People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria

Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research

Larbi Ben M’h idi University-Oum El Bouaghi

Faculty of Letters and Languages Department of English

Representation of Islam and Muslim s in the British Press:

Audience Perception and Anti -Muslim Sentiment s

A Mémoire Submitted in P artial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the D egree of Master of Arts in Anglo-American Studies

By: KABOUCHE Nor El Houda Supervisor : BOUDJELIT Amina

Examiner: Dr. MAAMERI Fatima

2015-2016

Candidate Declaration Form

I, Kabouche Nor El Houda

Condidate of Master at the Department of English, Larbi Ben M’hidi University, do hereby declare that the dissertation entitled: Arab-Americans in Post 9/11 America: Revisiting the

Question of Identity.

In partial fulfillment of MA Degree in Anglo-American Studies is my own original work, and it has not previously, in its entirely or in part, been submitted at any University.

Dedication

“Never forget your parents

They are the reason

Why you are

And

Who you are”

This memoire is dedicated to my parents, for showing me the path of Allah, providing me with unconditional love, supporting and encouraging me, being there for me throughout life. Acknowledgment

First and foremost praise to Allah the Almighty, who enlightened the path of knowledge and accompanied me through, without his blessings none of this would happen.

From that, with a great pleasure I would like to acknowledge the assistance of my supervisor

Mrs. Boudejlit Amina, who has been there for me through researching and writing, and steered me in the right direction. Without her guidance this research would not have been possible.

I am glad that I got the chance to acknowledge the examiner Dr. Maameri Fatima who has been an example of motivation and who spared no efforts to provide us with her scholarly guidance throughout the years.

I would also like to thank the ones involved in my process of scholarship from the beginning, to the ones contributed to set forth the outcomes of this humble research, including Mr

BouriHadj, and Miss Haddad Mordjana. Without forgetting to offer my gratitude to the kind people who provided me with moral support and gave me strength in times of losing hope and falling apart. On top of this list, to the most two precious people in my life, those offered me with love unconditionally, my parents who taught me that gain comes only after hard work and perseverance.

My thanks and love to my siblings: my sisters, Feriel, Amina and her beautiful daughters

Haylamenne and Ritel, to my brothers, Muhammad and Skander. To my future husband Imad, for being there for me with support and advice. To my father in law, Ahmed Bouderbala for his assistance. To my friends, Manel, Rania, Asma, Imene, Amira, Meha, thank you for the priceless times we have spent together that I will never forget. To my cousin zeyneb, thanks. Abstract

British media interests witnessed a turning point in the few last decades, whereby Islam and Muslims became a dart to direct its arrows through. This study attempts to confirm what is reported about the representation of Islam and Muslims in the British media, that they are stigmatized and are confined to a specific rank of negative categories. Their representation becomes intensive in all types of media, especially when any local or global incident that involves Muslims takes place. The study seeks to detect a link between media coverage, in general and after a given event, with public’s perception. These matters are to be achieved through analyzing one form of the British media, the print media. A headline analysis of different British newspapers is to be used to reveal their orientation towards

Islam and Muslims, and to identify the categories Muslims are restricted to. Another headline analysis is utilized to examine coverage of Islam and Muslims after the Paris attacks in two well known British newspapers, The Sun and The Guardian, to conceive the changes that occurred on the representation. Representation of Islam and Muslims in the

British press is extremely negative with different degrees depending on the newspaper, with being fixed to a set of unfavorable categories. After the Paris attacks, Islam/Muslim’s coverage is more extreme in the extreme newspapers, and unexpectedly more positive in the liberal ones. The Paris attacks left behind a disturbing trauma on the Muslim community in Britain, whereby anti-Muslim sentiments were/are heightened.

Key words: Public perception, Anti-Muslim sentiment, Islamophobia, Demonization,

Generalizations, Prejudice, Extremism, Terrorism, Fanaticism.

Résumé

Les intérêts des médias britanniques ont connu à un tournant au cours des dernières décennies, de sorte que l'Islam et les musulmans sont devenus un dard ou leurs flèches sont dirigées.

Cette étude tente de confirmer ce qui est rapporté à propos de la représentation de l'Islam et des musulmans dans ces médias, où l’Islam et les musulmans y sont stigmatisés, et sont confinés à un rang spécifique des catégories négatives. L'étude vise à détecter le lien entre la couverture médiatique avec le sentiment antimusulman public. Ces questions seront abordées grâce à l'analyse d'une forme très puissante des médias britanniques qu’est la presse écrite.

Une analyse des titres de différents journaux britanniques révèle leur orientation contre l'Islam et les musulmans. Une autre analyse de titre est utilisée pour examiner la couverture de l'Islam et les musulmans après les attentats de Paris dans deux journaux britanniques bien connus,

The Sun et The Guardian. La représentation de l'Islam et des musulmans dans la presse britannique est extrêmement négative avec toutefois différents degrés selon l’orientation idéologique du titre, avec étant fixé à un ensemble de catégories défavorables. Après les attentats de Paris, la représentation de l’Islam et des musulmans est plus violente dans les journaux extrêmes, et de façon inattendue plus ‘’clémente’’, voire positive dans les titres à obédience libérale. L'accent est mis sur la perception du public après les attentats de Paris, où les sentiments antimusulmans se sont accrus parmi le peuple britannique, résultat des compagnes médiatiques intenses menées par les différents médias par l’entretien et la confusion insidieuse de l’extrémisme religieux musulman à l’Islam dans son ensemble.

