We try to present and analyze all phenomena showing or related to Islamophobia. This relation is most of the time a rascist one as well, more precisely it is connected to the hatred against the Arab.
Antecedents: we have to go back to the incidents of 11th September, 2001 and the years following them and to what characterized them till in 2003 the war in/occupation of Iraq, then the Madrid and the 2005 London bombings.
All terrorist attack, including the one of 11th September, 2001 should be deeply condemned and this message should be sent to the thinking and humane World after each and every incident liked them!
We should not only fight the terrorist attacks but the ideology hidden behind them. We should act against the political and social ideology causing them. We should also solve the social problems and tensions or at least diminish them!
This is duty of policy-makers and societies, that of the so called rich countries and the media!
The local political and economical elite and the media have to do something against the existing and growing Islamophobia and the hatred against the Arabs in Hungary.
We think as well that the propaganda explaining the Hungarian military presence in Afghanistan is unsufficient. (Why Hungarian Islamic organizations are not present in Afghanistan? Why were not they invited to take part in the mission?)
Few years ago we have addressed a letter to the dignitaries of the republic expressing our protest against Islamophobic manifestations!
In this present essay one can judge the changes.
1. We deal with Islamophobia in the media and why it takes place.
2. We would like to name Hungarian politicians from among those who openly or in a covert way ignored Muslim rights or erected barriers to exercize those rights
3. We will name institutions and organizations from among those who openly or in a covert way ignored Muslim rights for worship or erected barriers to exercize those rights
Media
There are several actors of media claiming to be critical of Islam on our list
Misusing and referring to the freedom of speech these people try to picture Muslims as terrorists, and their holy book, the Qur'an as so called guide line for terrorists! The claim that mosques are training camps for terrorists was echoed several times!
At one occasion Muslims unable to integrate were threatened of deportation with the slogan "to the galley with them!"
What does that term "Muslim unable to integrate" actually mean? Since we are talking of iimmigrants, it is being attached to their ethnic identity! This should not confused with respecting the law and tradition of the country they live in!
Immigrants should keep their religion, traditions if it is not conflicting with the laws of their country of residence.
In the blog of Mr.Tóta W. one can read this abominable "To the galley with them!" comment.
Mr. László Seres is also generally considered to be critical of Islam with his web-based news engine Hírszerző (Intelligence), but he is basically Islamophobic.
The well known and fashionable, but in fact marginal, blog neme Napi Dzsihád (Daily Jihad) by Mr. Benjámin Zsélyi is openly Islamophobic, full of comments inciting hatred! This low quality product might prove to be popular because now it is the only openly Islamophobic site where Muslims or Arabs can be outraged without facing any difficulty.
Infortunately the once better running news site Index.hu figures on our list because they proposed several times a link to Napi Dzsihád.
Index.hu known as liberal and anti-discrimination draws the attention of their readers to a blog which openly identifies itself with far right extremist and neo-Nazi organizations campaining against the construction of mosques in and stopping immigration to Germany or the Benelux countries and commit hate crime etc.
Wording it carefully, the weekly HETEK (Weeks) edited by the neo-conservative and neo-Protestant Christian Hit Gyülekezete (Congregation of Faith) is contunuously publishing articles about crimes commited by Muslims or ones convicting Islam.
It is rather strang for us that a Christian denomination with allegedly Christian newspaper is looking for conflict instead of dialogue.
This should be their interior affair!
Local politicians including several mayors of various cities and districts of Budapest can considered close to Islamophobia.
It can be stated because we tried several times to get real estate property for them for religious purposes such as worship or religious education, funding kindergartens or schools. Either they refused us or offered us run down ones next to a bar which is rejected by any good-haerted individual.
It is visible that the project of an Islamic center which was proposed eight years ago is still not under the way, even though the Orbán-government (1998-2002) was already dealing with the issue, and Medgyessy-government (2002-2004) inherited it. We are still waiting for their reply.
We add that this project inculded a governmental control over the project.
Situation of Muslim refugees and those living in prisons
The number of Muslim refugees increased dramatically during the past year, they come especially from Somalia and tend to be more religious then those who came during the previous years from the Middle East. Among the organizations taking care of them one can found many Christian charities. They basically try to satisfy the religious needs of the inmates, but they know less about Islam and its prescriptions. Muslim refugees report that for an unknown reason some of them deny their Muslim faith hoping that their case would be evaluated quicker and the answer would be positive. Other refugees told us that they are discriminated against because they are Sunnis and they belong to the main stream Islam. According to them if a Pakistani claims to be a member of the Ahmadi (qadiani) sect or a Christian convert their status granted whereas Sunni political refugees face slow process. Both in refugee camps and prisons real Islamic feeding is a problem.
There is great difference between the various jailhouses. At one Muslims enjoy a separate space where they observe prayers in congregation. At the other the so called Arab food has nothing to do with Islamic rules and Muslims are forced to be vegetarians and are not allowed to meet each other. In one of the Budapest prisons Muslims applied for special treatment regarding congragational prayer and feeding during the holy fasting month of Ramadhaan. Even they were not answered till the end of it. It is alarming that Christian priests are responsibles for the spiritual needs of Muslims. Some of them do not let Muslims to get in contact with Muslim communities, retain Muslim books etc. One a guard distroyed a copy of the Holy Qur'an. He was later dismissed. Muslim prison mates are regularly transferred from one prison to the other in order to prevent them to be in contact and to stop the spreading of Islam.
Some Muslims are discriminated against in when finding a job. It is rare that someone is told that he is rejected or kicked out of their workplace because of being a Muslim, but Muslims need special effort to find a job, especially when it comes to veiled women.
Some Muslims are discriminated against by the national security agents. In 2001 and after all the alleged Muslim or Arab inhabitants of a Transdanubia county were question regardless to their religious practices.
The mosque of the Hungarian Islamic Community was vandalized, someone shot on it with a gun. The wall of another mosque was "decorated" by a slogan critical of Muslims. The Organization of European Women put burqas on some statues.
Rashwan Mohamed who wa born a Muslim but later on converted to Judaism and then to Christianity campaigned against Islam while being backed by the Congregation of Faith.
The police and the judiciary system do not consider the Muslim complaints against manifestations of Islamophobia.
