Anti-Muslim sentiments growing across West, Europe: Activist

Press TV has conducted an interview with Jahangir Mohammad, director of the Center for Muslims’ Affairs from Manchester, to discuss a recent shooting in the US County of San Bernardino, California, which left at least 14 people dead.

What follows is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: CAIR (Council on American–Islamic Relations) came out promptly with a statement, but I am curious…Would a Christian organization have come out had the shooter not been a Muslim? Would there be that expectation for his denomination or his faith representatives to come out and condemn the attack?

Mohammad: Well, no they would not. You know in the United States most acts of violence [and] terrorism are committed overwhelmingly by non-Muslims, white Christians, extremists and sometimes members of militias. So there is not that expectation and also I think, basically, [they] themselves come out and even when we do not know the motives. You know it appears that these two individuals had attended a work event where some incidents happened and they got upset from what we know. So it does not look like there is any political motive here and you know when somebody does not know the reasons, they maybe, you know, people who got angry, deranged. It is quite silly for Muslim organizations to come out and you know to condemn this and also for media and the rest of society to expect Muslims to do so.

Press TV: Does not this indicate the atmosphere of fear that has been created for Muslims who are living in the West?

Mohammad: Obviously it does. You know there is a rising tide of Islamophobia. Muslims are being attacked these days in the UK, [and] in Europe people with Hijab are being attacked. You know the physical attack so is one thing, but that of if you like as …oppression that is taking place as well as a legal oppression [inaudible] where Muslims are being prosecuted for their ideas, their values, their views and there seems to be an almost expectation that you know anything that happens, you have to condemn it [inaudible] as changed the western world and it sees Muslims thought the lens of terrorism and security and it sees Islam through the lens of violence and it does not look at Christianity [this way]. For example, we have reports of the Pope’s visit to Central African Republic and they did not even mention the terrible crimes that Christians are committing. This was not even on the news when mosques have been destroyed; people have been chopped into bits. They have done you know many types of crimes.

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