Belgium (Brussels Morning Newspaper), A new report says there has been a “worrying outbreak of moral harassment” towards Muslims.
The Collective for Countering Islamophobia in Europe (CCIE) reports a huge 300% increase in such cases.
It also raises concern over the “persistence of the gendered nature of Islamophobic violence.”
The document provides an analysis of its data as well as an overview of the French and European political context regarding “hostility” towards Muslims.
It provides figures and details significant trends for the year 2023.
In France, it says schools are at the top of the list of places where Islamophobia occurs.
The detailed study goes on to claim that the “violent far right is still a relative blind spot.”
Another key takeaway from the study is a reported increase in Islamophobia linked to what the report calls “Israel’s war against Gaza.”
There has, it adds, also been a trend towards the “criminalization of migrants and their supporters.”
The report, out on March 6, says that figures from the French Interior Ministry “do not reflect the true extent of Islamophobia in the country.”
It states: “If official figures indicate a 30% increase in anti-Muslim racism from 2022 to 2023, our figures, however, reveal an increase of 58%, which is a substantial difference.”
The CCIE, says the report, “is committed, through this report as through all of its actions, to raising public awareness, promoting understanding of Islamophobia and enabling action that is adapted as much as possible to the reality of the phenomenon.”
“As part of our mission, we are publishing these figures from the largest database on Islamophobia, which highlight the tenacious persistence of this problem within our societies.”
