Monday 21/July/2025 – 02:15 PM
The Al -Azhar Observatory to combat extremism said that at the heart of European democracies,; Where freedoms are supposed to be preserved and pluralism are respected, the attempts of some extreme right -wing currents are repeated to transform religious appearances and symbols, foremost of which is the veil, into an ideological struggle.
The Observatory continued in a statement: In Spain, the attack on the veil was no longer limited to a populist discourse from party platforms, but rather began to take the form of legislative proposals that infiltrate the regional parliaments, as if the woman’s head covering became a national threat that requires criminalization.
He continued: In a scene that reflects the escalation of the tone of exclusion within some corridors of European policy, the far -right “Fox” party in Spain turned into a spearhead in a campaign targeting religious and cultural freedoms of Muslims, especially with regard to the veil and Islamic education. While the party claims its defense of the “national identity” and “Spanish values”, the features of an exclusionary project are exposed to depicting pluralism as a threat, and freedom of belief is a hidden enemy. The extreme right in Spain, a representative of the “Fox” party, does not hide its intentions.
He explained: The party’s discourse no longer loses hatred or discrimination, but rather displays them on the table publicly, and demands their translation into executive policies. In a repeated scene, Fox presented during the month of June 2025 consecutive proposals, the first of which is in Madrid and the other in the Andalusia region, calling for the veil to prevent the veil within all places and public buildings, from schools, hospitals and gardens to official institutions.
The Observatory noted that it is noticeable that the proposals did not come in the context of concrete facts or incidents that required this move, but rather within the framework of an ideological discourse aimed at redefining the “national identity” according to exclusionary perceptions that reject cultural and religious diversity. The party’s representation in the Parliament of Madrid, Isabelle Perez Mono, was not satisfied with describing the veil as a “symbol of the suppression of women”, but rather called for an official announcement criminalized, under the pretext of protecting the “values of Spanish society”.
Al -Azhar Observatory warns: The veil and education are a new confrontation arena between the extreme right and the values of coexistence in Spain
He continued: We find that this escalation, by its nature, is inseparable from a broader path that Fox for years for years, is based on fueling fear of Islam and reducing it in the form of a lurking threat, sneaking through the dress, language, or even educational programs. In Andalusia, the party spokesman, Manuel Gabira, went to the point of warning of the “Islamization of an Organization” operation in the region, accusing NGOs and the major parties of “collusion” in this “demographic danger”.
The Observatory continued: This language brings to mind the statements of the extreme right in Europe on “population replacement”, which were scientifically and morally exposed theories, but unfortunately it finds fertile soil in the midst of crises of identity and political conflicts. In these speeches, we see a deliberate summons of the memory of fear, and an intended nutrition for a state of symbolic panic; In order to achieve electoral gains at the expense of social cohesion. It is also noteworthy that the axis of the attack focused in particular on Muslim women, as it is the weakest link in this political equation. The veil in this narrative is not seen as a personal choice stemming from a religious conviction, but rather a subjugation tool that must be removed in the name of “liberation”.
He explained: This claim, which appears on the phenomenon of “human rights”, hides a systematic exclusion of Muslim women’s options, and a denial of its individual independence in making decisions. One of the strange paradoxes is that those who raise the slogan of defending the freedom of women are the same people who seek to rob them freedom to wear whatever they want, if it does not correspond to the cultural model that they believe in. The matter did not stop at dress, but rather extended to the educational programs.
In light of this scene, the Al -Azhar Observatory believes that exclusion policies will not build a homeland, but to cultivate the division and eliminate pluralism, stressing that respect for pluralism is the pillar of modern democratic societies, and that prejudice to the freedom of belief and religious identity – under any pretext – represents a serious decline towards societal exclusion and symbolic violence.
The observatory condemned this systematic campaign targeting the veil and Islamic education, and calls on the institutions of the Spanish state and civil society to strictly stand in the face of these trends, and protect the fabric of society from fragmentation and political extremism. Coexistence is not built with fear, and identity is not chosen by exclusion, but rather dialogue, respect, and openness to the other.
