ARAB NEWS: The European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) published its annual report this week. The report deplores the growing rise of Islamophobia across Europe and highlights ECRI’s concern over the climate of hostility toward Muslims.
This will come as no surprise to Muslims living in Europe. Hostility, whether real, projected or imagined, has become part of every day life.
Islamophobia is a difficult term. Whereas anti-Semitism clearly denotes hostility, prejudice and discrimination aimed at people of a specific race, Islamophobia confuses hostility toward Islam as a religion and hostility toward Muslims as individuals. It is an all-encompassing term that describes not only a hatred toward Islam but a view of Islam that — to my mind — is directly derived from the deranged teachings of Al-Qaeda et al. It draws a direct line between Muslim, Islam and extremist fanatic: We all get tarred by the same brush. But that is the essence of much — though not all — of the hostility toward Muslims today. Islamophobia Worryingly on the Rise in Europe (more) By Iman Kurdi
Mark Alexander
