The Public Sphere
Over the past decades, Europe, alongside the United States and Canada, has undergone significant demographic and social change as a result of immigration from Muslim-majority countries and high birth rates.
In England and Wales, the number of Muslims increased from approximately 2.7 million, representing 4.9% of the population in 2011, to approximately 3.9 million, representing 6.5% in 2021. In certain cities, the increase has been even more pronounced. In Birmingham, the Muslim share of the population rose from 21.8% in 2011 to 29.9% in 2021, while in Bradford, Muslims accounted for 30.5% of the population in 2021. The Muslim presence also expanded in London, where their share of the population rose from 12.6% in 2011 to 15% in 2021. In the borough of Tower Hamlets, Muslims accounted for 39.9% of residents, while in Newham the figure reached 34.8%. A similar trend is evident in Germany, where the number of Muslims with a migration background from predominantly Muslim countries was estimated at approximately 5.3–5.6 million in 2019, representing around 6.4%–6.7% of the population that year.
In the United States, Dearborn, Michigan, is a prominent example of the establishment of an Arab and Muslim population and the growing influence of that population on local politics. The city illustrates how demographic change can, over generations, translate into a shift in the balance of municipal power, the public agenda, and attitudes toward international issues. In the 2024 presidential election, Michigan became a focal point for protests against the Biden administration’s policy during the Gaza war. During the Democratic primaries, the “Uncommitted” option received widespread support, demonstrating the electoral strength of a constituency seeking to pressure the party on Israel and Gaza.
The significance is that Muslim immigration does not merely change the composition of the population. It also changes the pressure groups to which politicians must respond, the issues over which they compete, and the electoral cost of their decisions.
One of the main problems associated with large concentrations of immigrant populations is the formation of parallel societies. When residents live, study, work, and access services within networks based on the same language, religion, and origin, their connection with the broader society may weaken. Businesses that primarily serve the community, schools with homogeneous student populations, mosques, and community organizations create an environment in which people can function for years without fully integrating into national society.
In such settings, integration is not merely a matter of language proficiency or participation in the labor market. It also concerns acceptance of the country’s laws, respect for the authority of its institutions, and willingness to adopt shared civic norms.
The difficulty intensifies when religious or community leaders seek to maintain independent authority over education, clothing, relationships, and social behavior. In such situations, conflicts arise between the authority of parents and religious leaders and the rights of children, women, and young people who wish to choose their own way of life.
The growth of the Muslim population has been accompanied by the establishment of mosques, Islamic centers, religious schools, charities, and youth organizations. These institutions serve religious and social functions, but they also create an organizational infrastructure through which ideas can be disseminated, supporters mobilized, and the public agenda influenced.
In Germany, the organization DİTİB, which is connected to Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs, Diyanet, is a prominent example of the relationship between local religious institutions and a foreign state. This relationship raises questions about the independence of religious institutions, the influence of the Turkish government on immigrant communities, and the boundary between religious services and the promotion of another country’s political interests.
Another example is the network associated with the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist movements. Their activities extend across religious institutions, education, welfare, and social organizations. The central point of contention is the conception of Islam as an all-encompassing framework for organizing society and politics, rather than merely a private religion. When such views promote separation between groups, religious authority at the expense of civil law, or opposition to gender equality, they come into conflict with the fundamental principles of liberal states.
The growth of the Muslim population is changing the character of parts of the public sphere. In many cities, mosques, halal restaurants, shops specializing in products that meet religious requirements, and businesses targeting particular communities have expanded. In some neighborhoods, the composition of businesses, the languages heard on the streets, and the cultural landscape have changed. These changes reflect the establishment of a new population, but they also raise questions about the continued existence of a shared public culture.
In England, the controversy surrounding the English flag, the Cross of St George, has become a symbol of the debate over national identity. For many people, the flag represents historical belonging and national pride. The debate intensifies when national symbols are perceived by some as signs of allegiance to a controversial political position, while flags of countries of origin and symbols associated with immigrant communities are displayed in public spaces.
