Anti-Muslim Hate Speech Following Paris Terrorism Attack, Calling The Headscarf 'The Uniform Of Enemies', And An Online Campaign Called 'Welcome To Antwerpistan'

10 Nov

In October’s monitoring, we saw multiple outlets use the murder of Samuel Paty to spread anti-Muslim hate, including journalists suggesting Muslim women should remove their headscarves as ‘a sign of respect’, to a popular Belgium party funding an anti-Migrant campaign and a Greek novelist claiming the problem in Europe are not terrorists, but Muslims.

Germany – Journalisten Watch Misrepresents Facts in Order to Push ‘Islamisation’ Narrative

Online platform Journalisten Watch published an article titled: “Duisburg: Islamisation proceeds - Lower Rhine thermal spa bans scanty bikinis.” The article claims that a thermal bath in the city of Duisburg is banning scanty bikinis due to the so-called ‘Islamisation’. The author of the piece claims: “Scanty bikinis are not tolerated by all visitors at the Niederrhein Therme in Duisburg. Instead of putting intolerant people in their place, the hard-won freedom of movement for swimwear is abolished for reasons of tolerance.” Since the publication of the piece, the thermal bath has clarified its position: while one of the bath’s employees did hang up signs stating that scanty bathing suits would no longer be permitted, there was no mention of Islam or Muslims. Rather, the original article reporting on this merely stated that families with children had been complaining, and that permissiveness of clothing choices is not always tolerated by all groups of visitors. It might be the case that some of the complaints came from Muslim visitors but there is no evidence of this presented in the articles to which this Journalisten Watch piece refers. The article saw this as another instance of the conspiracy ideology of the so-called ‘Islamisation’: “The lifeguards of the Niederrhein Therme become ‘guardians of public morals’, who up to now are only known to be from Islamic countries. Those who visit the baths in tight bikini panties are asked to change their clothes.”

Belgium – Vlaams Belang Launches Anti-Muslim and Xenophobic Campaign

The Vlaams Belang (a Flemish nationalist, right-wing populist political party) faction of Antwerp has launched a campaign with clear anti-Muslim and xenophobic themes. The campaign is titled “Proud to be a Flemish from Antwerp” and it leads with the statement: “Antwerp is a city of steal and cathedrals. Not of Mosques and minarets.” The campaign is based on the idea that Antwerp is suffering from a replacement of its people, because more and more immigrants are replacing the natives in the city. In the words of Filip Dewinter and Sam van Rooy, both key politicians within the party, Antwerp suffers from ‘Islamisation’. In a video shared on Twitter by Filip Dewinter, various Vlaams Belang politicians are shown saying inflammatory remarks, stating that Antwerp is not a city of “headscarves, halal and couscous” and referring to the city as “Antwerpistan.” Vlaams Belang also hosted a press conference to launch this campaign.

UK – Video Showing Man Trying to Remove Cross Sparks Xenophobic and Anti-Muslim Online Hate

This month a video circulated online of a man attempting to remove a cross from a church in London. Many, including Nigel Farage, used the case to further the narrative that Britain is being ‘taken over’ by people of other cultures. Farage shared the video stating: “We are a Christian country and our culture is under assault. Our archbishops are complaining about Brexit yet say nothing about the desecration of a London church.” When looking at the responses to Farage’s tweets, and similar ones, many people directly refer to Muslims “invading” Britain and point to this case as a supposed symptom of “mass immigration.” The man shown in the video was later found to have been suffering from mental health issues, and the minister of the church in question released a statement saying: “Yes, the cross was vandalised. However, when I caught him it became apparent very quickly that he was not at all mentally very well. We retrieved the cross and he didn’t harm himself or anyone else – he could so easily have fallen off the roof which wouldn’t have been good. […] It was frustrating to have the church vandalised by material things can be fixed with ease. Had he lost his life that would have been tragic.”

