APNewsBreak: Extra security at UK mosques - Yahoo! News
LONDON (AP) Some British mosques are boosting security after Norway's horrific massacre was traced to a man who fears Muslims are taking over Europe an attack that exposed a failure to root out Islamophobia that has bled into the European mainstream.
European government leaders may even be feeding fears of Islam through measures such as bans on face veils on the streets, aimed at appeasing a non-Muslim majority wary about the continent's rising Muslim population.
Muslim leaders say it's time for governments to wake up to the threat of anti-Islamic extremism and stop pandering to far right nationalist movements that have made inroads in politics from the Netherlands to Austria. European attitudes, though, are unlikely to change overnight.
"People are looking over their shoulders and afraid that we will be the next target," said Mohammed Shafiq of the Ramadhan Foundation, one of Britain's largest Muslim organizations. He spoke to The Associated Press in a telephone interview from the sidelines of an international gathering of Muslim scholars and leaders Sunday. "As a result, we've told people to be extra vigilant and there will be added security placed at mosques."
Mohammed Bechari, head of the European Islamic Conference, said that even though millions of Europe's Muslims were born here and have assimilated into societies that consider themselves open and tolerant, "there is a rise in Islamophobia. Racism, anti-Muslim sentiments have become the norm."
Hours after Norway's terrorist attack Friday, a law went into effect in Belgium banning the Islamic face veil, for what authorities called security reasons. France, with western Europe's largest Muslim population, has a similar law, and Switzerland has banned new mosque minarets.
The wall of a mosque in the Russian town of Berezovsky was defaced overnight Friday with graffiti reading "Russia for Russians!" according to the website Islamnews.ru. Muslim cemeteries in France are regularly vandalized.
When news of Norway's attacks first emerged, suspicion immediately fell on Islamic extremists, responsible for some of Europe's worst horrors in recent history.
That the chief suspect turned out to be a blond man with anti-Muslim, fundamentalist Christian views caught many off guard and exposed a knee-jerk Islamophobia that puts Europe's leaders in a new bind.
Islamic terrorism is a real threat to Europe. Islamophobia channeled by extreme right groups may be a graver threat than many had estimated. Governments must try to stamp out both, while persuading their populations that Muslims as a whole are not a menace to Europe's future.
LONDON (AP) Some British mosques are boosting security after Norway's horrific massacre was traced to a man who fears Muslims are taking over Europe an attack that exposed a failure to root out Islamophobia that has bled into the European mainstream.
European government leaders may even be feeding fears of Islam through measures such as bans on face veils on the streets, aimed at appeasing a non-Muslim majority wary about the continent's rising Muslim population.
Muslim leaders say it's time for governments to wake up to the threat of anti-Islamic extremism and stop pandering to far right nationalist movements that have made inroads in politics from the Netherlands to Austria. European attitudes, though, are unlikely to change overnight.
"People are looking over their shoulders and afraid that we will be the next target," said Mohammed Shafiq of the Ramadhan Foundation, one of Britain's largest Muslim organizations. He spoke to The Associated Press in a telephone interview from the sidelines of an international gathering of Muslim scholars and leaders Sunday. "As a result, we've told people to be extra vigilant and there will be added security placed at mosques."
Mohammed Bechari, head of the European Islamic Conference, said that even though millions of Europe's Muslims were born here and have assimilated into societies that consider themselves open and tolerant, "there is a rise in Islamophobia. Racism, anti-Muslim sentiments have become the norm."
Hours after Norway's terrorist attack Friday, a law went into effect in Belgium banning the Islamic face veil, for what authorities called security reasons. France, with western Europe's largest Muslim population, has a similar law, and Switzerland has banned new mosque minarets.
The wall of a mosque in the Russian town of Berezovsky was defaced overnight Friday with graffiti reading "Russia for Russians!" according to the website Islamnews.ru. Muslim cemeteries in France are regularly vandalized.
When news of Norway's attacks first emerged, suspicion immediately fell on Islamic extremists, responsible for some of Europe's worst horrors in recent history.
That the chief suspect turned out to be a blond man with anti-Muslim, fundamentalist Christian views caught many off guard and exposed a knee-jerk Islamophobia that puts Europe's leaders in a new bind.
Islamic terrorism is a real threat to Europe. Islamophobia channeled by extreme right groups may be a graver threat than many had estimated. Governments must try to stamp out both, while persuading their populations that Muslims as a whole are not a menace to Europe's future.