Where citizens are afraid to express their national identity openly, while other groups express their religious and ethnic identities without fear, a debate emerges over equality in public spaces and the status of national culture. The question is whether the country’s shared identity remains the central framework for public life or becomes one of many identities competing for status and influence.
The debate is not limited to flags. It also concerns whether standards of behavior in public spaces are determined by a uniform law or whether pressure from organized groups influences institutions, schools, and local authorities.
Freedom of expression is one of the sharpest tests of the conflict between liberal democratic values and religious extremism. In a democratic country, religions, religious leaders, and sacred symbols are also subject to criticism, satire, and ridicule. When such criticism is met with threats or violence, it harms not only the freedom of expression of a particular individual but also society’s ability to conduct open debate.
In 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published cartoons of Muhammad, triggering protests and international confrontations. In 2015, twelve people were murdered in an attack on the editorial offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris after the magazine published cartoons of Muhammad. The attack demonstrated the extreme price Islamist groups were willing to exact in response to expression perceived as an insult to religion.
In October 2020, French teacher Samuel Paty was murdered by Abdoullakh Anzorov after showing his students cartoons of Muhammad during a lesson on freedom of expression. Before the murder, a smear campaign against him had spread on social media. On October 13, 2023, teacher Dominique Bernard was murdered in the French city of Arras in an attack carried out by Mohammed Mogouchkov, a young man radicalized under the influence of Islamist ideology. The attack took place just days after October 7 and brought the question of the education system’s ability to protect teachers from religious extremism back to the center of the French debate.
Another case is that of Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses. Following the book’s publication in 1988, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a religious decree against him, and Rushdie lived under a persistent threat for years. In August 2022, he was stabbed during a literary event in New York and seriously injured. The incident demonstrated how a threat that began decades earlier could continue to affect freedom of artistic creation and expression.
What these events have in common is the struggle over the fundamental right to criticize religious ideas. When teachers, journalists, writers, and artists must consider threats to their lives before expressing a position, freedom of expression remains protected by law but becomes more dangerous in practice.
The education system is one of the central arenas in which the struggle over the character of Western society takes place. The conflicts concern curricula, the teaching of evolution and sexuality, the separation of boys and girls, religious symbols, and students’ freedom to choose their way of life. In Britain, the “Trojan Horse” affair in Birmingham, which came to light in 2014, sparked controversy over allegations that Islamist actors had attempted to influence school management and religious character. Following the investigations, educational institutions, school administrations, and oversight mechanisms were examined. The affair became a test case for whether the public education system could protect its values and independence against organized ideological pressure.
These conflicts illustrate the difficulty Western countries face in maintaining a shared education system when religious demands clash with the principles of secularism, equality, and personal freedom.
Women’s status is another arena in which the tension between individual rights and conservative religious norms becomes apparent. In some immigrant communities, strict demands exist regarding clothing, the choice of a partner, sexual behavior, and family roles. Forced marriages, threats in the name of “family honor,” and harm inflicted on women seeking to leave conservative family structures are phenomena that authorities in Britain and other European countries have had to address. In such cases, victims may be dependent on the same family and social environment that exerts pressure on them, making it difficult for them to turn to the police or social services.
The growth of the Muslim population has been accompanied by an increase in crime, a decline in personal security, and religious radicalization.
Criminal statistics in Germany illustrate the scale of the challenge in the area of personal security. According to police data for 2024, a total of 2,184,834 suspects were recorded across all offense categories included in the statistics, including 913,196 suspects without German citizenship. For violent offenses, 197,347 suspects were recorded, of whom 85,012 did not hold German citizenship—43.1% of all suspects in these offenses. This was at a time when foreign nationals accounted for approximately 14.8% of Germany’s population at the end of that year.
The figures indicate that foreign nationals are overrepresented among suspects in violent offenses relative to their share of the population.
Islamist terrorism has become one of Europe’s central security challenges over recent decades. Attacks carried out by individuals affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State have targeted civilians, public institutions, and mass gatherings, demonstrating the ability of extremist organizations to recruit individuals and carry out deadly attacks within Western countries.
