Islamophobia is surging throughout Europe. Here’s how we stop it

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent in any way the editorial position of Euronews.

It’s crucial for leaders and everyday people to unite in a remarkable effort to confront the pervasive hatred in our communities. It’s not just minorities that are at risk, it’s the Western world too, and our shared values of freedom, justice and equality, Naz Shah writes.

ADVERTISEMENT

Earlier this month, a plot between AfD party officials and neo-Nazis to deport millions of ethnic minorities from Germany was uncovered. 

But this conspiracy is part of a sinister undercurrent sweeping Europe and the wider Western world – one that goes hand-in-hand with a relentless surge in Islamophobia.

Since the atrocities of 7 October and the ongoing onslaught against the people of Gaza, Islamophobia in the UK has surged 600%.

Yet the British government has responded by inflaming rhetoric rather than promoting messages of unity.

Recently, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak used an Islamophobic trope as a response to another Muslim MP, which I was forced to call out on the floor of the Commons.

Meanwhile, the Conservative government has spent their time and effort – not healing worsening social ties or resolving the conflict in the Middle East – but forcing through the controversial Rwanda asylum plan that is the epitome of institutionalised xenophobia.

But xenophobia is becoming more than normalised in the echelons of political power – it is becoming key to winning elections across Europe, and beyond.

It’s all down to the power of fear

From Sweden to Greece, far-right groups and populist leaders are not just participating in elections; they are winning, often in record numbers. 

Geert Wilders’ ascent in the Netherlands, fueled by decades-worth of anti-Muslim rhetoric, including the promise to ban mosques and the Qur’an, exemplifies how Europe is faced with a political trend not towards integration and acceptance, but hate and exclusion.

And it could get a lot worse.

Should Donald Trump be elected US President this November, the Western world will have turned a new disturbing corner, where minorities become scapegoats for the ills of Western society. 

For example, Trump recently said immigrants were “poisoning the blood [of America]” to raucous applause from crowds.

There is no doubt that his ascent to the White House would herald an even stronger far-right revival, emboldening new populists to emerge from other EU nations.

But why is this divisive rhetoric, key to electoral success, resonating with so many? The answer lies in the power of fear.

Working tirelessly to humanise the other

For example, the great replacement theory that so many far-right populists exhort asserts Western civilization is facing an existential threat in a culture war against Western values. 

That narrative, of the West fighting for survival against an imagined onslaught of Islamization, is designed to tap into deep-seated existential fears.

And to some degree, it’s working.

Europe is being pulled towards far-right ideologies at a scale reminiscent of the preludes to World War II. 

ADVERTISEMENT

It isn’t just a political trend; it’s a dangerous slide towards an era of division and hostility, one that will challenge the very foundations of our democratic values.

How then, do we address a trend that threatens to engulf Western Muslims, other minorities, and core Western values of empathy, tolerance, and mutual respect?

Well, for one, we must work tirelessly to humanise the other. History shows that escalating persecution and violence against minorities is always paired with their dehumanization.

A set of values against the far right’s divisive rhetoric

This is why education must play a pivotal role. Schools must incorporate curricula that foster a better understanding of Islamic culture through exposure and knowledge of those with different backgrounds.

But education in schools must complement wider education in society.

ADVERTISEMENT

That’s why my participation in the Conference of European and British Muslim Leaders this past year was a pivotal moment for the British Muslim community.

This gathering, orchestrated by the Muslim World League in London convened hundreds of the most influential Muslim figures in Britain. At the centre of the conference was the Charter of Makkah, a sweeping bill of Islamic rights and values backed by over 1,200 scholars from 139 countries which testifies to Islam’s commitment to modern ideals.

For example, the charter emphasizes environmental stewardship, religious tolerance, and women’s rights. 

But these values are more than abstract ideals; they are integral to the daily lives of British Muslims. Importantly, they go directly against the divisive rhetoric of far-right extremists.

It’s time to put out the fires of extremist ideologies

This matters immensely. Recognising the shared values between British Muslims and the wider society strikes at the root of extremism. And such appreciation strengthens the fabric of our society, bolstering its resilience against divisive forces.

ADVERTISEMENT

But resilience cannot only come from us. The media, society, and government also have important roles to play.

For example, policy interventions remain crucial. The political obsession with Islamophobia is distracting policymakers from addressing the increase in white nationalist terrorism, which has risen at least 320% in the past decade and increasingly targeting the young. 

Ironically, the narratives that far-right parties are spewing against Muslims are precisely the fuel that this extremist ideology depends upon.

This is why governments should develop information campaigns about the dangers of the far-right alongside legislation that protects communities from hate crimes and hate speech. 

This is particularly relevant to social media and the online world, where the far-right feels they have a free pass to spread hatred.

ADVERTISEMENT

It is also time for the UK government to adopt the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims’ definition of Islamophobia. After all, how can you tackle something you cannot define or understand?

Ultimately, it’s crucial for leaders and everyday people to unite in a remarkable effort to confront the pervasive hatred in our communities. 

Because it’s not just minorities that are at risk, it’s the Western world too, and our shared values of freedom, justice and equality.

Naz Shah is a Member of the UK Parliament for Bradford West, serving as Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Muslim Women, and Vice Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on Race and Community, British Muslims, and others. Shah has also served as Shadow Minister for Crime Reduction, Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion and Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities.

At Euronews, we believe all views matter. Contact us at [email protected] to send pitches or submissions and be part of the conversation.

ADVERTISEMENT

Source link

#Islamophobia #surging #Europe #Heres #stop

Football, family and hope: The Qasimi family’s journey from Quetta to Cranbourne West

Teenager Mohammad Qasimi was at home looking after his sister Malikah.

It was just the two of them.

