London's Brick Lane Mosque started as a church for Protestants hounded from Catholic France — for whom the word "refugee" was first coined. Later, displaced Jews turned it into a synagogue. Today, Muslims kick off their shoes in the lobby before prayers. That layering of migrants over centuries, like strata in rock, tells a story vital for Europe to remember as it struggles with new flows of people seeking sanctuary and fresh starts. Viewed historically, Syrians, Iraqis and others risking their lives to become European are simply marching in step with what has long been a tradition on the continent: uprooting and moving. A perpetual trample of feet — from town to town, country to country,...
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