Muslim woman's murder a sign of Islamophobia

The horrific racially motivated murder of Marwa Al Sherbini in a German courtroom is raising legitimate questions. The death of the 32-year-old Egyptian pharmacist, now the 'Headscarf Martyr', should raise the alarm of the growing Islamophobia in the West.

But unfortunately it has attracted little attention in Europe. While Egyptians have understandably been demonstrating in large numbers to protest the perceived inability of their government to protect its citizens abroad and the failure of Western societies to stem the rising racism against Arabs and Muslims, the European media paid little attention to the murder of a woman whose three-year-old son was forced to watch as his mother was stabbed 18 times in a courtroom by a fanatical German man. The child also witnessed his father being shot by a policeman when he tried to save his wife.

The Europeans might want to ignore the attack in the hope it would be brushed aside as an isolated incident. But it is not. It was an attack not against Marwa. It was against what she represented in the mind of that man - a Muslim woman wearing a headscarf.

Now, let us imagine the victim was a Westerner, stabbed because of his/her religion in a Muslim country. How would the Western media have reacted?

Certainly, we would have days of live coverage discussing and analysing the motive behind the incident. We would have long hours of interviews with 'experts' on 'Islamic terrorism' and the alleged 'hatred' among Muslims towards Westerners. It is time Europeans looked in the mirror and took a good look at their own societies.

Another question that must be debated concerns the recent French decision to ban the burqa (enveloping outer garment worn by women). Could the French attitude be interpreted by some fanatics in the West as a licence to persecute and perhaps kill Muslim women? It is a legitimate question that must be answered by European leaders, the media and civil society groups.