European Recipe To End Islamophobia

Courtesy Of: IslamOnLine.com
Thu Jan 25 2007
Islamic World News

PARIS — A leading European anti-racism watchdog has proposed a recipe to fight the spiraling Islamophobia and deep-seated discrimination of Muslims in jobs, education and housing across the European continent. "First, Islamophobia could be conceived within the context of xenophobia and racism against immigrants and ethnic minorities," Beate Winkler, the director of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC), told IslamOnline in an interview on Monday, January 22.

"Therefore, combating Islamophobia is linked to fighting racism at all levels," she added.

An EUMC report on December 18 said that Muslim minorities in Europe were facing discrimination at all levels in addition to many barriers blocking their integration into their societies, which fan feelings of hopelessness and exclusion.

The report, "Muslims in the European Union: Discrimination and Islamophobia", said that Muslims were over-represented in low-paying sectors of the economy and that their educational achievement falls below average.

It also indicated that unemployment rates among Muslims are higher than average and that they are often disproportionately represented in areas with poorer housing conditions.

"The EUMC report showed that many European Muslims are victims of discriminatory practices in jobs and housing," said Winkler.

"These practices remain under-documented and under-reported."

There are no official estimates of the number of Muslims in Europe.

The European Union is home to 15 million Muslims, the second largest religious community in the expanding 25-nation bloc.

The EUMC, based in Vienna, is an independent body of the European Union established in 1997 by the Council of Europe, the oldest political organization in the continent.

The 36-member center's primary objective is to provide the EU and its member states with objective, reliable and comparable data at European level on the phenomena of racism and xenophobia in order to help them take measures or formulate courses of action within their respective spheres of competence .

Political Will

Winkler said that effective legislation is part of the anti-Islamophobia effort in Europe.

"The EUMC is encouraging member-states to enforce anti-discrimination laws and put them into effect," referring to some EU stats that lack such laws.

"There also must be a political well to ensure equal treatment for all Europeans irrespective of their origin," said Winkler.

"The European Muslims, for instance, must be encouraged to effectively take part in the political life. The political leaders must also double efforts to encourage inter-cultural dialogue and uproot racism, discrimination and marginalization," she added.

But Winkler noted that many European Muslims were aware that they need to do more to integrate into society.

Winkler urged the EU countries to draw up necessary mechanisms to report racist practices against ethnic minorities.

"Thus we will have a database of racist practices against all minorities, including Muslims and Jews."

In a report in March 2005, the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) said that Muslim minorities across Europe have been experiencing growing distrust, hostility and discrimination since the 9/11 attacks.

Co-existence

Winkler's organization is working on promoting social co-existence between ethnic minorities across the European continent.

"This means respect of pluralism, recognition of basic rights and ensuring equality at workplace for all people," the activist said, calling for raising the awareness of vulnerable ethnic minorities of their basic rights.

"In addition, the member states have a duty to take measures to ensure that immigrants and ethnic minorities enjoy equal opportunities."

The EUMC director further called for engaging minorities in anti-racism programs.

"This will help encourage pluralism," she added.

Winkler also said media is a mixed blessing that could boost and harm social harmony.

"While the media can fuel public fears, it is also capable of promoting sympathy and understanding," of the other, she said, citing the Danish cartoons crisis.

In September of 2005, Danish daily Jyllands-Posten published cartoons of man it called Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him) with a bomb-shaped turban, sparking furor in the Muslim world.

The cartoons have prompted Muslim minorities in many Western countries to champion local campaigns to raise awareness of the merits and characteristics of the prophet, on the one hand, and to remove stereotypes about Islam, on the other.

IslamOnline has launched a multi-lingual website to acquaint non-Muslims with the prophet.

Muslim Dress

The EUMC director touched on the Muslim code of dress in the European continent.

"The EUMC's stance is that all EU member states, regardless of their political positions on hijab, must clarify their point regarding the issue of hijab," she said.

Hijab was thrust into spotlight after France issued a law in 2002 banning hijab in schools and public institutions.

"The issue of hijab is much more complicated than we believe," said Winkler.

"There could be some Muslim women who wear it as a result of pressures practiced by family members. But there are many Muslims who wear it for religious causes; either to express their Islamic identity or to protest prejudice they are suffering in the West," she added.

Islam sees hijab as an obligatory code of dress, not a religious symbol displaying one’s affiliations.

"All in all," adds Winkler, "The policies adopted by the EU member states must be in conformity with equality and anti-discrimination."

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