BY ABDENNOUR TOUMI
With the ongoing process of headscarf bans flaring up again following a mosque project in France, it seems the country may have lessons to learn from the U.S. regarding multiculturalism
(DAILY SABAH) It may seem bizarre that many people in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) still harbor a strong desire to live in the United States after the country’s militarized foreign policy in the region. The “American dream” continued to spread among the dreams of people living in countries destroyed by the U.S. The 9/11 attacks, which al-Qaida claimed full responsibility for, was truly a breaking point for the representation of Islam and Muslims in the Western world.
America’s incoherent MENA policy for two decades and the harsh approach to migrants under former U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration have been justified by pointing to 9/11. Muslims in the U.S. were stigmatized after 9/11.
Most of them were targeted and attacked verbally and physically. This revenge-based attitude of the far-right fringe, and in a limited manner by former Republican presidents, regarding world affairs has pushed the Muslim community in the U.S. to live with the sentiment of guilt through the accusation of guilt.
France’s discord mosque
All these bring us to the ongoing debate about the Mosque of “Discord” in the city of Strasbourg, France.