French Neo-Nazi Soldiers Uncovered, “Civilisation Replacement” Conspiracy Theories Promoted by Polish Radio and Misrepresented-Statements and Police Reports Used to Smear Muslims across Europe.

In March’s monitoring, we saw news outlets across Germany spread unsubstantiated statements and Hungarian news misrepresenting police reports to smear Muslim populations, around 50 French soldiers displaying Nazi sympathies were uncovered, a Belgian newsite published an article stigmatising Muslim women, Polish radio promoted a variation of the debunked ‘Great Replacement’ conspiracy theory, claiming that Confucian civilisation’s behaviour would subdue Poland and Europe to slavery, a Greek Orthodox newsite published an article belittling Islam and nationalist newsites in the UK scaremongered about jihadis and loss of Freedom of Speech.

FRANCE - 50 French Soldiers Discovered Openly displaying neo-Nazi convictions

An investigation by the French publication Mediapart has revealed a worrying trend within the French army, with soldiers openly displaying sympathies with neo-Nazi ideas and symbols. About 50 military members were identified showing their Nazi beliefs on social media, inside their barracks, or during missions carried out by the French army.

These images show the soldiers wearing their uniform and posing with the Nazi flag, doing the Hitler salute, and with the number 88, a white supremacist numerical code for "Heil Hitler”. These photos were posted by the military members on their public social media profiles. Mediapart also uncovered photos of members of the French armed forces humiliating Black teenagers in French Guiana and in Mali, obliging them to do the Nazi salute and to repeat “Sieg Hail” as well as to do push ups.

These incidents are very serious: not only are they publicly condoning, denying or grossly trivialising Nazi war crimes, but they also show how neo-Nazi sympathisers among French military do not always face exclusion from the army. The president of Licra, GTTO partner in France, wrote a press release asking the Minister of the Armed Forces to launch “the necessary internal investigations and, if necessary, the disciplinary proceedings against the soldiers involved, without prejudice to the reports provided for under article 40 of the Code of Criminal Procedure”. This is not an isolated case. A similar investigation was carried out by Mediapart last July, when it identified approximately 12 soldiers displaying racist and neo-Nazi convictions, none of whom was dismissed from their post.

Belgium – Opinion Piece Endorses Book Stigmatising Muslim Women Who Wear the Headscarf

An opinion piece on La Libre has reproduced harmful stereotypes of Muslim women, indicating that those who wear the headscarf are oppressed. Written by staff journalist Tom Guillaume, the article spotlights “A veil on the world”, a book by Chantal de Rudder, editor-in-chief of Nouvel Observateur. De Rudder is also quoted in the headline of the opinion piece, “Whenever the veil has fallen, women have gained rights”, implicitly saying that the headscarf cannot be seen as a right - of freedom of religion and of freedom of women to choose what they want to wear - but rather as a sign of mistreatment and abuse. In the opinion piece, the headscarf is also blamed to be a symbol of anti-Western sentiments. Articles like this one, which are constantly reproduced in the public sphere, foster misunderstanding and stigmatisation against some religious groups. Despite focusing on a garment worn by Muslim women, and on an issue that concerns them in the first place, these articles rarely feature their points of view, making them both hyper-visible and invisible at the same time.

Hungary – Public Service Broadcaster Wrongly Accuses “Muslim immigrants” for an Increase in Antisemitic Crimes in Germany

The Hungarian public broadcasting service M1 has aired a 9-minute news bulletin on a recent police report on antisemitic crimes in Germany. In their news story, M1 blames “Muslim immigrants” for the 10 percent increase in the number of incidents in 2020 compared to 2019. Interviewed on M1, Petra Halkó, an analyst at the Hungarian conservative political think-tank Századvég Foundation, said that “the vast majority of perpetrators, about 60 percent, are Muslims with an immigrant background, and only 21 percent are far-right and 19 percent far-left.” No sources for these figures are provided. Petra Halkó blames “sharp cultural contrast[s]” for the increase, stating that “ethnic tensions developing in multicultural society lead to everyday acts of violence”. The overall figures used by M1 (2,257 antisemitic crimes in 2020) are correct but what is false are the percentages regarding the perpetrators. German newspapers report very different data, with Der Tagesspiegel stating that “according to the police, most antisemitic crimes can be attributed to right-wing perpetrators. Islamist, left-wing and other motivated Jew haters are only a small minority in the statistics”. The Hungarian pro-government propaganda media took the occasion of the German police report to smear the Muslim population and fuel fears against them, showing no respect to their journalistic duty to be accurate and truthful.

Germany - Media Use Informal and Unsubstantiated Statements on COVID-19 Patients to Smear Muslim Migrants

Media across Germany have reported that the majority of people in intensive care units in hospitals are Muslims and migrants, quoting Lothar Wieler, president of Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases.

