‘Citizenship Means Belonging’: Arabic-Speaking Europeans

Abstract

Arabic speakers in Europe are aware of their varied allegiances — as Arabs, as children of the ‘bled’¹ (the Arab countryside), or ‘watan’² (homeland or place of birth), and as citizens of European nations. One young German woman said: ‘Citizenship means belonging’. In times of dark tribalism and anti-Islamic nativism, allegiances are difficult to reconcile. As nations impose tests making it more difficult for Arab migrants to become citizens, Arabic speakers struggle to clarify what it means to belong. In this chapter, focus group participants talk of their experience as Arabic speakers in Europe, of their understanding of their political and cultural role in society. They long to belong but feel that as Arabs and Muslims they are excluded. They believe that the mediated landscape of Europe ignores them, except in so far as they confirm stereotypes of veiled women or terrorists. The interaction between institutions and political power that frames life as a European is, however, of great importance to the group. Many reveal a high degree of civic literacy and talk coherently and rationally about the tensions they face.