Europe hands its soul to the right by Tariq Ramadan
Tariq Ramadan's piece in the Guardian raises important issues that far exceed the debate on Islam and Muslims in Europe. His remarks raise issues about the quality of western democracies, the process of agenda setting and the ability of right wing populist parties to diffuse their values and issues without necessarily winning elections. What is needed more than ever today is an effective resistance to the antidemocratic and racist onslought of the populist extreme right. Denying them the right to define who is an insider and who is an outsider and engagement instead of complacency. Spyros Sofos By refusing to debate with extreme rightwing parties, we have let their populist policies win the day guardian.co.uk , Tuesday 24 February 2009 10.00 GMT I have been criticised in recent years for agreeing to debate with representatives of extreme rightwing political parties: in France, when I confronted Je