done in a rather monotonous American accent and Arabic music plays in the background. It ends with a somewhat alarming call to take action against the growing threat of Islam in the West.
Just what action one is supposed to take is left unsaid by the filmmaker, who calls him, or herself, Friend of Muslim (FoM). So far, more than 10 million people have watched the video.
Muslim Demographics video:
Babies
Friend of Muslim attempts, using what appear to be reliable statistics, to prove that Western culture is under threat and will probably disappear in the near future. The video claims that in order to maintain a particular culture, an average of 2.11 children must be born into every family. According to FoM, the 2007 European Union average was 1.38 percent, with Spain at the bottom of the table with 1.1 percent. The filmmaker alleges that the average for Muslim families is many times higher, at 8.1 percent. FoM goes on to claim that Muslims account for 50 percent of all children born in the Netherlands today and Muslims will make up half of the population by 2027.
A photo of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi with a quote attributed to him appears on the screen: "We don't need terrorists, we don't need homicide bombers. The 50-plus million Muslims in Europe will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades". The film is clearly designed to make people alarmed about the number of Muslims in Europe.
But are the statistics reliable? Jan Latten from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) says:
"Let me phrase it like this, the statistics aren't exactly reliable. The general trend is true; there are of course more Muslim children born in Europe today than 30 years ago but quantitatively, it's overdone. At the moment, you could say that around 20 percent of the children born in the Netherlands are born to non-Western women. However, we also know that not all non-Western women are Muslims. So, of the 20 percent of children born to non-Western women, around half, that is 10 percent, are Muslim".
Social unrest
Earlier this week, the conservative British newspaper The Daily Telegraph published an article about the number of Muslims in European Union countries. The report, which is based on The Daily Telegraph's own sources, claims that the number of Muslims have doubled in the last 30 years and will double again by 2015. The conservative broadsheet warns of social unrest unless every effort is made to integrate Muslims into society.
Alarming? Not for Amr Khalid, a well-known Egyptian preacher and Muslim activist, seen in an interview on another YouTube video. In response to a question, Mr Khalid says he is "extremely happy with the growing number of Muslims in Europe". He continues, “It is important to say that the number of Muslims in Europe is between 25 and 30 million," adding with a laugh, "Muslims have children, Europeans don't". Mr Khalid believes that Muslims will be in the majority in Europe in around 20 years time and that could have important consequences for policies across the EU".
Response
Despite being uploaded four months ago, Muslim Demographics hasn't really made an impact in the Arab world. Apart from the BBC's Arabic service, which has since removed the article, the media hasn't paid much attention to it.
YouTube has disabled the comments section for the video. Arabic internet forums claim the video was made in Canada and a version with subtitles is available for Arabic speakers. So far, there have been very few responses to this anonymous fear-mongering film, although one - also anonymous - viewer wrote, "best news ever".
The CBS's Jan Latten says, "Of course, people will be debating integration in 2050, at the very least because Dutch society will have changed. There will be more non-native Dutch people and Muslims. More people with other ideas and opinions will participate in the debate and make demands".
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@ Cole : I applaud you for a very accurate comment! It is refreshing to see that not everybody is blinded. It is amazing to see that most people don't care because it is not in their back garden (yet!) and are being influenced by mainsteam media shouting there is nothing wrong! Come on people, wake up to reality and let's fight this! But first we need our politicians to grow a pair...
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