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THE ISLAMOPHOBIA IN THE EUROPEAN

UNION: SOMETHING MORE THAN A

RELIGIOUS ISSUE

Forgetting the remote episodes that confronted Christians with Muslims along history,

this work seeks to focus on the current presence of Islamic community in the EU,

analyzing the attitude adopted by European society towards these groups. In this sense,

we must observe the important evolution from the initial paternalism to the subsequent

indifference that in recent years has turned into a mutual animosity. This situation is

confirmed by several circles which consider the advancement of Islam as a threat to the

EU. Therefore, following this argument we can confirm that for a large part of the

European people, Muslim values have no place in Western secular tradition.

The growing opposition towards Islam has not been limited to a religious issue andshould be related with other cultural traditions that have provoked the reaction of the

most conservative sectors in Europe. We must highlight the progressive transformation

of the urban landscape lived by the major European cities in which the Islamic elements

have started to take part of the daily life.

If we only take the religion as reference, it would constitute a difficult task for the

analyst to identify any element that may justify this confrontation, so we must refer to

history and study the origin of this mutual rivalry. Following this historical explanation,

we have to consider the colonialism as the event that caused the first rejection of the

Islamic population towards Western culture that was regarded as responsible of the

precarious situation lived in the Arab World. As response to this tense atmosphere, inthe seventies several Islamic radical groups whose violent actions in Muslim countries

were reflected years later in Europe, began to emerge due to the marginalization and the

problems found to integrate their culture in the Western environment. The disaster

caused by the terrorist attacks in Madrid and London, produced a sudden declaim of the

European perception towards Islam, creating a monolithic vision of this religion related

to the terrorist actions performed by jihadist groups. This new awareness has developed

a general feeling in which the spread of Islam is considered as a menace for the

European freedom, increasing the distance between secular society and Muslim

population.

Consequently, although the Muslim population are still low in Europe, the demographicincrease suggests that in the coming decades it will be possible contemplate a major

presence of Islam in several parts of the EU, allowing the progressive islamization of

the European structures. This alarm addressed the lost of identity of the European

culture, is based in the strong influence that Islam maintains on its faithful. Hence we

can appreciate how the life of Muslim community is conditioned by their beliefs,

adopting a way of life far from the secular understanding adopted by the contemporary

Western society. In general, the European population has opted to leave the religious

issue as secondary role, according to the pragmatic position developed in the secular

environments. However, this spiritual interpretation assumed by Islamic community has

led them to gathering enough force to spread their religion and their culture in the

European sphere, providing a faith element that has faded in the society of Christianorigin.

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There are several arguments that can explain the growing Muslims intensity of faith, as

opposed to Christians distancing toward spirituality. Among them we should emphasize

the socio-economic evolution and especially the prosperity lived by the European

countries since the sixties, while the precarious situation in the Arab countries forced

the large part of the population to emigrate. As consequence, the Muslim presence inEurope found a general negative response which drove them to seek hope for the future

in their religion. At the same time the Islamic community tried to show its identity with

this attitude, claiming their rights and their integration inside Europe. This reality is

particularly interesting among the second and third Muslim generations born in Europe

who express their Islamic identity as feature that sets them apart from the rest of society.

Thus, many of them have adopted a way of life close to the Islamic principles, reflected

in the recent years in their clothes and approach to the mosques.

The European authority's indifference to the Muslim presence in the EU led to increase

the confrontation and the emergence of radical groups in both communities. This

situation has extended the problem to other less militant circles as consequence of thepressure exerted from the different governments and the media. They started to observe

the new climate of tension as a menace for their particular interests. So, the traditional

European population have developed a general rejection that has led Muslim moderate

sectors to defend their own rights enhancing mutual animosity.

Therefore, we find several factors that have contributed in creating the phenomenon that

we know today as islamophobia. Between these elements, we must highlight the failure

of the governments in the integration policies that were delayed until nineties. As

consequence, the Muslim population remained in marginal ghettos for decades, because

their presence was considered temporary and far from the European reality. Thus, the

lack of interest showed by the authorities allowed the progressive implantation of the

most traditionalist Islamic trends that spread their anti-western discourse between the

Islamic communities. The appearance of this powerful movements resulting in the

emergence of several groups whose ideology were close to a distorted interpretation of

the sacred texts, giving rise to the radicalization influenced by the jihadist international

networks. At the same time, the foreign policy followed by most of the European States

towards Afghanistan and Iraq war as well as their position respect to the Palestinian

Causes, have contributed to fuel the confrontation. Consequently the fear has led the

relevant sector of the European people to reject everything related to Islam, while the

growing Muslim society continues to look for their own place inside EU.

Given the reality described, we can assert that we are facing a difficult problem

to solve, because while secular population considers Muslim lifestyles as a delay in the

progress, the Islamic community seeks to emphasize these differences as a way to

maintain their uniqueness, trying to consolidate their traditions in Europe progressively.