Post 8 - Increase in the Number of Hate Crimes in Europe

Since the end of the Second World War, Europe has come a long way in combating racial tensions and building a tolerant society. Native Europeans of today are by and large a very tolerant bunch. Yet, incidences of hate crimes appear to be on the rise. Antisemitism, an issue Europe has been very sensitive to since the Holocaust, accounts for a major part of the rise in racial violence. In the Swedish city of Malmo experienced 79 hate crimes in 2010, double the number from the previous year. A study in 2004 showed that a quarter of French Jews were considering emigration to Israel out of fear from anti-Semitic violence. According to Caldwell, in 2006 Britain was seeing upwards of 600 anti-Semitic incidences annually. However, the principle perpetrators of these hate crimes are not Christian or native Europeans. Rather, the Muslim population makes up the vast majority of assailants in the cases. Why is this the case? The answer lies partly in what has been mentioned in my earlier posts.Caldwell writes that "majorities in almost all European countries had an almost neurasthenic sensitivity to anything in their own conduct or past that hinted at anti-Semitism, but no such self-scrutiny was demanded of Muslims - in fact, those who asked it of them were censured."

Muslim populations in Europe are still very much connected to the situations in their regions of origin. Caldwell notes that the number of anti-Semitic hate crimes spikes depending on events in the Middle East. Young Arabs have turned assaulting Jews into a regular part of their protests against the state of Israel. Another reason is presented in a report by Ruud Koopmans. In his report, Koopmans connects the religious fundamentalism with the level of out-group hostility. The findings of the survey used by Koopmans “contradict the often-heard claim that Islamic religious fundamentalism is a marginal phenomenon in Western Europe or that it does not differ from the extent of fundamentalism among the Christian majority. Both claims are blatantly false, as almost half of European Muslims agree that Muslims should return to the roots of Islam, that there is only one interpretation of the Koran, and that the rules laid down in it are more important than secular laws. Among native Christians, less than one in 25 can be characterized as fundamentalists in this sense."

Koopmans goes on to say that: “a cause for concern is that while among Christians religious fundamentalism is much less widespread among younger people, fundamentalist attitudes are as widespread among young as among older Muslims. “

    Quoting Koopmans yet again: “While about one in five natives can be considered as Islamophobic, the level of phobia against the West among Muslims – for which oddly enough there is no word; one might call it “Occidentophobia” – is much higher still, with 54 per cent believing that the West is out to destroy Islam. These findings concord with the fact that, as a 2006 study of the Pew research institute showed, about half of the Muslims living in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom believe in the conspiracy theory that the attacks of 9/11 were not carried out by Muslims, but were orchestrated by the West and/or Jews.”

The New Testament rejects the old principle from Exodus of an “eye for an eye” approach to dealing with injustice. According to the Christian bible, the violence used against Jews for the actions of the Israeli state is very unjust. European nations showed genuine love for the people of its traditionally rival Islamic civilization, allowing them into their countries as refugees. Now, the violence perpetrated by these same immigrants would seem to fit with the negative descriptions found in Proverbs 16 and 25. Proverbs 25:26 states that “like a muddied spring or a polluted well are the righteous who give way to the wicked.”  And in Proverbs 16 it is written that:

“27 A scoundrel plots evil,
    and on their lips it is like a scorching fire.

28 A perverse person stirs up conflict,
    and a gossip separates close friends.

29 A violent person entices their neighbor
    and leads them down a path that is not good.”

 Moreover, the violence on the part of the Muslim community in Europe is failing to live up to what is written in Romans about obeying human law and authority.