Anti-Muslim sentiments shared in Belgium, France, Germany and Poland; the Great Replacement narrative published in Greek media outlet whilst religious leaders' voices are undermined in the UK.
In December’s media monitoring, we saw the Great Replacement narrative being published by a Greek media outlet, and a politician using the Great Replacement conspiracy narrative and anti-Muslim sentiments against the political left in Poland. In Belgium, a Flemish news platform published anti-Muslim content. In France, an author spread anti-Muslim tropes alongside a German TV channel which shared discriminatory, anti-Muslim statements. In the UK, a British tabloid used Christianity as a propaganda tool to undermine voices of religious leaders.
Greece – media outlet spreads Great Replacement narrative
NewsBreak, a Greek online news outlet, featured an anti-Muslim opinion piece spreading the Great Replacement conspiracy narrative that Islam will colonise Europe.
In this report, the writer and the linguistics expert, Dr Eleni Papadopoulou, circulated misinformation and lies, making severe accusations that European NGOs facilitated illegal immigration and brought millions of people from Africa and the Middle East only to access billions of euros. She said: ‘The E.U. has shown a special love for colonisation, depopulation, cultural destruction and ultimately the replacement of the peoples of Europe.’
Papadopoulou uses disrespectful language and refers to Islam and the Muslim communities as ‘contamination’ that ‘spreads everywhere and multiplies with the speed of light’. Such anti-Muslim rhetoric about immigration is dangerous not only because it incites hatred against the Muslim community, but because it also reveals the influence of far-right propaganda within the Greek media.
Poland – Politician accuses the political left of plotting the ‘de-Christianisation of Europe’
TVP – Polish state TV – broadcast an interview with the Polish Minister of Education and Science Przemyslaw Czarnek from which excerpts were taken and published (without any comment) on the website of Polskie Radio 24, the Polish national radio.
During the interview, the minister attacked the political left by spreading propaganda that if they win the next Polish general election, their political agenda would be the ‘de-Christianization of Europe’. He expressed the Great Replacement conspiracy narrative and the dangerous tropes that Christian roots are at risk of being replaced or destroyed through migration.
Czarnek said: ‘A non-Christian Europe will no longer be Europe we used to know. First, it will be a Europe of emptiness, and then it will be filled with other foreign civilisations such as the Muslim civilisation.’ Czarnek spread misinformation and lies and made false claims without presenting trustworthy sources to support his statements.
He dangerously claimed that in many places in Europe, ‘de-Christianization has been successful’, and that the media attacks priests and seminaries as part of the ‘program of de-Christianization'.
The politician used this sensationalist rhetoric to persuade Polish citizens to not vote for the opposition, claiming that only one religion is welcomed in Poland, that ‘there is no Polishness without Christianity’.
France – Houellebecq continues spreading anti-Muslim tropes in the media
At the end of November, the famous French author and novelist Michel Houellebecq gave an interview to the magazine "Front Populaire". In a 45-page interview, the author depicted Muslims as a threat to the security of non-Muslim French citizens. He said: ‘The wish of the native French population, as they say, is not for Muslims to assimilate, but for them to stop stealing and attacking them’.
The author continued his serious allegations that France's future is ‘Bataclan upside down’, implying that the Muslim community will be the victim of potential future attacks. He spreads the stereotypical narrative that France will suffer further terrorist attacks and shootings in mosques and cafés frequented by the Muslim community.
The author was condemned by the rector of the Paris Mosque, Chems-Eddine Hafiz, who denounced the incitement to hatred against Muslims and filed a formal complaint against him. However, the lawsuit was withdrawn and the rector is no longer suing Houellebecq firstly, as it proved difficult to qualify in front of a court and secondly, because he arranged to meet the author and they discussed how the interview was demonizing the Muslim community.
This is not the first time that the author has spread anti-Muslim sentiments. In 2001 he was prosecuted for incitement to hatred for declaring that: ‘The most stupid religion is still Islam.’
UK – Tabloid accuses Archbishop of Canterbury of being a ‘troll’ for criticising the Rwanda deportation scheme
On 21 December, the Daily Mail published the article titled: ‘Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby lectures MP for complaining about him 'preaching from the pulpit' as he trolls the Tories AGAIN over £140m Rwanda deportation policy for Channel migrants’.
Justin Welby is known for his inclusive views and fair treatment of migrants and asylum seekers in the UK. In a speech to the House of Lords, he asked for compassion and accused the government of immorality and cruelty. Last year, in his Easter sermon at Canterbury Cathedral, he explained that the Rwanda deportation policy is "the opposite of the nature of God".
The article spreads dangerous misinformation and lies, uses sensationalistic words such as "mocked" and "trolls", and uses the word “AGAIN” in upper case to convince the readers that the Archbishop of Canterbury does not give up on attacking the government. The writer uses a biased and anti-migrant journalistic angle and twists the archbishop's expressive words of inclusivity and humanity to portray him as someone who mocks Conservative politicians.
This report undermines the voices of religious leaders in political decisions. It uses Christianity as a propaganda tool and a 'reverse psychology' mechanism to convince audiences that the archbishop’s human rights and religious beliefs are a threat to British society.
Belgium – Flemish news platform publishes anti-Muslim article
In an article published on the popular news medium doorbraak.be, author Philippe Clerick discusses the use and wearing of the headscarf. Though the author seemingly agrees to the notion that the wearing of the headscarf should not be reduced to a single motivation, he is keen to reduce it to a singular symbolic meaning expressing a similar message as ‘white pride’ and leaves no room for it to be a matter of religious practice.
Similarly, “if a Muslim girl would choose the headscarf as a school uniform, that should be fine, though it would constitute a questionable degree of fanaticism”. Why such a girl would be a fanatic for covering her hair is not clear, but it points to the fact that there are few innocent motives for wearing the headscarf.
Narratives like these perpetuate the idea of religious enforcement and uphold anti-Muslim rhetoric surrounding the wearing of the headscarf. He also speculates that, if ‘there ever were to be a tolerant, liberal and western-integrated type of Islam, it would be one without many headscarves’.
This kind of reasoning repeats the typical stereotypes by depicting Islam as inherently intolerant, illiberal and hostile to Western culture. Additionally, it explains the prevalence of the headscarf by oppression through this alleged Islamic culture, as the counterfactual of a tolerant, liberal, western society would apparently remove the reasons to wear it.
Therefore, whilst Clerick does not reduce the practice of wearing the headscarf to a single motive, he is ready to explain an overwhelming majority of the cases to suspicious motives where stereotypes play a large role.
Germany – TV channel Welt mistakenly links Moroccan players’ religious gesture to ISIS
Following the Moroccan team win against Portugal at the Qatar World Cup 2022, German television channel Welt caused outrage and frustration following their Islamophobic and racist statement.
The TV presenter claimed that the three players from the Moroccan National Team who were captured in a photograph following their victory, were showing an IS salute. However, this statement was both false and Islamophobic as the symbol itself is one of religious significance which depicts a gesture of faith.
This statement caused a large backlash both nationally and internationally as TV Welt spread anti-Muslim narratives regarding the gesture with little to no knowledge of the meaning behind it.
Although it has been seen to be used by the IS, it nevertheless, remains a religious symbol used for many years by Muslims worldwide. As a result, TV channel Welt later came out and changed their statement.
