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OIC warns about rising Islamophobia‎

6 Nov 2010 21:55

Islam Times - The leader of the world's largest Islamic organization has likened the rise of Islamophobia in Europe and the US to "the rise of anti-Semitism in the 1930s."..

Islam Times reports from Presstv: Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), on Friday said xenophobia directed at Muslim immigrants was starting to have a definite effect, especially in Europe.

"I'm afraid that we are going through a process like the beginning of the '30s of the last century, when an anti-Semitic agenda became politically a big issue (together with) the rise of fascism and Naziism…. I think now we are in the first stages of such a thing," he said in an interview with AFP.

The Turkish head of the OIC further added that instead of combating this trend politicians are exploiting the issue to gain more popular support.

"What worries me is that political authorities or political parties, instead of stopping this, or fighting this, some of them are using this for their political ends, to gain more popular support in elections," he said.

Ihsanoglu went on to say that Europe must open its eyes to the reality of Islam.

"Europe has to understand the reality of Islam today, and the reality that Islam is not an alien religion of Europe. Islam is a European religion, and Europe has to come to terms with Islam," he added.

The OIC head pointed to the protests in the US against the "Ground Zero" Islamic center in New York City, to the anti-burqa movement in Europe, and to physical attacks on Muslims on both sides of the Atlantic.

In September, Amnesty International warned that "fear, discrimination and persecution against Muslims" is on the rise in the United States.

The report said US officials should take strong action against attacks targeting the country's Muslim community.

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