In between 12. - 18. October 2023 I took part at the training course called Fighting islamophobia and preventing the far-right extremism in Jordan.
The event was only five days long, but it was continuing the first more theoretical part we experienced in July in Denmark. Three days were full of work in a training venue, two we went for a field trip excursion. In a group of almost thirty people, we discussed the situations in our countries about islamophobia; we could compare it with the situation in Jordan, and the top of that we could also have in our heads the recently started conflict in a neighbouring country.
Terrorism
First, we learnt a lot about the terrorism in general. That 37 % of terrorist attacks were done by far right extremists, usually toward worship places or gathering through holidays. Weapons used were knifes, bombs, machine guns, homemade bombs etc. That very common space for recruiting the people is internet, where especially young people are vulnerable.
Huge problem in many counties is also the conflict in between of a freedom of speech and hate speech, when in some of the countries is legal to bring somebody to a court based on offensive comments. What could help the situation in general is to improve the relationship between various stakeholders, like mosques and local community leaders.
Local realities and solutions
A great value of international meeting of people is the possibility to get to know the real situation in their countries, and hear many stories from their own lives by own ears. It is an amazing was of how to build an empathy and mitigate prejudices as much as support understanding and unity.
Turkey
In Turkey there is lately a phenomenon called “Turkophobia”, when migrants and other minorities are decomposing the structure of a homogenous country and creating a fuzz around it.
In 2021, there were an incident, where some man were screaming to a lady: "We don't want people wearing hijab in Turkey!" Lately the police came and arrested him.
And there was an peculiar situation in one of the beach clubs in Izmir, when women wearing hijab, men wearing long sleeves and pants were banned by bodyguards from this place. It was seen not only as a case of islamophobia, but probably also misogynist.
Germany
The most common places of where a hate speech and discrimination happens in Germany are schools, hospitals and public space.
Solutions to lower the cases of islamophobia could be for example intersectional education: Should a religion be a school subject? It would help the acceptance of the various religions around the world, but also probably supporting the questioning of the stated truths and attributes. The solution could be to take religious texts as cases from a point of view of literature, politics, and history.
Very simple thing is also to have more people representing the minorities in a public space, that public would be more used and familiar with them as members of a certain group, or as with individuals.
How to support better understanding: interfaith dialog, visible cooperation between diverse religions …
Violent prevention network is monitoring interfaith dialog that is very diverse in each country (full of mistrust from members of the Muslim communities, refusal of connection between them and major population, and others). Their goal is to mitigate the difference gap and broader the understanding.
Hungary
Similarly as in the Czech Republic, there is not much of interest in Hungary in setting the legislation towards fighting islamophobia. The most of it is based on an EU legislative, which creates an institutional exclusion (there is not much clear about which minority is talked about and it creates rather confusion and mistrust).
Some of the triggers in Hungary are cultural difference, xenophobia, populist political discourse. The most serious incidents involving minorities were some Roma and Muslim serial killers. The most of the victims experience hate speech, insulting, bullying, and rudeness.
Solutions: independent media, interfaith dialog, education reforms, mental health support, legal framework reinforcement.
France
The most appealing issues that occurred in France lately was a ban of an "abaja" in schools (some sort of a long dress worn mostly by Muslim ethnics). So originally, it is not religious, but cultural dress.
When a fashion choice became a religious decision? This therefore serves more to raise a provocation and creating a hostile environment for minorities.
In addition, the second issue newly highlighted is that those who commit a hate crime towards minorities are usually seen as mental ill, not terrorists.
Lebanon
In Lebanon is possible to find as well islamophobia as “cristianophobia”. There is eighteen sects in Lebanon - Palestinians, Muslims Sunni or Shiite, Christians orthodox and many others, so you can say it is a melting pot of many people. And. the most recent issue is in between of Hezbollah and other military groups.
There has been seen some manipulation in the media and in schools, and also o lot of extremists groups, like the Soldiers of God. They openly fight against homosexuals and other non-traditional lifestyles by using self-justice in public space. In 2022, a woman was hit by stones for wearing a bikini on a beach in the South of Lebanon. In 2023 despite this, a very first pride took place In the country to support gender minorities, there was an incident in a bar, where a drag queen show took place. They often use also a media manipulation.
Solutions: to establish a good local political situation, that nurture the discussion and understanding.
Netherlands
Many supportive and discouraging non-governmental organizations help minorities and migrants.
Reasons of why the hate crimes happened in Netherlands: political influence, one-sided and biased media, spreading discrimination and hate (burning Quran incidents), economic disparities in work (take our money, steal the jobs), feeding the stereotypes, fear of terrorism.
