Human Rights Watch’s Almaz Teffera, who researches racism in Europe from Berlin, talked about the failure of European governments to effectively address all forms of racism.
Historically, escalations in Israel-Palestine have led to spikes in anti-Muslim hate speech and acts.
She stated: “There has been a lot of talk about the rise in anti-Muslim hatred. But in fact, such hate started long before October 7.
We have seen stark increases in attacks against Muslims, yet European governments have failed to adopt adequate policy responses.”
She added: “Although we have now seen international attention and condemnation around the latest rise of this hate, what doesn’t make headlines are the decades of lived experiences of communities facing racism and intolerance, particularly anti-Muslim hate, every day.”
She emphasized: “In times of crisis, including during escalations in Israel-Palestine, some prejudiced people blame Muslims and other minorities for the world’s problems and power imbalances.
They blame minorities for the existence of COVID 19 and for government action against the pandemic.”
She also noted that over the past two months, we’ve seen the banning of pro-Palestinian protests in European countries and this violates the right to free assembly and expression.
“In many European countries”, she added: “there have been disproportionate and unnecessary restrictions imposed on pro-Palestinian protests.”