Read this Washington Post op-ed by a British member of Parliment. Jews (see here) and Muslims (see here) are facing increasing hostility in Europe.
The reasons are many, but a significant one is that nationalism and fundamentalism are responses to globalization and its associated economic turmoil. (Although the roots of extremist Islam are much more complex.) People fear a loss of national, ethnic and religious identity in a world in which everyone is mixing with everyone else. So people are increasingly clinging to what, in their minds, makes them unique: their nationalities, ethnicities and religions.
The True Clash of Civilizations is indeed occurring.