Possible solutions could be education, good law enforcement to prevent many causes, and a change of a political discourse.
Bulgaria
The biased approach in Bulgaria can be traced to the 1970s, when a communist party push against the local Islamic communities and create a scene of them being the separated one. It caused many protest, where many Turks, but also Bulgarians were killed. Now the situation can be described as a psychological barrier towards the Muslims, but also Roma minority, as it seems to become a raising target group of many extremist tendencies.
Egypt
in Egypt there are raising islamophobic tendencies after the revolution. The reasons can be as well as raising number of people coming from people coming from southern countries in Africa, mostly uneducated, as well as media that support hate and disrespect.
In some of the beaches, there is also a ban of wearing burkini. Moreover, some more expensive cafés in a capital does not allow Arab women wearing hijab to enter, since they argument it is a place for tourist, not locals. So many women wear so called Spanish hijab that is more colourful and stylish as traditional black one.
In addition, when women are in police or army forces, they are not allowed to wear a hijab, but it is mostly for a practical reasons of not get stuck somewhere with it or not be easily grabbed by attacker etc.
Solutions could be either reducing the gap by a government rules, plus high quality of education.
Morocco
In Morocco there is a trend to keep everything as less Moroccan as possible, when tourists are around (less spicy food, less burkini or hijab around, …). However, mostly even in everyday life the local people are very open with clothing. The only acceptation, where it can be very strict in an area of Morocco, is at French missionary schools (girls were expelled while wearing the traditional clothing). Therefore, the most common narrative in the country is that when people respect the rules, there are no problems. The only strict thing is absolute ban of burkini at swimming pools.
Denmark
There is a tension present in the country since 2004, which started as a political act, and further creates a polarization of a society. Now it is mostly in this passive-aggressive tone of citizens of rural areas, and in few solitude events against Muslims (protests, burning Quran etc.).
Nevertheless, there are also many organisations supporting Muslims, there is no islamophobia present in universities or in sport communities.
Solution: give the educated people a voice to steer the spotlight from the angry voices of uneducated. Raise empathy, to support and open space for the need of asking difficult questions.
Case studies
1. A Molotov cocktail in Netherlands
Five men spontaneously came up with the idea of throwing a Molotov cocktail at a mosque in the Netherlands. They did not hit the mosque itself (with founrty people in it) and the fire could be put out easily, but the men were sentenced to from four to five years nevertheless. Their lawyers’ argument was that "incompetence" with which the attack should result in the attack not being classified as terrorism, but the judge disagreed and noted that a "lack of intellect" did not make it less of a terroristic attack.
Reasons: revenge, anarchists,
Effects: raise fear and islamophobia, supporting extremism, becoming an influence for other criminals
Solutions: cameras in more places
2. Hanau shootings
Nine people were killed and five others wounded in a terrorist shooting spree by a far-right extremist targeting two shisha bars in Hanau, Germany. After the attacks, the gunman returned to his apartment, where he killed his mother and then committed suicide
Reasons: mental illness, he heard voices to kill minorities, family upbringing (far right extremist father), outside influence (using his vulnerability)
Effects: multiple deaths, threatening letter from his father to others from the victims.
Solutions: mental health awareness campaign
3. Graffiti in Bulgaria
Anti-Muslim graffiti was smeared on the walls of the building of the Chief Mufti's Office In Bulgaria. Hussein Hafyzov, the Chief Secretary of the Chief Mufti's Office in Bulgaria, stated that our buildings—administrative ones and mosques in all twelve regional Mufti's Offices—have been desecrated over fifty times in the last ten years." Vandalism of mosques and religious buildings in Bulgaria rarely results in arrests or prosecution. Hafyzov reported that vandals were caught in only two or three occasions, and "the very few perpetrators who were caught were not convicted.
Reasons: lack of reinforcement, lack of evidence, inadequate legislation, public apathy
Effects: fear and insecurity, undermining social cohesion, reinforcement of prejudices, legal impunity, diminished trust in authorities
Solution: strengthening Bulgarian law system
4. Vandals in France
The Mosque of Castres in southern France was vandalized in the night. Swastika in black paint, "Sieg Heil" in German, "France to the French" in French, and "White Power" in English were scrawled on the mosque. Additionally, a pig's feet was hung on the mosque. (Happened in 2009, 2012, 2015.)
Reasons: raise the xenophobia, localised conflicted with matter that is more personal. No violence, just repeating.
