A/HRC/9/12 page 10 women having their hijab, or headscarf, forcibly removed in public places. The Special Rapporteur also drew attention to the increasing number of cases of physical and verbal aggression directed at Muslims. He pointed out that airports remain a focus for individual acts of Islamophobia by passengers and sometimes by crew members, as well as for institutional discrimination on the part of security and immigration officials. 25. The Special Rapporteur also noted with disquiet the collective manifestations of discrimination and intolerance towards Islam, particularly as regards its outward signs. These manifestations are accompanied by an intolerant secularist rhetoric leading to still greater discrimination against Muslims. This powerful trend is particularly marked in relation to the construction of mosques: systematic opposition to the building of mosques and minarets is the most symbolic expression of Islamophobia in terms of the denial of religious freedom in two of its most basic aspects - the visibility of religious practice and the availability of a place of worship. A recent example is the demolition in May 2008 of a mosque in the town of Verona (Italy) following a systematic campaign by a number of leaders of the Northern league, a major political component of the current coalition Government in Italy. The projected referendum on the banning of minarets by a party that is a long-time member of the Government coalition in Switzerland is part of the same current of intolerance and xenophobia. Legal harassment against the construction of mosques or minarets illustrates the crucial nature of this question in the programme of many political parties, particularly those of nationalist and extreme-right persuasion. 26. Throughout his term of office, the Special Rapporteur has emphasized that the place to be accorded to Islam represents a key issue in the construction of the new European identity, as illustrated during the preparation of the draft European Constitution by the proposal - ultimately rejected - that it should include an explicit reference to Europe’s Christian roots. A similar line of thought lies behind the arguments of those opposed to Turkey’s membership of the European Union, with periodic contributions from certain members of Europe’s political and intellectual elites. The Special Rapporteur notes in this connection that the question that is overlooked in the debate on the construction of Europe, largely focused on its political and economic dimensions, is that of the reconstruction of a multicultural identity in the new Europe. 27. The central issues at stake in the manifestations and expressions of Islamophobia are freedom of religious belief and incitement to racial and religious hatred. In its most sophisticated expressions, particularly its ideological justification and theoretical formulation, Islamophobia links these two issues. The challenge to the principle of freedom of religious belief as it relates to Islam, particularly its outward signs and expression, is reflected in a deliberate strategy of incitement to racial and religious hatred. Its legitimization is centred on the “defence” of two particularly sensitive topics - national identity and security. Its rhetorical concepts serve as the basis for intellectual constructions and are exploited in political platforms and nurture media images: suspicion of the believer as backward-looking, irrational and non-modern; association of Islam with violence and terrorism, particularly since 11 September 2001; identification of multiculturalism and immigration as threats to national, ethnic, cultural and religious identity. Its psychological springs are fear, immurement and rejection. The two key issues ultimately at stake here relate to the fundamental freedoms defined and elaborated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in particular articles 18, 19 and 20.