‘Representation of Muslim women in Europe falling behind’
Özdemir, the first and currently the only hijabi deputy elected to a local parliament in continental Europe, gave an interview to Daily Sabah where she talked about the challenges Muslim women in Europe face and the their inadequate representation.
The acceptance of Muslims, especially Muslim women, in politics or in the higher layers of the social sphere is still a problem in Europe and they, as the largest non-Christian minority population, are forced to deal with this, said Mahinur Özdemir, an independent lawmaker in Belgium
a result of the midterm elections in the United States last week, two Muslim politicians were elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in U.S. history. Along with Rep. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, the first Native American and Latina female representatives were also elected. Ilhan Omar, who came to the U.S. as a refugee from Somali when she was 12, became the first hijabi representative in the House of Representatives.
This was realized in 2018 in the U.S., which in its founding philosophy deems religious and ethnic diversity as cultural richness ,242 years after its conception .
 Meanwhile, to what extent does Europe accept members of different religions, socially and politically, considering that it is the cradle of democracy that inspired the U.S.?
Muslims are the largest non-Christian minority in most of the European countries. Between 4 and 10 percent of western European countries like Belgium, France, Germany and Netherlands are constituted by Muslims. Moreover, Muslims constitute at least 1 percent of the population in almost all Western European countries. Despite these numbers, Muslim minorities are severely underrepresented in Western European politics.
On the other hand, Muslims are expected to be secularized and to realize their religious practices only in their houses or mosques before being allowed to be represented socially and politically in Europe. Constituting 5 percent of continental Europe’s population, over 26 million Muslims face challenges realizing their religious duties even outside the political and public spheres. For instance, sacrificing during one of Muslim’s most prominent holidays, Eid al-Adha, has become a challenging practice in most European countries.
While there is increasing pressure to build mosques without minarets, some countries have decided that the religious personnel who are to work at these mosques should be elected by an Austrian or Belgian theologian.
Meanwhile, there is increasing violence toward Muslims that parallels the rate of Islamophobia in Europe. Women are the most frequent targets of this violence. A total 60 percent and 76 percent of Islamophobia victims in continental Europe in general and Belgium, respectively, are women.
Currently, there is only one hijabi deputy in all of continental Europe, and she is Mahinur Özdemir, a Belgian independent deputy of Turkish descent. Özdemir explains why Islamophobia in Europe targets women, “Because Muslim women are visible. A car might try to run you down. They’re resorting to physical assaults now; we’re way past discourses. They’re filled with grudge and hate.”
Today, there are no Muslim hijabi women that have been elected to a national parliament. While Europe lacks a hijabi deputy on a national level, Mahinur Özdemir is the first and currently the only hijabi deputy elected to a local parliament in continental Europe.
The first women deputy to enter a parliament in Europe with her hijab, Özdemir was born in Schaerbeek, Belgium in 1982. Also representing third generation Turks in the country, Özdemir received her bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and her master’s in public administration at the Université libre de Bruxelles. She has also learned French, Dutch and English. She started to pursue politics in 2009 and was elected to the Brussels’ parliament as a deputy of the Humanist Democratic Center (CDH). Özdemir was pressured to acknowledge the 1915 events as “genocide” but refused to bow down to this pressure in 2015. As a result, the convened CDH Ethics Committee expelled Özdemir from the party. Özdemir continues to act as an independent deputy in Brussels’ parliament.
Daily Sabah spoke with Özdemir on the representation of Muslims, especially women, in European politics and the challenges Muslims face in the public sphere.
HARDSHIPS OF BEING A MUSLIM WOMEN AND POLITICIAN
Talking about her personal experiences, Özdemir indicated that being a Muslim women and pursuing politics as a Muslim woman in Europe is challenging. She asserted that she has observed people trying to prevent her from becoming more visible. According to her, this kind of obstruction is observed more in conservative countries in the West rather than just in Anglo-Saxon countries. Özdemir provided an example from France, one of the most conservative countries in the West in her opinion. A hijabi girl named Mennel Ibtissem of north African and Syrian descent participated in ‘ The Voice’ in France. She had sung ‘Hallelujah.’ They found a tweet she published when she was 19. They crucified her in the public sphere and told her that ‘ The Voice’ was not the place to sing in Arabic. She was almost deemed a terrorist,” she said.
