In France Muslims Replacing Jews As Scapegoats For Country's Problems
24.10.2020
France's Islamophobic behavior as it
grapples with the economic fallout caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic is
similar to the widespread antisemitism that targeted Jewish people at the onset
of World War II, according to analysts in Turkey.
The identification of Islam and the Muslim
image with terrorism, along with the attacks on the Twin Towers on Sept. 11,
2001, in the US, increased Islamophobia in France as it did all over the world.
Another key event that helped trigger the
rise of Islamophobia in France was the 2005 riots, when the accidental death of
North African youths who fled police carrying out ID checks ignited a chain of
protests in the country that went on for three weeks.
The January 2015 attack on the Charlie
Hedbo magazine in Paris also stoked Islamophobia in the country.
It precipitated an increase in Islamophobic
hate crimes in several European countries, especially France, where the attack
had killed 132 people and was later claimed by the ISIS/Daesh terror group in
November 2015.
Recently, two Muslim women were stabbed
near the Eiffel Tower in France, while a violent woman complained to police
about her husband -- who is Catholic -- for being a "radical
Islamist." These events are considered by many as a manifestation of the
negative perception of Islam and Muslims in the country.
Serhat Ulagli of Marmara University in
Istanbul, as well as Ihsan Karli and Zeynep Benan Dondurucu of Kocaeli
University in northwestern Turkey, discussed a recent bill on combating
"separatist" ideas prepared by the administration of French President
Emanuel Macron and an attempt to close Muslim associations and non-governmental
organizations, amid the swelling wave of Islamophobic incidents across the
country.
'Black
Mark'
In an interview with Anadolu Agency, Ulagli
said Islamophobia, which has flared up again in France with the burning of a
mosque in Lyon, the expulsion of 150 imams and rising hatred across the
country, was disturbing.
"The view that radical, outdated small
minorities that do not comply with any norms of Islam represent the entire
Islamic geography is a great injustice and illusion. It is an unfair judgement
to try to establish such images in the minds of societies. This negative
representation produced by today's politicians is no different from Hitler's
denigration of the Jewish community, making it look like they were responsible
for every bad event that happened in the country," he said.
Ulagli argued that the view that
"Islam is the intellectual source of disorder in developed countries"
in the mainstream media and the political arena is a modern manifestation of
the Crusader and Second World War ideologies of the past, mixed with globalism.
"With a population exceeding 7
million, the largest group after Christianity in France are undoubtedly
Muslims," he said, underlining that Muslims were being marginalized from
public life.
This hostility manifests in France both
towards its domestic Muslim community, as well as adherents of the religion
across the world, Ulagli added.
"It is imperative that Muslim
societies develop social policies that protect personal rights. Otherwise, the
West will be deprived of the rich heritage and bright future of rising Eastern
culture. In the long run, France will take its place on the stage of history as
a black mark on world policy," he said.
Hate
Crimes
Ihsan Karli identified economic, social and
cultural reasons for Islamophobia in France.
"The ban on the use of headscarves by women
in government in 2003 and the ban on wearing clothes that completely cover the
face in public by the French parliament in 2010 increased the conflict between
Muslim communities and French national identity. The aggressive news style of
French right-wing media and the images they use played a decisive role in
shaping Islamophobic perceptions. Both in the political arena and in the media,
the targeting of Muslim citizens as elements that damage the security and
integrity of the country has led to an increase in hate crimes committed
against mosques and places of worship."
Karli warned that government attempts to
close legal Muslim associations and groups only because they defend the rights
of Muslim communities would further increase Islamophobia in the country,
instead of reducing conflicts, and would fail to hinder the activities of
radical groups.
Islamophobia
Replaces Antisemitism
Zeynep Benan Dondurucu stressed that the
actions taken against Muslims since the 2000s were, in essence, very similar to
the anti-Semitism of World War II.
Dondurucu said: "Instead of Jews, this
time Muslims are seen as responsible for the economic problems in the country
and as elements that damage French national identity. This ideology is intended
to restrict the freedom of worship and assembly of Islamic communities.
"This shows that when the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and the Rights of the Citizen was signed in 1789,
the basic rights of life, freedom, security and resistance to oppression
defended by the country only applied to its citizens with French
identity."
She likened recent Islamophobic incidents
in France to those before World War II, saying: "In 2020, as France tries
to deal with economic problems just like the entire world due to the impact of
the COVID-19 epidemic, the turmoil is causing the marginalization of citizens
who do not coincide with the ideological French identity on the basis of race
or religion, as before the World War II."
Original
Headline: France: Islamophobia replacing antisemitism
Source:
The AA. com
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-west/in-france-muslims-replacing-jews/d/123293
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