Effects: disturbing peace in a small region of France, small incident but easy to spark, normalization, maybe creating a new law in order to catch the perpetrators (unknown yet)
Solution: less polarization in the media, less controversy
5. Quran in fire
The Danish far-right politician Rasmus Paludan has been setting the Quran on fire on several occasions.
Reasons: wanted Turkey out of NATO, invading spaces where Islamic communities live,
Effects: ban from several countries, radicalisation of others (violent counter protest), starting of a debate (freedom of expression vs. hate crime?), controversial (political advantage)
Solution: de-fuel the narrative
Islam facts
Women rights in Islam
In Islam, women's rights are addressed in the Quran and various Islamic teachings. Some key principles regarding women's rights in the Quran include:
Equality: The Quran emphasizes the fundamental equality of all individuals, regardless of gender. In Surah Al-Ahzab (33:35), it states that Muslim men and women are allies and supporters of one another.
Dignity and Respect: Women are to be treated with dignity and respect. The Quran prohibits any form of violence or abuse against women.
Property and Inheritance: The Quran outlines rules for the distribution of inheritance, ensuring that women receive their fair share. It acknowledges the rights of women to inherit and own property.
Marriage and Consent: The Quran stresses the importance of mutual consent in marriage (Surah An-Nisa, 4:19) and the duty of husbands to provide for their wives.
Education and Knowledge: There is no explicit prohibition on women seeking education or acquiring knowledge in the Quran. In fact, seeking knowledge is highly encouraged in Islam.
Modesty and Dress Code: The Quran promotes modesty and encourages both men and women to dress modestly. The specific dress code can vary among different interpretations of Islam.
It is important to note that interpretations of Quranic teachings can vary among different cultures and Islamic traditions. Some Islamic countries and communities may have different customs and interpretations regarding women's rights. Additionally, the Quran is often interpreted in conjunction with Hadith (sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad) to understand the full context of women's rights in Islam.
Terrorism
Terrorism is rarely connected with a religious cause. It is mostly an act of an extreme individual or group of people. Its definition is a violence used to pursue a political goal, usually by scaring people and creating a chaos. Sometimes it uses abuse of certain information from Quran, and taking it out of context.
Dress code
Quran states that women needs to cover themselves, and much as men needs to dress modestly. The problem is, that "wearing modesty" can be understand tangible, so physical, or intangible, so based on a feeling we are dressing modestly.
Lately there is a question mark with covering a head that can lead to few diverse interpretations. By covering a head there is also need to cover the chest (using a large scarf). Historically it can come up from desert people, who needed to cover their heads even before Islam in order to protect themselves from the sun and heat. And there is also a cultural aspect of depending on a context in a country we talk about. Many Muslims says, that hijab is obligatory from god, not from other people.
Halal food
Halal food is the opposite of haram food, meaning dirty or not suitable.
Quran advice to do not eat animals, which are used for hard work, like horses, donkeys, and others. However, camels are allowed. There is a few obligations while performing the meat slaughtering: The animal must be alive, there is need to use sharp knife, no electricity or bullets, and the animal needs to be killed just by one cut, when the head goes completely off, or other quick way of a death. In addition, it is recommended to let the blood go out of the body of the animal after killing as fast as possible to avoid contamination the meat with bacteria from it. It should also be taken out of the herd to prevent the other animals from stress etc. The meat should be also paid with a "clear money", so not gambled, stolen etc.
Pork is not allowed mostly because the animal is not clean; it usually lives in terrible conditions, so it could be a potential source of many diseases.
Sharia law
The Sharia law are orders coming directly from Allah, but unfortunately might be interpreted in different ways. The other source of laws are faticks, so laws coming from four different schools of Islam. There is the need of five prayers per day, do a voluntarily charity, eat halal food, using a left hand for "dirty business", prohibition of alcohol, drugs, pork, gambling, …
Some of them also state some punishments, like cutting off a leg or a hand. Nevertheless, nowadays it very hardly ever taken as a hundred percent must to keep.
It says that areas of protection of each Muslim should be in this order: yourself, your family, your religion, your kind, the world.
There is a very different interpretation of a Sharia Law by different countries.