Bild newspaper, which first reported on the conference, specified that the statements by Wieler were not shared in “public discussion between experts, but a personal, informal sharing of information”. However, the same Bild, as well as right-wing populist, alternative and conservative news outlets in Germany and Europe more widely, used this informal conversation to smear Muslims and migrants. In their reporting, Achgut.com, a political blog that defines itself “liberal and pro-West", used gross generalisations on Muslims living in big families, saying that they breach covid restrictions by attending Islamic funerals in groups of hundreds while Germans are strictly controlled by the police.

On Focus, a scientific news outlet with a conservative political stance, a doctor who asked to remain anonymous is quoted saying that there are cultures that say that COVID-19 is not dangerous and that praying is enough to avoid serious symptoms. Investigative journalists from Correctiv fact-checked the widely-reported claims and revealed the statement that 90 percent of Covid intensive care patients have a migrant background has no statistical basis and that, according to the RKI, it was taken out of context.

Despite the lack of any collection of data on the ethnicity of COVID-19 patients, the statements were reported by some media as factual and truthful and used to fuel discrimination. Professional and ethical media coverage would have investigated the claims but also explained the reasons behind a potential disparity. As several reports have shown, disparities in the prevalence of COVID-19 across ethnic groups is not due to rule breaching, but rather long-standing systemic health and social inequalities.

Poland – State-controlled Polskie Radio 24 Promotes anti-Confucian Sentiments

On Polskie Radio 24, Poland's national public-service radio broadcasting, regular commentator Milosz Lodowski expressed prejudiced anti-Confucian statements when speaking about the coronavirus pandemic. Commenting on the way China and other Asian countries have been able to contain the COVID-19 infections, Lodowski said that this is due to the “behaviour of the Confucian civilisations” which “accepts submission to slavery” and “leads to an absolute drowning in slavery”. When Lodowski said he was worried about “civilisation replacement”, radio host Ryszard Gromadzki said he “completely shared” the same point of view.

The mentioned “civilisation replacement” seems to be a variation of the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory used by the far-right to fuel fears against Muslims and migrants. In this case, Lodowski expresses admiration for the efficiency of some countries (called by him “Confucian civilisations”) to tackle the pandemic and, at the same time, sees them as a threat to subdue Poland, and Europe more widely, to slavery.

Confucianism is a way of life, sometimes viewed as a philosophy and sometimes as a religion, that is derived from the ideas of the Chinese philosopher Confucius and has existed for over 2,500 years. Saying that Confucianism is submission to power and leads to slavery is a gross misconception.

Greece – Greek Orthodox Church Figure Blames Koran for Turkey’s Withdrawal from Istanbul Convention

Ekklesia Online, a news site that reports on the Greek Orthodox Church, has published an opinion piece by the Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus, the bishop leading a religious jurisdiction near Athens. The piece, titled “That is why horrific crimes of domestic violence against women are reported within Islam” comments on the recent withdrawal of Turkey from the Istanbul Convention on violence against women, a legally-binding Council of Europe treaty, covering domestic violence and seeking to end legal impunity for perpetrators.

Instead of recognising that violence and discrimination against women is a worldwide phenomenon across different cultures and religions, Metropolitan Seraphim claimed that Turkey’s withdrawal is “an application of a command of God written in the Koran” and that Islam is against women’s rights. The fact President Recep Tayyip Erdogan annulled Turkey's ratification of the Istanbul Convention sparked protests across the country. Women's rights activists denouncing Erdogan's decision are standing up for a move that would put women in even greater danger. But if the criticism comes from a powerful religious figure in another country, and if it this criticism is used to attack another religion based on one single verse in the Koran, then this intervention can be read as a malicious attempt to belittle Islam and Muslim people, rather than being motivated by a genuine interest in combatting violence against women.

United Kingdom - Politicalite Uses School Row to Scaremonger About Jihadis and Loss of Freedom of Speech

After children at the Batley Grammar School in northern England were shown a satirical cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad at the end of March, a few dozen people gathered to demonstrate outside the school building. The protestors said the image is offensive to them, and that they wanted “to show the country Islamophobia won’t be tolerated”. Both the teacher, who was suspended, and the school apologised.

While the general media coverage of the event was fair, some nationalist news outlets used the incident to slander Muslims and fuel hatred. Among them, Politicalite published several articles fearmongering about sharia law in Britain and loss of freedom of expression. “BRITS who mock Islam and the Prophet Mohammad could face the same fate as those who are racist towards Black people and could even end up in jail”, wrote Politicalite while implying that all Muslims who believe that showing a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed in schools are jihadis. While it is not true that “mocking” is a criminal offence punishable by jail, Politicalite wholly avoids mentioning why the caricature is offensive to Muslims or explains the controversy.

Discussing the issue on Twitter, Miqdaad Versi, Media Spokesperson for Muslim Council of Britain, said “Many seem to have missed that the image was of the Prophet with a bomb for a turban, playing into the racist stereotype that Muslims are terrorists. This is not about ridicule, it's about the necessity of using hateful racist imagery when it is likely to hurt some of the audience.” This is not an issue only for Muslims and it’s false to say that there is no option but to show the picture. Surely, as Versi pointed out, we don’t need to say the n-word, show pornography, or wear blackface to teach in class.