Thus, Filip Dewinter of Belgium, a leader of the Flemish separatist party Vlaams Belang (VB); Heinz-Christian Strache of Austria, the head of the far-right Freedom Party; Robert Spieler of France's regionalist Alsace First group; and the British National Party, as well as the representatives of far-right parties of Denmark, Germany and Italy, held a news conference in Antwerp, Belgium, on Jan. 17 to announce their "cities against Islamization" campaign. Bart Debie of the VB, a group whose logo is a mosque with a red line crossing over it, said: "We must prevent new mosques from being opened in Belgium and Muslim immigrants from coming. The Islamic shops must be closed down if they do not comply with hygiene and social rules of Belgium." Afterward, 30 group members launched a march in Antwerp, known to have a considerable Muslim population, and Debie argued that the remaining Flemish population of the city would support them and hold rallies in Rotterdam, Paris, London and Madrid in the future. In the past, Debie was sentenced for his violence toward five Turks while he was a police officer.
Now, another piece of news comes as a surprise to us. It is reported that the British government has decided to give "citizenship courses" at mosques to integrate its Muslim minority. After several talks with the leaders of the Muslim community, the British government selected Bristol, Bradford, Kirklees, Oldham, Rochdale and Leicester as pilot cities for these citizenship courses. In these courses, which will be given in 30 madrasas, the children aged 7 to 14 taking Islamic education will be trained about their social duties and responsibilities as well as how to be a good citizen. These citizenship courses will be reinforced with references to the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad's traditions with the final goal of integrating the Muslim community with democratic values. While visiting the Aziziye Mosque -- known as the mosque of Turks in London -- Sadiq Khan, the Cabinet member in charge of immigrants, said this training will help Muslim youth establish good relations with other communities.
Meanwhile, it is also reported that the German government has been wiretapping mosques and installing cameras to the places frequented by Muslims. The Turkish government has reacted to this plan. This practice, which can be seen as a new version of extreme distrust toward Muslims, is vexing to everyone.
A good observer who has been closely following the developments can assert that Muslims in the Western world have been systematically humiliated at every possible occasion. In line with the "Islamophobia" concept espoused by Georgia W. Bush in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the West has been describing Islam not only as a potential threat, but also as an active, close and imminent danger and has been mobilizing their political, cultural and military resources against it. According to this doctrine, Islam is the demonized other of the West. The UK and the US have already used this doctrine to promote their interests, for example by grabbing the oil resources and historical richness of Iraq. But it is obvious that the US is paying dearly for this doctrine as four out of every five people around the world regard the US as unreliable and do not approve of its occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and its support of Israel's unjust practices.
Things are a bit different in Europe. Europe has an entrenched Oriental legacy and tends to portray things as follows: There is no problem with the cultural and social foundations of the West. The West has achieved the ideal state, but Muslims, as outsiders, fail to adapt to it. The internal social problem of the West is to integrate the Muslims who have been living in the West for about half a century. But, perhaps, the problem may be with the mentality that produces this integration. Perhaps we should view things from this perspective.
Benzer Haberler 
