European Muslims face new challenges post Charlie Hebdo

In the aftermath of the attacks that left 17 dead in the offices of Charlie Hebdo, in a kosher grocery store and in the streets of Paris, relations between Muslim immigrants and European host countries have become increasingly strained. More than 40 Cornell students, faculty and guests came together to discuss the issue at an international roundtable on campus Feb. 12.

It was the first of two discussions organized by Cornell’s Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies about the aftermath of the attacks. Christopher Way, director of the Cornell Institute for European Studies, moderated the discussion.

Panelist Chiara Formichi, assistant professor of Asian studies and a native of Italy, said anti-Muslim sentiments have been reflected in Italy’s policy decisions post-Charlie Hebdo. A recent law in Lombardy requires religious groups to have formal agreements with the state before they can build new places of worship. “It is not immediately an anti-mosque law, but that’s how it translates in practice” Formichi said.

Formichi condemned this perceived connection between the terrorists who committed the atrocities in Paris and the broader Muslim community. “It was not the Muslim community that attacked Charlie Hebdo,” Formichi said. “It was two, three, four people.”

Amara Lakhous, an Algeria-born Muslim with a doctorate in anthropology and author of this year’s Cornell New Student Reading Project book, “Clash of Civilizations over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio,” cited a study in which two job applications were submitted to French employers. The applications differed only in that one applicant’s name was Jean Pierre, while the other’s was Mohammed Hassan. The French applicant was more likely to be hired than the Muslim with identical credentials. “[Muslims] don’t have the same opportunities,” Lakhous said.

Camille Robcis, associate professor of history, studies the role of intellectuals in French politics. “Race and ethnicity are not recognized in French politics,” she said. “But it is very difficult to propose concrete measures to fight against structural racism when it is illegal to collect racial statistics, when race is immediately called an ‘American import,’ when it is said to simply not exist in France.”

Robcis discussed how the French media highlighted international Islamic networks in the hunt for the Charlie Hebdo terrorists. “They failed to mention that the [men responsible] were born in France, grew up in France, and were 100 percent French. It’s always easier to blame the outside than the inside,” said Robcis.

Lakhous called for reform of Islam, citing how the religion has been used to justify violence. “We can’t reform Islam in [Muslim] countries because… we can’t reform Islam without freedom.” In Europe, however, Muslim immigrants have the opportunity to redefine Islam, he said: “Unfortunately, we are losing this challenge.”

Lakhous attributed this lost opportunity in part to Muslim immigrants’ failed attempts to import “old Islam” from their countries of origin. However, he also cited structural racism as a barrier to integration. To justify racism, Europeans “construct this idea of incompatibility between Islam and the West,” he said.

“The discussion around Charlie Hebdo reveals a profound blindness to race, not as a cultural or biological reality, but as an analytical tool that we can use to understand relations of power,” Robcis said.

Formichi demanded attention to multicultural issues on a global scale. “Clearly we must start thinking about…. what is real multiculturalism? What policies can we have? This is not a problem just for France, it’s not a problem just for Italy, or for UK, or for North America. It’s a worldwide problem.”

Credit to Josephine Engreitz