How the Muslim Communities of Europe Reacted to the 'Charlie Hebdo' Massacre

This article originally appeared on VICE UK

As the events surrounding the Charlie Hebdo massacre unfolded last week, social media exploded with people calling for Muslims to dissociate themselves from the attack. Naturally, a debate ensued discussing whether or not it was necessary for an entire religion to collectively distance itself from the acts of a few lone extremists.

We asked our European offices to reach out to local Muslim community leaders and get their opinions on last week's events.

FRANCE

In the wake of Wednesday's tragic events, hundreds of caricaturists from all around the world paid tribute to those who had fallen during the attacks by posting drawings on social networks. Unfortunately, Brazilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff rightfully predicted that the whole French Muslim community would be one of the collateral victims of this attack, after stating that the "gunmen made a great contribution to the Islamophobia in France and around Europe."

Right after the events, Europe has indeed seen a wave of hateful comments asking for Muslims to "apologize for extremists." On Wednesday night, during a radio show on the French station RTL, a writer from Le Figaro (France's biggest right-wing newspaper) named Ivan Rioufol asked all Muslims to "dissociate themselves from the attack and [from this] terrorist craziness," to which Muslim journalist Rokhaya Diallo responded: "When I hear people saying that Muslims should dissociate themselves from a barbaric act, yes, I feel like a target. I feel like all of my family and Muslim friends are put in the dock. […] Do you really think that I feel united with these terrorists? Should I be the only one [of the journalists attending the show] that should be forced to say I don't have anything to do with this?"

In 2006, several French Muslim associations, including the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), requested the seizure of the Charlie Hebdo issue featuring the controversial Muhammad cartoons first published by Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. Despite their call for conviction of Charlie Hebdo, the Paris court dismissed the case. After Wednesday's attack, current president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith Dalil Boubakeur expressed his solidarity with the victims. "The Muslim community is dumbfounded by what happened on Wednesday," he said. "An entire section of our democracy was just attacked. This is a sensational declaration of war. Times have changed, we are entering a new period of confrontation."

All over the country, local imams have expressed their sadness and anger. Hassen Chalgoumi, an imam from Drancy (a Parisian suburb), told BFM "their hatred has nothing to do with Islam. […] They lost their soul, sold it to the devil. Families are crying, French people are crying. We must be strong and united."

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SPAIN

The two most important Islamic centers of Spain, Madrid, and Barcelona, have quickly sided with the victims of the attack.

"The Center's management, the imam, the employees, and the people who come here to pray, strongly condemn this criminal act in all of its aspects. These criminal acts are rejected by Islam, all religions, all human values, and all ethics," said the imam of the Islamic Cultural Center of Madrid.

In Barcelona, we got in touch with Salim Benamara, imam of the Catalan Islamic Cultural Center. We asked him if they had felt any hostility after the attack or had received any criticism from the local community. He told us: "Of course not. We are members of this community and are fully integrated in Catalonia. We regret the attacks in France and pray for the victims. In fact, two of them were Muslim. We haven't felt any rejection and we think that's logical; we have nothing to do with those people. If a Buddhist kills someone, do they blame the rest of the world's Buddhists? Do the Jews living here have any liability for the crimes of the State of Israel? I don't think so. This case is the same."

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GERMANY

German imams and the Central Council of Muslims in Germany have all condemned the attacks. Imam Benjamin Idriz told the Newspaper TZ: "We, as a Muslim community, distance ourselves from these terrorists. They are both lunatics and criminals."

When asked whether this attitude renders him a target for fundamentalists, he says he hasn't received any threats so far, though Muslims should be afraid of "lunatics" like these. He added that the fact that most victims in Iraq and Syria were Muslims clearly shows, "terror knows no religion."

Idriz does fear that Muslims might be under general suspicion now and that the far-right and Islamophobes will misuse the attacks to promote their hate against Muslims. He says: "We will need to protect our buildings better now," but also thinks it's up to the Muslim community to open up more and interact with their surrounding communities. "Imams and parish councils alike need to formulate concepts for preventing extremist tendencies within their communities."

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SERBIA

Serbia's Muslim community comprises only 3.1 percent of the country's 7.6 million population. Since the 90s, and the end of the war in the former Yugoslavia, there have luckily been no inter-ethnic or religiously motivated acts of violence.

Head of the Islamic Community of Serbia, Muhamed Jusufspahic, yesterday released an official press statement in response to the Charlie Hedbo incident:

''Cause is worse than consequence. And cause is the reason for consequence. The cartoons of Muhammad were drawn neither by friends of Muslims, nor by supporters of free speech. However, the journalists of Charlie Hebdo were neither killed by the friends of Muslims, nor the supporters of freedom of expression."

