Islamophobia Occurs Across European Media; The UK and Belgium Use 9/11 to push Anti-Muslim Narratives and Germany publishes Islamophobic Cartoons

In September’s Media Monitoring we saw anti-Muslim hate published across European media, reported by our Greek, Belgian, British, Polish, French, German and Hungarian partners. This included British and Belgian media using 9/11 to push anti-Muslim narratives and Islamophobic cartoons in Germany and a would-be presidential candidate being given a platform. In Poland, antisemitic and Islamophobic hate was allowed to remain on Youtube and in France, a would-be presidential candidate was given a platform to spread anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim hate.

Greece – Andrianopoulos Given Two Platforms to Spread Hate in September

Screenshot from in.gr — *Screenshot from* *in.gr*

Andreas Andrianopoulos wrote pieces for two separate Greek platforms this month, using both opportunities to spread hateful tropes and narratives. For in.gr, Andrianopoulos wrote an article titled: “Familiarity with Islam,” in which he heavily relies on the Great Replacement conspiracy theory, suggesting that Islam and Muslims is slowly taking over Greece.
Andrianopoulos states: “Greek society is now quite familiar with Islam. News from around the world of violence, conflict, revolutions and seizures of power often floods television screens and social media. Our living room is filled with descriptions, often bloody, of exchanges of aggressive energies, while Arabic words, common in the Islamic religion, have become known and embellish the conversations between Greeks.” The author is clearly aiming to spread fear with these words, constructing a false reality in which Islamic culture or the troubles occurring in Muslim countries are a part of Greeks’ everyday routine.
Andrianopoulos’ second piece, for sofokleous10.gr, takes a similar theme. Titled “Aggressive Islam and individual freedoms”, Andrianopoulos focuses on a specific dogma of Islam and presents himself as an expert (without providing any information or related credentials) on how much damage Islam is causing to the West.

Whilst troubling, these words are not surprising coming from Andrianopoulos, who we have covered several times within the project. His constant aim to spread fear around Islam and Muslims is worrying, especially as he continues to be provided with a platform by different Greek outlets.

Belgium – Author Uses 9/11 Anniversary to Push Anti-Muslim Narrative

Screenshot from Doorbraak — *Screenshot from* *Doorbraak*

Writing for Doorbraak in September, Theo Francken titled his piece: “9/11 and the fight against Islamism.” Published around the 20th anniversary of the devastating September 11 attacks, Francken uses the article to critique the way Western countries have “dealt with” Islam.

The piece is short and riddled with oversimplified statements with little to no context. For example, Francken claims that teachers cannot “make fun” of the prophet Mohammed anymore and that this is detrimental to democracy.

This is a complex issue with many nuances and cannot be simplified in the way Francken presents it just to make a point. Instead of using the anniversary of 9/11 to commemorate the victims of the terrorist attack and perhaps analyse how this has impacted society the past 20 years in a researched and balanced manner, Francken uses the opportunity to push anti-Muslim sentiments.

The comments underneath the article are particularly hateful, showing how Francken’s words inspire hate in others.

UK – UK Blog Publishes Piece Targeting Muslims to Commemorate 9/11 Attacks

As we saw in news outlets around the world, the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks was covered extensively.

UK blog Conservative Woman was no different; they published a series of articles around the anniversary, one of which was titled: "9/11: Why be so afraid of the M-word?". The author of the piece, Peter Mullen, claims that people are ”afraid” to say that 9/11 was an attack perpetrated by Islamic terrorists.

However, Mullen is missing a key distinction: that between Islamic terrorist and Muslims. He states: "Why can’t we tell the truth that such murderous attacks are being perpetrated by Muslims and that they are always proud to claim that their atrocities are committed in the name of Islam? Why don’t we call them by their proper name – the name by which they themselves wish to be called? They wouldn’t complain if we did this. In fact, they would regard it as good publicity for their cause." With these words, Mullen is grouping together all Muslims with Islamic terrorists; not only is this incorrect, but it is also extremely hurtful to the victims of terrorism, of which Muslims make up the vast majority.

Mullen goes further to present the situation as a “fight” for the West: "Twenty years on from 9/11, and we mark this terrible anniversary by appeasement and national self-hate. The Western civilisation created and defended – often to the death – by the Judaeo-Christian culture and tradition has capitulated, content to fight fire and barbarism with Woke."

Mullen also uses some worrying violent speech, claiming that we need to “fight fire with fire”.

Poland – Hate Speech Allowed to Remain Up on YouTube

Screenshot from Youtube — *Screenshot from* *Youtube*

A worrying YouTube channel continues to publish hateful content in Poland. Wrealu24 is a popular far-right TV-style channel, which hosts content on both its own site as well as on YouTube, where the channel has 523,000 subscribers.

On September 23rd, a broadcast was published, titled: “URGENT! Is it Poland or already Polin? Attack on Sumlinski! Cancelled shows, intimidation!”. The segment included an interview between Piotr Szlachtowicz and Wojciech Sumlinski, who discussed anti-Jewish violence in Poland during WWII. ‘Polin’ is the Hebrew word for Poland and it is used by the far right as a warning against a supposed threat of Jewish domination of Poland. In the broadcast they also refer to an antisemitic conspiracy theory on COVID-19. The video received over 45,000 views on YouTube and sparked many hateful comments.

In the same month, Wrealu24 shared a video with the title: “A shocking testimony of Maria, how she managed to escape from Muslim slavery? A warning to Polish women!”. In the broadcast, a woman called Maria is interviewed by host Pawel Jaworski about a past relationship she claims to have had with a Muslim man. The host uses the segment to make hateful claims about Muslims. Despite being reported the hateful content, and comments, the content is still live on YouTube.

