I want to start this blog off by remembering our children, brother and sisters who were martyred in Christchurch mosque before Jummah Salah (Friday Prayers). Â Those who have died in Wudhu (state of ablution) will benefit greatly in the hereafter.
The rise of Islamophobia and racial intolerance have spiked across the globe since 9/11. I don’t think it’s necessary to go in to the nuances of every incident that have occurred post 9/11. A number of issues can be identified for the rise of hate crime. Firstly, western invasion in Arab lands to tackle the war on terror and the other agenda is to disable ‘autocratic’ governments which are not compatible with Western geo-politics. A direct result of war-torn countries leads to fear of life, and a fear losing your life, results in mass migration to safer countries. The third and most important rise of hate crime has been heavily supported by the work of media propaganda and social media demagogues. The media has worked tirelessly in demonizing ethnic groups and Islam in the west which has lead to where we are today.
The endemic rise of right-wing fanaticism has spread across the globe. The support of the media and successive governments have stoked the flames of a growing fire which has spread rapidly. Right- wing political groups has gained huge popularity across Europe in recent times, the UK itself is heading towards Brexit where people have cited immigration as a common reason to leave the EU, and the successful election of Trump was the proverbial cherry on top.
A spate of attacks across Europe and America are growing concerns for the Muslim communities. It was only two years ago that a mass shooting incident occurred in a mosque in Quebec where 6 muslims were shot at by a white supremacist. In Norway, Anders Breivik (Neo-Nazi) killed 8 in an Arson attack and then went on a shooting spree killing close to 80 people in defiance of multi-culturalism and Islamification of Europe.
In the UK, we have seen several incidents of violence towards the muslim community, most notable, Darren Osborne driving his van in to a bunch of worshipers outside a mosque in Finsbury Mosque. There are many other attacks we can mention but this would require further scrutiny. Nevertheless, the Home Office latest reports on Hate Crime highlighted a 40 percent rise in religious hate-crime from 2016/2017 to 2017/2018.
This recent Christchurch massacre is the epitome of prevalent right-wing terrorism. Prevent an initiative created by the UK Government reported a 36 percent rise in right-wing fanaticism in 2017/18. So, this attack was of no surprise.
The right to Offend?
Freedom of speech is the by-product of democracy. Each and everyone of us has the right to have their freedom of speech protected. However, the question that should be asked, how far do we go before we have the right to offend? Â If, you are advocating the right to offend? How far does offence go when your words become a risk to the public?
Why Tommy Robinson?
After the recent events in Christchurch, it is evident that the right to offend, when it ends up in the the wrong hands, can have disastrous effects. Tommy Robinson shot to fame in 2008 after a group of Anjem Chaudary supporters (A fringe minority) started burning poppies at a returning home parade for soldiers of Luton. The likes of Tommy Robinson have used his platform to aggressively attack muslims and Islam. Tommy set up the English Defence League (EDL) in 2008, and has gained popularity amongst deprived working-class communities. Tommy in his own admission has profited heavily from Islamophobia and continues to gain popularity with his anti-islam rhetoric. Tommy understands people who have genuine concerns and directs these concerns in to hate rather than dealing with solutions.
*On the topic of the Islamophobia industry. University of Berkeley found that 208 million dollars was invested between 2008-2013 in to Islamophobia. Am sure that number has probably doubled since 2013.
Going back to Anders Breivik. Prior to his infamous terrorist attack in 2011, Anders Breivik had strong links to the EDL. He also admitted to being inspired by the EDL and also wanted to join an EDL march in Bradford prior to his own demolition job. There were also EDL Facebook forums that he actively participated in. Yet Breivik is yet to show any remorse for his actions and was evidently happy in court when he met the victims families in court.
Brenton Tharrant, the Christchurch terrorist himself was inspired by Ander’s Breivik. Brenton met with his Idol Breivik as cited in his 74-page manifesto, prior to carrying out his horrific act. All roads in this case lead to Tommy Robinson. Tommy Robinson’s words have had an impact, granted he has not acted out his word, but his words alone have had domino effect, looking at the the Norway and Christchurch attacks. So, should Tommy be held responsible?
The same can be said regarding Anjem Choudhary. Both Anjem and Tommy are two cheeks of the same ass.
The Media
The mainstream media is as responsible as the extremist. In a democracy, the freedom to press is an absolute right to any democracy, however, the media has lost its way in the framework they operate within. The concept of freedom to press was to ensure that true stories are told and the public are kept informed freely from parliamentary and government bias. Third world countries are dictated by  autocratic governments, however, in this country, the mainstream media dictates are political views.
How much influence does the media have? Well in 1994, the Sun Newspaper (the most popular paper in the UK) had sensationalized that they had won the general election. Going as far as the 1970’s, any political party which has been supported by the Sun has gone on to win the general election. How easy would it be for the Sun Newspaper to push forward a negative agenda? The answer is quite simple…
Have the media flirted with the right-wing nationalism in their attack against semetic religions? Well the answer is yes. During the early 30’s, Lord Rothermere the owner of the immigrant and race bashing newspaper was an advocate of Hitler and openly supported the attacks of Jews that lived in Germany. So, it should be of little surprise when we see these papers demonising muslims or Islam.
Neil Basu, chief of counter-terrorism in the United Kingdom has openly criticized the main-stream media for its role in radicalizing right-wing terrorism. Basu was particularly critical of the Daily Mail and the Sun coverage of the Christchurch video shooting, but yet the same mainstream-media had been critical of social media sites, for their failure to monitor the uploading of Islamic terrorism videos.
Quite often, you read sound bites of right-wing fanatics being labelled ‘lonely wolf, victims of some sorts, innocent angelic kid that lead them to doing x,y and z etc.…. The mainstream media have tried to legitamise reasoning for right-wing fanaticism. However, the same reasoning is not provided to fanatics who propagate attacks in the name of ‘Islam’. Not for one minute would I expect the media to defend these terrorists. However, the hypocrisy and double standards of the mainstream media operates within its framework.
The right to be offended?
When the right to offend is so easily appropriated the right to be offended can be easily crossed. When you incite hatred and demonize communities it doesn’t take too long for people to rely on journalistic writings, to act upon bigotry and hatred.
However, how far does the right to be offended go before its actions have a tragic consequence. Does is start with conversations, the right to insult, the rick to mock, the right to protest, the right to blog, the right to incite hatred? Or the right to act like we all saw in Christchurch?
The Solution:
munity in mourning
Well astonishingly for the first time we have seen the word ‘terrorist’ being used inclusively for the first time. For the first time, as far as I can remember, the word terrorist has been labelled to a non-muslim. The premiere of New Zealand, Jacinda Adern, a beacon of light for the global unity, stood with the muslim community and mourned with us. Not only did she mourn, she condemned the vile actions of Brendon Tarrant, and labelled him a terrorist.
Considering the huge steps taken by Jacinda, I think the media should also take a stronger position in condemning all forms of terrorism. However, if they fail to do so, a stronger position should be taken hold the media accountable. A regulatory body with the power to enforce huge fines and potential criminal prosecutions would be the most beneficial way in dealing with the media should they continue to stoke the flames of Islamophobia.
Hate preachers like Tommy Robinson and Anjem Chaudary who are guilty of radicalizing others, stricter guidelines should be put in place to monitor their social media platforms, disable their social media in the event they are pushing the boundaries, or impose prosecutions to those who choose to purposely incite bigotry, racism and islamophobia through violence.
Hopefully we can use the events of Christchurch to unite communities…
El-Hajj Mohammed X- Hajj Blog 