Pillars of Islam
Respect each other
Help each other
Empathy
General solution of islamophobia
Addressing the emotions (you feel afraid - why, what is the source)
Raise empathy and understanding
Present facts
Recreation of the human rights council
Human refugee crisis from Africa to Europe
Human trafficking
Problems to host migrants in European countries
Humanitarian issue
Motions suggested after the discussion
Financing EU fleet and EU Fronts by all countries participating including USA and China - passed
Responsibility on proximate countries and EU to provide Humanitarian Aid to face imminent and grave dangers - passed
Step by Step guide with corporation of EU, Middle East countries, USA UK to stop illegal immigration and human trafficking (Excluding Financial Aid) - passed
To create an information centres (hot spots) in a countries where the refugees come from. - failed
Intersectionality of islamophobia
Everybody have a different personalities inside, so these can be taken as multiple attributes to face islamophobia and racism (further identities), like to be as well African and Muslim, or woman and Muslim. The attributes can be very various: gender identity, sexual orientation, minority, political views, and more.
Dealing with a trauma
Trauma can be hold by many people. Victims of discrimination, or also radicalized people. It is always a very individual process for each person. It can be created by lack of support, stigma, or others. It starts usually as a process of deconstructing somebody's identity, when the perpetrators are targeting one aspect of a victim’s identity that as unhealed hurt can become a trauma. Trauma has isolating effects, and can be accompanied by many emotional coping mechanism, like shame, aggression, internalization (cry, depression) etc.
Treatment when in process of a radicalization:
figure out what is the cause of the trauma
emotional regulation (to build an emotional literacy, for the person to be aware of own feelings and further work with them)
understand the language and ethnic background, than can connect the victim with the helper, then try to treat the person
reduce vulnerability by pleasant experiences (breath work, panic and anxiety mitigation)
include family, work with gender role
construct new world where the person can succeed (try to help the victim to create a timeline by putting things in the right order, which helps to process), awareness of different roles (realise own triggers), maladaptive patterns (realise negative coping mechanisms)
Overcoming shame and stigma can bring for a victim the scene of being alone. We csn help for example by asking a question: Do you know anyone else who has never been a victim?. It helps to generalize (talk about "a group" not the victim itself as an individual), and bring awareness of a unity and use of a holistic approach.
Different actors in a victimization process
“Selma is an immigrant from Bosnia. Because her family moved to a new house, she had to change school. After a few weeks, she found out from a classmate that her school peers had made a Facebook group called ‘Selma go back to Bosnia’. They published offensive comments about her and posted pictures of her they secretly took at school. They created offensive memes with her pictures.”
The point of view of Selma
She can feel excluded, marginalized, disrespected, also scared and worried about when it will end, or if it will escalate, plus embarrassed. She can have a support from her classmates, family, or school, depending, if she would feel comfortable or uncomfortable to share to issues with them and seek for help.
The point of view of witnesses the situation
The schoolmates can either do not care, either want to support her but not having the courage, or wanting to bully her too, but not wanting to get involved. Teachers could either turn a blind eye on the situation (no support), either deal with bullies and parents (help finding the solution).
The point of view of those, who cause the harm
Perpetrators can feel she is different, an easy target, or just wanting to joke. It can make them feel powerful, and that social media is a safe place to bully (anonymous). Usually it can also accompany the unification, that this bullying of one person by a big group can create a fake courage in individuals of the group,
The point of view of the outside world
It depends on a country. The issue of hating Bosnians could be in certain countries "normalized" (political aspects) - hate based on ethno nationalism. However, in other countries is can feel unusual, so it might be based on not only a nationality, but also more on the islamophobia and other aspects. Potential causes of the situation are marginalized minorities; hate speech in former Yugoslavian countries, increased prejudices, anonymous or public strengthening of hate speech, lack of empathy and critical thinking.
Field trip
As part of the programme there were also two days dedicated to a field trip with the aim of better understanding the Muslim realities and way of life. Therefore, we visited Petra, as the source of the civilization. The Wadi Rum desert in order to catch a glimpse of the nomadic people. In addition, we visited Agaba, a big city in South of Jordan, to have a contrast point in between the capital city, desert lifestyle, and big touristic city at the edge of Jordan, Egypt, Israel, and Saudi Arabia border.
It was a very interesting, but intensive programme, which opened my eyes more wide than it was before. I feel more connected with people from other cultures, and I am glad I could hear them talking about their real lives. It also helped me to understand many aspects of a Muslim religion, and to be able to dissolve some of my prejudices and stereotypes. And I know, there is still much more to learn and to get to know, but I am already very glad for these competences I could gain in such a short time. And of course, not everything went according to a plan, but it also showed me, how we all as humans from different corners of the world, can be flexible, communicate and cooperate with each other for the best possible result. Thank you, organisers and all the participants; it was a pleasure to be part of this. An Erasmus+ programme supported the training course.
