Europe must stamp out intolerance of Western values within its own Muslim communities and far-right groups if it is to defeat the roots of terrorism, British Prime Minister David Cameron said Saturday.
Cameron told the annual Munich Security Conference that European governments have been too tolerant of some sectors of society that publicly oppose democracy or reject equal rights for all.
"We won't defeat terrorism simply by the actions we take outside our borders. Europe needs to wake up to what is happening in our own countries".
"We have even tolerated these segregated communities behaving in ways that run counter to our values,We have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and the mainstream."
"A culture of tolerance had allowed both Islamic extremists, and far-right extremists, to build support for their causes We've been too cautious, frankly even fearful, to stand up to them".
"If we are to defeat this threat, I believe it's time to turn the page on the failed policies of the past, Instead of ignoring this extremist ideology, we as governments and societies have got to confront it, in all its forms."
He told the conference that developments in the Middle East should be harnessed to disprove Muslims who claim their religion cannot be observed properly within the democratic system.
"If they want an example of how Western values and Islam can be entirely compatible, they should look at what's happened in the past few weeks on the streets of Tunis and Cairo".