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ROMANIA

Of approximately 20 million people living in Romania, roughly 65,000 of those are Muslim, making them one of the smallest minorities in the country. For hundreds of years there's been relative peace, with Muslims living unhindered, side by side with Christians. However, after the attacks in Paris, many Muslims fear that the way they are viewed may change for the worse.

"Our Muslim daughters have started becoming afraid to walk the streets," we were told by Demirel Gemaledin, the President of the Islamic Centre in Bucharest." Two sisters told me personally that, 'We're afraid that somebody will attack us for what those so-called Muslims have done.' It's easier to recognize girls as Muslim than men, because of the scarf and the clothing they wear."

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AUSTRIA

There's more than half a million Muslims here in Austria. The country has never been the target of any terror attack or other such incident of crime relating to religious extremism. Nevertheless, there are politicians like HC Strache, of the right-wing party FPÖ, who portray all Muslims as criminals and terrorists. Since the assault on the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris, these people have been using the tragic event to fuel the population's fears.

The Islamic Faith Community In Austria released a statement distancing themselves from the events in Paris: "With revulsion and horror, the Islamic Faith Community condemns the devastating terror attack on the office of the French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo. Our sympathy goes out to the relatives of the 12 people killed and the ten people badly wounded."

Furthermore, they added that "freedom of speech is a basic principle of democracy and neither religious views nor the expression of a controversial opinion can justify violence."

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SWEDEN

"This is horrible. It's awful, and difficult to describe with words. Why would anyone do such a thing? It's an assault on people, on democracy, and on society," Imam Ibrahim Hamad of the Islamic Association in Dalarna told local newspaper Dalarnas Tidningar.

In an official statement released on Wednesday, the Islamic Association of Sweden agreed with French President François Hollande, expressing how important it is to "unite and stand against all kinds of fanaticism and terrorism." They also warned that they "encourage Muslims in Sweden to be careful" due to there being "an increasing risk of anti-Muslim hate crime."

Sweden has experienced three arson attacks upon mosques over the last few weeks. The latest happened in Uppsala, when a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a mosque on New Year's Day.

"In Sweden, we've had an issue with increasing hate crime toward Muslim communities throughout 2014. This has definitely not decreased since the terror attack in Paris. We see serious threats throughout social media, all directed toward Muslims and Muslim communities. Central leaders of extreme political parties are generalizing Muslims, which may convince people to consider their accusations as accurate and direct their hatred and violence at the Muslim community as a whole," Omar Mustafa, Chairman at the Islamic Association of Sweden, told VICE.

"We need to gather our strengths and abilities from all directions—all religions and all political parties—and unite against the hatred."

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POLAND

"Like everyone, I condemn all acts of violence and aggression," Youssef Chadid, imam and Head of the Muslim Cultural and Educational Center in Poznan, told VICE.

"All problems can be resolved peacefully, but for that to work, you need goodwill on both sides. Using violence is an easy way to show your strength. All true Muslims around the world condemn the attack on Charlie Hebdo."

When asked whether or not he, as a Muslim, felt threatened after the Paris attacks, he replied: "Personally, as a Muslim, I feel threatened due to the fact that society sees all Muslims as evil and generalizes us."

His opinions on the shootings were echoed by Nidal Abu Tabaq, Mufti of the Muslim League of Poland: "I feel disgusted by this act. It was murder carried out with premeditation and cruelty. Such people can safely be called terrorists. These people acted in no way in accordance with the principles of Islam. They acted contrary to the principles of Islam. The thoughts of such people are completely foreign to Islam."

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DENMARK

Islam is the second-largest religion in Denmark, with Muslims making up 4.6 percent of the population. With elections coming up soon, the attacks on Charlie Hebdo have fueled political debate here at home. Fatih Alev, president of the Danish Islamic Center, fears that some politicians will use this week's incidents to distort the truth into political propaganda.

"The political debate can become fringed, with the consequence being that many citizens will become increasingly polarized," he told VICE. "This clash of Islamic values on one hand and good democratic Danish traditions on the other will blur the lines. I've openly criticized Lars Løkke Rasmussen (former Prime Minister of Denmark) because he wanted Danish Muslims to publicly dissociate themselves from the events in Paris. I strongly believe that you shouldn't blame some citizens of a certain religion, just because some fools yell 'Allahu Akbar!' before massacring innocent people."

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UK

Britain is no stranger to attacks by fringe extremists being used to whip up ethnic tension, so Muslim leaders here were unsurprisingly quick to publicly condemn the shooting of 12 staff at the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris on Wednesday. Dr. Shuja Shafi, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said, "Nothing is more immoral, offensive, and insulting against our beloved Prophet than such a callous act of murder. Our thoughts, prayers, and solidarity go to the families of the victims and the people of France."

Another group of 15 UK imams released a statement saying, "cold-blooded murder such as this is the antithesis of Islam and its tenets."

