However, I think this all has to go back a few years to the initial Iraq bombing and then

the later events, couple with huge global publicity kind of polarising the religions and basically putting more emphasis on the perceived differences.

One thing which was really surprising for me was the return to more traditional clothing. When I was a kid we never thought about anybody being muslim. We used to have all the Pakistani corner shops etc but who even knew that Pakistanis were muslim when we were kids ? The women rarely bothered wearing a headscarf, much less a Hajib or more. Maybe the grandmother who would sit on a stool in the corner ?! And even then it was more the traditional head dress as opposed to religious.

That seemed to be a response to a feeling of alienation, and a show of pride in their heritage, rather than anything deeply religious or rebellious. It's what kids do in tense times - whatever their parents didn't :)

But then suddenly we had visual differences which of course the bigots got hold of and fed on, and it's been kind of a spiral ever since.

It's not only in western Europe by the way. In Turkey for example - those living in Istanbul are amazed at the amount of "Ninjas" (note - their words, not mine!) you see these days whereas 15 years ago you rarely even saw any head covering which was anything more than traditional.

I'll post this now cos I started but now I am even boring myself. LOL

Posted By: Steve in Holland, Feb 25, 12:30:34