Islam in Europe

A conference that was held, in Brussels by the Labor group in the european Parliament, on tackling extremism in Muslim communities has been hearing the experiences and views of Muslims from the UK and across Europe.

Its been a difficult year for Europe's Muslims. Last July, 52 people died in the London bombings carried out by four British Muslims. In October, rioting in France's mainly Muslim suburbs went on for more than three weeks.

And in January, there were violent protests across Europe and beyond over the publication by a Danish newspaper of cartoons of the Prophet Mohamed.

The controvercy of Islamic religion outside and within the european boundaries is obvious. Some of the issues that make up the reoccuring pattern of agitation for most europeans and muslims themselves are: the role of women in Islam, intepretation of the Koran, whether there should be a separation of political and religious leadership and extremism.

So at this point the general question that is posed is: Is Islam compatible with western values? Or Can a country whose population is 99% Islamic become a fully democratic functional state?

Those opposing the "motion", do so on grounds that vary greatly and the arguments they present have more or less strength. When it comes to religion though, opposition is more fierce but the arguments are more and more controvertial and the case line of argumentation more and more cloudy:

• "Although freedom of religious belief is guaranteed in the constitution and freedom to worship is largely unhampered, non-Muslim religious communities continue to experience problems related to legal personality, property rights, training of clergy, schools and internal management."
  Jul 17, 2006BBC NEWS Europe Excerpts: EU study on Turkey

Yet, similar violations of human rights take place in other european countries that are already part of the European Union. Examples include:

The Latvian Parliaments decision to vote against an amendment to article 7 of the Latvian Labour Law. The amendment would have explicitly banned discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. The EU’s Employment Equality Directive (EU 200/78/EC) explicitly requires EU member states to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation in the work place!

Reports that include Maltese armed forces subjecting asylum seekers to physical abuse for peaceful protest, and Greek police officers torturing adults and minors for information.

And finally Italian deportation of around 1,500 people from the island of Lampedusa to Libya last October, which appears a clear breach of Italy's international human rights obligations.

• Opposition to Turkish accession is coming from secular as well as religious quarters in Europe. Some nonreligious Europeans worry that bringing a large Muslim country into the EU could endanger the Continent's tradition of gender equality and tolerance of alternative lifestyles, for instance. For traditionalists, Turkish accession threatens the very idea of Europe as a Christian civilization.
  Jul 17, 2006Does Muslim Turkey Belong in Christian Europe? - pewforum.org/

Again the argument seems to circle around this reoccuring theme of xenophobia and the mandra that difference means incompatibility. The majority of the europeans opposing the accession of Turkey basically express the gut feeling that "something is not right ablout all this" that they took after their ancestors.

On the other side of the fence, things look far more clear cut and transparent. The European Union is well acquainted with Islam. There are today at least 15 million Muslims in the EU, which is more than, for example, the number of Protestant Scandinavians living in Europe.

The trends towards a multiracial and multi-confessional Europe are, therefore, unstoppable.

No one can really claim that the accession of Turkey is going to corrupt a pure so far EU.

Finally, I would like to point out that arguments concerning the common history that we european countries share that Turkey does not are far from the truth.

For Turkey, the goal of integration with Europe did not emerge all of a sudden. It has deep historical roots dating back to the Ottoman Empire. During its early years, the empire was almost entirely a European empire, stretching from the Bosphorus all the way to the gates of Vienna in the European continent. For centuries, the empire remained an integral part of the politics, commerce, and/or culture of Europe, playing a crucial role in the balance of power and the shaping of policies.

This of course does not prove in anyway that Turkey's entrance in the EU is going to be beneficial for either parties. Only that religion should not be the focus of all those in interest, but we should try to identify the real issues that such an accession is going to bring up.