Dr Yvonne Ridley – Journalist, author and European Muslims League Secretary-General.
There was a time when the word “Islamophobia” could be dismissed by some European politicians as a term invented by activists, a convenient label for silencing criticism of Islam.
Those days are becoming increasingly difficult to sustain.
Across Europe, Muslims are reporting discrimination, harassment, threats and violence at levels that should concern anyone who takes equality and democratic citizenship seriously.
The figures emerging from Germany, France and Britain are disturbing, while research by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights suggests that the problem extends far beyond individual countries.
Almost one in two Muslim respondents in the FRA survey reported experiencing racial discrimination during the previous five years.
Germany documented more than 4,000 anti-Muslim incidents during 2025 — more than 11 every day.
France recorded a dramatic increase in anti-Muslim acts, while Britain also saw religious hate crimes targeting Muslims rise.
These are not simply arguments taking place on social media.
They involve discrimination, threats, harassment, physical violence and attacks affecting Muslim communities and their places of worship.
Yet the question facing Europe's Muslims is not only how to expose Islamophobia.
It is how to respond to it.
This is where the approach being developed by the European Muslims League (EML) deserves attention.
Its President, Ambassador Alfredo Maiolese, is advocating a response based not on isolation or retaliation, but on organisation, institutional engagement and responsibility.
His message can be summarised simply:
“We cannot fight hatred with more hatred.”
That principle matters.
Muslims should have the confidence to defend their rights while simultaneously defending the principles of the societies in which they live: the rule of law, democratic participation, education, social responsibility and peaceful coexistence.
Being Muslim and being European are not competing identities.
Millions of Muslims were born in Europe. They raise their children here, work here, study here, build businesses here, pay taxes here and contribute every day to European society.
They are not temporary visitors.
They are part of Europe.
And yet Muslims are still too often spoken about rather than spoken with.
Governments develop policies concerning Muslims. Politicians debate Muslims. Newspapers discuss Muslims. Security agencies monitor issues involving Muslim communities.
But the voices of those actually living the European Muslim experience are not always present when those conversations take place.
The European Muslims League is attempting to change that.
Not by asking for special privileges.
Not by demanding immunity from criticism.
And certainly not by defending criminal behaviour simply because the perpetrator happens to be Muslim.
The principle should be straightforward.
If a Muslim commits a crime, that individual is responsible.
If a Christian commits a crime, that individual is responsible.
If an atheist commits a crime, that individual is responsible.
Religion should never become a collective criminal record.
That principle also explains why confronting disinformation is becoming increasingly important.
Criticism of Islam is legitimate and belongs within freedom of expression.
Deliberately spreading false information, manipulating Islamic texts, removing quotations from their historical or theological context or portraying an entire religious community as collectively dangerous is something different.
The answer, however, must still be facts rather than counter-propaganda.
That is why the EML's emerging approach — documenting incidents, verifying information, engaging journalists and institutions and responding through evidence — could prove important.
There is also a wider lesson.
Islamophobia is not exclusively a Muslim problem.
Once a society becomes comfortable with collective blame, religious prejudice and the idea that millions of people can be judged according to the actions of individuals, something much larger begins to erode.
Equality before the law cannot depend upon someone's religion.
Nor can human dignity.
Europe's Muslims therefore have every right to organise themselves and demand that their security and dignity be protected.
But rights also bring responsibilities.
The strongest answer to those who portray Muslims as incapable of integrating into European society may ultimately be Muslims themselves: doctors, teachers, workers, entrepreneurs, students, parents and citizens participating openly and confidently in the societies they call home.
That is why the European Muslims League's initiative is worth watching.
At a moment when Europe's political debate is increasingly polarised, it is offering something less dramatic but potentially much more effective:
dialogue, responsibility, institutional engagement and equality before the law.
The statistics tell us that the problem is real.
The next question is whether Europe is prepared to confront it without creating new divisions in the process.
Dr Yvonne Ridley
European Muslims League
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