Brussels blog

Is it Islamophobia, ignorance, a crisis of European identity, a problem of a poorly integrated minority community, or something of all of these? 

According to an opinion poll published in today’s Le Soir , one of Belgium’s leading newspapers, some 59.3 per cent of Belgians support a ban on the construction of new minarets in their country.  This is about 2 per cent more than the proportion of Swiss who voted in a referendum last month to halt the building of new minarets.

The Belgian survey cannot lay claim to pinpoint accuracy.  It was conducted by iVOX, an online pollster, which estimates the margin of error at 3.1 per cent.  Nevertheless, the outcome doesn’t come as a surprise.  Like Switzerland, Belgium has a small but steadily growing Muslim population – and not many minarets.

To be precise, there are 328 mosques in Belgium but only 16 minarets.  Let me assure you, the skylines of Brussels, Ghent and Namur do not look anything like the skylines of Mecca or Istanbul.  I would wager that most of the Belgians who spoke out in the opinion poll against new minarets have never seen a minaret in their neighbourhood.  

Interestingly, a similar survey conducted in France just after the Swiss referendum pointed to a somewhat lower level of hostility to Islam.  The poll in Le Figaro said 41 per cent of those questioned were opposed to new minarets in France.  A separate poll suggested that a majority of French people did not think a referendum on banning new minarets was a good idea.

So common sense has not entirely deserted the people of Europe.  But as we see with the increasing difficulties facing Turkey’s European Union membership negotiations, questions of culture, identity and Christianity in opposition to Islam are starting to fill the vacuum in European politics created by the collapse of secular ideologies and allegiances such as socialism and anti-communism.

Are there any politicians in Europe courageous enough to point out what a dangerous course this risks becoming?