BFF   

“The victimization of Muslims in Europe is all too real. During the Bosnian Genocide and Kosovo War in the 1990s, over 200,000 Muslims were massacred, 50,000 Muslim women were raped and 2.2 million Muslims were forced to flee their homes, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. These brutal actions were taken in part of an “ethnic cleansing campaign.” In a 2009 referendum, Swiss voters approved a ban on new minarets on Muslim mosques. Minarets neither pose a threat to the national security of Switzerland nor disrupt the pristine beauty of the Swiss Alps. The ban is narrowly targeted towards Muslim places of worship. The tower-like shikara of Hindu temples or the dome of the Sikh Gurudwaras are exempted from this ban. As a person of Hindu heritage, I do not find any solace in this exemption. This past April, France implemented their ban on the niqab, a full face-covering veil. In a study titled, “Are French Muslims Discriminated Against in Their Own Country?”, it was found that in the work force, Muslims have only a 2.5 percent chance of receiving a job interview compared to others. These prejudices are also harbored by minorities. In a private conversation, an Indian restaurant owner in Southern France related, “In India, like in France, most of the problems are because of these Muslims.”……..”

This writer is saying nothing really new, nothing that we didn’t know; but she is citing some interesting examples, also some quite interesting, nay shocking, data.
Everybody who is sober knows that racism is openly rampant in Europe now, that it is mainly aimed at Muslims and Arabs these days. It has always been there, but not so virulent, not so openly accepted, not so legitimized. That is especially true on the “continent”.
Racism and xenophobia have always been a European trait. Sometimes they are submerged for various reasons. That racism is becoming almost institutionalized in the New Europe, with right wing parties from France to Holland and Austria winning elections based on their own un-compiled little “Mein Kampfs“. It is becoming “halal” now in much of Europe to be openly anti-Muslim, just like it used to be “kosher” to be antisemitic, in fact still is in some quarters.

Cheers
mhg


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