Madrid bombing: Spanish Muslims brace for 3/11 backlash

¡Dios mío!

Spanish Muslims are having their John Allen Muhammad moment this week, following the horrific train bombings that killed at least 200 people. (You remember that – when Muslims hoped that the captured Washington DC sniper would be anyone but a Muslim, only to be betrayed by that last name?) “The people who did this are ignoramuses who have stones for hearts,” said Imam Ali al-Messery at a prayer service in Madrid on Friday. “Please God, please God, let it not be Muslims!”

The righteous anger that welled up from the Spanish populace was initially focused on the Basque separatist group ETA, but various shadowy Muslim groups (including one that took credit for last year’s East Coast blackouts) insisted on claiming responsibility. In addition to causing political upheaval in Spain (the current pro-war government was thrown out in favor of their socialist rivals), the new focus on Islamic militants as suspects have made European Muslims brace for a backlash not seen since 9/11 here in the States. “We don’t want it to be Al-Qaeda, just as the Basques don’t want it to be ETA,” said a Spanish Muslim who refused to be identified. “But what difference does it make, knowing who it was? We’re all affected.”

Despite the fact that Madrid’s Muslims were busy burying their own last week along with the rest of Spain, some worry that old prejudices could resurface, and streets in Moroccan immigrant areas have been empty lately. “The consequences for Arabs and Muslims will be as bad as what happened to them in the United States [after 9/11],” wrote Abdel-Rahman al-Rashed in the newspaper Asharq al-Awsat. “The millions of Spaniards who took to the streets are a latent force of rage we would do well to take heed of.”

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.