Islamophobia and immigration anxiety drove the Brexit vote and European racist resurgence

Evidence

On a macro level, this fear is disconcerting because of how easily it can be weaponized for political gain. In the 2016 presidential election in the United States, we saw a veritable “race to the bottom” when it came to positioning Muslims as a dangerous enemy of the state. Candidates seemed in a hurry to outdo one another when it came to who could vilify Muslims the most. These political candidates often spoke of Islam as though it were indistinguishable from terror groups like ISIS. — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 33 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

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 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Islamophobia gained massive discursive resonance in Europe within about a decade — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 541; Brexit intensified Islamophobic abuse against non-Muslim South Asians. — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia: Still a Challenge for Us…, 542; Post-2000 European Islamophobia emerged from terror, media, and the war on terror — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 568 (+8 more)

Related

• Immigration politics and Islamophobia drove the Brexit outcome in 2016. (similarity 0.85)
• European Islamophobia has moved from the far right into the political mainstream. (similarity 0.84)
• Islamophobia gained massive discursive resonance in Europe within about a decade (similarity 0.83)
• Post-2000 European Islamophobia emerged from terror, media, and the war on terror (similarity 0.83)
• Anti-Muslim fear is being weaponized electorally in Europe and India simultaneously (similarity 0.80)
• Yearly Islamophobia mentions in the British press nearly doubled after 2010 (similarity 0.80)
• The 2016 race weaponized nonspecific Muslim fear for electoral gain (similarity 0.80)
• Islamophobia remains Europe’s one tolerated and even encouraged racist ideology (similarity 0.79)
• Brexit intensified Islamophobic abuse against non-Muslim South Asians. (similarity 0.79)
• Resurgent Islam within European societies fuels the same fear in France as in Britain (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• The 2016 race weaponized nonspecific Muslim fear for electoral gain #exemplifies (0.90) — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 33
• Similarly, analyzing ‘demography jihad’ can lend a greater understanding to current events including Brexit, the election of President Trump, and ‘Muslim Ban 2.0.’ The concept of baby jihad plays… #expands (0.90)
• Brexit intensified Islamophobic abuse against non-Muslim South Asians. #exemplifies (0.85) — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 542
• European Islamophobia has moved from the far right into the political mainstream. #expands (0.85) — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 480
• Islamophobia gained massive discursive resonance in Europe within about a decade #expands (0.80) — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 541
• Post-2000 European Islamophobia emerged from terror, media, and the war on terror #expands (0.80) — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 568
• Islamophobia has become the dominant prejudice in Western societies #expands (0.80) — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 15
• Islamophobia has material and political causes beyond ignorance or xenophobia #expands (0.80) — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 706