The rest of his family – his mother, Azizah, and two other sisters, Faziea and Setarah – had gone to the market to celebrate Eid; Ramadan was over, and it was time for two million Hazara Town people to feast, sing, shop, talk, smile… laugh… and be as happy as Hazaras can be in a country that is not theirs.

Mohammad was not angry about being excluded from the street joy; he was watching television, which was a treat because their house didn’t always have a TV.

Source link

#Football #family #hope #Qasimi #familys #journey #Quetta #Cranbourne #West

The Black Women’s Caucus Statement Against Gender Ideology is pure fire

Via J.K. Rowling, we get this latest pushback against gender ideology:

Who are they? They are a group within, ‘Women’s Declaration International USA,’ which describes itself this way:

WDI USA is the United States chapter of the Women’s Declaration International (WDI). We are a dedicated group of volunteer women from across the country focused on protecting women’s sex-based rights.

We are a feminist group created by women, for women. At WDI USA, women always come first. Our mission is to advance the Declaration in law and policy. …

WDI USA’s actions are guided by the Declaration on Women’s Sex Based Rights, a document created by the founders of Women’s Declaration International to maintain language protecting women and girls on the basis of sex rather than ‘gender’ or ‘gender identity’.

In any case, the statement at the link is pretty amazing. It starts with: ‘We, the members of the Black Women’s Caucus of Women’s Declaration International USA, believe that it is crucial for Black Women to denounce gender identity ideology.’

Some highlights:

Gender ideologues employ the ‘forced-teaming’ tactic against Black women in order to shame us into being work mules for their campaign of male sexual privileges that they call ‘transgender rights.’ While these efforts are masked as progressive and inclusive concepts, gender identity ideology is actually intrusive and harmful to women, and uniquely so to Black women.

Gender identity ideology … is also incompatible with the fight for women’s rights because it allows men access to spaces and activities designated for women such as bathrooms, sports teams, and housing. It has been reported that 1 in 4 Black girls are sexually assaulted before the age of 18 and 35% of Black women report experiencing physical sexual violence. Policies that allow men unfettered access to female-designated facilities put Black women and girls, a demographic disproportionately impacted by male violence, at an even higher risk.

And they brought the receipts:

There have already been deadly consequences where an employer ignored a Black woman’s whistleblowing regarding a male who demanded to be recognized as a woman. Monica Archer, a caseworker in a women’s shelter, warned her employers about a client, Harvey Marcelin living as Marceline Harvey, who’d made threats against her and other shelter employees. Archer was fired for speaking out. Marcelin had already served 50 years for murdering and dismembering two women and after Archer’s whistleblowing was ignored, Marcelin was found to have murdered and dismembered a 68-year-old ‘gal-pal’ he had met while living in the women’s shelter.

It goes on and continues to be great stuff and it is worth considering in its entirety. Naturally, this provoked reactions:

We’re not that optimistic, but it’s definitely an encouraging sign.

Of course, there was pushback:

‘Yakubite’ appears to be a reference to the super-racist and super-crazy theory that white people were actually invented by an evil scientist named Yakub, according to the Nation of Islam. Yes, really. If you read the Autobiography of Malcolm X, he says it is the explicit doctrine of that group (which is outside of any mainstream conception of Islam). It’s as if Scientology and racism had a baby.

What is interesting to us is that Black Women’s Caucus argument against gender ideology is an argument from the left. Except for being against trans ideology, it is basically a leftist argument in its form, focus, and modes of argumentation. It is identity politics, arrayed against people who pretend that your identity is whatever you decide it is.

And it’s not the first time we have seen this. For instance, the Montgomery, Maryland public schools have apparently gone ‘gender neutral’ with respect to their restrooms, allowing boys to go into girls’ restrooms apparently without even pretending they identify as women, and it got pushback from the Council on American–Islamic Relations (‘CAIR’):

From Reason:

One of CAIR’s offices is also handling a case involving the rights of a Muslim student who had removed her hijab to adjust it in the girls’ bathroom at her public school when a student who she perceived to be of the opposite sex entered and saw her with her hair exposed in violation of her sincerely held beliefs, leaving her feeling shocked and humiliated.

Other parents have informed CAIR’s Maryland office that their children no longer feel safe or comfortable using school bathrooms and wait until they return home at the end of the day to use the bathroom, raising concerns about poor health outcomes and the impact on school performance.

This was also a problem at Yale University where they decided to have gender-neutral dorms:

From Legal Insurrection:

The current policy disproportionately affects Muslim students. Often, they succumb to being pushed to off-campus housing, at a rate higher than their non-Muslim peers. Students who remain on campus are forced to change their habits to avoid sacrificing their core beliefs. These potential habit changes are non-negligible. Without single-gender bathrooms, Muslim women are forced to be on guard and wear a hijab, even during times when they normally would not: just taking a shower or going to the bathroom becomes a stressful and inconvenient burden, taking a toll on their mental health. Living quarters become a space of anxiety, not rest.

Muslims also must pray 5 times a day. In order to do so, they perform wudu, a type of ablution or purification using water. This involves wiping the top of the head with their hand, which must be done without any fabric or impediment in the way. If Muslim women are not able to remove their hijab because of the mixed-gender bathrooms, they cannot perform wudu, and, as a result, they cannot fulfill their obligatory daily prayer. Mandatory mixed-gender bathrooms directly interfere with students’ right to their religious practices.

This is not only heartless behavior—essentially blocking a person from utterly reasonable practices of their faith—but it might also violate various civil rights laws.

All of this raises the question of whether identity politics, which conservatives have their own objections to, might end up making a common cause with conservatives to defeat gender ideology—a view that literally identity is malleable.

We shall see.



Source link

#Black #Womens #Caucus #Statement #Gender #Ideology #pure #fire