Transcript Islam in Europe

Islam in Europe
Islam in Europe
Historical Tensions
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Muslim Conquest of Andalusia 711
Crusades 1095 - 1291
Reconquista 1482 - 1614
Ottoman Empire
Colonialism
Immigration
20th Century Middle East Conflicts
Return of Nationalism in Europe
Immigration to Europe
• Muslim populations began arriving in the
middle of 20th century largely from former
colonies for post war reconstruction
• North African in France
• South Asian in the United Kingdom.
• Germany, influx of ‘guest workers’ largely
from Turkey.
• countries with existing populations tend to
attract more of the same ethnic background
Perceptions
• The UK, 5% Muslim population is believed by
many to be as much as 21%.
• Belgium’s 6% is perceived to be 29%.
• In France 8% is inflated to 31%
• In Germany 6% rises to 19%
• Italy 4% to 20%
Identity
• Maintaining cultural and religious identity in a
non-Muslim country, The Gray Zone
• Integration deficiencies, Challenges for Multiculturalism
• Muslim, Western or both?
• Erosion of traditional state identity and values
Competing Norms in Civil Law
• Sharia Law Zones
• Creation of sub state
sharia courts to deal
with matters of civil law
• Pro- Caliphate
organisations:
Muhajarhoon,
sharia4belgium,
Islam4UK,
Islamic Emirates Project,
Kaldet Til Islam, Hizb ut
Tahrir
Islamophobia
• Islamophobia, Fear of Islam
• (47% increase in recorded Islamophobic acts in France in
2013 compared to 2012), anti-Muslim marches organised
by the far-right PEGIDA movement, and regular attacks of
mosques in Sweden. From 7 January 2015 to 7 February
2015, there were 153 Islamophobic incidents against
individuals and places of worship in France, which
represents a 70% increase compared to January 2014. the
term
• Islamophobia groups together all kinds of different forms of
discourse, speech and acts, by suggesting that they all
emanate from an identical ideological core, which is an
irrational fear (a phobia) of Islam
The Rise of Competing Nationalisms
Causation?
• Increase in EU Immigration Growth of Diaspora
communities
• Austerity measures across the Euro Zone
• 2008 Economic Crisis and Austerity
• Attraction to nationalist protectionist politics as
opposed to anti-austerity civil movements
• Social alienation and economic disparity
• Conflict in the Middle East
• Euro Jihad
The Rise of Competing Nationalisms
• “In the next 50-100 years
in Europe when there are
massive, massive
problems with Islam,
people will look back to
our time and say, they
were right. I am 100
percent certain that there
will be civil wars within
Europe between Muslims
and non-Muslims.”
Tommy Robinson, EDL
Far Right Groups
• UK, English Defence
League
• Denmark: Danish
Defense League
• France: National Front
• Germany: PEGIDA
Far Right Parties European Parliament
2009 - 2014
• Danish Peoples Party
20O9 – 7%. 2014 – 26%
• UK Independence Party
2009 – 16%. 2014 – 16%
• National Front (France)
2009 – 6%. 2014 – 25% 8
8. European Parliament, “Results of the 2014 Election,” 2014,
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/elections2014-results/en/country-results-be-2014.html (accessed
December 11, 2015); European Parliament, “Results of the 2009 Elections,” 2009,
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/elections2014-results/en/country-results-fr-2009.html (accessed
December 11, 2015)
• “Westerners need to
accept the fact that
Islam will dominate all
lands it touches. The
holy Quran teaches us
that where we put our
feet we shall rule that
land. It’s that simple.”
Anjem Choudary
• Muslims in Europe are more likely than the EU
general population to be poor and live in
segregated, crime-prone neighborhoods
• EU Muslims tend to have high unemployment
rates, higher than other ethnic religious
minorities.
Segregation and Alienation
• As Muslims in Europe are overwhelmingly
non-white, ongoing racial disharmony
naturally impedes integration
• Increased security and surveillance of Muslim
communities furthering alienation
• 2nd Generation: many younger Muslims reject
the minority status to which their parents
acquiesced
UK
• 33% of the Muslim under age 15 as opposed to 19% of
the population as a whole
• 5.1% homeless
• 13% of the prison population
• 7% of Muslims are unemployed compared to 4% of the
general population
• 46% live in the 10% most deprived areas of the
country.
• More vulnerable than other religious minorities, 18%
experiencing poverty as compared to 4% of Hindus and
8% of Sikhs
France
• France’s laicité laws do not permit the state to
collect data on religion, making it difficult to
expose disenfranchisement
• 50% of Muslims are in low paying occupations,
compared to 30% of the population
• 60% of the population between the ages of 18
-35, the most vulnerable to underemployment, as
compared to 30% of the general population.
• Muslims are estimated to represent 50% of the
prison population in France.
• Sensitive Urban Zones.
• From 2010 to 2012
unemployment rose
from 21.9% to 24.2%
compared 9.4% to 9.9%
for the rest of the city.
Austerity
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2008 Financial Crisis
Austerity measures
Reduction in social services
Greater competition for housing and
employment due to shortages
• Cycles of victimization
• Each group sees the other as the sources of ills
Is Multiculturalism Dead?
• Giles Kepel, "neither the blood spilled by
Muslims from North Africa fighting in French
uniforms during both world wars nor the
sweat of migrant laborers, living under
deplorable living conditions, who rebuilt
France (and Europe) for a pittance after 1945,
has made their children ... full fellow citizens."