Islamophobia in Europe is at a “turning point”, a new report warns

new Report Regarding Islamophobia in Europe, he warns that in the last two years, hate crimes against Islam on the continent “have worsened even if they have not reached a turning point.”

The pandemic has relatively reduced physical attacks on Islam and their worship services, but not less hate speech. Instead, according to the author, online hate speech has increased. This has a longer-term impact on how Islamophobia is being addressed across the continent.

Enes Bayrakli, one of the co-authors of the report, described the increase in online abuse directed at Islam as a “significant trend.”

“This is worrisome because online stories can create an environment where physical attacks occur in the real world, not just online,” Bayrakli said. To the TRT world.

A 2020 report examining online trends in Islamophobia found examples ubiquitous in fake news. It has been accused of racial discrimination, with Muslims being Covid-19 super-spreaders, mosques being Covid vectors, or pandemic rules.

Such fake news articles represent the crossroads and development of stories for Islam, a common theme among Islamophobia.

Mainstream media also contributed to the idea of ​​linking the image of Islam to a pandemic and thus justifying negative wording about Islam and pandemics.

Another important feature of this year’s Islamophobia report is the cover image of French President Emmanuel Macron.

When asked why this was important, Macron said, “Macron has become the face of European institutional and structural Islamophobia. His policies directly target, discriminate and criminalize French Muslims. I have. “

Few European countries face Islam and Muslims as much scrutiny as France.

“Of course, there are other politicians in Europe who have the same policies as France,” says Bajrakli, but France “applies Islamophobia practices at the state level when dealing with the Islamic minority.” “I’m doing it,” he added.

This week alone, two mosques in France were attacked against the backdrop of rising anti-Islamic rhetoric from the country’s political establishment.

France has closed more than 17 mosques in the last two years either because it violated vague “safety laws” or did not have proper “safety standards”. An additional 89 mosques are also under surveillance.

According to this year’s report on Islamophobia, systematic pressure on Islam in France has unprecedented “increased police searches, threats of eviction of peasants, racist NGOs and human rights groups defending Islam. It has led to the closure of mosquitoes and schools, including the dissolution of Islam. ”In France, we oppose racism and discrimination. “

Summarizing these actions, the report warned that it “threatened the fundamental freedoms of Islam.”

Other findings of the report

Islamophobia crimes have declined in many European countries, but Germany has countered this trend, according to this year’s report of Islamophobia.

In 2020, more than 901 Islamophobia crimes occurred across Germany, of which 146 targeted mosques and 48 targeted people. At the same time, anti-Islamic social movements organized their rallies despite the pandemic.

The report criticized many European countries for not reporting the Islamophobia case as another category of hate crimes.

“Police records of anti-Islamic / Islamophobia crimes as hate crimes are essential to reveal the true scope of this problem and to develop counter-strategies to combat it.”

Austrian Muslims also faced a difficult year with more than double the hate crimes in the 812 reported cases.

According to the report, the Austrian Muslim community is also facing a difficult year.

Earlier this year, Austrian civil society groups strongly opposed the “state-led racist and Islamophobia campaign” in which authorities attacked countless Muslim homes in 60 attacks in November 2020. ..

The assault was carried out at the request of Karl Nehammer, the country’s right-wing interior minister at the time, resulting in heavy armed groups invading the house early in the morning.

The government welcomed the attack as a success. However, the lack of results casts doubt on the purpose of the assault in countries where an increasing number of anti-Islamic rhetoric is seen.

Source: TRT World