Uniting Europe Against Islamophobia: UK-Germany Delegation Report

Seema Syeda (2023): In mainstream discourse, it is often ›Muslims‹ who are framed as the ›problem‹. However, it is the white supremacist structures of European society, including within progressive spaces, that need to change. The burden of this work must be shouldered by the entire progressive community with an emphasis on continuous training and educating about Islamophobia, racism, and colonialism and how these issues manifest on a structural and individual level. Muslim empowerment must also be prioritised by creating spaces for Muslim-led self-organising – recognising the many different intersectional identities that exist within Muslim communities.

Why is it important to deal with the empowerment of Muslims? Why is it important to give space to Muslim experiences of discrimination? Why publish a report on policies to empower Muslim communities that seek a starting point for such empowerment?

In the 2021 Mitte study surveying German public opinion, 12.2 per cent of those surveyed agreed with the statement: ›the majority of Muslims find Islamist terrorism justified‹ and a further 15.2 per cent thought this was ›partly true‹. These resentments, influenced by a hostile media narrative, fester amongst those groups who do not tolerate Islam or even Muslims. Anti-Muslim hatred and Islamophobic attitudes result in genuine violence towards members of the Muslim community.

On the one hand, this report deals with painful topics and unresolved challenges of inclusion processes as it addresses anti-Muslim and Islamophobic resentment and thus the degradation of people. On the other hand, it looks for starting points to strengthen inclusion in democracy. In times of violence and conflict, this is what societies are forced to do if they seek to avoid abandoning their fundamental values and seek constructive solutions for the development of democratic societies.

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