We know that there is a great nationalist movement going on in Europe and we know that fear of Muslims helps to fuel it. However, the backstory with Muslims in Europe is much deeper than we might think. Here is one such example of this. During World War One, Muslims fought alongside the British. You can read The Guardian story below to get a sense of that. However this is not the end of even Muslim involvement in WWI, as Muslims also fought alongside the French, right on the horrible Western Front, a bloodbath. Yes France was an empire too and they conscripted soldiers from their colonies to fight in WWI. There is a compound in the center of Paris that commemorates these Muslims - 'The Grande Mosquée de Paris'. See picture below.
When people in the USA talk about their great fear of Muslims, just remember, the world as it is now, how America is so highly perched globally, and how the US came out of World War One so strategically, part of that victory came on the blood and backs of just under 1 million Muslims who fought alongside the British, French, and Americans in WWI.
Guardian UK: The Muslims who fought for Britain in the first world war - Presentation at Living Islam festival points up role of 400,000 from pre-partition India who fought on Britain's side
The experience of 400,000 Muslim soldiers who fought for Britain is one of the war's least-known stories, according to research released on Saturday, as leading Muslim civic groups involved in a major festival bringing together their communities this week set out why they will be taking part in the centenary as a moment of national reflection and shared commemoration.
Only 2% of people are aware that this force from an undivided India – present-day Pakistan, India and Bangladesh – fought and died alongside British troops, according to an ICM survey released by the thinktank British Future to coincide with the Living Islam event.
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