Yossi Schwartz ISL (RCIT section in Israel/Occupied Palestine), 05.04.2025
At the end of the eleventh century, the Church orchestrated a military campaign against Islam and Muslims to reclaim territory, notably, Jerusalem, lost to Islamic rule and to strengthen its control over monarchs in the Roman Empire. In 1095, Pope Urban II gave a speech, triggering the start of the Crusades, in which he referred to Muslims as ‘the enemies of the Lord’.
When the Crusades ended in 1291, Muslims had been demonized for two centuries and were established as the ‘other’ in the minds of European Christians. This impacted how they were viewed and treated. In 1400’s Spain, for example, when Christians ruled once more, Purity of Blood laws excluded converted Christians with suspected or known Muslim or Jewish heritage from public life on account of their supposedly ‘impure blood’. These laws became central to the Spanish Inquisition and were used to justify the persecution and expulsion of Muslims and Jews from Spain.
European colonialism, which began in the fifteenth century reinforces this bigoted notion of a primitive ‘other’ (and of the superiority of white, Christian Europeans), and ultimately led to the creation of the concept of race to justify power inequalities, slavery and the mistreatment of those who had been colonized. That said, Muslims had already been racialized and depicted as biologically and culturally inferior before this concept emerged. The demonization of Muslims is also evident in how the Moors were viewed in sixteenth-century England: in 1596, Elizabeth I wrote a letter to the Mayor of London stating that there were too many Moors and requesting that they be deported to Spain and Portugal.
Falling after WWII with the low birth rate, the aging of the European imperialist states, and the falling profit rate, the European ruling class needed immigrants from the semi-colonies as cheap labor. Muslim migrants play a significant role in European labor markets and are used as sources of “cheap labor,” often being disproportionately represented in low-wage, poor conditions, or otherwise precarious positions.
“global inequalities drive migration dynamics in such a way that people from less wealthy countries end up working jobs at the low end of the labor market in wealthy destination countries” [i]
With the growing crisis of Western imperialism, the governments and the right-wing parties have directed the anger of the masses against the immigrants and in particular against the Muslims who constitute 5 -15% of the European population.
“Structurally, migrant workers function as a hidden “subsidy” to producers in the UK low-wage agricultural sector, and are seen as a qualitatively distinct form of labor. If we use the concept of a labor market, where people and their potential labor power are the commodities, then according to this analysis the buyers assess the migrant commodities differently from non-migrant ones. Pajnik points out that in EU-level debates and policy, migrants are viewed as mere commodities: skilled migrants as opportunities for economic development; low-skilled migrants as solutions to labor market shortages caused by nationals’ unwillingness to carry out “3D” (dangerous, demanding, dirty) jobs” [ii]
Every major right-wing party emphasizes cultural and religious objections to specifically Muslim immigration as well as to demographic increases in the proportion of Muslim citizens that allegedly take over Europe.
In Germany, the populist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) was established in 2013 as a party focused on economic issues and matters of German fiscal sovereignty. AfD began as a free-market, Eurosceptic party, critical of the Euro and opposed to German supported bailouts of Southern European countries. Bernd Lucke, an economist at the University of Hamburg, was an AfD founder and leading force in the early days. He opposed giving up the D-Mark for a common European currency adopted in 2000.
The refugee crisis of 2015 changed everything. Bernd Lucke was forced out of the party leadership that summer by Frauke Petry, a businesswoman from Dresden and chemist by training. Petry, who holds a doctorate from the West German University of Göttingen, played a key role in changing AfD’s focus from economics to hate of immigration and refugees.
“Before 2015, there seemed to be little interest in the subject of foreigners in Germany. Turks, for example, had lived in Germany for decades, in many instances beginning as “guest workers.” Turks were not a significant issue of concern for the AfD. In the summer of 2015, many Germans seemed to welcome refugees arriving in the country. But, by 2016, a majority of Germans wanted a cap on refugees. In one survey, 81 percent of AfD supporters strongly supported the idea of a cap. Approval was also high in Chancellor Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), at 64 percent, followed by the Free Democratic Party with 57 percent, the Left Party with 54 percent, the Social Democrats (SPD) with 53 percent” [iii]
“In the September 2017 elections, the AfD entered the national parliament, obtaining 12.6 percent of the vote and 92 seats in the Bundestag. To detractors, Petry stoked xenophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment. To supporters, Petry was a champion of rule of law, not afraid to speak out about issues of social cohesion and identity. The AfD saw a surge in voter support. Immigration was foremost on voter’s minds. Slogans like “Der Islam gehoert nicht zu Deutschland,” (Islam doesn’t belong in Germany) resonated” [iv]
According to the EU Fundamental Rights Agency survey, one-third of Muslim citizens have difficulty finding jobs and housing. Austria is the most Islamophobic country, and Spain and Italy the least racist toward Muslims.
“The report reveals significant differences in the 13 member states surveyed: Austria is the most Islamophobic, with 71 percent of Muslims targeted, followed by Germany and Finland. The rate of racial discrimination drops steeply in Spain and Italy, the countries with the lowest levels. In general, the most affected are young Muslims and women who wear religious clothing. Intertwined in the Islamophobic behavior of EU citizens are not only religious elements but also the skin color and ethnic or immigrant background of the European Muslim population. “A phenomenon fueled by the conflicts in the Middle East and made worse by the dehumanizing anti-Muslim rhetoric we see across the continent,” said the director of the EU Agency, Sirpa Rautio” [v]
The Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) provides for the right to freedom of thought, consciousness, and religion and allows one to practice, or not to practice a religion. All European Union Countries (EU) are parties to the ECHR and are home to 20 million Muslims whose article 9 right clashes with the ideologies of right-wing nationalist groups. As well as the growing number of nationalist groups and political parties, legislations have been put into place which affect the right of Muslims to practice their religion. In addition to AfD, parties such as France’s National Rally (previously known as the National Front), the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), Spain’s Vox Party, and the Austrian Freedom Party are some of the political parties that have recently received an increase in votes and supporters. All these parties share a common hate regarding Islam and immigration in Europe and the threat they perceive it to have upon their cultures and European values. This ‘war on culture’ has become a niche for far-right groups to spread their ideologies in an attempt to rid Europe of its ‘Muslim issue’, which is perceived as a threat to Europe.
The genocide of the Palestinians by the Zionist monster made Israel the ally of the far-right political parties. Not by chance, Netanyahu visited Hungary, the most racist state in Europe, and Israel held a conference in Israel focusing on the collaboration with these far-right racist parties against the Muslims under the cover of fighting anti-Semitism with these parties that hate Jews and love Israel.
Fight right-wing racism!
Unionize the immigrant workers -fight for the same salaries and conditions!
Down with imperialism!
For Palestine, red and free from the river to the sea!
Endnotes:
[i] Massey, D. S., Arango, J., Hugo, G., Kouaouci, A., Pellegrino, A., and Taylor, J. E. (1993). Theories of international migration: a review and appraisal. Popul. Dev. Rev. 19, 431. doi: 10.2307/2938462
[ii] Pajnik, M. (2016). ‘Wasted precariat’: migrant work in European societies. Progress Dev. Stud. 16, 159–172. doi: 10.1177/1464993415623130
[iii] https://www.brookings.edu/articles/right-wing-populism-in-germany-muslims-and-minorities-after-the-2015-refugee-crisis/
[iv] Ibid
[v] https://www.eunews.it/en/2024/10/24/islamophobia-eu-muslims-discrimination/