Anti-Muslim content published in Greece, Hungary, Britain, Belgium and France whilst antisemetic conspiracies published in Poland and Germany
In August’s media monitoring, we saw a Greek newspaper making Islamophobic criticism about erosion of culture, a French feminist identiarian group and a Hungarian news-site spread anti-Muslim topes, a Belgium blog advocated for the ridiculing of religion in order to counter terrorism, a Polish, state-funded media outlet and a German populist blog promoted antisemitic conspiracy narratives, a British tabloid newspaper used Salman Rushdie’s attack to spread Islamophobic tropes whilst Belgian newspapers also responded with Islamophobic content.
Greece – Conservative newspaper links choice on religious education classes to erosion of culture
Dimokratia, a Greek conservative newspaper, published an article about the decision of the Hellenic Data Protection Authority to let Greek students abstain from the religious education class for reasons of conscience. In the Greek school system, religious education is compulsory and covers all faiths, but from a Christian Orthodox angle.
The newspaper characterises this decision as a political act and claims it contradicts article 16.2 of the Greek constitution regarding the role of education in forming people’s religious consciousness.
In addition, the article poses the sarcastic question of whether or not students’ religious consciousness is affected by the state’s attempt to teach ‘decadent theories of gender identities’.
The article uses an emotional tone noting that Greece’s religious stripping is a national suicide due to the expansion of Islam and the ‘Turkish threat’. Such claims try to evoke people’s patriotic sentiment by connecting patriotism to religion which could lead to Islamophobic attacks and anti-Muslim attitudes among the student community in Greece.
France - Identitarian feminist group Nemesis spreads anti-Muslim video on Instagram
On 11th August, the French feminist identitarian group Nemesis reposted on Instagram a viral anti-Muslim video from 2020 which spreads the stereotypical myth that non-European men are 'sexual predators’.
This video, which could be described as propagandistic, is part of a social experiment created during ’Skirt Awareness Day’ which has been celebrated since 6th June 2020. The video shows a group of girls wearing skirts in several neighbourhoods in the north of Paris. The idea of this post was to prove the point that white European women are a target of sexual harassment by non-white and non-Christian men.
Nemesis is known for raising awareness against misogyny and for women victims of sexual assault. Although this organisation defends feminist causes, this specific video is fuelled with misinformation and lies.
According to the National Observatory of Violence against Women, most crimes against women were committed by their partners or ex-partners. The Observatory's statistics for 2020 show that the number of male perpetrators that have French citizenship is much larger than those who do not.
These numbers and their analysis reveal that Nemesis uses violence against women to spread anti-Muslim hate and misinform its followers. The identitarian group’s allegations contribute to ongoing racist profiling within French institutions, which stereotypically targets black Muslim men as primary criminal suspects.
Belgium – Opinion site advocates for ridiculing religion to counter terrorism
Doorbraak, a Flemish news and opinion website, published an article urging people to mock religion more and suggested the inclusion of Prophet Mohammed cartoons in the schools’ teaching curriculum.
The opinion piece, which is titled ‘Everybody (a little) Rushdie’, claims that novelist Salman Rushdie, the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists, and the French teacher Samuel Paty should not be isolated examples of individuals who attack religious doctrines.
Rushdie, who has received death threats and murder attempts after the publication of his novel The Satanic Verses in 1988, survived a knife attack at an arts festival in August. In order to counter Islamic terrorism, the columnist Johan Sanctorum argues that ‘countless Rushdies must rise’. In what amounts to a national campaign of ridicule towards Islam, he recommends, among other things, normalizing and trivializing Mohammed cartoons.
The Doorbraak columnist also falsely claimed that the terrorist assault on Rushdie is partly due to ‘our doctrine of diversity and anti-discrimination’.
Questioning and challenging religious dogmas is part of a healthy democracy which values freedom of speech and freedom of belief. However, it is equally important that peoples are not stigmatised for their identities and beliefs.
As the Mohammed cartoons are often seen by Muslims as an expression of European hostility towards them and remain grave insults for which there are few Western parallels, such cartoons would increase societal tension, not solve it.
Poland – State-funded far-right outlet promotes antisemitic conspiracy narratives
Government-financed Media Narodowe, a radical nationalist YouTube channel run by Robert Bakiewicz, leader of The Independence March Association in Poland, is known for promoting antisemitic content.
During an interview, Bakiewicz, argued that Jews ‘are bending historical facts [and] are building a certain cult around [the Holocaust]’ while extorting financial gains through historical propaganda.
