Islamophobic Articles Published in Belgium, France, Greece and the UK, Belgian Media Glorifies Nazi Ally and Antisemitic Article Published in Hungary
In June’s media monitoring, we saw a Belgian media outlet glorifying a Nazi ally, major news outlets in Belgium, Greece and UK publishing Islamophobic articles, anti-Muslim conspiracy narratives pushed by an Identitarian newspaper in France, an antisemitic artwork displayed at a German festival and an antisemitic article, accusing George Soros of being a war-instigator, published in Hungary.
Belgium – Flemish media outlet publishes article glorifying Nazi ally
Belgium political media outlet, Reactnieuws published an article glorifying the Nazi collaborations of the late, Flemish nationalist politician, August Borms. The piece, titled Crazy attack on tomb of Flemish national foreman Dr August Borms', displays an image of a vandalised grave, which belonged to Borms, in the old cemetery of Merksem in Antwerp. The writer accuses the left-wing party of being responsible for the attack and states, ‘the bigoted leftist scum has struck again. This “act of heroism” is yet another testimony to the cowardice of the left-wing scum, who believe they have a patent on moral superiority. Not so.’
This journalistic reporting not only uses derogatory language such as: ‘scum has struck again’ but expresses sentiments and sympathies for a far-right and antisemitic politician who was an active ally that cooperated with Nazi troops in the destruction of the Jewish community. The writer uses the tomb attack incident to justify the abominable crimes of Borms without referring to historical events that cost the lives of millions of Jews.
Belgium- French: La Libre publishes anti-Muslim article about Islamic school project
Belgium newspaper La Libre, published an anti-Muslim article in June, titled: “A request for an Islamic school divides majority of Flemish politicians.” During a parliamentary committee, several politicians reunited to discuss the faith of the Islamic school project Plura - C, which has planned to open its doors next September, in Genk (Limburg) in Belgium.
La Libre reports that the school has a history of failings from the Flemish Education inspectors. It also accuses the project of having past links with the Islamic movement Milli Cörüs.
This piece contains problematic journalistic elements, giving space to politicians to spread anti-Muslim sentiments regarding the opening of a Muslim school in Flanders. The article is entirely one-sided without any reference or additional sources to support its claims.
The Minister for animal warfare and member of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) Ben Weyts said that: "I don't see how this type of school can contribute to integration and a harmonious society. We are doing a disservice to the children and parents concerned”.
This report allows far-right politicians to share bigotry, Islamophobic and stereotypical views towards the Muslim community. It also delivers a misleading and manipulative political message labelling Muslims as inferior, and that the Islamic religion as unwelcome in the Belgium Education system.
Hungary – News website, publishes antisemitic article accusing George Soros of being a war instigator
The pro-government news site, Mandiner, published the misleading and antisemitic article titled: ”George Soros is a war instigator”.
In their piece, the media outlet gave voice to the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, to spread lies and misinformation claims about George Soros, accusing him of supporting the Russian war in Ukraine. The writer frames the article using misleading and antisemitic tropes, accusing the Hungarian-American financier of greediness and wanting the war to continue to benefit him financially. This type of article promotes the false, antisemitic trope that Jews are war masters that want to control the world’s economy.
Viktor Orbán said: “We need to fund peace, not war. And the instigators of war must be repressed! Among the 135 comments left by readers on the website comments section, many contained hate speech and incitement to violence against the Jewish community.
The leader of the Subjective Value Foundation, Marcell Lőrincz, wrote a letter to Mandiner’s chief editor asking to remove the comments but still has not received a reply.
Germany - Documenta exhibition showcases Indonesian antisemitic artwork
Documenta, the famous contemporary art exhibition in Kassel, Germany, included among its artwork some antisemitic imagery by the Indonesian collective Taring Padi.
Their artwork consisted of a banner with explicit and detailed antisemitic imagery, of a "Jewish sow", a soldier with the Star of David and a helmet with the inscription "Mossad", and a man with Kippah hat, with long side curls, bloody eyes, sharp teeth, and a crooked nose. Eventually, the collective apologised for hurting the Jewish community and removed the image. This incident reveals the lack of sensibility and awareness of its antisemitic message from the Documenta organisers, who could avoid this situation by excluding this artwork in the pre-selection stage.
