This report looks at the current spread of anti-Muslim extremism in Europe. It defines anti-Muslim extremism as a social and political world-view that targets Muslim minorities in specific and Europe’s multicultural and diverse societies together with its democratic foundations in general. After providing a definition of anti-Muslim extremism, it shows how anti-Muslim extremist movements are cooperating within Europe, as well as beyond, on a global scale. It looks at actors and discourses; and how discourses are made hegemonic and transferred from the margins and fringe extremist groups to the wider public sphere. The analysis shows the effects of these discourses on the violation of human rights and Muslim citizens by banning certain Muslim religious practices, violating freedom of religion, attacking mosques and violating the freedom of personality by attacking Muslim women. This report reveals how anti-Muslim extremism is organized within a small minority of far right groups and slowly became the “new normal” in most of Europe’s societies.
CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 7
PREFACE 9
INTRODUCTION 15
1 DEFINING ANTI-MUSLIM EXTREMISM AND HATE-CRIME 19
A. EXTREMISM 19
B. EXTREMISM IN THE CENTER 21
C. ANTI-MUSLIM HATE CRIME 22
2 NETWORKS OF ANTI-MUSLIM EXTREMISM IN EUROPE AND BEYOND:
ACTORS AND DISCO URSES 29
A. GLOBAL ACTORS IN THE SPREAD OF ANTI-MUSLIM EXTREMISM 29
B. DISCOURSES 35
3 THE ROLE OF THE POLITICAL FAR RIGHT 45
A. SHIFTING FROM ANTI-SEMITISM TO ISLAMOPHOBIA 48
B. NO STABLE EUROPEAN FRACTION… BUT EUROPEAN COORDINATION 54
C. TRANSATLANTIC COOPERATION 59
D. ANTI-MUSLIM EXTREMISM MAKING THE FAR RIGHT ACCEPTABLE 60
E. A COMPREHENSIVE EXTREMIST AGENDA 62
4 HOW ANTI-MUSLIM EXTREMIST DISCO URSE BECAME ‘NORMAL’ 65
A. HOW IT BECAME ‘NORMAL’: A US CASE STUDY 65
B. THE CASE OF EUROPE 67
C. EXTREMIST ORGANIZATIONS IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 74
5 CO NSEQUENCES 91
A. POLITICS 91
B. LEGISLATION 95
C. VIOLENCE 97
D. MEDIA 100
E. MOSQUES AND ISLAMIC CENTERS 102
F. WORK PLACE 108
G. WOMEN 109
BIBLIOGRAPHY 113
