Islamophobia has been defined as 'fear or suspicion of Muslims and Islam and matters pertaining to them'. As such, Islamophobia is prejudice, intolerance and discrimination against Muslims and Islam.

Academicians have also defined Islamophobia as 'anti-Muslim or anti-Islamic racism' and as 'hostility towards Muslims and Islam'. It is evident that whatever definition is to be accepted, Islamophobia is an affront to the dignity and human rights of Muslims. It also represents an irrational attitude, based on unfounded fear, prejudice and hostility.

As the British Runnymede Trust had underlined in its well known report on Islamophobia, this phenomenon is an outlook or world view involving an unfounded dread or hatred of Islam and therefore fear and dislike of all Muslims. Islamophobia, according to the same report, also refers to the practice of discriminating against Muslims by excluding them from social, political and economic life.

It is evident that Islamophobia connotes to a social anxiety about Muslims and Islam, one of the three Abrahamic religions. Islamophobes, however, wrongly consider Islam as a political ideology rather than as a religion.

On the other hand, there are academicians, human rights activists and international organizations, like the OSCE itself, which prefer to use the term "intolerance and discrimination against Muslims", to underline the human rights angle of the problem.

The aim of the side event will be to look to this issue from a normative perspective, reviewing the existing international norms, relevant academic literature and legislation, with an objective of proposing a well-rounded definition to cover all aspects