Muslims fear more discrimination after Spain attacks

By: Sultan Ahmed

CAIRO, Egypt: Though act of an individual or a group could not be termed the act of the whole religion or faith, Arabs fear the Madrid train bombings that killed 200 people will lead to discrimination against Muslims living in Europe.

They also fear that the attacks could push European governments closer to the confrontational Mideast policies of US President George W Bush.

London-based Asharq al-Awsat daily wrote Sunday: “The consequences for Arabs and Muslims will be as bad as what happened to them in the United States (after Sept. 11, 2001).”

The Spanish authorities are taking seriously a claim that al-Qaeda was responsible for Thursday's bloodshed. Spain's government, fighting for re-election Sunday, had blamed local Basque separatists for the blasts but the purported Qaeda spokesman said the strike was intended to punish Spain for backing the US invasion of Iraq.

“It's the worst scenario. It was horrible enough but now this… I think it will have a bad effect for Arabs and Muslims in Europe,” said an official in the UAE speaking on condition of anonymity.

“This will certainly increase hatred for Islam and for Islamists,” said Hussein Amin, a former Egyptian ambassador to Algeria.

An information technology manager in the Jordanian capital Amman Rami Batrawi said: “This would only make things worse for Arabs worldwide.” He said he feared more travel restrictions to Europe.

Millions of Arabs live in Western Europe, notably North Africans in France, Spain and Italy. Other big Muslim communities, like British Asians and Turks in Germany, also report suffering some anti-Islamic backlash since September 11.

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