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August 28, 2025

A group of protestors seen holding an banner opposing Islamophobia during the demonstration. Various anti-racism groups gathered in central London for a ‘Stop The Hate’ demonstration on on 16 March 2024 [Daniel Lai/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images]

• by Nasim Ahmed Nasimbythedocks

Israel’s role as one of the major contributors to the rise in global Islamophobia was further highlighted this week when the self-proclaimed Jewish state, founded through ethnic cleansing and settler colonialism, described the presence of Muslims in Europe as the “true face of colonization.”

The incendiary statement came in a tweet from the Israeli government’s Arabic-language Twitter account. Referencing the increase in mosques across Europe, from fewer than 100 in 1980 to more than 20,000 today, the post framed this demographic and religious presence as a looming threat. 

Israel’s tweet went on to describe mosques as breeding grounds for violence and hate, and Muslims as an ungrateful and hostile population, accusing them of forming a “fifth column” within European societies.

“In the year 1980, there were only fewer than a hundred mosques in Europe. As for today, there are more than 20 thousand mosques. This is the true face of colonization,” said the tweet. 

Muslim population as a threat and labels it “the true face of colonization,” the facts tell a different story. According to Pew Research, Muslims make up just 4.9 per cent of the European population, with approximately 25.8 million individuals across 30 countries. Even under high migration scenarios, projections for 2050, place the Muslim share of Europe’s population at no more than 14 per cent still a minority.

Claims that Muslim communities pose an inherent danger are not supported by evidence. Statistically, the number of Muslims involved in terrorism is minuscule, with no credible data suggesting a disproportionate tendency toward violence. Framing millions of Muslims as a “fifth column” conflates isolated incidents with an entire faith group—a dangerous generalisation that fuels hate and violence towards an entire community.

The statement from the Israeli account, coming from a state responsible for decades of military occupation, forced displacement, apartheid and genocide drew immediate condemnation. Observers noted the chilling resemblance between Israel’s rhetoric and the racist “Great Replacement” theory promoted by far-right groups across Europe and North America. This ideology blames non-white immigrants, especially Muslims, for supposedly eroding Western identity and civilisation.

READ: Israel could annex occupied West Bank over European recognition of Palestinian state: US ambassador

The tweet is not an isolated case. Israel and Zionist-aligned organisations have long played a central role in the infrastructure of global Islamophobia. A growing body of research has exposed the ways in which pro-Israel donors, think tanks, and lobbying groups fund anti-Muslim propaganda under the guise of national security or counter-extremism.

The Middle East Forum, a US-based pro-Israel think tank for instance, has provided financial and legal support to notorious far-right figure Tommy Robinson, who has built a career inciting hatred against Muslims in the UK. The Clarion Project and Gatestone Institute—both known for spreading anti-Muslim conspiracy theories—are closely tied to pro-Israel advocacy networks.

A 2021 report by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) documented over $105 million in funding from US-based foundations flowing to anti-Muslim organisations between 2017 and 2019. Many of these same organisations are linked to Zionist donors or present themselves as defenders of Israel while vilifying Islam and Muslims.

This ideological overlap between support for Israel and anti-Muslim racism has become a defining feature of far-right discourse in the West. It serves to legitimise both domestic crackdowns on Muslims and international complicity in Israeli apartheid.

The Israeli government’s description of Muslim presence in Europe as “colonisation” stands in sharp contrast to Israel’s own formation. Muslim communities in Europe have largely grown through post-colonial migration, labour recruitment, and asylum-seeking, particularly in the decades following the Second World War. These movements did not involve the seizure of land or the displacement of native populations, and there is no evidence that such communities have pursued exclusive territorial or political domination.

In contrast, the Zionist movement in Palestine was explicitly aimed at creating a separate and exclusive Jewish state. At the start of the 20th century, Jews constituted around 5 per cent of the population in Palestine. By the end of the British Mandate in 1948, that figure had risen to nearly 40 per cent, driven by successive waves of European Jewish immigration. Archival and scholarly sources document how this demographic transformation was accompanied by mass displacement of the indigenous Palestinian population, and a coordinated effort to establish a Jewish-majority state.

The 1948 Nakba, in which over 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced and more than 400 villages depopulated or destroyed, remains a defining event in Palestine’s history. Palestinian rights to return, recognised under international law, have since been denied, while Israeli settlement activity and military occupation have continued to alter the demographic and territorial landscape of the occupied territories.

Israeli government’s framing of European Muslims as a colonising force aligns with far-right narratives and obscures the historical realities of settler colonialism in Palestine. The use of such language by an official state account is an example of how Islamophobic rhetoric has been normalised in Israeli political discourse.

OPINION: Indonesia’s largest Muslim organisation has also betrayed Palestine

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

source https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250828-state-backed-islamophobia-israel-labels-muslim-presence-in-europe-true-face-of-colonisation/