France – Would-be French Presidential Candidate Zemmour Continues Spreading Hate on TV

Interviewed on the France 2 TV programme “On est en direct” on 11 September, Eric Zemmour, the French far-right agitator known for his anti-immigration and anti-Muslim views, said that, if elected as a president of France, he would ban foreign-sounding names such as Mohamed. Although his attacks could include any name whose origin is not “French”, his idea of assimilation is particularly damaging to French Muslims.

On 26 September, two weeks after his remarks on banning foreign-sounding names, Zemmour was on the programme “Grand Rendez-Vous” on Europe 1 in partnership with CNEWS and Les Echos. On this occasion, he said: “we have to re-make French people […] It is possible to come from anywhere in the world and become French, but you cannot become such until there is assimilation”. His nationalistic understanding of assimilation is premised on the repression of religious and cultural difference.

During the same interview, the commentator expressed revisionist views on the Holocaust and France’s participation in it. Specifically, Zemmour said that the Vichy regime - the French government under Marshal Pétain, which collaborated with the Nazi invaders – did not have the extermination of Jews as an objective. “Vichy has protected French Jews and gave (to the Nazis) foreign Jews”, Zemmour said. This statement is false since there is much historical research, supported by evidence, that the Vel d'hiv round-up, which Zemmour used as an example, was a mass arrest of Jewish families organised by the French police and gendarmes in 1942.

Germany – New Satirical Magazine Vilifies Muslims Through Hateful Comics

Screenshot from Spiegelbild.news — *Screenshot from* *Spiegelbild.news*

A new satirical online magazine, spiegelbild.news, was launched in September by the German anti-Muslim site journalistenwatch. Spiegelbild.news, which is also present on Telegram, consists of satirical comics mocking Muslims, refugees, LGBTQ+ people, feminists, environmentalists, and leftists. Two series of comics, “Journalists ask, imams answer" and “Journalists ask, migrants answer” attack Muslims and people with a migrant background.

One comic shows a journalist saying “Name a peaceful sura from the Quran” and the imam answers “You shalt not kill... Er, wrong book”. This comic implies there is no peaceful content in the central religious text of Islam, promoting the false narrative that Muslim people are violent and endorse terrorism.

Another vignette depicts a journalist saying “You're asking non-believing women in Germany to wear a burqa. How do you convince them?” and the imam answers “It's so simple. We'll explain they don't have to wear a mask when going to the hairdresser, because with a burqa they don't have to go to the hairdresser at all.” This cartoon implies that Muslims want to persuade non-Muslims to submit to their beliefs and customs, including imposing specific items of clothing on women. Furthermore, it also suggests that women can be fooled easily and that women who wear a head covering never go to the hairdresser’s, which are sexist and anti-Muslim claims.

Spiegelbild.news might see no harm in this satire, which is often regarded to be shocking or offensive by nature, regardless of its target. However, this humour denigrates and belittles groups that are already stigmatised by society, reinforcing stereotypes and discrimination.

Belgium – La Libre Conflates Islam and Oppression in Their Reporting of Afghanistan

The media coverage of Afghanistan by La Libre, one of the major daily newspapers in Belgium, has been affected by some misleading and inaccurate claims on Islam, which bolster existing prejudices and misunderstandings on Muslims.

Several articles published by La Libre say that, with the Taliban, “Islam”, or “a strict Islam”, “is back in power”. Saying “Islam is back in power” or “a country ruled by Islam” is an anti-religious construction that essentializes religion and posits Islam as problematic and oppressive in and of itself.

As the Palestinian American academic Edward Said wrote in his book ‘Covering Islam’, “The associations created deliberately between the Islam and the fundamentalism guarantee that the common reader starts to see both as being essentially the same thing.”

An article on La Libre published on 14 September states: “The return of the Taliban to power marked the end of an era of relative freedom, leaving a country ruled by Islam and threatened by a restriction of fundamental rights, especially for women.”

Saying “an era of relative freedom” silences Western interventions in the country, as well as the consequences of the US presence over 20 years. Such discourse relies on a binary distinction between the West and Islam and consequently ties the former to essential freedom and the latter to essential terror. It frames political actors such as the Taliban as just Islamic preachers or representatives, therefore wrongly presenting their practices, including torture, as Islamic.

Hungary – Origo Spreads Unfounded Fears About Muslims in Europe

Screenshot from Origo — *Screenshot from* *Origo*

An article on the pro-government news site Origo titled “Islam will be the largest religion in France, this is what French people fear” fuels unfounded anxiety on the presence of Islam and Muslims, in Europe.

Origo uses a report from the London-based, Hungarian government-friendly, news agency V4NA, which takes the story for the far-right website Breitbart, which quotes the ‘Heart of the French’ survey conducted by Harris Interactive marketing agency. According to this poll, 39 percent of the respondents believe that Islam will be France’s most spread religion in the future, and three-quarters of respondent fear that if this happens, the country will lose its historical identity.

Origo has a strong anti-migrant and anti-Muslim agenda, which deliberately backs and reinforces the Hungarian government’s positions on this issue. The presence of Muslims in France – which is used as a warning for Hungarians – is presented as dangerous.

The article advances the conspiracy narrative of the Great Replacement, which imagines that “native Europeans” - e.g. white, Christian - are at risk of being destroyed and replaced. This narrative is harmful as it has been used by white supremacists to justify their terrorist attacks to defend their country, values, or the white race.