Are European Muslims awaiting fate of Jews? Part I
The in-depth analysis of anti-Semitism has been food for thought for intellectuals of the last two centuries. However, under the same cover of racism, Europe has begun targeting the Muslim community quite blatantly.
THE ERA of Hitler might well be over but the memories of those days of blasphemy still linger even after half a century. The humanitarian crisis, which the Jews in Germany faced at that time, has surely left scars on the face of the world. Even before those scars healed, we are on the verge of another such crisis. The clash of civilisations as described by Huntington still remains a major cause. Even in an era in which Thomas Friedman describes the world as flat, we are still confined by religion, ethnicity and many other diverse criteria.
Martin Luther King Jr once said, “I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.” But, if we are heading for another era of the Holocaust then there is no other choice left than to dismiss his views.
The history of modern Europe after the glorious phase of the Renaissance has been a story of ups and downs. When the west galloped towards economic profusion like an unbridled horse it left behind the most valuable treasure of humanitarian values, which was glorified by the ideologies of Protestantism and Christianity. Europe and the Western world have had the image of a very unwelcoming host precisely because of this reason.
The in-depth analysis of anti-Semitism has been food for thought for intellectuals of the last two centuries. However, under the same cover of racism, Europe has begun targeting the Muslim community quite blatantly.
The reasons for this perplexing situation might appear to be misleading in the contemporary context, when we take into consideration the validity of the Declaration of Human Rights, role of inter-governmental organizations, like the UN and the current world order.
There are many different arguments to claim that reasons for the bias against Muslims are altogether different. However, the genesis of this malignancy is quite similar to that of the Jews. The Jews migrated to different parts of Europe and very much became an integral part of their existential society. But, the harmony of multiculturalism remained under the scanner.
Hitler’s Mein Kampf provided the spark for the fire. He concluded that Northern European people belonged to the "Aryan race," which was believed to be superior to all other ethnic groups and races. This belief held that 'Aryans' had been responsible for all advances in civilisation and morality in world history, and the Jews wanted to destroy it. Thus Nazi Germany developed a set of racial policies targeting the Jews based on a specific racist doctrine, which claimed scientific legitimacy. It started with a programme that aimed to achieve "racial purity" of the "Aryan race" by using compulsory sterilisations, which eventually culminated in the Holocaust, which refers to the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II.
The most significant tragedy in Europe since the Holocaust was the war in former Yugoslavia, where Bosnian Muslims were the victims of a widespread, government sponsored campaign of ethnic cleansing by Serbian armed forces and civilians. They used anti-Islamic rhetoric to fan the flames of hatred that allowed 200,000 Bosnian Muslims to be slaughtered, over one million expelled from their homes and communities, 20,000 women raped and countless more civilians, men, women and children to endure physical and psychological trauma.
Neighbouring European nations as well as the US justified their inaction and lack of involvement by claiming that the conflict was motivated along ethnic lines. This lends credence to a double standard for the protection of religious minorities in Europe. This hypocrisy is evident from the lack of will on the part of the global community to take definitive action in bringing the indicted war criminals to justice. Reports of police brutality, difficulties in obtaining citizenship and licenses to operate businesses, discrimination in employment are clearly documented in Europe, particularly in Germany, France, Greece and the United Kingdom. President Sarkozy calling for a ban on wearing the burqa, a group of rightist people in Scotland demanding removal of minarets in all mosques, etc, are further examples of this cultural insensitivity.
