Anti-Muslim coverage of Afghanistan, Islamophobic reporting on crimes, Muslims blamed for low vaccination rates, anti-Muslim commentators platformed and antisemitic Covid-19 conspiracy theories.
In August’s media monitoring, we saw conspiracy theories, anti-Muslim stereotypes and unethical journalism coverage of Afghanistan in Greece, Germany and the UK. We saw Islamophobic reporting on a crime by Hungarian media, Muslims blamed for low-vaccination rates and stigmatising reporting of another crime in Belgium and an anti-Muslim commentator platformed by a Polish newsite. In France, a school teacher prosecuted for displaying an antisemitic placard at an anti-pass protest in France.
Greece – News Site Pushes Conspiracy Theories and Hateful Narratives Related to Afghanistan
Screenshot from News Break
Writing for the Greek right-leaning news site News Break, author Manolis Kotakis covered the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan this month.
Titling the piece “The Radical Islam”, Kotakis took this opportunity to push the narrative which claims that the Muslims and Islam are ‘taking over” the West: “Unfortunately due to Islam the West changed. Finally, [Islam] won strategically. Radical Islam will not be considered a terrorist threat in the West soon. It will be a recognized regime and of course a recognized ideology!”.
Instead of focussing on the difficulties of many Afghanis, News Break chose to platform unfounded claims and conspiracy theories. Further on in the piece, Katokis states: “The problem is that it has only just begun to win. Unfortunately, there will be other defeats for today's corrupt - mutated West. Most likely in a Europe full of lurking jihadist nuclei. Defeat in Afghanistan is unfortunately the defeat of an entire civilization by another, emerging ‘civilization’ that competes Chinese authoritarianism but is out of competition in recruiting believers around the world. It is already the first religion in the world. And as Archbishop Jerome said on Open TV in the winter and was attacked by domestic idiots accused of Islamophobia, Islam is ideologically emerging.”
Not only are these extremely hateful statements, but to normalise such conspiracies and present them as fact is dangerous.
Hungary – Origo Focusses on Religion of Perpetrators Instead of on the Crime Itself
Screenshot from Origo
On Hungarian-government-funded news site Origo an article was published this month titled: “In Canada, children were raped and run by a violent Muslim group”. The case focussed on a horrific incident of trafficking and rape which occurred in Alberta, Canada. Whilst outlining some of the details of the case, the author also seems very occupied with mentioning the supposed religion of the perpetrators several times.
The men involved are referred to as a “Muslim gang” several times, and halfway through the article the author states: “Muslim gangs raping children have been caught in several European countries in the past, hiding behind Koran quotations to justify their actions with Islamic teachings, and accusing those who refuse to accept their argument of Islamophobia.”
The reporting of this case is reminiscent to what we have monitored in the UK, where the term “Muslim grooming gangs” was used by several news outlets when discussing similar crimes. Reporting on crimes like this should focus on the victims and the steps taken to bring the perpetrators to justice; the religion of perpetrators plays no role in this case and thus should be the focus on an article like this.
It is interesting to note that the main source of the article is news agency V4NA, an agency about which Get The Trolls Out! partner CIJ recently supported a research report, published by 444.hu, that revealed how V4NA frequently uses manipulative news summaries. Several state-owned media platforms in Hungary regularly publish content from V4NA, which are either completely unedited or using elements of it in their own articles. You can read the full report here.
Belgium – Doorbraak Looks to Blame Muslims for Low Vaccination Rates
Screenshot from Doorbraak
Johan Sanctorum, an author who we have covered several times within the Get The Trolls Out! project, wrote an article this month for Doorbraak which focussed on Brussels’ relatively low vaccination rates.
The article, titled “Multicultural 'Wealth' and poor vaccination rates in Brussels”, frames Muslims as being the main ‘problem’ causing the low vaccination rates. Sanctorum presents Muslims in Brussels as being overly eager to benefit from social security, yet unwilling to vaccinate themselves because they don't identify with Belgian society, or they lack the empathy. In his opinion, the consequent low vaccination rate is a symbol of a failed integration/diversity policy.
Sanctorum also takes this opportunity to assert that Muslims in Belgium are pampered by the green coalition and getting too soft of a treatment, which links to a trend we have seen in the Belgian media in recent months. Blaming one group of people, especially when the group is one already often ostracised, for low vaccination rates is a dangerous precedent to set.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw in several countries that some media outlets blamed Muslims specifically for not abiding by regulations. Muslims were often used as a scapegoat, when in fact they were acting no different to other groups during the pandemic.
Speaking on the low vaccination rates in Brussels, Dominique Michel, chief executive officer of Comeos trade federation, said: “We find that various target groups are not or hardly reached through the regular channels of the government or the media.”
Instead of passing blame, the media should be looking at why vaccination rates are low in some areas, and what can be done to fix it.
Belgium – RTBF and DH Include Unnecessary Details Which Could Lead to Stigmatisation
Screenshot from RTBF
In August a 60-year-old priest, Rev. Olivier Maire, was tragically murdered in the Vendée region in western France.
The suspect, 40-year-old Emmanuel Abayisenga, turned himself in for the crime. Abayisenga, a Rwandan national, was reportedly given shelter by the priest after his asylum application was rejected in 2019.
