An orthodontist refuses to treat a boy because his first name is Cihad. Fear of an “Islamisation of the Western world” brings ten thousands to take to the streets. The employee of an estate agent’s office admits that wearing a headscarf basically reduces chances of finding a flat to zero. And Marwa El-Sherbini, who in 2009 was stabbed to death in a court room in Dresden by a man who earlier had insulted her as an “Islamist” is by no means the only victim of even physical attacks due to the perception of people as Muslims.

Since the end of the cold war, “Islam” (or whatever is associated with it) has taken over the role of the antithesis to the “West” in media, politics and public perception. Islamism with a propensity towards violence serves as the threat scenario no.1. In it the reality of international conflicts and terrorist violence becomes blurred with the uneasiness the negotiation processes around a German self-understanding evokes in many places where Muslims are also increasingly calling for visibility and participation.

The social climate is heating up and with it many mechanisms of exclusion are intensified. What thought patterns does this actually draw on? How are media coverage, political decisions and economic interests linked to the increasing social acceptability of anti-Muslim racism and Islamophobia? And what are the strategies that can protect and empower those affected?

In the context of the presentation of El Dschihad, Prof. Iman Attia (Alice Salomon University, Berlin), Mutlu Ergün aka Sesperado (author and empowerment trainer) and Imad Mustafa (political scientist) discuss the dynamics and countermovements to an occidental unease.