Unfortunately, controversial London imam Anjem Choudary, who is notorious for saying the most extreme thing he can get away with, wrote a letter published on USA Today entitled "People Know the Consequences," which suggested he sees the shootings as understandable, if not justified.

Choudary's letter resulted in a run in with conservative American television host Sean Hannity on Fox News on Wednesday night. Hannity accused Choudary of supporting the attack, which Choudary denied. Despite this, Hannity concluded, "I still think you're an evil SOB," to which Choudary retorted, "I think you need to look in the mirror, Sean." It made good—if slightly sickening—entertainment, but begged the question of why either of them are allowed air time to comment at all.

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BENELUX

There is just as much diversity among Muslims in the Netherlands as there are opinions on how Muslims should react to events like the Charlie Hebdo attack. While some feel that Muslim organizations and mosques should publicly denounce the attacks, a vocal group of young Muslims, tired of having to distance themselves from terrorists they have nothing to do with, have stood up.

Imam Yassin Elforkani says that criticizing terrorist acts is the duty of any Muslim.

"Muslims are just as responsible for a solution to the problem as everyone else. Everyone is denouncing these attacks, and therefore we are too. It is the duty of a Muslim to denounce any form of violence."

The Mayor of Antwerp invited an imam, a bishop, and a rabbi to make a joint statement against fear and violence. "We condemn any violence, especially in the name of ideology or religion," Imam Saïd Aberkan said. The Mayor of Rotterdam, Achmed Aboutaleb, was firm in his tone against Muslims who don't agree with the values of Western society: "All people, including so many Muslims, want to build a free and open society here. And if you don't agree with that, then I say: get lost."

Yassin Elforkani is the spokesperson for CMO (Contact Body for Muslims and Government), a Muslim lobbying group whose opinion is often sought by the media and the government in public debates. But not all Muslims feel represented by CMO. "Muslims who sympathize with the terrorists have threatened me and called me a traitor and a deserter."

But Elforkani is undeterred by the threats. "We have to be firm against people who want to curb our freedom by violence. We can't let fear guide us."

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GREECE

In Greece, these tragic events have stunned the entire society. But for Muslims living in Greece, the attack has to be seen within the context of wider anti-immigrant sentiment, which has been extremely prevalent since the beginning of the country's financial recession.

"The attack against Charlie Hebdo is abominable. There is no justification for terrorism. Being a member of civil society, we must maintain resolve and stick to our values," declared Ahmed Moavia, founder of the Greek Forum of Migrants, "one being our freedom of speech and opinion, just as we must stand up against evil and violence that would deny such freedom of speech."

The Muslim community in Greece is shocked, angered, saddened, and devastated by Wednesday's events, Achemt Moavia told VICE: "The attack may well be exploited to justify anti-immigrant sentiment, and this indeed has already begun. But we have not received threats or hateful comments as a result of the attack, as of yet. The reason is, Europe, in some ways, is still a long way away," suggested Moavia. "We must remember that Greece does not have a large Muslim community—there are no third- or fourth-generation Muslims living here. Our problems stem from our history."

Attacks on Muslim prayer houses and impromptu mosques are commonplace in Greece, claimed Naim Elghandour, President of the Muslim Association of Greece. "There have been many attacks by extremist groups in Greece, against both Muslims and immigrants. Recently, a group of far-right extremists attempted to burn down a prayer space in northern Athens."

"We don't expect that we will be affected directly as a result of the attack in Paris," Moavia maintained. "Anti-immigrant violence has been on the rise since support for the radical right grew at the beginning of the recession—but it isn't explicitly anti-Muslim violence."

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ITALY

According to the most recent IPSOS Mori survey, Muslims make up about 4 percent of the Italian population. Since the outbreak of the shootings, Muslims in Italy have harshly condemned them. In Perugia, a city in central Italy, the imam declared that the perpetrators "do not represent Islam nor the teachings of the Qu'ran," and that the attack damages the whole Muslim community.

The major Islamic associations in Italy condemned the massacre, too. A group called CAIM, operating in northern Italy, issued a statement saying that the gunmen's horrible deeds are to be considered "blasphemy" and that Italian Muslims will stay "united and strong in defense of legality, security, and peaceful coexistence of different cultures and religions."

The most prominent Islamic association in Italy, UCOII (League of the Islamic Communities in Italy), issued a press release declaring their "anger" against "this bloody crime," and expressing their hope that European Muslims will not be subjected to "another unfair criminalization."

At the time of writing there have been no attacks to mosques or Islamic centers in Italy as a result of the Charlie Hebdo massacre. Still, some right-wing parties are taking advantage of the Paris bloodshed to callfor a suspension in the construction of Milan's mosque, saying, "We won't let people in Milan be endangered this way."