Islamophobia in the Context of Its Similarity to the First Crusades

The purpose of this article is to examine the phenomenon of Islamophobia, which expands from fear to hatred and then to violence, and to highlight its commonalities with the First Crusade. Thus, the aim is to analyze the phenomenon of Islamophobia from a broader perspective, along with its historical dimension. Western researchers have defined Islamophobia as a baseless fear to Muslims. However, today this concept has transformed into a complex phenomenon that expresses the marginalization Muslims face in European societies and the reasons for this marginalization, as well as possible solutions. After World War II, the Muslims who went to Europe as workers obtained citizenship in the countries they moved to. This led to them gaining more visibility in public spaces and wanting to benefit from social rights as much as an average European citizen. However, this situation has been met with an ethnocentric reaction from local citizens, who fear losing their privileges. Therefore Muslims, labeled as "others" who reject integration into social life, have been put back in the crosshairs in Europe through mass media. Moreover, the Islamophobic rhetoric used by far-right European politicians seeking to establish themselves in political life, along with terrorist attacks like September 11, has led to a rapid increase in violence against Muslims in Europe. It is understood that a negative propaganda campaign against Muslims was conducted during the First Crusade (1096-1099), which also contained similar elements of fear. In medieval European society, it is observed that religion, which played a decisive role in identity, was the source of conflict between Muslim and Western cultures. When we examine the echoes of Pope Urban II's call in the city of Clermont, France (1095), it is understood that there are very similar expressions to those used in contemporary Islamophobic elements. Clerics who fervently supported the Pope's call and political actors who considered their own interests incited the masses and initiated the First Crusade. At the end of the three-year campaign, the Crusaders, who took control of Jerusalem, executed almost all the Muslims living in the city and gathered the Jews in a synagogue, accusing them of spying for the Muslims, and burned them. As in the present day, it is a historical fact that while religious elements were the dominant factor in the emergence of the conflict between these two cultures, economic and political elements were also present. The fact that no academic study comparing Islamophobia and the First Crusade in terms of their commonalities has been conducted in our country constitutes the unique aspect of our article. While using qualitative research methods to answer the main question of the study, data sources were obtained through observation, document examination, literature review, and the examination of newspapers and brochures. These findings were analyzed using the descriptive analysis method. As a result of the research, similarities have been identified between the First Crusade and contemporary Islamophobia. It is understood that negative prejudices against Muslims and the Islamic religion existed in both periods. It is understood that while religious and cultural justifications were put forward by the ruling powers to create a negative perception of Muslims and the Islamic religion, political and economic reasons were manipulated.