Racist stereotypes published in Germany, Islamophobic conspiracy theories published in France, Belgium and Greece, and antisemitism broadcast in Poland
In July’s media monitoring, we saw a German blog spreading racist stereotypes about migrants, a French news site and a Belgian far-right blog spreading the Great Replacement conspiracy theory, a British newspaper published an Islamophobic article on its front page, a Belgian Catholic Blog published an Islamophobic article about converts to Christianity, Hungarian public-service media spreading anti-Muslim narratives, a Polish, far-right Youtube channel broadcasting antisemitic coverage of the anniversary of a massacre of Jews in Poland, and a Greek news outlet spreading climate denial alongside Islamophobic conspiracy theories.
Germany – Far-right media outlet frames migrants as ‘unfit’ for Western society
The blog Journalistenwatch, often described as far-right and populist, published an article with the title "Refugees, migrants, Muslims - Germany's last resort before green decline?" which includes narratives that can be described as anti-Muslim and racist.
Kurschatten, who is the author, frames migrants as 'ignorant', ‘angry', 'uncivilised', and 'violent.' In addition, he connects the COVID-19 restrictions in Germany with incidents of civil disobedience in the German society and accuses migrants of causing it. Kurschatten states: “if there are blackouts and we all have to freeze and starve, then it will be interesting to see how these ’newly arrived’ will behave”.
The author also accuses the Green political party of leading the country to 'homemade misery’ and of being responsible for welcoming migrants and refugees who then exploit Germany’s resources.
The article also uses an inappropriate cover image which depicts a Black man in a fighting stance with a raised fist and an expression which could be perceived by some readers as aggressive. Such visual representations reinforce stereotypes and racist ideas that migrants of colour are 'savages' and unfit for Western society standards.
This style of reporting goes against journalism ethics as it normalises the negative label of migrants and minorities in Germany.
France - Far-right website spreads the Great Replacement conspiracy narrative
On 17th June, Causeur, a right-wing French news site, published an article titled: "How our rulers paved the way for Islam in France." The article's content, which can be described as anti-Muslim, spreads the Great Replacement narrative.
It alleges that the Muslim community is overpopulating the French society, and are taking over the highest institutions. As a proof, it refers to the former minister Najat Vallaud- Belkacem, who is assumed to be Muslim because she was born in Morocco.
Sentences such as "A new phenomenon for France: these new arrivals do not assimilate,” can be described as sensationalistic as they are used to provoke the readers' interest and influence them with the idea that France is 'under attack', and suffering the consequences of 'Islamisation'.
The author also suggests that Muslims are 'violent criminals’, and the only ones responsible for the ‘unstoppable rise’ in violence and crime in France. This type of reporting dehumanises Muslims.
Not only does the author present Muslims as a threat to France but also spreads misleading allegations that the 'Islamic religion is a conqueror ideology' determined to destroy Christianity and Western Society.
UK – Daily Mail accuses MP of meeting Muslim group which is inaccurately described as 'controversial'
On 17 July, British tabloid Daily Mail published an article with the title "Penny Mordaunt flouted No. 10 ban to meet boycotted group" . This article was also placed on the newspaper’s front page.
When the article was published, Mordaunt was a candidate for the Conservative Party leadership. Claire Ellicott, who is The Daily Mail’s political correspondent, took advantage of the current tense political environment in the UK following Boris Johnson’s resignation as the Party’s leader and as the country’s Prime Minister, to spread bigotry and sensationalistic narratives.
The article’s contents include descriptions of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) and Zara Mohammed, its Secretary General. The article's language and overall framing ‘weaponised Islamophobia' to influence more conservative voters, strategically using terms such as 'dodgy judgment', ‘boycotted group', and 'controversial' to provoke the reader's attention and to look at Zara Mohammed as the 'other', a 'Muslim', 'a traitor' who belongs to an organisation that is a 'threat' to the British government.
The article’s tone and language differ when describing Mordaunt, who is white, and Zara Mohammed, who comes from a Muslim and Asian background.
Belgium – Catholic blog publishes controversial report about the persecution of Muslim converts to Christianity
On 21st July, the blog page of the Belgian Community of Catholic Priests published an article titled: “Investigation into the persecution of Christian converts from Islam in Europe (2)”.
The article shares the findings of a controversial report published by the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ). ECLJ's report which used anonymous sources, looks at “the persecution of former Muslim converts to Christianity in France and in Europe.” The way the blog is written portrays Islam as an unsuitable and violent religion.
Although the blog post by the Belgian Community of Catholic Priests presents the findings of ECLJ’'s report, it fails to mention the research’s problematic nature and neither questions nor fact checks its findings.
For example, the blog post places focus on the interview of an anonymous ‘president of the Ex-Muslim's' association and cites stories that he has heard but does not fact check these allegations. Such practices spread anti-Muslim sentiments.
