The ECSSR has organized a lecture entitled "Europe's Muslims Between Marginalization and Integration"

The ECSSR has organized a lecture yesterday 27th of Jan 2010 entitled, «Europe's Muslims Between Marginalization and Integration», which was delivered by Dr Hasni Abidi who is currently the Director of the Study and Research Center for the Arab and Mediterranean World (CERMAM) in Geneva—the only scientific center in Switzerland that focuses on the affairs of the Arab world, both internally and externally, and examines the effects of the presence of Islam in Europe.

The lecture focused on the identity of Muslims in Europe and the debate which goes on about their limited rights in the European countries Muslims who have immigrated  to Europe long time ago and hold European passports are not treated equally with the other citizens. Dr. Abidi added that these Muslims hold a mixed  feelings of despair and depression toward the countries which they are living in.

Dr. Abidi brought examples of such countries, like France which has witnessed period of fierce debate over the question of the concept of national identity. However, what is interesting is how the course of the general debate dangerously transformed into a platform to warn against the negative impact of Arabs and Islam on European society and on what is called the “Christian-Jewish heritage of Europe.”

He added that some political parties and a large number of intellectuals have warned against the political use of the subject of identity, especially since the issue of Arab and Muslim immigration can be exploited politically. Indeed, former Prime Minister Alain Juppé, strongly warned against the danger of the growing hostility to Islam and Muslims on the future of France, and has called for the problems of third generation Arab and Muslim immigrants to be addressed in terms of employment, equality of opportunities and political participation to ensure positive integration.

Dr. Hasni Abidi also mentioned Switzerland as another example, where the majority of Swiss voters supported a ban on the construction of minarets has increased the resolve of supporters of the debate over identity; so much so that the debate has moved to many other European countries where several political parties have launched initiatives that aim to limit some of the rights of Muslims, thereby marginalizing further the Muslim presence and weakening their integration process and perhaps leading to introversion. At the end of his lecture Dr. Abidi raised the following questions:

-    What makes a deeply-rooted country such as France, which was a model in terms of accepting immigrants on the principle of citizenship alone, transform into a country that has doubts about its doctrine and identity?
-    Has Europe failed in its capacity to integrate immigrants, or rather to accept its own citizens of Arab and Islamic origin?
-    Will the move to limit religious freedoms appear in all European countries, and will it encourage radicalism and fanaticism in the Muslim diaspora?
-    Why does Europe hesitate to adopt the principle of multiple and peaceful identities as a way out of what is essentially a religious and political crisis?
-    Do we stand before a new challenge for Europeans of Arab and Islamic origins whereby they become responsible for convincing their compatriots that their Arab names are not a yardstick to measure the extent of their integration, especially that they were born in Europe, have studied there and contribute to its construction?

It is worth mentioning that Dr. Hasni Abidi have received his Ph.D in political science from the University of Geneva, a higher studies diploma from the European Institute, and a higher studies certificate from the Institute of International Studies, Geneva. He has been a Visiting Professor at the Sorbonne, University of Paris, since 2006; Assistant Professor at the European Institute of the University of Geneva (UNIGE) for five years; and a Scientific Adviser to several regional and international bodies. His other positions have included: Adviser in charge of the Arabian Gulf and Iraq at the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva; and Lecturer at the Institute for Security Studies in Geneva, and at the Federal Court for refugees in Bern, Switzerland.