Selective Islamophobia: Why “Jihad” Is a Fear in Europe but a Paycheck in the Gulf

 One of the ugliest comments under the German housing discrimination case didn’t come from a European nationalist. It came from an Indian user asking, “Who is responsible when she carries out a jihadist attack?”

A Pakistani woman applying for an apartment was instantly recast as a future terrorist. No evidence. No history. Just a name and a religion.

Now here’s the part no one wants to say out loud.

If Islam itself is the threat.

If Muslim identity automatically triggers fears of “jihad.”

Then why is the Middle East one of the largest employers of Indian workers?

Millions of Indians live and work in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman. They build cities, run hospitals, write code, fly planes, manage banks. These societies are not just Muslim-majority. They are where Islam originated and where its most conservative interpretations exist.

And yet, suddenly, Islam becomes an existential danger only when a Muslim woman applies for a flat in Germany.

That contradiction isn’t accidental. It’s convenient.

In the Gulf, Islam is tolerated because it pays.

In Europe, Islam is feared because it competes.

This isn’t about theology. It’s about where power flows.

When Indian workers migrate to Muslim countries for oil money, remittances, and opportunity, Islam is quietly ignored. When Muslim migrants seek dignity, housing, and legal protection in Europe, Islam is reframed as a security threat.

That’s not principled concern. That’s selective panic.

If someone genuinely believes Islam equals violence, consistency demands they boycott Muslim societies altogether. No Gulf jobs. No Middle East contracts. No silence when billions flow from Islamic states into global markets.

But no one does that. Because deep down, they know the truth.

Islam isn’t the problem.

Migration isn’t the problem.

A Pakistani woman renting a flat isn’t the problem.

The problem is this:

Europe is the first place where discrimination is being legally named, challenged, and punished.

And for people who were comfortable with quiet exclusion, that feels like an attack.

So they reach for the oldest weapon in the book.

Fear.

Wrapped in the word jihad.

That’s the real story hiding in those comments.