Europe’s far-right parties and the future of European Muslims

Semitic attacks while Muslim immigrants are complaining of discrimination and hate speech. A similar rise in hate crimes targeting Jews and Muslims is being reported in the US following Donald Trump’s victory last year.

But how serious is the so-called Muslim problem for Europe? Muslims make up only 5 percent of the population of the Netherlands but Wilders has made them the central target of his populist campaign. It is true that for various socio-economic reasons, European Muslims tend to live in closed communities and are frequently accused of failing to integrate in society. Furthermore, there are radical Muslim figures in some European countries who reject European values and ideals and adopt extremist views that call for the ultimate Islamization of Europe. They represent a minority and do not speak for Europe’s Muslims.

Certainly, the fact that second generation European Muslims have carried out terrorist attacks in Europe or have joined extremist militant organizations in Syria gives the far-right much needed ammunition to spread Islamophobic beliefs among a weary and confused electorate.

Muslims make up between 6 percent and 7 percent of Europe’s population today with the highest percentages in Germany and France (about 5 percent and 8 percent respectively). The far-right claim that Muslims will eventually take over Europe or Islamize the continent in few decades is false. Reliable studies suggest that Muslims will make up 8 percent of Europe’s population by 2030, which is about 58 million people. The same studies project that less than 3 percent of the world’s Muslims are expected to be living in Europe in 2030, about the same percentage as in 2010 (2.7 percent).

Still, failure to integrate into European society represents a real and alarming challenge. It is one that requires deeper investigation of the socio-economic reality of Muslim communities in Europe today. Even more worrying is the tide of radicalization that is influencing young European Muslims. While Western policies toward Muslim countries may present part of the explanation, one has to look at the state of the Muslim world today and the struggle that is going on between various doctrinal schools within Islam and its spillovers. Dealing with radicalism and extremism is something that has to start right here in the heart of the Muslim world. That process will be long and arduous.

Meanwhile, the question for Europe is how will the current populist wave be contained? Last December, Austrian voters rejected the far-right presidential candidate in favor of a left-leaning moderate option. The message was heartening for those who believe that at the end of the day Europeans will choose wisely and will not allow far-right politics to rule. Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman.