Debate: The fear of Islam, the fear in Islam

Europe maintains a difficult relationship with Islam. It doesn’t help that its history has a tendency to consider its roots as Christian than multiple roots. Just the same, the misguided views on ‘islams' (or the multiple faces of Islam), do not make the situation in Europe of today any easier. Such views nourish populism and various types of nationalism and also induce the creation of certain policies, which give a special status to Islam rather than normalize it. The problematic surrounding the implementation of a plurality of beliefs and the projection of specific violent incidents on the entire Muslim community tend to fuel Europeans’ fear of Muslims and vice versa, which creates a social division between communities... Many challenges still lie ahead of us on the way to achieving responsible citizenship and European humanism.

Flagey, Le Soir, Université Libre de Bruxelles, l’Observatoire des Religions et de la Laïcité, CEFRELCO