Pakistani ‘Ghettos’, Stereotyping Muslim Women, And Colonising France To ‘Save It’ From Muslims
Our monthly round-up is an overview of the most significant results of our monitoring of traditional and new media in Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, and the United Kingdom. In July we saw cases of biased and inflammatory reporting as well as hateful tropes being spread by major news outlets.
UK – Inflammatory Headline Blaming Pakistani “ghettos” for a Rise in Coronavirus Cases
Right-wing news outlet Politicalite published an article on July 16th titled: “CORONA CLUSTER: Over-Populated Pakistani Ghettos in Lancashire See HUGE Rise In Corona Cases." A few days later, the outlet ran essentially the same story with a similarly inflammatory headline: “REVEALED: UK’s Immigrant Ghettos Suffer HUGE SPIKES in Coronavirus Cases.” The articles are in relation to a spike of coronavirus cases in the English city of Leicester. Instead of focusing on the newsworthy elements around this case, Politicalite took the opportunity to brand Pakistani neighbourhoods as “ghettos” and solely blaming the rise in cases on Pakistani immigrants.
Hungary - News Site uses only Right-Wing Sources to make Xenophobic and Racist Claims
Local Hungarian newspaper BAON (Bács-Kiskun megyei hírportál) published an article, originally from news source V4NA, filled with xenophobic and racist tropes, claiming that women get raped by immigrants and that society is turning a blind eye to it. Sources used in the article include the American far-right, anti-Muslim thinktank Gatestone Institute, Russia Today and an American far-right blog. Collectively, the different sources and stories present a narrative of Muslims having free reign over women in the European Union. The article ends with a quote from Unni Wikan, a University of Oslo social anthropology professor saying in 2001: "Norwegian women must take their share of responsibility for these rapes [...] Norwegian women must realize that we live in a Multicultural society and adapt themselves to it.” The issue with this article is the complete lack of balance in sources and the reliance on hateful tropes and narratives. Rape is a serious issue that should be covered and investigated by the media; however, it must be done in a fair and balanced manner and not used as a vehicle for xenophobia, anti-Muslim hate and racism.
France - Alain Soral Posts Picture with Nazi Paraphernalia on Twitter
In July, controversial author Alain Soral’s YouTube channels were closed due to repeated infringements to the community standards and rules. His channels were removed from YouTube because the content was found to be inciting hatred. In response to his critics, Soral posted an image of himself on Twitter holding a mug with the words “Der Fuhrer” on it along with a Nazi symbol. With the image Soral tweeted: “To all my critics, champagne!”, in an apparent snub to his critics and to make light of the sanctions he had been confronted with. Despite the obviously hateful and antisemitic origins of the Nazi symbol the tweet is still available online; the content only being blocked in certain countries. The tweet has amassed over 1,700 likes and 650 retweets.
France – TV Channel CNEWS Claims Colonization of Algeria was Necessary to ‘Save’ the Country from Muslims
An episode on TV talk show CNEWS broadcasted on July 16th explored the question: “Does France have to apologize for its past?” On the show, journalist Véronique Jacquier talked about the past French colonization of Algeria, stating: “France colonized Algeria in order to stop the Berber/Barbary pirates and the slavery in Mediterranea organized at this time by the Muslims", ending with: "In 1830, Algeria was nothing". This is a clear attempt to rewrite French and Algerian history, presenting France as the hero ‘saving’ Algeria from Muslims and helping the country build to what it is today. Not only is this extremely offensive towards Algerians, but it uses colonial revisionism to spread anti-Muslim tropes and narratives, painting Muslims as the ‘traditional enemy’. This narrative is becoming more common in French far-right circles, with many claiming that France ‘saved’ many countries from Muslims through colonisation.
Greece - Andreas Andrianopoulos Repeatedly Given Platform to Spread Anti-Muslim Rhetoric
Andreas Andrianopoulos, who we have highlighted in the past for his anti-Muslim rhetoric, was again given a platform twice in July on popular Greek site in.gr to spread his dangerous ideas. The first article, titled “The force of Islamic rebirth is growing. Imperialism is obvious” referred to Islam as “aggressive” and talked about an apparent threat to Christianity, a claim echoed in his second article as well. The article was written in response to the decision in Turkey to turn Saint Sophia's church in Istanbul from a museum to mosque. Saint Sofia has great symbolic value for Greeks and Christian-Orthodoxy's as it represents the past of a Christian empire (Byzantium), with which Greeks are strongly emotionally affiliated. This was a big topic of discussion in many countries in July, and the media is an appropriate place for this discussion to take place. However, using this newsworthy event to spread theories of an Islamic ‘takeover’ and talk about Muslim birth-rates is not constructive and only furthers anti-Muslim tropes.
Belgium – Two Platforms Publish Content from Same Author Stereotyping Muslim Women
Two separate articles, appearing in Le Vif and La Libre, both written by Collectif Laïcité Yallah used strong stereotypes against Muslim women when talking about religious freedom and the headscarf. The articles were in response to a ruling earlier in the month of July about religious symbols in colleges. The author appears to use sarcasm to make their points, stating in La Libre: “Ah the Islamic veil, again! Is it a coincidence that the most virulent reactions came from young veiled women ready to sacrifice their future to escape the pedagogical demands of their teaching? In an incredible reversal of history and in an elusive process of reversing values, these young women present the veil as a marker of their identity and education as a foil.” The article continues by strongly condemning the arguments of islamophobia as a form of racism, and of the veil as a free and apolitical choice. The main issue with both articles is that the author is talking about Muslim women and their alleged oppression and victimisation without them being asked nor involved.
Belgium – Newspaper Presents One-Sided Argument on Removal of Twitter Accounts
Mainstream Flemish newspaper De Morgen published an article on July 12th about Twitter’s removal of over 50 accounts on the grounds of hate speech. The title reads: “Twitter blocks over 50 extremist accounts, including Schild & Vrienden.” The journalists already highlights in the title how one of the accounts that has been removed is that of Schild & Vrienden, a far-right activity group led by Dries van Langenhove - MP of the Belgian parliament. The journalist also directly includes van Langenhove’s opinion on the matter, who is quoted as saying: “Today it’s Schild & Vrienden, tomorrow is the next, until everyone with a migration-critical opinion is silenced." The issue here is the lack of balance: there is no other opinion included in the piece other than van Langehoven’s, which frames Twitter’s decision as an unfair one. The article does not explore the hate speech that was shared by the accounts that were removed.
Germany – Hagia Sophia News Used to Fuel “Islamisation” Narrative
An article published on German blog Deutschland Kurier used the news about Hagia Sophia being turned from a museum to a mosque to spread anti-Muslim narratives. The article claims that Pope Francis shies away from confrontation with the religion of Islam – which in turn fuels the idea of the submissive liberal “West” bowing down and thus making way for the perceived so-called “Islamisation”. The article criticizes Pope Francis for not finding stronger words regarding the Hagia Sofia announcement, and whilst not stating it explicitly, the author implicitly suggests that Pope Francis is submitting to Islam, which is a common trope in the “Islamisation” conspiracy narrative. The article gained much traction on Facebook, with a total of 1400 interactions.