Dr Rafael Korenzecher, a publisher of the "Jüdische Rundschau", one of the most important spokespeople for Jews in Germany, commented on this incident saying: ‘What if an Islam-critical "work of art" had been exhibited?” This narrative is also problematic as it amplifies the ‘Islamization’ narrative, and pits the Muslim and Jewish communities against each other, amplifying divisions. Furthermore, Islamophobic and antisemitic behaviours are both condemnable and not accepted. We are all humans, and all diverse religions must be respected.
Greece - A major news media outlet is publishing Islamophobic fearmongering theories posing as a political analysis
Kathimerini.gr, a major news media outlet published a piece by Achilleas Gravanis, a professor at the Medical School of the University of Crete. He wrote an article purposely trying to draw up conclusions from the recent political developments in Europe and the US. Gravanis included calls for Europe’s self-sufficiency in the sectors of food production and energy. However, the remarks attacking Muslims throughout the article makes the true agenda of his piece evident, despite him claiming otherwise.
The first issue is that the article presents migration in a negative and one-sided way as a threat from outside. For Gravanis, this immediate threat of immigration is represented by an influx of Muslims, whom he demonises with phrases such as, ‘’escalation of social antagonism’’ and ‘’strengthening of extremist policies’’. The other issue is Gravanis uses the social anxiety caused by the current war in Eastern Europe for fearmongering and peddling Islamophobic narratives, writing ‘’Organised pressure from political Islam and authoritarian neighbours has led to destabilisation’’. He also doesn’t differentiate between Muslims and presents them as a monolith, which further dehumanises them.
This is not the first time that the site, Kathimerini, published openly Islamophobic articles, misrepresenting the Muslim community and perpetuating stereotypes or ‘’The great replacement’’ conspiracy theory.
France – Identitarian newspaper in France publishes article slandering Islam
A far-right, online newspaper, Riposte Laiqueripostelaique.com, published an anti-Muslim article, painting a picture of Western countries dominated by Muslims. As proof of their thesis, they draw on recently contested issues such as protests in the UK after the release of the movie ‘’The Lady of Heaven’’. The newspaper makes alarmist warnings of a possible civil war in France.
The article was a rant against Muslims and African immigrants. Accusations of deflating the value of assets, racism against white residents in multi-ethnic districts, or inherent hostility towards LGBT people continued through the piece. Countries that restricted the intake of refugees in 2015, such as Hungary, Poland or Denmark were hailed as a safe haven for LGBT people. The author ignored the anti-LGBT law that went into effect last year in Hungary, or the existence of controversial LGBT-free zones in Poland (a term used to describe sets of discriminatory laws proclaimed by local conservative municipalities). The appointment of Senegalese-French scholar Pap Ndiaye as the minister of education is reported as a threat to the quality of French education. Additionally, the author states: ‘’pray to the little Jesus, so that the Senegalese-Muslim part of this minister does not prevail over his French secular’’.
The article, far from being accurate, focuses mostly on fearmongering and perpetuating the Great Replacement conspiracy narrative. It is also full of disdainful comments about non-Western cultures.
UK - The columnist Melanie Phillips continues to spread anti-Muslim narratives on the Times website
The British, daily newspaper, The Times, published another, anti-Muslim, bigoted article, titled: It is not anti-Muslim to denounce extremism. The piece was written by the columnist Melanie Phillips, who has been red-flagged by campaigning organisation, Hope Not Hate, in their 2020 report, as one of the 22 “key Islamophobe” writers in the UK.
In this article, the author criticises Hope Not Hate for spreading a smear campaign about her and for silencing the ‘voices of the truth’ about ‘Islamic extremism’, accusing her of being ‘far-right’ and becoming a ‘neo-Nazi’.
She said: ‘Calling an objection to such fanaticism a “far-right” prejudice is itself a prejudice. It is as dangerous as it is despicable. It is hate not Hope.’
This is not the first time Phillips has pushed anti-Muslim narratives through her writing, widely framing the condemnation of her Islamophobic opinions as censorship.
In this opinion piece, Phillips not only makes bigoted claims, but she also belittles and denies the discrimination experienced by Muslims.
Melanie Phillips writes from a position of privilege, blurring the line between Muslims and terrorists. She uses her opinions to spread misinformation and lies that can cause fear and incite violence and hate speech against the Muslim community.
