Anti-Muslim Hate Incidents Occur across Europe; ‘Islamo-Leftism’ Conspiracy Narrative Promoted in Belgium and France, and Greek Newspaper Claims Muslims Are a Threat to Europe.

31 May

In May’s media monitoring we saw anti-Muslim hate incidents flagged by all of our European partners; In Hungary, biased sources were used to discuss Muslims, the ‘Islamo-Leftism’ conspiracy narrative was promoted in Belgium and France, in the UK an anti-Islam blog brought up London-mayor Sadiq Khan’s religion, a Greek newspaper scare-mongered that Muslims are a “threat to Europe, and former Polish MP and German MP both made Islamophobic comments.

Hungary – TV Magazine Show Uses Violent Language and Biased Sources to Discuss Muslims in France

TV magazine show Union27, which airs after the evening news on Thursdays and is hosted on Híradó, a Hungarian public broadcaster, ran a segment titled: “Today, migrant terror is part of everyday life in France”.

In the piece, the host claims that “French generals warn of the dangers of civil war because of the dangers posed by migrants.”

One of the main interviewees was Attila Kovács, project manager of the Center for Fundamental Rights. According to their own website, “The Center considers preserving national identity, sovereignty and Christian social traditions as its mission, especially amongst the 21st century’s heightened process of globalization, integration, geopolitical and technological changes, affecting the field of law as well.”

In the Union27 episode, Kovács claims that the last few weeks in France have seen “atrocities on the part of the Muslim migrant population that affect French citizens that were not previously part of French everyday life.”

In sum, the piece draws a picture of France where Muslims are supposedly waging a civil war, and this argument is then used as a reason to stop immigration to countries like Hungary. While this type of media content is not surprising in the Hungarian context, it is worrying to see some new terms like ‘civil war’ being used to talk about Muslim communities in Europe. With very biased interviewees and little sources and context provided, such content being broadcasted on national television is extremely concerning.

Belgium – ‘Islamo-Leftism’ Continues to be a Prominent Media Topic in Belgium

In La Libre this month, Clement Boileau authored an article titled: “Does Islamo-leftism really exist? Mohamed Sifaoui vs François Gemenne”.

The article discusses the concept of Islamo-gauchisme, or "Islamo-leftism". This has been become an increasingly prominent theme in the Belgian media; last month, we covered a similar case which occurred in Le Vif/L’Express.

‘Islamo-leftism’ has also been discussed at length in France. While the term has been used occasionally over the years, mainly in right-wing circles, it made its way to the public sphere again in February of this year when Frédériqu Vidal, France’s higher education minister, called for an investigation into ‘Islamo-leftism’ at French Universities, claiming this was needed “so we can distinguish academic research from activism and opinion.”

Since then, the term has been used and discussed in the media in several countries, including Belgium. Though this piece in La Libre is framed as a ‘discussion’ about the concept of ‘Islamo-leftism’, it lacks context and sources. Moreover, there is no clear distinction made in the article between Islam and Islamism.

Belgium – Doorbraak Claims That We Need to Choose Between Fighting Homophobia and Islamophobia

Screenshot from blog posted on Doorbraak

Belgian blog Doorbraak, who we have covered several times within the project for their anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant content, published a piece by Johan Sanctorum about a recent case of extreme homophobia in the country.

Titled: “What will it be, homophobia or ‘Islamophobia’?”, the author claims that there is a choice to be made between the two, because supposedly the fight against both forms of hatred cannot coexist.

The actual case occurred in the Belgian city of Oudenaarde, where video footage taken at the scene shows two underage males harassing and being violent towards an individual. In the attack, which happened on the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, a rainbow Pride flag is thrown in a nearby river.

The two attackers have since been arrested. Instead of reporting on the facts of the harrowing case, Sanctorum instead focusses on the supposed religion and migrant status of the perpetrators (of which there has been no confirmation) and uses the attack as a way of pitting two communities against each other.

Why do we need to choose between fighting against homophobia, and fighting against Islamophobia? Hate is an intersectional matter: we cannot fight it in a vacuum.

Moreover, such statements falsely assume that all Muslims around the world are homophobic. This is not only incorrect, but it also dismisses LGBTQ+ Muslims.

UK – Upon Winning a Second Mayoral Term, Khan’s Critics Bring Up Religion

On May 6th, 2021, the London mayoral elections were held. Sadiq Khan, the Labour Party candidate, won a second term. Khan has been the mayor of London since 2016 and in that time has repeatedly been called the “Muslim mayor of London” in many right-wing circles.

A quick look at Khan’s social media platforms will show that no matter what decision he makes for the city, those who disagree with him inevitably bring up his religion. These elections were no different.

On a blog called Bare Naked Islam, the headline reads: “WTF? Self-hating Londoners re-elect terrorist-supporting Muslim Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, for a second term.”

What does Khan’s religion have to do with his duty as mayor? We have to wonder, if the mayor was of another religion, or not religious at all, would this be a fact that was brough up again and again by critics?

