Theater of Jihad: Europe

History: Jihadist literature, including that from Al Qaeda, is replete with references to historical episodes in which Europe figures prominently. From the 8th century Muslim invasion of Iberia and subsequent Reconquista—understood in Islamist discourse as aggression against the caliphate of al-Andalus—through the medieval  Crusades in which European states established Christian kingdoms in the Levant, to the 15th century Ottoman Empire’s capture of Constantinople  and the Balkans prior to its slow retreat , and the advent of colonialism, followed by liberation movements and finally independence in much of the Muslim world, many Islamist ideologues depict history as a duel between two monoliths: a unified Muslim nation and the West – a perennial enemy with Europe as the center stage. It is in this context that many assess the potential of the Muslim presence in Europe.

Demography: Muslims are a small but growing minority in Western Europe. France is believed to have the largest Muslim population, amounting to approximately nine percent of the total (the French government does not collect official data). Other Western European countries with substantial Muslim populations include Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and, recently, Spain. The ethnic origins of these former immigrants vary by country: in France, most Muslims are of North African extraction, while Germany houses mostly Turks, and the United Kingdom is home to many from the Indian subcontinent. Immigrant populations are often concentrated in isolated urban or suburban areas, with low-income ghettos forming around the outsides of major cities.

Politics: Most Western European countries are parliamentary democracies governed by several main parties or coalitions, which often represent a wide spectrum of political platforms. Immigrant populations are generally highly concentrated and in most countries have had moderate success in penetrating local political processes. National representation, however, has proved more elusive; though Muslims on occasion have been appointed or elected to high office in European governments (the UK just appointed its first Muslim cabinet minister in June 2009, for example), representation remains far from proportionate.

Culture:  In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, most of Western Europe did not receive much immigration from outside the continent, and countries developed strong cultural identities that did not adapt easily to the onrush of immigration after the Second World War. Most countries have struggled with nationalism and racism directed toward their new populations. These difficulties have been aggravated by cultural differences between the traditionally Islamic background of many new immigrants and secular European societies. Social ostracism forced many immigrants into forming segregated, largely self-sufficient communities where they could continue their own cultural practices without subjection to the hostile normative forces of societies around them. In some cases, these communities became so isolated that they became almost self-governing, causing conflicts to erupt over disjunctions between shari‘a and European laws when the latter are enforced.

Synopsis

Though Islamists have long expressed grievances against the region, and Al Qaeda—unlike most other Islamist movements— is dedicated to fighting the “far enemy,” this foe has traditionally been the US; Western Europe has only recently became a main target. September 11th, however, galvanized a new set of sympathizers and inspired copycat movements around the world, including Europe. There, the group’s sympathizers are mostly found in isolated communities of unassimilated Muslim immigrants. These European “cells”, which generally do not maintain a direct link to Al Qaeda leadership but nevertheless identify with the group’s ideology, proved how dangerous they can be in 2004-5 with two unrelated train bombings in Madrid and London. Combined, they accounted for over 240 deaths and millions of dollars of infrastructure damage. Though operational links to Al Qaeda proper are questionable, it is clear that the September 11th attacks served as inspiration; in a video released after the London bombing, one of the suicide bombers describes his wish to be remembered among “today's heroes, like our beloved Sheikh Osama bin Laden [and] Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri.”

Subsequent events have shown that extreme Islamism remains a force to be reckoned with in Western Europe. In September 2005, a Danish newspaper published several cartoons depicting Mohammed irreverently. They provoked massive displays of outrage from Muslim groups, including Al Qaeda, which announced that it “deeply desire[d] that…Denmark, Norway and France … are struck hard and destroyed,” and called for European Muslims to “avenge your Prophet ….Destroy their buildings, make their ground shake and transform them into a sea of blood.”

In the following August, three British Muslims were arrested for a plot to blow up flights originating in the UK. Their September 2009 trial has revealed closer ties than had previously been confirmed between Al Qaeda central leadership and its European cells. The suspects were reportedly in direct contact with senior Al Qaeda members in Pakistan, and received regular email instructions from the group. If true, the failed plot would represent Al Qaeda’s most ambitious venture into Europe, and may demonstrate the group’s willingness to expend critical resources on the continent.

Since 2006, there have been no European terrorist scares of similar magnitude, but it is clear that Al Qaeda continues to operate on the continent. The group has proven itself open to any opportunity presented with to strike against European interests—whether by hostage-taking, embassy-bombing, or supporting internal terrorist cells. Many recent Al Qaeda-sympathizer arrests across Europe have also made it clear that the group is deriving financing and recruits for the conflict in Afghanistan from discontented elements within the continent’s Muslim populations.

Recently, many European governments have also begun to pay attention to the activities of a group known as Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Based in North Africa and regarded as one of Al Qaeda’s most powerful offshoots, AQIM affiliates have been arrested in Spain and Italy, and the group has recently engaged in a highly publicized spat with the French government—which it labeled its “enemy number one”—over a proposed burqa ban.  This dispute culminated in an August 2009 suicide attack on the French embassy in Mauritania. AQIM has subsequently described the bombing as a reaction to “the hostility of the Crusaders -- led by France… against Islam and its people,” and promising more violence.