Like others who track Europe-wide racism, in the early days of the Israel-Hamas war I started asking why the EU was not doing more to coordinate urgent action to stem hate crimes and hate speech against European Muslims and Jews. The response has been slow, selective and fragmented. Last month, the European Commission very rightly called out the “extraordinary levels” of antisemitic incidents across Europe.
Experience shows that since 9/11, Islamophobia has surged after every Islamist-inspired terror attack in Europe or elsewhere. After the latest horrific incident in Paris, EU leaders have a duty to try to unite European citizens, not exacerbate existing divisions.
