Anti-Muslim hate crime on rise in Europe since October 2023: EU Islamophobia chief

ANTALYA, Türkiye

The European Commission's coordinator on combating anti-Muslim hatred said on Saturday that racism and Islamophobia are seemingly on the rise in a number of member states.

“We know that since the 7th of October (2023), in particular, anti-Muslim hate crime has increased, for instance, by 140% in Germany,” Marion Lalisse told Anadolu during Türkiye’s Antalya Diplomacy Forum, referring to the day Palestinian group Hamas carried out an attack, followed immediately by Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which over the last year-and-a-half has killed over 50,000 people and left most of Gaza in ruins.

Lalisse added: “Obviously, you can have views about religions, about politics, but you cannot incite to hatred against a group of individuals who are fully parts of Europe, integral components of our society."

“I think that we have, unfortunately, a normalization of anti-Muslim narrative, and narrative that is in the media, in the social media, doesn't remain only words,” she said.

“We need to have more diversity among journalists, also in the management of media, not only in the journalists themselves, but in the executive boards to make sure that there is a coverage reflecting the vast majority of Muslims,” she explained.

“Definitely, those acts are very detrimental to Europe, and they don't reflect our values, the values on which the EU was built,” she said.

Lalisse expressed happiness to see some member states take measures, mentioning Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands.

“We are happy to see that they (these countries) implement our framework decision on combating xenophobia and racism, including religious intolerance,” she added.