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'Islamophobia not targeting Muslims only'
Sat Nov 6, 2010 9:59AM
Press TV
>>>Political parties in Europe are using Islamophobia to garner more public support in elections, inciting anti-Muslim sentiments. <<<
Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, head of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), says that the current trend is reminiscent of "the beginning of the 1930s, when an anti-Semitic agenda, fascism and Nazism became politically a big issue."
Instead of stopping or fighting the xenophobia directed at Muslim immigrants, hopeful candidates have taken to expanding extremist agendas behind Islamophobia.
More than 50 million Muslims presently live in Europe and their numbers are growing rapidly.
To discuss what Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu calls the "institutionalization of Islamophobia", Press TV has interviewed London-based Reza Kazim, with the Islamic Human Rights Commission.
Press TV: Comparisons are being made to what we saw in the 1930s. Let's come forward to the present day. And I am sure many European politicians and those who are heading movements that are concerned about Islam and Muslims in their countries would say, "Hold on a minute! When it comes to the hate-mongering, we feel it is the Muslims that are doing the hate-mongering."
Reza Kazim: I think it is quite ironic that people ... (being victimized) in this situation, (are) being called the aggressors. It is quite typical of the way that some of these narratives actually seem to work in the media.
We had a situation where someone who has converted to Islam recently… there have been all sorts of media reporting about her and what kind of a woman can actually become a Muslim. That kind of thing [is] being said in the media.
We need to think about where society is actually going. What is the use -- as in this particular person ['s case] -- to direct the attacks and the viciousness and the anti-Muslim hatred that they actually feel, and being up (against) all sorts of ignorance, prejudices, and xenophobia?
We need to keep in mind where this could potentially head... And make sure that is something that we fight against; make sure that we are trying to bring up the arguments with regards to this in any sphere that we possibly can. Because it has been going on for quite some time.
The climate has been created where Muslim dress, for example, can be the subject of ministers' comments. And we have very few people actually saying from different sections of society … how can a minister comment on that. We have silence from the feminists, who usually talk about women's right to choose whatever it is that they wish to wear ... without even that level of discussion or argument going on.
So, I think demonization is taking place at every level of Muslims' [lives].
Press TV: When we are talking about, for example, 70 percent of the electorate coming out and voting for a politician, who is being very clear and very blunt about how he feels about Islam, if we look at some of the polls across Europe, in France, [the number of] people with a fear of Islam is much higher than the percentage even just after September 11.
When it comes to these electorates, or these populations, these communities, where is the affair coming from? I mean, the way they see it… They say "I am not racist, but…" They feel they have genuine feelings about this religion, about the communities.
Reza Kazim: I think there are a number of things that we actually need to think about very carefully here. We have talked about the rise of the far right. And I think what we need to also think about is how that has been possible. One of the reasons it has been possible is that so-called mainstream politicians have made and created the climate where things that are more associated with the far right can actually be said and a climate can actually be created where people can get away with saying things like this.
We have laws in Britain, for example, which deal with racial hatred; but we have this strange scenario that when it comes to religious hatred, that is perfectly allowed. There is not a problem with that.
And I think it is also interesting [that] this whole idea that we call 'Islamophobia'… A phobia is supposed to be something that is an irrational fear. We need to think about that terminology. Do we really mean an irrational fear? Because I think it is more akin to the fact that it is a hatred... We need to call it what it actually is. It is hatred that is being spread. And when you say whether it is to garner votes or whatever it is that people are trying to do, it is not just about garnering votes and trying to get as many votes as you possibly can. Obviously that plays a part, definitely. But it is more about creating the climate so that we can have this demonization and this alienation of the society and community actually taking place.
Press TV: If we take what you are saying, to what benefit to European politicians would that kind of demonization be?
Reza Kazim: I think that is exactly the actual issue. This is not going to benefit anyone because it is something that is, in the long-run, going to create an unfair and unjust society. A lot of these things you have talked about, the rise of anti-Semitism in the 1930s, etc. and what actually happened there… We didn't just have Jews being targeted; we had whole other sections of the community being targeted, one after another. And this was in a climate where Europe had this anti-Semitism being part of it. And the same kind of things that were actually happening then are (occurring in) this moment in time. And we are not recognizing the parallels that actually can be drawn. We have had a much closer parallel, you know detention without trial -- called 'internment' -- was something that was part of the 1980s, [it was] the way the Britons actually dealt with the Irish nationalists.
Now this is something that is being done again here in terms of control orders, and prior to that, being held without trial…, etc. And it is something again that is continuing. Why have they done that?"
[If you go to the PressTV site, there is a video of this interview preceded by the observations of an American, Ibrahim Hooper, head of a Muslim organization of some sort.]
