Islamophobia in Europe
I found an interesting video on Youtube about islamophobia in the Netherlands. A young woman speaks about her experiences, expectations, hopes and fears:
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc-lN5KIQX4]The video was made after the last elections (when Dutch radical nativist and anti-islam politician Wilders won) but is certainly on topic given the elections in September. Although Islam is less an issue than before, this only means that islamophobia is hidden from plain sight.
A discussion last year at France24 puts the issue of islamophobia a little more in perspective:
A far-right political leader compares Muslims praying in the streets to the occupation of France by Nazi Germany. A woman sacked for wearing the Muslim veil at a pre-school loses her appeal and a British-based Islamist blows himself up on a busy street in Stockholm. Europe’s Muslim minority is in the spotlight once again and uncomfortable questions are being asked: integration, extremism and islamophobia are terms which elicit strong reactions from all sides of the political divide.
A debate with Laura Baines and Guests:Fouad AL-OBAID, Columnist for Kuwait Times
Laurent CHAMBON, Researcher for www.Minorites.org (by satellite from Amsterdam)
Jocelyne CESARI, Director of the Islam in the West Program at Harvard Center for Middle Eastern Studies (by satellite from Cambridge, MA)
Tariq RAMADAN, Professor of Islamic Studies at Saint Anthony’s College, Oxford University (by phone from Doha, Qatar)
And if you think islamophobia is a thing of right-wing extremists, watch the lecture of Chris Allen on Liberal & Far Right Islamophobia and think again. He touches upon the Nigella Lawson debate (among several other things) that came about after she went to Bondi beach in a burkini:
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ndOty5lp6c]