Europe's troubles are being blamed on Muslims: debate over a European Parliament resolution
The blame for Europe's many crises is increasingly being placed on Muslim communities — that is the charge at the centre of a debate over a recent European Parliament resolution. Analysts say the resolution shows that an Islamophobic agenda is taking hold within Europe's mainstream politics itself.
Last week, while student protests were heating up in France, the European Parliament quietly passed a resolution 'on the need for an EU strategy to counter Islamist entryism and the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood network'.
The text was tabled by the centre-right European People's Party (EPP), the largest group in the parliament and the party of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. It passed with 381 votes in favour, 167 against and 15 abstentions.
Four other groups backed the EPP almost unanimously: the far-right Patriots for Europe and Europe of Sovereign Nations, the liberal Renew Europe, and the European Conservatives and Reformists. The Social Democrats, the Left and the Greens mostly voted against but could not stop it.
Events in the weeks before had also set the scene for this debate. As protests in France turned violent, the French far right quickly resorted to racist language to blame Muslim youth for the violence. Weeks earlier, when thousands of migrants tried to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco, the Spanish far right spoke of an organised 'invasion' by Moroccans. United States President Donald Trump also chimed in, claiming that this is about 'Islam wanting to take over'.
The resolution defines 'Islamist entryism' as 'a political strategy of influence, progressive structuring, institutional penetration and ideological legitimisation'. It claims that this influence operates through a broad and fragmented ecosystem of associations, foundations and cultural, educational, religious, charitable, university, youth, anti-discrimination and social action structures.
According to the resolution, diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-discrimination frameworks may be diverted as vectors of institutional legitimisation. In other words, networks like the Muslim Brotherhood are claimed to 'infiltrate' European societies through anti-Islamophobia initiatives and other legitimate causes for the protection of minorities.
The resolution names several organisations, including the Brussels-based European Network Against Racism (ENAR), as espousing this type of behaviour, and calls for blocking their access to EU funding and restricting any EU-funded entity from working with them.
The resolution is not binding, and EU member states do not have to implement it. Its call to put the Muslim Brotherhood and affiliated individuals and entities on a terror list is also considered unlikely to be implemented across Europe, given the movement's renunciation of violence as a political tool.
Even so, critics argue that the resolution gives legitimacy to an ideological framework that can have grave implications for Muslim communities. It puts under suspicion Muslim institutions and organisations that operate independently of the state, and presents the inclusion of Muslim civil society in public activity as a form of infiltration.
Critics add that the vague notion of a 'Muslim Brotherhood network' can make guilt by association possible for almost anyone. Outside actors can weaponise it, and already have — the United Arab Emirates, for example, has funded a wide-ranging campaign in Europe and elsewhere to smear individuals and organisations as Muslim Brotherhood affiliates.
Most importantly, critics say, the resolution frames defending Muslims against racism as part of an Islamist infiltration plot. This can directly impact initiatives and public debates that seek to address Islamophobia in European societies. What remains to be seen is what steps conservative alliances in individual member states take using this framework — and how defenders of civil liberties respond.
