WASHINGTON, May 23 (IslamOnline) – Muslims in Europe have suffered “increased hostility” in racist and xenophobic attacks since the September 11 attacks on the U.S., according to a report released Thursday, May 23, by a European racism-monitoring body. 

“The report’s findings show that Islamic communities and other vulnerable groups have become targets of increased hostility since 11 September,” said Bob Purkiss, the chair of the European Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC). 

“A greater sense of fear among the general population has exacerbated already existing prejudices and fuelled acts of aggression and harassment across Europe.” 

The new report, entitled “Islamophobia in the EU,” which was presented at the European Commission, reviews changes in attitudes and acts against Muslims from September 11 until the end of the year 2001, according to an EUMC press release. 

"An atmosphere has been created where Muslims have to justify themselves that they are not terrorists," Beate Winkler, director of the Vienna-based EUMC, was quoted as saying in a report by Agence France-Presse (AFP). 

"There have been verbal attacks widely reported in all [European Union] member states," she said during a press conference. "Especially, women and young people in schools have been victims and targets" of these attacks. 

The EUMC began a program of monitoring racism against Muslims September 12, 2001, according to the report. National Focal Points (NFP’s) in each of the 15 EU member states were asked to look at acts of violence and aggression, as well as changes in attitude, of the EU populations towards Muslims and any other group that might become a new target related to the events of September 11. 

Racism and xenophobia against Muslims and others after September 11 were more prominent in Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden, Winkler said in the AFP report; in other states, notably Austria, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg and Portugal, little increase in xenophobic sentiment from before September 11 was noted. 

Many of the different NFP’s noted that such increases stemmed from xenophobic attitudes that were already prevalent in their societies. 

Denmark noted that “much of what occurred post-September 11 drew heavily upon pre-existent manifestations of widespread Islamophobic and xenophobic attitudes.” 

In Denmark, Austria, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands, among others, the separate country reports noted that women who wore hijab (Islamic headcovering) were particularly vulnerable to attacks because they were “visually identifiable” as Muslims. 

“The hijab seems to have become the primary visual identifier as a target for hatred,” the report said, “with Muslim women being routinely abused and attacked across those countries in the EU where Muslim women could be identified in this way.” 

This occurred even in Portugal, although it was limited to verbal assaults – in other countries, Muslim women were reported to have been spat at or had their hijabs ripped off. But in Portugal, the NFP related the extremely low levels of hostility to “the historical relationship between Portugal and Islam [and] the integration of Portuguese Muslims into wider society.” 

Other acts of aggression included death threats, vandalism and destruction of mosques and other Muslim establishments, stereotyped media reports and a sharp increase in anti-Islam messages and postings on the Internet. 

However, the report also took note of positive reactions and steps taken by EU populations, such as appeals from government officials and interfaith, intercultural dialogues. 

In Sweden, a “Swedish Committee Against Islamophobia” was launched; the UK’s NFP cited “sensitive policing and co-operation in crime prevention between police forces and local Muslim communities” as a factor in reducing attacks while Prime Minister Tony Blair condemned such attacks very strongly; and Austria’s NFP found that dialogues between Muslim and Christian communities in Vienna opened a range of seminars and discussions.