Islamic Organisations voices concern over attacks on Muslims in Europe

The Federation of Islamic Organisations in Europe ( FIOE) on Saturday expressed serious concerns about the escalating wave of attacks on Muslims, mosques, and Islamic centres in European countries.
From the second half of 2014, the FIOE in a statement said it has observed a sharp rise in the incidents of physical and verbal abuse against Muslims in several European countries and that some of these attacks and abuse have specifically targeted Muslim women and girls in public roads, parks and spaces, as well as public transport. A cause for greater concern, it noted, is that such attacks have risen to new highs, since the beginnings of 2015, to include more mosques, Islamic centres, and property belonging to Muslims in several European countries, it pointed out. The acts of arson, destruction of property, defamatory drawings and threatening slogans painted on facades, racist writings hostile to Islam and Muslims, as well as abusing the Islamic religion and sanctities in diverse ways, it added.
The FIOE strongly condemned these attacks, acts of intimidation, incitement, and abuse, and called for robust action to confront this fever of hate and assault targeting Muslims and places of worship, it said.
According to the statement, the federation reminded authorities of their responsibility to protect Muslim citizens, mosques, and Islamic centres from assault in any form, and that it is the duty of law enforcement agencies to pursue the perpetrators within the criminal justice system.
The federation drew attention to the need for commentators, and the media, to be responsible and sensitive in addressing the different security developments, it noted.
It is quite concerning, that some published covers, reports, media coverage, commentaries, and cartoons, give the impression that Muslims or their religion are responsible for terrorist attacks or crimes. This implicitly indicates a generalisation of suspicion, or even a hidden call to incitement, it said.
The Brussels-based FIOE is considered to be an umbrella organisations for many Islamic bodies and organisations in Europe.