German news blog revives Nazi ideology, anti-Muslim stories published in Belgium, Hungarian, Greek and British news and antisemitism in French and Polish Media.

In January’s media monitoring, we saw a German far-right news blog reviving Nazi ideology. Anti-Muslim articles were published on Belgium and Hungarian media outlets, criticising the Muslim headscarf and categorising Islam as an oppressive religion. We saw Islamophobic myths and stereotypes published in a British tabloid newspaper and in Greek media, and the normalisation of the concept of assimilation by Belgian media. Whilst a Polish TV channel and French TV show promoted antisemitic conspiracy narratives.

Germany – Neo-Nazi news blog seeks to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology

MZWNews is a German-language blog registered in the USA and founded by the white nationalist writer John De Nugent. MZWNews, whose name means “(Have) the courage to speak the truth,” publishes articles spreading antisemitic conspiracy narratives, Holocaust denial, glorifying Adolf Hitler and seeking to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology policies.

An article published in January defends the notorious Holocaust denier Ursula Haverbeck advocating for her freedom of expression and writing that “her opinion and her questioning of the Holocaust is the result of her intense study of official facts.” Another article claims that the concept of the New World Order (which is a conspiracy ideology alleging that a secret group of powerful individuals is striving to establish global control) was already planned by powerful Jewish people a century ago.

A journalistic investigation by the TV programme ZDF Frontal revealed their connection with the ‘Dresden Offline Network’, a Telegram group plotting the assassination of Saxony's Prime Minister, Michael Kretschmer.

Belgium – Flemish magazine Doorbraak suggests that there should be a hierarchy of human rights

The Flemish-language opinion website Doorbraak published an article which claims there should be a hierarchy of human rights and criticises the Muslim headscarf.

Published on 3 January 2022 and entitled “When everything becomes a human right, there will not be human rights,” the articles argues that freedom of religion limits general freedom because Islam is an oppressive religion.

The author shows a stereotypical view of the headscarf as a tool of control which limits the participation of Muslim women into public life. Furthermore, the author indicates that some rights (such as migration or family reunion), which are granted to Muslim migrants, negatively affect the freedom of “native Belgians”. This article is based on a discriminatory attitude to religion and nationality, and fails to see that, in order to have a democratic and cohesive society, all rights should apply to everyone.

Hungary – News outlet wrongly reports that German public broadcaster is encouraging women to wear the hijab

The pro-government news site Origo published an article claiming that the German public broadcaster is encouraging women to wear the hijab, causing outrage among the public.

Origo was referring specifically to a video by Datteltäter, a production company of young YouTubers, which was broadcast by ARD and ZDF public service channels. In the video, several women describe what their hijab means for them. However, Origo distorts this story and presents it as the German public service media actively prompting women to wear the headscarf.

In their piece, Origo also gave voice to a German politician who said that the headscarf “symbolises oppression in many countries.” While it is true some women are forced or pressured to wear the headscarf, it is also true that many more freely choose to wear it. The video by Datteltäter was striving to change the mainstream narratives surrounding Muslim and migrant communities, challenging exactly those stereotypes and Islamophobia that Origo is spreading. The story was taken from V4NA, a London-based, Hungarian news agency whose alarmist anti-Muslim content is often republished by state-owned media platforms in Hungary.

Poland – Far-right TV wRealu24 promotes antisemitic book accusing Judaism of being a Satanic religion

The Polish YouTube channel wRealu24 continues to spread extreme antisemitic content. On 8 January 2022, their TV programme was dedicated to the promotion of the antisemitic book, “The devil is your father”, printed by Tomasz Stala’s publishing house, 3DOM. In the episode, host Stanislaw Krajski, who is a former commentator on the Catholic-nationalist, Radio Maryja, accused Judaism of being a “Satanic religion”, claiming that “Jews are the slaves of greed.”

As a guest on the programme, Stala claimed that “the devil is their [the Jews’] father” and that some books of the Talmud are more racist than Hitler’s Mein Kampf. This episode of extreme, anti-Jewish hatred reached 100,000 views in just two weeks. wRealu24 was suspended from YouTube for a month, but since January, it became available again.

