Days after the Norwegian massacre that claimed 76 innocent lives a sense of calm is slowly returning to the capital. But a debate has started to take place.
After the initial deadly explosion in the centre of Oslo, the muslim community feared that people would automatically assume the perpetrator to be a muslim extremist. Only hours later did a right-wing Norwegian man surrender to the police.
Hostility toward Islam and animosity against muslim immigrants in Europe has been steadily on the rise for the past decade, made worse by the events on September the 11th.
How mainstream islamophobia has become is difficult to gage. One muslim woman said that while the government in Norway was fair, the people could sometimes be intolerant. Indeed 23% of the population voted for the right-wing progress party at the last elections.
Anders Breivik who carried out the attacks condemned the labour party for “treason” in allowing muslims to colonize “ the country, direct words from his manifesto. We asked a member of parliament whether this was objective.
The integration of immigrants and a fear of islam remains a thorny subject for politicians, but a subject that is likely to be addressed much more in the light of the recent tragedy.
“The mass-murderer made it clear that he wished to combat muslim immigration and all humanistic values defended by the government. Some see it as a separate act of violence committed by a lunatic, others fear that European right-wing cells could carry out similar attacks targeting immigrants and muslims in particular.
No comments:
Post a Comment