European Islamophobia has moved from the far right into the political mainstream.

Evidence

Although Europe’s Islamophobia has historically been relegated to right-wing circles in the past, we are now seeing anti-Muslim sentiment continue to seep into the political mainstream, largely based on these ideas that ISIS-like attackers can speak for Muslims as a whole. Adam Shatz from the London Review of Books has written that center-right political circles now openly talk about a “Muslim fifth column” across Europe. To give you a sense of what this means in terms of the normalization of Islamophobia within mainstream European politics, a leading figure in former French prime minister Nicolas Sarkozy’s centrist political party once proposed interning four thousand suspected Islamists in “regroupment” (a.k.a. internment) camps with no controversy whatsoever. The fact that such a proposition was greeted without any outrage shows just how prevalent anti-Muslim sentiment has seeped into the European mainstream. — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 480

Categorization

• XREF: Mainstreaming of anti-Muslim politics parallels the US trajectory Beydoun describes, supporting the cross-national convergence argument. — connects to: A Protestant-derived aesthetic of understated realism now underwrites ‘rational’ anti-Islamic prejudice.; Islamophobia has moved from academic usage into mainstream national discourse. — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 502; The personal homecoming coincided with the national rise of formalized Islamophobia. — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 536 (+25 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 480

Related

• Islamophobia spans liberal and conservative mainstreams, not just the fringe right (similarity 0.87)
• Islamophobia has moved from academic usage into mainstream national discourse. (similarity 0.86)
• Islamophobia remains Europe’s one tolerated and even encouraged racist ideology (similarity 0.86)
• Right-wing politicians stoked a clash-of-civilizations narrative that globally increased Islamophobia. (similarity 0.85)
• Islamophobes are inside the establishment, not outside it (similarity 0.85)
• Islamophobia spans the political spectrum and is embedded in empire’s infrastructure (similarity 0.84)
• French mainstream parties mainstreamed fringe Islamophobic rhetoric about the hijab (similarity 0.84)
• Islamophobia is increasingly theorized as a form of racism rather than mere religious prejudice (similarity 0.84)
• Islamophobia and immigration anxiety drove the Brexit vote and European racist resurgence (similarity 0.84)
• Anti-Muslim parties now hold significant political weight across European parliaments (similarity 0.84)
• Islam has been framed by passion, prejudice, and political interests since the Middle Ages (similarity 0.83)
• Counter-jihad campaigns have spread across Western countries and infected mainstream politics. (similarity 0.83)
• Far-right leaders exploit media-built Islamophobic climate to gain power (similarity 0.83)
• Islamophobia predates organized networks and serves structural functions across the political spectrum (similarity 0.83)
• Centrist moves against Muslims can legitimize far-right parties rather than weaken them (similarity 0.83)

Broader Connections

• Islamophobic fringe politicians have become mainstream coalition power-brokers #corroborates (0.75) — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 519
• A country famed for religious tolerance now leads European Islamophobia #exemplifies (0.70) — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 517
• Islamophobia has become the dominant prejudice in Western societies #expands (0.60) — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 15
• Islamophobia is political rather than religious and must be fought politically #expands (0.60) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 576
• Explicit Islamophobia has become an effective electoral strategy #expands (0.60) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 508
• Elites mobilized Islamophobia to advance their political agendas across centuries #expands (0.50) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 98
• Anti-Muslim fear-mongering empowered by right-wing foundations fuels mainstream hatred. #complicates (0.50) — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 626
• Islamophobia remains Europe’s one tolerated and even encouraged racist ideology #expands (0.50) — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 486
• Islamophobia predates organized networks and serves structural functions across the political spectrum #complicates (0.50)
• Islamophobia has material and political causes beyond ignorance or xenophobia #expands (0.50) — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 706
• The good Muslim bad Muslim binary paved the way for political Islamophobia #expands (0.50) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 262