by Friday evening: knife attack at the town festival in Solingen. Saturday morning: an arson attack on a synagogue in the south of France. Sunday morning: the start of Hezbollah’s long-awaited major offensive against Israel.
It’s a sad weekend marked by Islamism and Islamophobia. What all three events have in common: Islamist-inspired hatred against liberal democratic values and against Israel.
The growing extremist threat has recently focused politics on efforts to combat right-wing extremism.
Civil society has also demonstrated its determination to fight racism, hostility towards people, and ethnic nationalism through numerous demonstrations and various activities (from concerts to social media campaigns).
At the same time, there has been a significant silence from politics and civil society on the subject of Islamism.
On the contrary, many scientists, experts, authors or journalists deliberately avoid the subject of Islam out of fear because the public pressure on social media or the threats against themselves, friends or family are almost unbearable.
Especially since the terrorist attack by Hamas and its Islamic allied groups on October 7 of last year, any statement about Islamism, Israel and Palestine feels like walking through a minefield.
However, given the years of unabated Islamic threat, this silence is the worst option imaginable. Because it suggests approval or is a sign of insanity. Both are existential threats to liberal democracies.
It is even more important that we finally confront Islamism and its consequences, not just legally and criminally, because the world has been a different place since October 7.
Twenty years of hatred
Although investigations are still ongoing in Solingen and the exact background of the crime is unclear, many facts point to an Islamic-inspired terrorist attack.
The official media outlet of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia has already claimed responsibility for the attack, presenting it as “revenge against Muslims in Palestine and elsewhere”.
A glance at the ideological history of Islamism shows that hatred of Israel and the Jews, along with a rejection of democratic values and liberal lifestyles, are central features of Islamic ideology.
Since the last century, Islamists have been systematically spreading these ideas. Firstly, through the writings and works of Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966), the main ideologue of the Muslim Brotherhood and the founder of modern Islam in the 19th century, which is still referred to today for radical purposes.
His essay “Our Battle with the Jews” had a lasting impact on the Islamic hatred of Jews and Israel, also because it refers to religious sources and traditions, and thus finds the religious justification for this hatred.
Not to forget: Abdullah Azzam (1941-1989), himself a Palestinian and the ideological and organizational master of Al-Qaeda, demanded the use of violence as a means of defending Muslim lands around the world, that especially in Palestine against Israel.
And finally, there was Yusuf al-Qaradawi (1926-2022), who not only promoted a generation of Muslims focused on fundamentalism — especially in Europe — but was one of the most prominent supporters of Hamas and his expressly recommended for the plebiscite. use of violence by Palestinians, including through suicide attacks.
Since October 7, however, there has been little discussion of these central aspects of Islamism and Islamic terrorism.
And this, while this terrorist attack by Hamas & Co has the potential not only to reorder the Near and Middle East but also to encourage a new wave of Islamic radicalization in Europe.
Instead, political circles claim that Islamism and Islamic terrorism only came to Europe with the movement of refugees in 2015.
Extremism hidden behind the democratic laws
Although Muslim anti-Semitism has become more of a problem following the refugee movements since 2015 and, together with other psychosocial factors, provides fertile ground for Islamic radicalisation, this should not obscure the fact that Islamists systematically building their structures, expanding their structures. networks, and an increase in their influence in Europe, especially in the educational, social and socio-political fields, from the 1970s and especially from the 1980s.
Thus European Islamism has been on the rise for decades, fueled by Islamic groups and movements — especially the Muslim Brotherhood — through anti-democratic, anti-Semitic and anti-Western narratives. Islamic organizations are often protected by the freedom of speech and religion guaranteed by democratic laws.
And as long as they do not cross the lines of criminal law, they can continue to organize and network undisturbed, sometimes reaching the highest political levels.
They are still often consulted as partners and advisers on issues related to integration or the fight against terrorism, in part because they publicly oppose violence in the name of religion.
Related
More than that: Islamic groups, such as those ideologically aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood, continue to receive financial support in many European countries and are considered legitimate representatives of Muslims on political and social levels .
Romantic nationalism that legitimizes crimes
In the context of the current conflict between Israel and Palestine, the consequences of this Islamist networking are particularly evident.
Organizations such as the Palestinian Community in Germany (PGD) or the Samidoun network (Solidarity Network for Palestinian Prisoners), banned in Germany but still active throughout Europe, claim to represent Palestinian interests but they have their core hatred. Israel and Jews, therefore helping Islamist groups such as Hamas.
It is these and similar organizations that aim to influence European societies, especially to influence the public discourse in favor of their own anti-Israel and Islamic interests and therefore to influence decisions political regarding Israel.
They receive public, political and societal support, especially from the left spectrum. Therefore, it can be observed how students, feminists, and LGBTQ+ activists, who are considered otherwise enlightened, have been used in the past months to legitimize Islamic rapes, killings, massacres and kidnappings by remaining silent about the these attacks on October 7, and at the same time reduce the Islamic terrorism of Hamas & Co. to a form of self-defense against the alleged aggressor Israel.
Therefore, it is a travesty that it is not possible to compare those who have been supporting women’s rights and LGBTQ+ rights for years and those who, out of Islamic conviction, are precisely against those rights and support the Islamic Hamas in Gaza.
It is particularly surprising that these circles do not understand how they are legitimizing Hamas & Co. as the rightful representatives of the Palestinians, even though women, homosexuals and dissidents have been oppressed and persecuted since Hamas came to power in Gaza.
These developments in recent months highlight one thing: criticism of political developments in Israel, such as settlement policies or pro-Palestinian demonstrations, is important and legitimate.
However, it is dangerous if one becomes the mouthpiece of the Islamists in the process and denies Israel its right to exist. This not only legitimizes Islamic terrorism but also threatens the basic principles of democracy.
Don’t give the extremists the satisfaction of silencing you
If we are to effectively combat the further rise of European Islamism and Islamic terrorism in the future, we must focus not only on legal and security measures but also finally address the ideological links and the thereby revealing Islamic narratives.
Just as in the fight against right-wing extremism, clear lines must be drawn with Islamists, not just on the issue of violence but on their stand on basic democratic values.
It is essential, on the one hand, to promote more strongly the ability to think critically so that people can recognize Islamic propaganda and misinformation and, on the other hand, to enable a culture of discussion and debate, in which are the long-term dangers of Islamic ideology to democracy openly addressed and, above all, communicated.
Silence is not an option because then the Islamists and their accomplices would have achieved their goal.
Gülden Hennemann is a political scientist and former employee of the Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution. She is currently in charge of the Central Coordination Office for Counter-Extremism (ZKE) in the Bavarian prison system and its Operational Unit to Combat Extremism (OpEEx).
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