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In Belgium, a radical Muslim named Karim Hassoun who is head of the Arab-European League, says flatly, "The more body bags of Americans we see coming back from Iraq, the happier we are.'' What's worrisome is how openly such rhetoric is received among ordinary Muslims, many of whom consider themselves moderates. In the Netherlands, where 1 of every 16 Dutch citizens is a Muslim, it's trendy for kids to hang on their bedroom walls half-burned American flags with Stars of David placed on them, says Mohammed Ridouan Jabri, founder of the eight-month-old Muslim Democratic Party.
What can be done to defuse the anger? European governments have tried a range of approaches to contain radical Islam. In the wake of the July 7 bombings, British Prime Minister Tony Blair introduced a zero-tolerance policy toward hateful rhetoric, pledging, among other things, to deport clerics seen to be inciting violence. The crackdown represented a shift from Britain's tradition of tolerating militant speech. But some moderate Muslims fear that in his rush to get tough, Blair risks further estranging young European Muslims by heightening their sense that they are outsiders. "It reinforces bin Laden's arguments that citizenship is nothing, that nationality is a mirage blinding Muslims to their only real allegiance--to God, as jihadists define it," says Dounia Bouzar, a scholar and commentator on the lives of French-born Muslims like herself. Bouzar also laments France's 2004 law banning "conspicuous" religious symbols from public schools because its foremost target is the head scarves worn by certain devout Muslim females. Although enforcement of the law has not sparked the mass expulsion of hijab-wearing students that many feared, Bouzar says it has caused splits within the Muslim community.
The dilemma for Muslims across Europe is that in the wake of July 7, public demand for tougher measures against terrorism is stifling open discussion of the grievances that are fueling extremism--which allows hard-liners to crowd out moderate voices. "There is no middle ground now," says Naima Azough, 32, a Dutch parliamentarian from Morocco. "It's as if in the U.S. you heard only Noam Chomsky and Pat Buchanan."
Bolstering moderates will require change within Europe's Muslim communities but also greater political sensitivity outside them--a willingness to acknowledge, for instance, the emotional impact that some policies enacted in the war on terrorism have had on Muslims. At a meeting of the radical Muslim group Hizb ut-Tahrir in Birmingham, England, the group's spokesman, Imran Waheed, 28, launched into a 40-minute lecture in front of about 80 people, insisting there's no need for the Muslim community to apologize for July 7. Many in the audience nodded in agreement. But some seemed ambivalent, caught between abhorrence for terrorism and a belief that their grievances are not taken seriously.