Across Europe, the ‘war on terror’ is having a major impact on race relations policies. New legislation, policing and counter-terrorist measures are casting Muslims, whether settled or immigrant, as the ‘enemy within’. In the process, the parameters of xeno-racism, which targets impoverished asylum seekers, have been extended to Muslim communities. Islam is seen as a threat to Europe, which is responding not only with draconian attacks on civil rights but also with moves to roll back multiculturalism and promote monocultural homogeneity through assimilation. Hence ‘integration’ measures - like France’s banning of the hijab - become an adjunct to anti-terrorist law. This is not just ‘Islamophobia’ but structured anti-Muslim racism.
1 From the prime minister’s speech, delivered on 5 March 2004 in his Sedgefield constituency, justifying the military action in Iraq and warning of the continued threat of global terrorism, Guardian (5 March 2004).
2.
2 A. Sivanandan , ‘Poverty is the new Black’, in The Three Faces of British Racism, special issue ofRace & Class (Vol. 43, no. 2, October-December 2001).
3.
3 See Liz Fekete , Racism: the hidden cost of September 11 ( London, IRR , 2002).
4.
4 See Liz Fekete , ‘Anti-terrorism and human rights’, European Race Bulletin (No. 47, 2004).
5.
5 In the spring of 2004, two detainees were released on the orders of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC). A Libyan, named only as M, was released on 18 March 2004 after the appeal court confirmed an earlier SIAC ruling that he had been detained on evidence that was ‘wholly unreliable and should not have been use to justify detention’ (Guardian (18 March 2004)). And in April 2004, an Algerian detainee, named only as G, was released into house arrest. Justice Collins ruled that G, a polio victim who cannot walk unaided, had been made mentally ill by detention and might harm himself.
6.
6 Janne Flyghed , ‘Normalising the exceptional: the case of political violence’ , Policing and Society (Vol. 13, no. 1, 2002).
7.
7 John Upton , ‘An authoritarian state is in the process of construction’ , Guardian (23 February 2004).
8.
8 Gareth Peirce , ‘Internment: the truth behind the ‘‘war on terror’’’ , public lecture organised by Liberty (15 December 2003).
9.
9 Fouzi Slisli , ‘The western media and the Algerian crisis’ , Race & Class (Vol. 41, no. 3, 2000).
10.
10 John Upton , ‘In the streets of Londonistan’ , London Review of Books (Vol. 26, no. 2, 22 January 2004).
11.
11 Copenhagen Post (25 September 2003); and Aftenposten (30 January 2004).
12.
12 Junge Welt (6 April 2002); Frankfurter Rundschau (12 April 2002).
13.
13 Campaign against Criminalising Communities, ‘Terrorising minority communities: ‘‘anti-terrorism’’ powers: their use and abuse’, submission to the Privy Council Review of the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001 (August 2003).
14.
14 Martin Bright, ‘Evidence to the Special Immigration Appeals (SIAC) hearing’, 21 July 2002. Bright’s definition of the Islamic movement is helpful. He defines Islamists as ‘individuals who believe their political action should be guided by the Muslim faith’. ‘Islamism is an extremely diverse movement in which I would include militant extremists such as Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda organisation as well as groups and individuals who wish for peaceful, democratic reform and would condemn terrorism in all its forms. There are Islamist opposition groups in all parts of the Arab and Muslim world, many of which are persecuted by the ruling government.’
15.
15 CAMPACC, op. cit.
16.
16 Guardian (26 February 2004).
17.
17 Slisli, op. cit.
18.
18 See in particular Giles Tremlett , ‘Immigrants sue Spanish PM for claiming terror group link’ , Guardian (13 September 2003); also La Vanguardia (26 January 2003).
21 See, e.g., Freedom: a Sinn Fein educational publication, http://sinnfein.org/documents/freedom.html.
22.
22 European Race Bulletin (Nos 33/4, 2000).
23.
23 Guardian (13 September 2003).
24.
24 Alouni is considered the most successful television journalist of the Afghan war and the only one who had a live link from Taliban Kabul. In 2004, al Jazeera received the Index on Censorship ‘Free expression award for best circumvention of censorship’.
25.
25 Guardian (15 September 2003).
26.
26 (Irish) Telegraph (8 November 2001).
27.
27 Ibid.
28.
28 Cited in ‘Prejudice and contempt: terror trial by media’, CARF (No. 69, winter 2002/3).
29.
29 Guardian (8 and 13 February 2003).
30.
30 See ‘Prejudice and contempt’, op. cit.
31.
31 Ibid.
32.
32 Ibid.
33.
33 Irish Independent (18 January 2003).
34.
34 Guardian (12 January 2004).
35.
35 Tremlett, op. cit.
36.
36 Ibid. Following the Madrid bomb attack of 11 March, four of the sixteen North Africans, including Smail Boudjelthia, have been placed under administrative detention. It is alleged that they manipulated their mobile phones in a way similar to the Bali and Madrid bombers. An initial accusation that they provided logistical support to a French Algerian cell that planned to bomb the Strasbourg Christmas market has also been resurrected.
37.
37 The director of public prosecutions had criticised the plans and six state-vetted defence counsels, who represent the accused at secret hearings, wrote an open letter refusing to take part in any such trials (Guardian (7 February 2004)).
38.
38 The Times (19 February 2004).
39.
39 Quoted in the Economist (25 October 2003).
40.
40 Agence France Presse (15 December 2003).
41.
41 See Arun Kundnani , ‘The death of multiculturalism’ , Race & Class (Vol. 43, no. 4, 2002).
42.
42 Le Monde (16 September 2003).
43.
43 European Race Bulletin (No. 41, 2002).
44.
44 Ibid.
45.
45 BBC News Online (21 January 2004).
46.
46 See Paul Silverstein, ‘Headscarves and the French tricolour’, Middle East Report Online (30 January 2004) for an excellent critique of the law.
47.
47 Emmanuel Terray , ‘Headscarf hysteria’ , New Left Review (March/April 2004).
48.
48 Silverstein, op. cit.
49.
49 Terray, op. cit.
50.
50 See the Migration Policy Institute’s analysis of the French integration contract at www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.ctm?ID=65.
51.
51 Quoted in Swissinfo (19 January 2004).
52.
52 Quoted in Migration News Sheet (February 2004).
53.
53 Comments made on 1 October 2002, at the inauguration of a training school for Islamic preachers and imams (Islam Online (3 December 2002)).
54.
54 See Muslim News (24 August 2003).
55.
55 Quoted in Italy Weekly (13 June 2003).
56.
56 Guardian (25 March 2004).
57.
57 Copenhagen Post (20 February 2004).
58.
58 Washington Post (16 April 2003); Agence France Presse (15 April 2003); Italy Weekly (13 June 2003).
59.
59 European Race Bulletin (No. 48, 2004).
60.
60 Expatica News (24 October 2003).
61.
61 European Race Bulletin (Nos. 45/6, 2004).
62.
62 A. Sivanandan , ‘The patriot game’, a working paper for the Institute of Race Relations (2004).
63.
63 Human Rights Watch press release ((27 February 2004).