On July 7, 2005, four terrorists carried out suicide bombings on London’s public transportation system. Fifty-two victims were killed, in addition to the four attackers. The attack demonstrated the threat posed by Islamist terrorism carried out by people who had lived in Britain and were familiar with its society and local infrastructure.
In January 2015, Islamist terrorists attacked the offices of Charlie Hebdo and the Hyper Cacher Jewish supermarket in Paris. In November of the same year, terrorists carried out a series of attacks in Paris, including at the Bataclan concert hall, restaurants, and near the national stadium. A total of 130 people were killed. In July 2016, a terrorist drove a truck into a crowd on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, killing 86 people.
In Germany, on December 19, 2016, Anis Amri drove a stolen truck into a Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz in Berlin. Twelve people were killed that evening and dozens were injured; another victim died of their injuries later. The attack became a symbol of the vulnerability of crowded civilian spaces to Islamist terrorism.
Alongside these attacks, recruitment and propaganda networks operated by the Islamic State were exposed, recruiting young people from Europe to travel to Syria and Iraq. Some joined the organization, participated in its activities, or attempted to return to their countries of origin. The organization exploited social media, propaganda videos, and extremist religious discourse to portray the West as an enemy and recruit supporters for violent struggle.
Radicalization may involve threats against opponents, justification of violence, the dissemination of propaganda, and pressure on local institutions. It requires education systems, security services, and local authorities to confront an ideology that does not merely oppose a particular policy but seeks to undermine the democratic order itself.
The expansion of antisemitism is one of the most serious consequences of ideological radicalization and conflicts surrounding the Middle East. In Western countries, attacks against Jews, threats against Jewish institutions, vandalism of synagogues, and demonstrations featuring antisemitic chants have been recorded.
In France, home to one of Europe’s largest Jewish communities, the antisemitic murder of Ilan Halimi in 2006, the attack on the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school in Toulouse in 2012, and the murder of four people at the Hyper Cacher supermarket in Paris in 2015 demonstrated the danger facing Jews outside Israel as well. In the Toulouse attack, the terrorist Mohammed Merah murdered teacher Jonathan Sandler, his two sons, and the child Myriam Monsonego. These events placed the security of the Jewish community at the heart of the French debate.
After October 7, 2023, attitudes toward Israel became a central focus of tensions on campuses, in the streets, and in public institutions. At various demonstrations, chants expressing support for Hamas or slogans perceived as threatening to Jews were heard. In many cases, confrontations arose around Jewish events, the display of Israeli flags, and expressions of support for Israel.
In Berlin, Paris, London, and other cities, Jewish institutions were required to increase security. Jewish students reported harassment and threats, while some people concealed visible signs of their Jewish identity to avoid confrontations. A situation in which Jews fear attending educational institutions, synagogues, or public events because of their identity constitutes a direct violation of civic equality and religious freedom.
As Muslim communities grow and develop organizational institutions, their ability to influence elections, party priorities, and policies on immigration, education, religion, and foreign affairs also increases. This process is particularly evident in cities where large communities are concentrated in electoral districts in which a relatively small number of votes can influence election results.
In the United States, Dearborn has become a prominent example of the influence of the Arab and Muslim vote on local politics. Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, elected in 2021, has become a central figure in the debate over the war in Gaza and the community’s relationship with the federal government. During 2024, the Uncommitted movement against President Joe Biden’s policy on Gaza organized in Michigan, and the issue became one of the main points of contention in the Democratic primaries.
In Britain, politicians have repeatedly had to address the question of how to balance the demands of Muslim voter groups with foreign policy, education, and the fight against antisemitism. In Germany and France, a similar debate is taking place over the representation of immigrant communities, immigration policy, religious symbols, and the protection of secular values.
The problem arises when elected officials are required to adapt their policies to group pressure, including on issues concerning individual rights, freedom of expression, women’s status, or the security of the Jewish community. When electoral considerations take precedence over law enforcement and equal protection for all citizens, the state’s ability to maintain a consistent policy is undermined.