On December 3, the European Commission hosted a “high-level conference to address intolerance, hate speech and discrimination affecting Muslims in the EU”. According to the EU press release, “By sharing good practices, the aim of the event is to identify key actions at all levels to address intolerance, racism and discrimination against Muslims in the coming years”. The event brought together over 100 “representatives of national authorities, civil society, academia, the religious community, EU agencies and international organizations.”

There is, according to the European Commission, a “need for action”, as “unfavourable views of Muslims appear to have surged in the past few years”. The European Commission does not, of course, offer up the possibility that such unfavorable views might be due to the fact that an overwhelming majority of all terrorist attacks on European soil in recent years have been committed primarily by one group, among several other signs of transformation on the European continent. Examples include preaching jihad against “infidels” in mosques; the rise of rape, as well as rape grooming gangs – not exclusively, but overwhelmingly run by the same group in countries such as the UK, the Netherlands and now also apparently Finland; brutal misogynist practices such as female genital mutilation(FGM), honor killings, forced marriages and polygamy – in addition to an exponential rise in anti-Semitism, especially in France. Sadly, the main victims of many of the abuses that the European Commission seemingly wishes to silence are Muslims, often women and children, and often too scared to speak out (here, here and here).

These minor details, however, do not appear to interest the European Commission.

“Recent surveys show that intolerance towards Muslims is growing in the EU and the protection of their basic fundamental rights is being challenged. In our European vision, there is no place for discrimination against any minority. After all, we are all minorities in the European Union” said First Vice-President Frans Timmermans at the high-level conference.

“Discrimination, acts of intolerance or racism against the 25 million Muslims living in the EU is a violation of their fundamental rights, but it also fuels marginalization and self-exclusion. We need to fight this intolerance and discrimination, as these only make us weaker and more fragile,” said Vĕra Jourová, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality.

According to Kuwait News Agency – apparently, only Arabic news outlets covered the conference – Jourova said, “Muslim minorities are perceived as someone different”, stressing that “all of us must confront this cultural stereotypes [sic] because they are dangerous and poisoning [our] modern secular and tolerant societies.”

“How do we nurture a sense of belonging that allows every Muslim to live his or her life as a Muslim in the EU alongside all other religions?” Jourova asked.

“We have a very serious problem in the EU and I hope this meeting is a testimony to getting more serious about tackling it,” said Michael O’Flaherty, director of the EU’s Agency for Fundamental Rights at the conference.

Read more HERE