The case was reported on in news outlets in several countries, but the way some outlets in Belgium chose to cover the case was worrying. Both RTBF and DH included in their reporting the question whether Abayisenga was an Islamic terrorist. This is odd, as the authorities early on signalled that they were not treating the incident as terrorism related.
If we compare this with coverage from Deutsche Welle and The New York Times, we see that both these platforms did not mention Islamic terrorism, as this was not relevant to the case. Journalists should stick to the facts of a case and not include assumptions which could lead to further stigmatization of minority groups.
UK – BBC Radio 4 Provides Inadequate Context and Counter-Argument on Afghanistan Conflict Claims
Screenshot from BBC
On August 22nd, BBC Radio 4 invited Khola Hasan, a member of the UK Islamic Sharia Council, as a guest on the show discussing the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan.
Hasan claimed that many British Muslims were pleased with the Taliban’s return to power: “Every single person that I know, as a Muslim, [is] celebrating and saying, give them a chance.” Hasan also claimed that the Taliban has “grown up”, and that its promises to protect women’s rights were “a good start”. She added: “They have been ruled by foreigners for 40 years, let the people of Afghanistan rule their own country and determine their own fate for a change.”
Whilst it is good journalistic practice to platform different perspectives on an issue, many Muslims in Britain felt that they were misrepresented by Hasan’s claim, especially since their statement was aired without much counter-argument.
Writing for the Daily Mail, Provost of the Oxford Institute for British Islam Dr Taj Hargey explained: “Even as she [Khola Hasan] was speaking, thousands of Afghans were trying to escape the country. People were being trampled to death in the stampede for places on flights out of Kabul airport. For Ms Hasan to proclaim that Muslims in the UK are united in welcoming this seizure of power by religious zealots, and the resulting chaos, is both obscene and an affront to the British Muslim community. It is insulting, a travesty and a sign of just how pitifully ignorant she is. But for the BBC to give her a platform to air her doctrinal falsehoods, without then demolishing them with the real facts, is unforgivable.”
Germany – Journalisten Watch Uses Xenophobia and Anti-Muslim Stereotypes in Afghanistan Coverage
Screenshot from Journalisten Watch
News blog Journalisten Watch published several alarming pieces as the situation in Afghanistan developed. In an article published on August 17th titled: "Drunk on humanity and blind: 2015 will be repeated and no one considers the results for Germany”, the author claims that Afghani refugees are “too young, too undemocratic and won't be integrable culturally and mentally” and continues by saying that the consequences for Germany for admitting refugees will be "Islamisation and that millions of orthodox Muslims will find a home in Germany”.
In a similar vein, on August 15th Journalisted Watch released an article in which the author states: “because more and more refugees will come to Germany, the number of rapists and Islamic terrorists will rise too”.
Both these articles rely on far-right stereotypes and narratives about refugees and migrants, specifically those with a Muslim background. The articles supply little evidence to support their alarmist claims, and instead just feed into dangerous tropes.
READ MORE: How the Media in Germany and the UK Covered the Afghanistan Crisis
France – Anti-Health Protests Use the Antisemitic Slogan “Qui” (Who)
On 7 August, Cassandre Fristot, teacher and former member of the far-right National Rally party, marched during an anti-pass demonstration in the eastern town of Metz waving a placard with the words “Mais qui?” (But who?).
The sign included two diabolic horns drawn, followed by a list of French and international Jewish public figures and the insult “traitors!”. Fristot was suspended from her job and put under investigation.
The question “But who?” was a reference to an CNEWS interview with retired army general Daniel Delawarde in June during which he hinted that a specific group controls the media. When the journalist asked him who he was referring to, he answered “the community you know well”.
Without saying it explicitly, the former general accused Jewish people of dominating the media sector - a common antisemitic conspiracy narrative. Cassandre Fristot has not been the only one to use the slogan “qui?”.
Before and after her case was picked up by the media, banners displaying the same antisemitic question had appeared on the Saturday marches against the health pass in France. Similarly, on social media this slogan is shared in posts with antisemitic conspiracy narratives claiming that the pandemic and vaccines have been devised by a Jewish elite for profit and population control.
Poland – wPolityce.pl Presents Anti-Muslim Commentator Zemmour as “a Light in the Tunnel”
Screenshot from wPolityce.pl
wPolityce.pl, a popular right-wing website connected with the Polish ruling party, has published an article presenting French commentator Eric Zemmour as the ideal far-right candidate for next year’s presidential elections.
Zemmour, a regular guest on CNEWS, is well known for his racist anti-Muslim rants for which he has been convicted twice. Extensively relying on commentary by Jacques Bompard, mayor of the city of Orange and founder of the far-right party League of the South, and Nadine Morano, MEP for the centre-right The Republicans and Zemmour’s friend, wPolityce describes Zemmour as “a light in the tunnel. Fresh, unused, popular. Faithful to the values of the supporters of the right-wing identity”. The French commentator is said to be “better than Marine Le Pen” because she has “softened her message in recent years” and “betrayed” her ideals.
The article mentions the 10,000-euro sentence Zemmour received for inciting hatred, and says that “mainstream media has long portrayed him as a woman-hating racist and an Islamophobe”.
However, the journalist brushes over his deeply racist and anti-Muslim comments to say that he “has unquestionable advantages”. Overall, the article is an endorsement of his potential candidacy as presidential runner.