Özdemir also gave a similar example from the United Kingdom, talking about one of the faces of L’Oreal whose past tweets on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict caused her dismissal from the firm. Özdemir underscored that thorough searches of past activities and actions has become a normal procedure for Muslim women: “Their lives are pulled apart and demonstrated in front of the general public. Meanwhile, Theo Fracken, a minister in Belgium, was found to have active relations with far-right movements. His homophobic correspondence was also revealed. He has also made racist remarks about those of Moroccan descent. The leader of his party has photos together with Jean-Marie Le Pen. Yet, these people continue to govern the country. On the other hand, if you’re a Muslim, you don’t have the luxury to make any ‘mistakes.’ They crucify you without letting you speak.”
AN INCREASINGLY ISLAMOPHOBIC AND POPULIST EUROPE
Özdemir asserted that Europe is becoming increasingly populist and is seeking scapegoats for its own issues rather than resolving them.
She also stated that a perception of threat is created and mobbing is employed through populism.
“Normally, a hijabi woman is allowed to work in a work place in Belgium. However, despite religious freedoms, most work places don’t allow hijabi women to work. Sometimes, hijabi women’s right to education is taken away from them; certain universities don’t allow hijabi women to be educated in their facilities. Many don’t talk about this. If you go on trial about these issues, your chances of winning are pretty slim. The secular structure deadlocks the system. For this reason, many educated women face discrimination in employment.”
Özdemir added that attacks on mosques are not condemned politically. According to her, attacks are normalized, and racist groups are allowed to attack because of the lack of severe punishment.
On the other hand, Özdemir asserted that the supposedly unbiased state is biased against Muslims. In her opinion, 9/11, terrorist attacks in Europe and refugees from Syria have had a large impact on the rise of Islamophobia. “European leaders, who publish messages on important religious holidays of different religious groups, never say anything positive about Muslims,” she remarked.
Özdemir indicated that countries are now opposing immigration, immigrants and refugees. She claimed that new governments in Europe are founded on the ideas of antiimmigration, anti-Islam and security.
“Europe is having an identity crisis; as it’s unable to find a resolution to some of its problems, they see cohabitation as a threat. Currently, Muslims are targets, which is shown by attacks on mosques and Muslim individuals. There are certain groups that are trying to forge a new national identity. Recently, a right-wing conservative white supremacist group was formed in Belgium. All of its members are in their 20s. People were unaware of this formation. A journalist revealed its extent and their ties with Belgium’s most powerful party,” she said.

Özdemir added that the journalist was put under protection by the Belgian government because of his findings. Meanwhile, regarding this development, she indicated that politicians should prevent these kinds of discourses as the general public will not be able to do so. She also asserted that populist parties are gaining power in Europe and are targeting Muslims.
“This includes countries with very small Muslim populations. Even in such places, these parties are able to secure an increased number of votes by instilling fear in the public,” she continued. EUROPEAN POLITICS CREATING ISLAMOPHOBIA
Regarding the increasing Islamophobia in Europe, Özdemir stated that European politics created it and that it is used as a means to manage the public. She asserted that Islamophobia was also used to divert people’s attention from unresolved issues. “In an environment with increased diversity, Muslims were accused of isolating themselves. Meanwhile, governments didn’t provide equal rights and freedoms to all. Along with poverty and exclusion, Muslims were cut from social rights,” Özdemir commented.
On the other hand, Özdemir indicated that Europe is experiencing the most severe recession today since the 1930s and that Muslims are being used as a scapegoat. She added that the European public was being frightened with Islamization in which the media played a prominent part.
Özdemir stated that Merkel had expressed her opposition to a multicultural structure eight years ago and that central parties were eventually drawn into this discourse.
“This increased during Sarkozy’s term. Sarkozy built his discourse on opposing northern Africans and Turkey’s EU bid. Now he’s gone. Merkel is saying that she will go. They have gone but their discourses are still out there. The public has become accustomed to this perception in the last 5 years and it’s almost impossible to change or alter this perception. We’re forced to persuade these people that everybody can cohabitate, Muslims are part of Europe and have become citizens who have equal rights and freedoms,” she said.
In terms of a solution to these issues, Özdemir asserted that racism, populism and discriminatory discourses should be eliminated first by politicians. She said that Islamophobia is not included in most reports unlike racism or anti-Semitism. According to them, Islamophobia is actually freedom of speech; they don’t want to have a Christian backlash,” Özdemir added.
*For the full interview, please visit Dailysabah.com