Belgium – Le Vif Article Downplays Anti-Muslim Hate in Opinion Piece

Le Vif published an opinion piece by Nadia Geerts, who is a teacher, writer and secular activist, titled: “Paty case: I am sick of your ‘Yes, but’.” The piece is in response to the brutal murder of French teacher Samuel Paty on October 16th. Geerts sets out to tackle the problem of Islamic radicalism in her piece; however, she utilises anti-Muslim dog whistling to make several of her points. Throughout the piece, Geerts does not differentiate between Muslims as a whole, and Islamic fundamentalists. There is no doubt that the Paty case was disturbing and should be addressed in the media, but we must not blur the lines between those who follow a faith and fundamentalists. Furthermore, Geerts downplays Islamophobic hate, stating: “From an accusation of Islamophobia to that of racism, there is only one step. The problem is that this accusation is becoming commonplace.” This delegitimises all those who have experienced anti-Muslim hate.

France – CNEWS journalists refers to the headscarf as the “uniform of the enemies”

On the channel CNEWS, Elisabeth Levy, Editor-in-Chief of the French conservative magazine Causeur, said that Muslim women should have taken their headscarf off for a week in honour of Samuel Paty, the teacher beheaded for having shown caricatures of the prophet Muhammad during a lesson on free expression. “I am surprised none of them have today [removed their veil] in honour, or tact, of Samuel Paty, because the veil is also the uniform of the enemies of France,” Levy said. While there is no justification for the gruesome murder of the teacher, Levy is fostering harmful divisions, pitting Muslims against the rest of French society. By explicitly calling Muslims “enemies” wearing a “uniform”, she is equating all Muslims to terrorists, encouraging suspicion and hatred. Levy’s suggestion that Muslim women should have removed the headscarf in honour of the teacher is unreasonable and disrespectful. It puts the blame of the attack on Muslim women, as if wearing the headscarf was a sign of allegiance to terrorism. Far from being an isolated case, after the killing, journalists and public figures have expressed hostile anti-Muslim rhetoric, leaving Muslims in France fearing further stigmatisation.

Hungary – Public Service Media Hirado Stokes Fears Against Muslims Once Again

The public service media Hirado published a piece titled “Research: Muslim people are willing to use force in order to defend their culture”, which was also broadcast on national TV. The article stokes fears of Muslim violence against the West and frames it as an “insoluble conflict”. Some claims, such as the correlation between the arrival of illegal immigrants and the increase of the number of violent crimes in Western Europe, including anti-Christian attacks, are not backed by any study. Other statements, such as the one mentioned in the headline are misleading, and only partially accurate. By saying “Muslim people”, the headline gives the impression that it refers to every Muslim person. The mentioned British survey by the Tony Blair Institute found that “15 percent of young British Muslims would even defend their culture and religion by force”. What the article leaves out is that the study is about the scale of both Islamist and far-right extremism among British young people, and that also “9 per cent of young White Non-Muslims would even defend their culture and religion by force”. As a source, Hirado piece also interviews a researcher of Századvég, which is not an independent body, but a government-linked research institute, whose political positions echo the immigration policies of the Fidesz government.

Greece – Novelist Claims the Major Problem of Europe are Muslims not Terrorism

On Liberal and Athens Voice, Greek novelist and columnist Soti Triantafillou accused Muslims of being “the problem” of Europe. These two highly inflammatory opinion pieces were published in response to the murder of the French history teacher Samuel Paty. Triantafillou said: “the major problem of Europe is not terrorism. It is that a big part of the European population is not European.” She attacked Muslims for “not identifying with us” and for not being loyal to the countries and people that host them. On Athens Voice, Triantafillou also criticised The New York Times’ media coverage of the terrorist attack against Paty, claiming that the US newspaper is an “instrument of Antifa and of disruptive minorities”, and comparing it to Pravda, the Russian newspaper which was formerly the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Triantafillou’s incendiary language and statements fuel hatred against a religious minority that is already stigmatised and discriminated against. While the murder of Samuel Paty, as with other terrorist attacks, should be condemned, blaming a whole religion is irresponsible and perpetuates division, potentially leading to violence against the stigmatised group.

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