Those who evaluate the European states often focus on the period from the French Revolution to the present day, unable to fully grasp or move beyond the magical atmosphere of that era.
How can it be otherwise? For nearly 300 years, everything spoken in the world in the field of political science, developments in the field of technology, communication or information technologies has been preached and transmitted to the world by the West, and other people could do nothing but accept it.
Therefore, I believe few dare to question, let alone criticize, the extent to which the information disseminated by the West is factual, scientific, truthful, propagandistic or fabricated.
If we review the formation of Western thought in three stages, perhaps we can understand why Westerners today fear fascism so much.
First, regarding the ancient Greek civilization that inspired the spirit of Western thought, we primarily know its philosophy, philosophers, artists and the people who lived within the city-state. However, there existed a distinct legal divide between those inside and outside the city-state, with those living outside being treated as half animals, half slaves. In ancient Greece, the legal distinction between those within and outside the city-state was highly emphasized. Thousands of years later, this dichotomy has persisted in the perspective of Europeans and Westerners, maintaining a separation between "insiders" and "outsiders."
In ancient Greece, life was divided between those within the city-state and outsiders, akin to the distinction between Romans and barbarians in Rome. In fact, these barbarians became the new version of the other, excluded, slave-criticized outsiders in ancient Greece.
Christianity introduced a new perspective to these two excluded and contradictory perspectives. As widely recognized, Christianity is a religion fraught with complex theological questions. Particularly contentious are debates surrounding the Trinity and whether Jesus Christ is regarded as God or a prophet.
Adding to this theological dilemma is the belief among Christians that their prophets were persecuted and killed by the Jews, which has historically been central to the issue of anti-Semitism in the West. Since Western Christianity in the Middle Ages did not deal much with other religions, they lived in close contact with the Jews, and the attitude toward the Jews in the West, in medieval Europe, was the same as the attitude toward the barbarians in Rome and toward the outsiders in ancient Greece.
A racist, marginalizing, antagonizing language was constantly used against Jews, and Jews were believed to be half-animal, half-human who lived in society and from whom all material and spiritual evils originated.
In fact, the foundation of Western racism can be traced back to anti-Semitism. Throughout the Middle Ages, there were widespread expulsions and massacres of Jews in various Western cities, starting from Rome, all perpetrated by Christians in one form or another.
One notable achievement of Western civilization is its skillful emphasis on Adolf Hitler's massacre of the Jews, which, while widely acknowledged, has raised questions about its historical accuracy. This narrative has been used to overshadow the longstanding anti-Semitism dating back to the Middle Ages and Roman periods, thereby obscuring the historical hostility of Christians toward Jews.
In essence, Western states do not have any good intentions toward either Jews or Muslims because of the marginalizing, exclusionary, self-centered approach we have mentioned above. They do not accept Islam as a divine religion, and they see Judaism as the religion of the folks who killed their prophets.
Therefore, throughout the Middle Ages and until World War II, Western nations wasted many years conducting racial and religious wars among themselves. The magical definition of "the West" that we have today actually gained such meaning between 1950 and the September 11 attacks, when democracy, human rights and Western prosperity came to the fore. With liberal, neoliberal values and especially with the influence of the left, the West enjoyed an era of bliss.
Now, the mental structure in the genetics, the roots and the roust of the West have come to the fore again with the European Parliament elections. Racism or fascism may not seem like a great danger to average Muslim minds or to people who do not live in the West or do not know the Western Paradigm. Just as this approach emerged in the case of Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini, this fear is still alive in the West.
The European Parliament elections have deeply affected Western states and intellectuals. We, as Muslims from Türkiye looking at the West, are trying to understand the issue. We are trying to recognize what is happening in the West through the definitions of global hegemony. Are the people there social democrats or Christian democrats or radical fascists or Nazis?
But we must recognize that the West is worried about its history, origins, and intellectual heritage, and this anxiety will continue to haunt them. There is a poem by the Greek poet Constantino Kavafis, “The City." The verses below are exactly for today's West.
"You said, "I will go to another land, I will go to another sea.
Another city shall be found better than this.”
(...)
The city still shall follow you.
(...)
