Athens, NU Online
Muslim leaders believe that by ignoring their community's deep grievances and long-standing marginalization, the government is creating an explosive situation in the small southern European country.
"This is a time-bomb," Naim El-Gadour, chairman of the Muslim Union of Greece, told Agence France Presse (AFP) on Tuesday, May 26.<>
"It might not explode now but in 10 years it will be a huge problem."
Muslim leaders cite several reasons behind their community's disgruntlement, including the lack of mosques and cemeteries despite repeated promises by successive governments. Tens of thousands of Muslims are forced to pray in about 130 windowless, airless basements or warehouses that currently serve as makeshift mosques.
Last year, the government finally unveiled a location for the first mosque in Athens, the European Union's only capital without a Muslim place of worship.
However, the construction has not started yet.
Muslims from across the country also have to travel hundreds of kilometers to northern Greece for weddings, burials and other ceremonies.
"We see no mosque, we see no cemetery," says Abu Mahmoud, a Moroccan who has lived in Greece since 1985.
"Basically they are making fools of us."
Muslims make about 1.3 percent of the population in overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian Greece, according to the CIA Facts Book.
Some 1000 Muslims took to the streets of Athens last week to protest the desecration of the Qur'an by a policeman.
Seven Muslims and seven policemen were injured in clashes while 46 protesters were arrested.
Jungle
Adding insult to injury, the small southern European country is witnessing a surge in racist violence against immigrants.
"The emerging feeling is that Greece has too many migrants and that they need to go," Dimitris Levantis, head of the Greek chapter of anti-racism SOS Racism, told AFP.
The country is home to thousands of Muslim immigrants, many of them arrive in the country illegally seeking a better life.
Athens alone is home to an estimated 100,000 Muslims of Albanian, Egyptian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Moroccan, Syrian and Nigerian backgrounds.
Migrants, usually forced into low-rent areas or disused buildings, fall as easy prey for neo-Nazis.
Just last Saturday, attackers tried to burn a makeshift mosque in a basement, injuring five Bangladeshis trapped inside.
Earlier this month, 14 people were injured in clashes between a neo-Nazi group, immigrants and police as the far-right gangs tried to dislodge hundreds of migrant squatters from an old courthouse.
In February, a grenade was thrown at the offices of an immigrant supportwork.
Fearful Muslim migrants say the racist attacks have worsened because of the deteriorating economic situation in the country, hard-hit by global recession.
"The situation in Athens is getting worse because of the economic crisis which is hitting foreigners the hardest," says Moroccan Abu Mahmoud.
"The city center has become a jungle." (dar)
Muslim leaders believe that by ignoring their community's deep grievances and long-standing marginalization, the government is creating an explosive situation in the small southern European country.
"This is a time-bomb," Naim El-Gadour, chairman of the Muslim Union of Greece, told Agence France Presse (AFP) on Tuesday, May 26.<>
"It might not explode now but in 10 years it will be a huge problem."
Muslim leaders cite several reasons behind their community's disgruntlement, including the lack of mosques and cemeteries despite repeated promises by successive governments. Tens of thousands of Muslims are forced to pray in about 130 windowless, airless basements or warehouses that currently serve as makeshift mosques.
Last year, the government finally unveiled a location for the first mosque in Athens, the European Union's only capital without a Muslim place of worship.
However, the construction has not started yet.
Muslims from across the country also have to travel hundreds of kilometers to northern Greece for weddings, burials and other ceremonies.
"We see no mosque, we see no cemetery," says Abu Mahmoud, a Moroccan who has lived in Greece since 1985.
"Basically they are making fools of us."
Muslims make about 1.3 percent of the population in overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian Greece, according to the CIA Facts Book.
Some 1000 Muslims took to the streets of Athens last week to protest the desecration of the Qur'an by a policeman.
Seven Muslims and seven policemen were injured in clashes while 46 protesters were arrested.
Jungle
Adding insult to injury, the small southern European country is witnessing a surge in racist violence against immigrants.
"The emerging feeling is that Greece has too many migrants and that they need to go," Dimitris Levantis, head of the Greek chapter of anti-racism SOS Racism, told AFP.
The country is home to thousands of Muslim immigrants, many of them arrive in the country illegally seeking a better life.
Athens alone is home to an estimated 100,000 Muslims of Albanian, Egyptian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Moroccan, Syrian and Nigerian backgrounds.
Migrants, usually forced into low-rent areas or disused buildings, fall as easy prey for neo-Nazis.
Just last Saturday, attackers tried to burn a makeshift mosque in a basement, injuring five Bangladeshis trapped inside.
Earlier this month, 14 people were injured in clashes between a neo-Nazi group, immigrants and police as the far-right gangs tried to dislodge hundreds of migrant squatters from an old courthouse.
In February, a grenade was thrown at the offices of an immigrant supportwork.
Fearful Muslim migrants say the racist attacks have worsened because of the deteriorating economic situation in the country, hard-hit by global recession.
"The situation in Athens is getting worse because of the economic crisis which is hitting foreigners the hardest," says Moroccan Abu Mahmoud.
"The city center has become a jungle." (dar)
