Traveling around Western Europe for a month, I often felt that I was walking around an Arab city. Arabic, usually North African dialect, can frequently be heard on the streets of Paris.

[The Great Mosque of Paris.]

A veiled woman in a Barcelona market does not seem out of place, but a natural fit among the fruits on sale. Islam feels a part of the fabric in a way that is eluded in the United States. Islam no longer feels like something foreign in Europe, but as something that fits, nay should, be there. I remember visited the Great Mosque of Paris and thinking that this Mosque is not insulated from the rest of French society, it is hard to put the feeling into words but the Mosque just felt at home.

It is ironic that a Mosque feels more welcomed in Europe, from my perspective, than in the United States. Europe’s Muslim are the underclass whom often suffer discrimination in employment and condescension. American Muslims, in contrast, are a professional group of middle-class and upper-class households. The average American Muslim is more educated and more wealthy than most other Americans. But still many American Muslims, no matter their material success, feel alienated from a society that mostly holds prejudice views towards Muslims and especially Arab Muslims. Islamophobia, and especially bigoted remarks against Arabs, is a tolerated bigotry in the United States. John McCain’s response to a hateful woman that Obama is “an Arab,” was met not with a condemnation of such a view that being an Arab is something nefarious but that Obama couldn’t possibly be because he’s “a decent family man.” No one in the media raised objections as well. One would think that Islam in America would be more naturally placed given the great assimilation of American Muslims, but, alas, that is not the case.

[The Great Mosque of Paris.]

There are a lot of reasons for this. Primarily, I would rank widespread American embrace of Zionism as the main culprit behind prejudiced views of Arabs and Muslims.

American ignorance about Islam is another major factor. In Europe while visiting a museum of Arab-Islamic culture, which is funded by the French government, I noticed students being guided and being taught about the Prophet Muhammad [saw] and the Qur’an. Later that same day, when visiting the Great Mosque I saw another class of student being guided through the Mosque. I thought then: when do you see students being taught about Islam like this? The only time Americans are “educated” about Islam is when some fanatical Muslim engaging in terrorism thereby linking Islam and violence in the public’s mind. Unlike the French, Americans seem not to care about educating people about Islam in all time not just when Bin Ladin makes the news.

[Institut Du Monde Arabe. Paris.]

The French are taught about Islam that breads connectivity between people, Americas are not.

President Obama, though, is doing his part.