This Special Issue aims to examine and expound upon the discernible emergence of newly articulated relationships between Jews and Muslims within varied geographical and socio-cultural frameworks across Europe. In pursuit of a more profound comprehension of the current situation, alongside an exploration of nascent trends and prospective developments, this issue is devoted to empirical research delving into the significance of the interwoven Jewish-Muslim experience and its impact on the multicultural environment of Europe.
We are especially interested in enquiring about the diversity of experiences and modes of functioning of Muslim and Jewish communities in different regions of Europe. We are 20 years past the most significant enlargement in the history of the European Union, but still, a significant part of the public differentiates between old, Western Europe and the new member-states of the organization. We aim to probe if this perceived divergence manifests itself in the socio-political sphere, impacting the condition, role, and relations of Jews and Muslims with European societies and states. Consequently, this SI is a comparative study of Jewish and Muslim minorities in the Western (United Kingdom, France, West Germany) and Central-Eastern parts of Europe (Poland, East Germany).
Apart from investigating inter-minority relations in different European locations, the SI aimed to acknowledge a broader framework and perspective of the relation between selected countries, majority societies, and minorities. This issue is committed to empirical research delving into the significance of the interwoven Jewish-Muslim experience and its impact on the multicultural environment of Europe. Furthermore, we concentrate on the influence of the state policies and strategies concerning minority issues governance on the European Jews and Muslims and the relations between them.
The initial draft of the Special Issue was submitted to “Ethnicities”, in February 2023 – before Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel and the Gaza War. Since then, within a relatively brief timeframe, the context of Muslim and Jewish minorities’ relations in Europe has undergone significant, often dramatic developments. Both communities have experienced developments that shook the lives of many of their members. On the one hand, the tensions between them increased, on the other, Europe witnessed a surge of anti-Semitic and Islamophobic incidents.
To a great extent, this context is absent from this special issue, as most of our research has been completed before. Still, it is worth noting that the current socio-political context makes the topic of this SI even more important and worth academic inquiry. We believe this special issue will help overcome simplified perceptions that were strengthened by the hostilities in Palestine and Israel. It presents the complexity and multifaceted nature of the relations between Jews and Muslims. It attempts to illuminate a less transparent, multilateral terrain characterized by diverse actors, conflicting and unspoken interests, and improbable alliances. We hope it also may show directions for further research of the two communities.
The Special Issue is an outcome of the transnational project EUphony, “Jews, Muslims and Roma in the 21st Century Metropolises: Reflecting on Polyphonic Ideal and Social Exclusion as Challenges for European Cohesion,” which has been generously supported by the Erasmus+ program Cooperative partnerships 2022-1-CZ01-KA220-HED-000089285.