Europe 2020: A year of Islamophobia

Robert Carter

Press TV, London

French President Emmanuel Macron is pushing through anti-Islam legislation to prevent so-called Islamic “separatism”.

In a later speech, the president condemned Islam as “a religion in crisis” which radicalizes citizens. Tensions in France additionally increased when the state publicly began defending insulting caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed.

The row spilled over into violence, with attacks against journalists on 25th September, a teacher beheaded by a lone wolf Takfiri on the October 16 and then on the 18th, two Muslim women wearing hijab were viciously stabbed by attackers screaming “you dirty Arabs”.

Outside of France things aren't much better. With numerous incidents of far-right Quran burning protests occurring across Scandinavia. Between November 2019 and October 2020, at least four notorious Quran desecration rallies were allowed despite the fact that these protests offend millions.

The Norwegian Prime Minister even publicly defended Islamophobes "rights" to desecrate this holy book back in August. Then there is the Islamophobic ban of the Muslim niqab. A policy enforced by many countries, despite the fact that covering your face has been proven to save lives.

Austria has also jumped on the bandwagon, punishing all Muslims for the acts of a small minority of criminals. Introducing new laws intended to gag Muslims' freedom of speech. Across the English Channel, a new conspiracy has been widely circulating. Claiming that Muslims are somehow responsible for spreading the Coronavirus.

These ideas are not supported by any facts, however, the belief was so widespread it had to be debunked by a government fact-checker website. These are a few examples, but studies suggest that Islamophobia is present at nearly all levels of society. Vaccines are being produced to stop COVID-19, but what is being done to defeat racism against Muslims?

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