Sat Nov 6, 2010 9:59AM
Press TV
>>>Political parties in Europe are using Islamophobia to garner more public support in elections, inciting anti-Muslim sentiments. <<<
Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, head of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), says that the current trend is reminiscent of "the beginning of the 1930s, when an anti-Semitic agenda, fascism and Nazism became politically a big issue."
Instead of stopping or fighting the xenophobia directed at Muslim immigrants, hopeful candidates have taken to expanding extremist agendas behind Islamophobia.
More than 50 million Muslims presently live in Europe and their numbers are growing rapidly.
To discuss what Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu calls the "institutionalization of Islamophobia", Press TV has interviewed London-based Reza Kazim, with the Islamic Human Rights Commission.
Press TV: Comparisons are being made to what we saw in the 1930s. Let's come forward to the present day. And I am sure many European politicians and those who are heading movements that are concerned about Islam and Muslims in their countries would say, "Hold on a minute! When it comes to the hate-mongering, we feel it is the Muslims that are doing the hate-mongering."
Reza Kazim: I think it is quite ironic that people ... (being victimized) in this situation, (are) being called the aggressors. It is quite typical of the way that some of these narratives actually seem to work in the media.
We had a situation where someone who has converted to Islam recently… there have been all sorts of media reporting about her and what kind of a woman can actually become a Muslim. That kind of thing [is] being said in the media.
We need to think about where society is actually going. What is the use -- as in this particular person ['s case] -- to direct the attacks and the viciousness and the anti-Muslim hatred that they actually feel, and being up (against) all sorts of ignorance, prejudices, and xenophobia?
We need to keep in mind where this could potentially head... And make sure that is something that we fight against; make sure that we are trying to bring up the arguments with regards to this in any sphere that we possibly can. Because it has been going on for quite some time.
The climate has been created where Muslim dress, for example, can be the subject of ministers' comments. And we have very few people actually saying from different sections of society … how can a minister comment on that. We have silence from the feminists, who usually talk about women's right to choose whatever it is that they wish to wear ... without even that level of discussion or argument going on.
So, I think demonization is taking place at every level of Muslims' [lives].
Press TV: When we are talking about, for example, 70 percent of the electorate coming out and voting for a politician, who is being very clear and very blunt about how he feels about Islam, if we look at some of the polls across Europe, in France, [the number of] people with a fear of Islam is much higher than the percentage even just after September 11.
When it comes to these electorates, or these populations, these communities, where is the affair coming from? I mean, the way they see it… They say "I am not racist, but…" They feel they have genuine feelings about this religion, about the communities.
Reza Kazim: I think there are a number of things that we actually need to think about very carefully here. We have talked about the rise of the far right. And I think what we need to also think about is how that has been possible. One of the reasons it has been possible is that so-called mainstream politicians have made and created the climate where things that are more associated with the far right can actually be said and a climate can actually be created where people can get away with saying things like this.
We have laws in Britain, for example, which deal with racial hatred; but we have this strange scenario that when it comes to religious hatred, that is perfectly allowed. There is not a problem with that.
And I think it is also interesting [that] this whole idea that we call 'Islamophobia'… A phobia is supposed to be something that is an irrational fear. We need to think about that terminology. Do we really mean an irrational fear? Because I think it is more akin to the fact that it is a hatred... We need to call it what it actually is. It is hatred that is being spread. And when you say whether it is to garner votes or whatever it is that people are trying to do, it is not just about garnering votes and trying to get as many votes as you possibly can. Obviously that plays a part, definitely. But it is more about creating the climate so that we can have this demonization and this alienation of the society and community actually taking place.
Press TV: If we take what you are saying, to what benefit to European politicians would that kind of demonization be?
Reza Kazim: I think that is exactly the actual issue. This is not going to benefit anyone because it is something that is, in the long-run, going to create an unfair and unjust society. A lot of these things you have talked about, the rise of anti-Semitism in the 1930s, etc. and what actually happened there… We didn't just have Jews being targeted; we had whole other sections of the community being targeted, one after another. And this was in a climate where Europe had this anti-Semitism being part of it. And the same kind of things that were actually happening then are (occurring in) this moment in time. And we are not recognizing the parallels that actually can be drawn. We have had a much closer parallel, you know detention without trial -- called 'internment' -- was something that was part of the 1980s, [it was] the way the Britons actually dealt with the Irish nationalists.
Now this is something that is being done again here in terms of control orders, and prior to that, being held without trial…, etc. And it is something again that is continuing. Why have they done that?"
[If you go to the PressTV site, there is a video of this interview preceded by the observations of an American, Ibrahim Hooper, head of a Muslim organization of some sort.]