The article’s dangerous framing is stereotypically vilifying Islam as a traumatising faith and portrays Christianity as the ‘hope’ for Muslim communities to find better spiritual equilibrium.
Belgium – Newspaper spreads the Great Replacement narrative with selective data
A Belgian newspaper has published a piece analysing the proportions of residents of foreign origin in different municipalities in Belgium.
The article quickly abandoned general statistics relating to all foreigners and, instead, focused on the Muslim community in Brussels.
The author drew conclusions that areas with a higher proportion of inhabitants of Muslim origin tend to come with an increased unemployment rate. He also presented correlation in statistics between percentage of people receiving welfare checks and percentage of Muslims in the district's community.
What is problematic in this coverage is the lack of context or the explanation of the overly high statistics that have been associated with foreign inhabitants. In Belgium, immigration status is heritable, so the statistics include everyone with parents of foreign origin. The percentage of EU-based immigrants in the overall number was also omitted.
In the last 5 years, the percentage of non-EU origin residents rose by 1%. Not providing this important data, and instead selectively using numbers to paint a negative viewpoint, such practices can be described as disinformation as they assert that “almost no Belgians living in Brussels anymore’’, as the title states.
Hungary – public service media news site disregards accuracy to promote anti-Muslim narrative
Hungarian newspaper Hirado reported about a protest raised on Facebook by the Italian politician Giorgia Meloni, who is the president of the far-right party Brothers of Italy (FdI) and European Conservatives and Reformers (ECR) party group.
On Facebook, Meloni referred to a video of the social campaign of European Year of Youth 2022, featuring a young woman wearing a hijab. The Italian politician posted a screenshot of the video with an emotional caption, condemning the choice of image as a way to promote a discussion on European values. “The Islamic veil does not represent at all, if any, the European values. In Europe, women freed themselves, (...) from symbols of oppression like this one.”
Hirado claimed that the protest led to the removal of the video from the campaign. However, the video still remains on the publication’s Instagram account.
The Hungarian article features another image showing the juxtaposed photos of two young women, one of whom wearing hijab, that was used for promotion of a different campaign in France.
This image sparked controversy and was removed a few months ago after an intervention of the French government. It seems that fact-checking and accuracy was sacrificed to promote anti-Muslim narratives.
Poland – An anniversary of massacre sparks antisemitic narratives in far-right media
On 11th July 1941, an antisemitic pogrom took place in the town of Jedwabne in North-Eastern Poland. During the pogrom, as described in Jan Tomasz Gross's book 'Neighbours: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland', members of the Polish community murdered several hundred Jewish inhabitants of the town by burning them in a barn.
wRealu24, a Polish far-right YouTube channel, used the anniversary of the pogrom for a cycle of broadcasts which denied the responsibility of Poles for the massacre and promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories.
For example, in one of the wRealu24 broadcasts, Miroslawa Modelska-Creech distorted historical facts by claiming that "Germans burned these Jews who had collaborated with the NKVD [Soviet secret police]” and denying Polish responsibility. Another broadcast featured Tomasz Sommer, who is known for spreading the
conspiracy narrative that Jews use the Holocaust for their financial gain.
During another broadcast on wRealu24, the presenter met with far-right antisemitic demonstrators at the site of the monument to the victims of the pogrom. It also included a speech by Wojciech Sumlinski, author of ‘’Return to Jedwabne’’ - a movie and a book denying Polish involvement in the pogrom. Sumlinski also claims that the Holocaust is used as a financial scheme to extort money by the Jews.
On 26th July, the national newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza published an article about the channel, describing its far-right narratives, based on a report prepared by the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association and featuring comments by 'NEVER AGAIN' member Rafal Pankowski. In response, wRealu24 repeatedly attacked the organisation and the newspaper accusing it of 'anti-Polish' activities.
Greece – Media outlet promotes book which spreads anti-religious conspiracy narratives
NewsBreak, a Greek online news outlet, featured an opinion piece about Alain Chouet’s, book ‘’Sept pas vers l’enfer’’ (‘’Seven steps to heaven’’). The book paints an apocalyptic vision of the future, drawing on many current anti-religious and conspiracy narratives.
The author treats the climate emergency as a first step towards the replacement of European civilisation, with Islam - which is promoted by the elites - and global powers whose alleged aim is to take over global resources.
According to the article and the book, another step of this plan is the digitalisation and replacement of democracy with "demography of Islam". The final step would be the replacement of European cultural identity and the "introduction” of Muslim citizens to Europe.
The article mixes up global warming denial with New World Order, Great Reset, and uses antisemitic dog-whistles, by presenting digitalisation as a threat to freedom and return to the feudal society.
However, the way the article is written spreads anti-Muslim fears, which include the conspiracy narrative that the domination of Islam in Europe is the ultimate goal of the "scheme".
