Appreciate your comment. I too have an affection for many aspects of the Middle East culture (music, architecture and cuisine being chief among them), and have known some muslims in my time, though no close friendships. However, what Tommy is discussing is current events, and I think perhaps your memories of pleasant times are not indicative of what's going on today in Europe. Things seem to be heating up considerably, don't you think?

In recent years, in an effort to better understand the culture, I have studied Islam to some extent, and what I see written in the Quran I find disturbing in many ways. When a scripture calls for the maiming or beheading of non-believers, when pedophilia and rape are normalized, when apostates are targeted to be killed for leaving the belief system, I personally have a hard time buying the line that Islam is a "religion of peace". I think what we're seeing playing out in England (and the EU, as well) could fairly accurately be described as a clash of cultures... and it's not going to end well, I'm afraid.