Criticism of an elected official and their policies must always be allowed and welcomed, it is a key pillar of a democracy. However, using religion to do so when it plays no role is not only ineffective but hateful.

Greece – Financial newspaper fuels unfounded fears on the presence of Muslims in Europe

The Greek financial paper Naftemporiki published an article titled “Is Islam a threat to Europe?”. Written by the financial journalist Athanasios Char Papandropoulos, the piece argues that Islam is “the biggest problem of a united Europe”, second only to “the so-called melting pot”.

The author recounts battles in European history, such as the Battle of Poitiers in 732, and the Battle of Vienna in 1683, to prove that Europe has “defended itself against Islam” for centuries and to argue that it should continue to do so in the name of a united Europe.

Papandropoulos does not give any reasons why Islam is a threat to a political and economic project. And yet, he claims that 20 million Muslims living in Europe – which is 4 percent of the total population – are a problem, alleging that “they constitute a state without legal representation and borders”.

This framing is both dishonest and heavily prejudiced. As with all other citizens, Muslims participate in the democratic process of the countries where they live – countries that have borders and that guarantee, at least in principle, that all citizens, regardless of their religion, are politically and legally represented and enjoy the same rights.

By forging this senseless image of Muslims as a state bigger than Belgium or Greece, the author is fuelling a culture of fear in which hate speech and violence against Muslims proliferates.

France – Appointment of national football anthem rapper enrages the far right

Youssoupha, one of the biggest rappers in France, was initially chosen by the national Football Federation to produce and sing the anthem for the national team for this summer's European Football Championship.

The French Congolese-born singer is the author of song lyrics that frequently refer to social and political issues in the country.

This choice did not please the far right, who caused an uproar that prompted the Football Federation to exclude Youssoupha’s song as the French team’s anthem.

On the conservative TV channel CNEWS, Michel Onfray, nationalist writer and philosopher, said that Youssoupha was chosen according to “the new French ideology, which is the ‘islamo-leftism ideology’”.

"Islamo-leftism" is conspiracy narrative that claims there is an alliance between left-wing academia and Muslims in France. A catchphrase of the far right, more recently, this term has gained ground in public discourse and is used to accuse Muslims and left-leaning activists of being a “threat to the Republic of France”. As ENORB explains, this term is stigmatising because “it targets Muslims living in Europe under the pretext of countering a ‘political Islam’ whose secret plan is the ‘destruction of Western values’ but also the people who work in social science and fight against Islamophobia”.

Germany – Far right claims Muslim Migrants Have Imported Antisemitism to Germany

With the occurrence of some antisemitic incidents during or after pro-Palestinian protests across Germany, nationalist political parties and media outlets have blamed Muslim refugees for having imported antisemitism to the country.

The conservative magazine Focus claimed that all Muslims hate Jewish people because “hostility to Jews is […] part of Islam”. This claim is an outright fabrication, demonstrating no knowledge of Muslim culture, history or religious beliefs, which places Muslims at risk of violent discrimination.

In an interview, Alternative for Germany (AfD) politician Jörg Urban said that “according to reports of the victims, about 80% of the perpetrators are migrants and Muslims". But police figures shows that this is not true, and that about 95 percent of anti-Jewish hate crimes every year are committed by right-wing extremists.

The AfD-affiliated Deutschland-Kurier newspaper published a short piece that used inflammatory language against refugees, alleging that they are leading an “antisemitic mob […] unabashedly raging in Germany's cities”, and a video of MPs Alice Weidel and Alexander Gauland accusing refugees of having brought antisemitism to the country. When the far right claims that antisemitism comes to Germany with “immigration and Islam”, they downplay their role in the Jewish persecution while pursuing their anti-immigration and anti-Muslim agenda.

Poland – Secretary of Memory and Identity Museum Uses Historical Event to Push Ethno-Nationalist Ideology

Andrzej Jaworski, former Polish MP and current secretary of the Council of the Saint John Paul II Memory and Identity Museum in Toruń, expressed a subtle Islamophobic remark in a recent interview on TV Trwam, which was then republished on the nationalist Catholic radio Maryja.

When describing a new exhibition at the museum, which is devoted to the history of the Polish nation and funded by the Ministry of Culture, Jaworksi said that the Battle of Vienna and the victory of Jan III Sobieski is “a very important event […] not only for Poles” because “it was the defence of Christendom against the prevailing forces of Muslim troops, against Islam”.

Seemingly an innocuous comment, the Battle of Vienna is actually often cited by the ethno-nationalists as a historical episode that should be emulated. The Battle of Vienna, for example, has been central in the manifesto of Anders Breivik, the terrorist who murdered 77 people in 2011 in Norway.

Although it is depicted as the “defeat of Muslims by Christians”, it is the victory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Habsburg Monarchy against the Ottoman Empire. As the historian Dag Herbjørnsrud states, “the year 1683, in the end, was just another year of battles over power and influence between the great states of Europe. Loyalties crossed all borders of faith and ethnicity. Sobieski and his allies never ‘saved Europe’, nor Christianity.”

Get The Trolls Out