In another video, the outlet hosted Wojciech Sumliński, co-author of the book ‘Return to Jedwabne’, which denies Poland’s responsibility for the Jedwabne pogrom in 1941 and accuses Israel of promoting distorted facts regarding Poland’s role during the Holocaust.
He also accused the Polish media of ‘being infiltrated by Jews’ and supported a conspiracy narrative which claims that Jews are lying about Polish Nazism and the existence of a western German Fourth Reich.
In his denial of well documented facts, the author manifests a version of history which he perceives as patriotism.
UK – British tabloid uses Salman Rushdie’s attack to spread anti-Muslim tropes
On 17 August, the Daily Mail published an opinion article which claimed that those who might have previously argued for Salman Rushdie's 'cancellation' due to his ideas, stood in support of him and of free speech following his attack.
However, the author ends up using anti-Muslim tropes in support of their argument: ‘I think it is no exaggeration to say that, because of the presence of Islamist militancy, we now have a de facto blasphemy law in this country.’
The article uses the media coverage of Salman Rushdie's attack, fuelled with stereotypical tropes and personal victimisation narratives, to attack diversity, equality and inclusion.
This sensationalistic piece is dangerous not only for using manipulative language such as “barbarous”, “woke censorship” and stereotypically framing Muslims as "murderers”.
Promoting anti-religious ideologies is not freedom of speech. It is a discriminatory weapon that undermines the Muslim community's equality rights, segregates their religious beliefs, and contributes to hate speech narratives.
Belgium – Francophone media share Islamophobic content following Salman Rushdie’s attack
Francophone Belgian media showcased an increased use of Islamophobic narratives and anti-Muslim content following Salman Rushdie’s attack.
Newspapers such as Le Soir and Marianne published articles which evoke negative depictions of Islam and could lead to anti-Muslim attitudes.
Marianne specifically compared Rushdie’s attack to two murders that took place in 1989 at Belgium’s Grand Mosque. Such comparisons elicit negative notions about Islam as they depict it as a religion of violence.
On the other hand, Le Soir focuses on the concept of ‘Fatwa’, a legal ruling in Islamic Law. Le Soir published two interviews, with Richard Malka, a lawyer working for Charlie Hebdo and with Boualem Sansal, an Algerian writer.
Both interviews focus on Islam’s ‘violent nature’ and on cultural incompatibility with western societies. Similar to the article on Marianne, such characterisations could provoke anti-Muslim attitudes within society and lead to exclusion of worshipers.
Germany – Populist blog shares antisemitic conspiracy narratives
Journalistenwatch, often described as a right-wing populist blog, published an article on 7th August by Nicole Höchst, a German MP and member of the far right AfD, with the title: ‘Highly explosive: mind control and opinion control within the meaning of the UN’.
The article uses antisemitic dog whistles and disinformation about the United Nations’ attempt to stop the spread of conspiracy narratives. Höchst uses the old stereotype of Jewish media dominance. She misuses the UN's alarming concerns about the problematic growth of antisemitic conspiracy narrative viral hashtags such as: #greatreset, #greattransformation, and #newworldorder to spread the false myth that the Jews are greedy millionaires that control the world and the media.
The politician also downplays the definition of conspiracy narrative and spreads derogatory statements that distort its meaning. Using the victim-abuser reversal rhetoric, she accuses German media of being funded by external donors, such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is central to certain conspiracy narratives.
The article falsely misuses the UN’s conspiracy theory awareness campaign by using antisemitic dog whistles which can incite fear, anxiety and mistrust within the society.
Hungary – News website spreads Islamophobic tropes about European parliament youth video
On 6th September, the pro-Government Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet, published an article about a video by the European Parliament with the title ‘Brussels openly promotes Islamism + video’.
Magyar Nemzet cites V4NA, a press agency known for sensationalism and mis/disinformation, in order to accuse the European Parliament of promoting Islamism within the EU.
The image and video in question depict Muslims and Muslim organisations within the EU. According to the article’s author, such visuals promote extreme Islamism and support organisations that have been accused of being close to the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamist social movement and political party.
The article mentions FEMYSO’s support for the headscarf indicating that such religious practices are not compatible with Western ideals. In order to make its point stronger, the newspaper cites another video by the European Parliament which shows a headscarf-wearing girl who talks about the future of Europe.
The way Magyar Nemzet frames the videos promotes Islamophobic tropes and anti-Muslim propaganda as it directly and indirectly targets Muslim organisations and individuals.
