Islamophobia in the Western world, particularly the US and Europe, has affected the rest of the world as well, triggering anti-Muslim attitudes, including Asia Pacific region, experts told Andalou Agency.
“It is legitimate today to talk about the global-isation of Islamophobia,” AA quoted John Louis Esposito, a professor of international Affairs and Islamic studies at Georgetown University.
He said that the hatred against Muslims became a global issue after the 1979 Iran evolution. Islamo-phobia flared up following the September 11 2011 terrorist attacks in the US. Esposito pointed out that some regions, like northern Europe, have become Islamophobic despite having no Muslim population. This is because of the prevalence of hate and dis-crimination in the US, Britain and Germany.
“You have the issues of Myanmar, former Burma. You have the issues in China with regard to the Uyghurs. In both cases, you even have interna-tional communities talking about genocide,” he explained.
He added that it was shocking how global and widespread Islamophobia had become, saying that the anti-Muslim narrative was spreading across the political spectrum.—Agencies
