Eid al-Adha Described as Barbaric in German and UK Media
Using inflammatory language, media platforms in Germany and the UK used the Islamic Eid al-Adha celebration to paint Muslims as barbaric. The coverage was biased and used hostile language towards Muslims.
From July 30th to August 3rd, Muslims around the world celebrated Eid al-Adha. This celebration, which follows the completion of the annual Hajj pilgrimage and falls on the tenth day of the final month of the Islamic Lunar Calendar is one of the biggest festivities of the year for Muslims. Part of Eid-ul-Adha is the act of Qurbani, which involves slaughtering an animal as a sacrifice, in a halal-friendly manner.
German blog PI-News, which actively promotes itself as anti-‘Islamisation’, wrote an article about the Eid al-Adha festival, stating: “The blood of countless cruelly tortured animals runs through the streets of Islamic countries. To the applause of the onlookers and with Allahu-Akbar-blubbering, mostly sheep, cattle or camels are literally massacred to death.” The PI-News article had significant reach, with over 39,000 interactions on Facebook.
The author takes time to paint a particularly gruesome image for the reader: “The animals are tied up and made defenceless, then, their throat is slit or the head is severed. Preferably, this happens with blunt knives that even prolong the torture. The smell of fresh blood and the panicky cries of pain of the animals seem to put the butchers into ecstasy. Children are also taught to torture and kill animals in this ritual.” The article also talks about Germany politician Heiko Maas, who wished Muslims a happy Eid al-Adha. According to the author, this is a sign of ignorance and weakness from the government, and will lead to supposed ‘Islamisation’: “as long as we have politicians who regard disgusting Islamic rituals as a reason for blessings, these bad habits will continue to spread in Germany - with the consequence that we will soon wade ankle-deep in blood lakes of maltreated animals on our streets during the time of Eid al-Adha.”
'Islamisation’ refers to the idea that “Muslims want to make Europe an Islamic society, through the imposition of Islamic legal structures, such as Shar’ia law, and Islamic social structures.” The term is often used when people object to the construction of a new mosque or open displays of Islam, such as the public prayer highlighted in this article. The term ‘Islamisation’ has an inherently negative connotation and has a strong conspiracy narrative
Germany was not the only country where such coverage of Eid al-Adha was found. In the UK, the Daily Mail published an article with the title “Muslims slaughter cattle, camels and sheep in bloody sacrifice to celebrate Eid al-Adha during scaled back festivities because of the coronavirus crisis.” The article, similarly to the PI-News piece, was extremely emotive and sensationalist. In a complaint to the Daily Mail, Get The Trolls Out partner Media Diversity Institute asked what made this a newsworthy event. Eid-ul-Adha happens every year, and the same rituals are always followed. It is comparable to Christmas, a religious festival celebrated by Christians during which every year over 2 million turkeys are killed. Yet, we do not see headlines accusing Christians of slaughtering turkeys in a bloody celebration every December.
The issue here is not necessarily the coverage of Eid al-Adha as an event. This is indeed a festival that happens every year and in which animal slaughter plays a big part. What is worrying is the manner of reporting. The usage of hostile language to paint Muslims as barbaric due to the Islamic custom of ritual slaughter is uncalled for and seem very targeted. We must ask: why is this event being covered in this manner? Looking at both PI-News and the Daily Mail, we can notice a pattern of anti-Muslim coverage into which these pieces neatly fit. These continual narratives and their negative stereotypical depictions of an entire societal group are what makes articles like this dangerous.
