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Article  Continental divide  April 19, 2004  Printer friendly
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They are at home but Europe's Muslims increasingly feel like
foreigners. Peter Fray reports.  Leila feels stigmatised by the
French society she was born in for wanting to wear her headscarf
to school. Arif can't understand why his group has been denied
use of The Hague's town hall when another religious community
gained permission. Mohamad fears his workplace, Madrid's biggest
mosque, has become a target for reprisals. And Inyalat says he's
just tired of saying sorry to Britain.  Four people, four
countries, one experience: the gnawing, unmistakable sense that
Muslims and Islam are being demonised in western Europe as
would-be terrorists, troublemakers or, at the very least, "the
other".  Some commentators call it a clash of civilisations,
others see it as part of Europe's own identity crisis. But
whatever it is, the reality is