Tomasz Stala has published numerous antisemitic books and he started a court case against GTTO partner, NEVER AGAIN Association, for calling out the books as antisemitic.

UK – Tabloid ‘The Sun’ continues accusing asylum seekers of fake religious conversions

On 8 January 2022, the British tabloid The Sun reported on an asylum seeker, known as MM, who has been convicted of sexual assaults and is allegedly pretending to have converted to Christianity to avoid deportation.

The current law grants asylum seekers the right to stay in the UK, if they prove to be unable to live in their home country without fear of persecution. The inflammatory and sensationalistic language used by the tabloid reproduces stereotypes of Muslim men as sexual predators. The offender is labelled with the derogatory term ‘sex beast.’

The headline severely diminishes the complexity of the asylum request process and the conversion, by claiming that the whole court decision was based on MM’s tattoo of a cross. This article is one of many through which The Sun decries the ‘problem’ of asylum seekers’ ‘fake religious conversions.’ In previous reporting, The Sun also attacked the Church of England for granting conversions too easily, but research by the University of Oxford suggests that “most churches are rigorous in discerning who is ready for baptism” and that “it is decision-makers of the state who must decide whether a conversion is genuine or not.”

France – Journalist and conspiracy theorist invited to pay tribute to known antisemite on national TV

The French journalist and conspiracy theorist Richard Boutry was invited as a guest to Touche Pas à Mon Poste (TPMP), a TV show on the national C8 channel, on 11 January 2022.

Boutry paid tribute to the composer Stéphane Blet who died of suicide a few days before. Other than for his music, Blet was known for his antisemitic views and his closeness to other antisemites such as Alain Soral, Dieudonné M’bala M’bala. Blet also expressed his support to Hervé Ryssen when he was sentenced for Holocaust denial and antisemitic remarks.

During the show, Boutry said that he does not believe that Blet killed himself and implies that he could have been murdered. This is with what conspiratorial movements have been sharing online, asserting that Blet was killed by the Israeli national intelligence agency Mossad, Zionists and freemasons.

The fact that Boutry, who is a known conspiracist, was invited on national TV to pay tribute to an antisemite and to share antisemitic conspiracy narratives, legitimises anti-Jewish hatred and allows it to be spread to a large audience.

Belgium – Colonial concept of ‘assimilation’ normalised by media outlets

The Belgian daily regional newspaper, La Capitale, published an article about the recent statements by French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, on rapper Gims’ denied citizenship. Gims, who is a Congolese-born singer of Muslim faith, has been living in France since he was two years old.

On 1st January 2022, he asked his followers on Instagram to stop wishing him ‘happy new year’ because it’s not something that Muslims celebrate. Commenting on this, Darmanin said that the ministry would review Gims’ citizenship application, but that the rapper’s remarks on new year’s wishes “are not a good proof of assimilation to the French society.” La Capitale reported on this story by normalising the concept of ‘assimilation’.

As ENORB’s glossary states, ‘assimilation’ has roots in colonial endeavours and “is used in dog-whistle politics to scapegoat members of minority groups and hold them responsible for their own living conditions.” La Capitale, among other media outlets, shouldn’t uncritically use this term, but rather recognise its colonial connotations.

Greece – Media outlet blames ‘illegal mosques’ instead of neo-fascist group for anti-Muslim hate crime attack

On 23 January 2022, a homemade explosive device was detonated outside a makeshift mosque in central Athens, making material damage.

The Greek media outlet Pentapostagma reported on this terrorist attack using discriminatory language and framing, blaming “the issue of illegal mosques” rather than condemning the violent group that perpetrated the hate crime. One article, which claims that the mosques in Athens are a “social danger,” gives voice to both the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Greece and an anti-Muslim MP. However, a quote by the Muslim community is used in the headline in a way that decontextualises it and discredits it.

Another article, entitled “Muslims create climate with illegal mosques: They ask to open in every neighbourhood!” spreads lies about Muslims living in Athens, contributing to fuel fears and misunderstanding. Pentapostagma also fails to recognise the importance of having places of worship for the Muslim community, and that unlicensed mosques are the result of a non-inclusive public administration.