Mots-clés: Perception Public, Sentiments Antimusulmans, Islamophobie, Démonisation,

Généralisation, Préjugé, Extrémisme, Terrorisme, Fanatisme. ﻤﻠﺨص

ﺸﻬدت ﻤﺼﺎﻝﺢ وﺴﺎﺌل اﻹﻋﻼم اﻝﺒرﻴطﺎﻨﻴﺔ ﻨﻘطﺔ ﺘﺤول ﻓﻲ اﻝﻌﻘود اﻷﺨﻴرة، ﺒﺤﻴث أﺼﺒﺢ اﻹﺴﻼم واﻝﻤﺴﻠﻤﻴن ﻫدف ﻝﺴﻬﺎﻤﻬم . ﻝذﻝك ﺘﺤﺎول ﻫذﻩ اﻝدراﺴﺔ ﺘﺄﻜﻴد ﻤﺎ ﺘردد ﻋن ﺘﻤﺜﻴل اﻹﺴﻼم واﻝﻤﺴﻠﻤﻴن

ﻓﻲ وﺴﺎﺌل اﻹﻋﻼم، ﺤﻴث ﺘم ﺤﺼر ﺘﻐطﻴﺘﻬم ﻓﻲ ﻓﺌﺔ ﺴﻠﺒﻴﺔ ﻤﻌﻴﻨﺔ . ﺒﻌد ﻜل ﺤﺎدﺜﺔ ﺴواء وطﻨﻴﺔ ﻜﺎﻨت أم دوﻝﻴﺔ ، ﻴﺘﻠﻘﻰ اﻹﺴﻼم و اﻝﻤﺴﻠﻤﻴن ﺘﻐطﻴﺔ ﻤﻜﺜﻔﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺠﻤﻴﻊ أﻨواع وﺴﺎﺌل اﻹﻋﻼم . ﺘﻬدف ﻫذﻩ اﻝدراﺴﺔ إﻝﻰ اﻝﺘﻌرف ﻋﻠﻰ اﻝﻌﻼﻗﺔ ﺒﻴن اﻝﺘﻐطﻴﺔ اﻹﻋﻼﻤﻴﺔ، ﺒﺸﻜل ﻋﺎم ، أو ﺒﻌد وﻗوع ﺤدث ﻤﻌﻴن، ﻤﻊ اﻝرأي اﻝﻌﺎم اﻝﻤﺄﺨوذ ﻀد اﻝﻤﺴﻠﻤﻴن، وﻨوع اﻝﺼدﻤﺔ اﻝﺘﻲ ﺘ ﺘرﻜ ﻬﺎ ﻫذﻩ اﻝﺘﻐطﻴﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻝﺠ ﺎﻝﻴﺔ اﻹﺴﻼﻤﻴﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺒرﻴطﺎﻨﻴﺎ . ﺴﻴﺘم ﺘﻨﺎول ﻫذﻩ اﻝﻘﻀﺎﻴﺎ ﻤن ﺨﻼل ﺘﺤﻠﻴل ﻨوع واﺤد ﻤن وﺴﺎﺌل اﻹﻋﻼم أﻻ وﻫﻲ وﺴﺎﺌل اﻹﻋﻼم اﻝﻤطﺒوﻋﺔ . ﺴﻴﺘم ﺘﺤﻠﻴل ﻋﻨﺎوﻴن ﻤن ﻤﺨﺘﻠف اﻝﺼﺤف اﻝﺒرﻴطﺎﻨﻴﺔ ﻝﻐرض اﻝﻜﺸف ﻋن ﻤﻴوﻝﻬم وﺘوﺠﻬﻬم ﺘﺠﺎﻩ اﻹﺴﻼم واﻝﻤﺴﻠﻤﻴن، وﺘﺤدﻴد اﻝﻔﺌﺎت اﻝﺘﻲ ﺘم ﺤﺼر اﻹﺴﻼم و اﻝﻤﺴﻠﻤﻴن ﻤن ﺨﻼﻝﻬﺎ . وﺴﻴﺘم اﺴﺘﺨدام ﺘﺤﻠﻴل اﺨر ﻜذﻝك ﻤﻘﺘﺼر ﻋﻠﻰ ﻌﻨاﻝ ﺎوﻴن ﻝﻔﺤص ﺘﻐطﻴﺔ اﻹﺴﻼم واﻝﻤﺴﻠﻤﻴن ﺒﻌد ﻫﺠﻤﺎت ﺒﺎرﻴس 2015 ﻓﻲ ﺼﺤﻴﻔﺘﻴن ﺒرﻴطﺎﻨﻴﺘﻴن ﺠد ﻤﻌروﻓﺘﻴن ' ذو اﻝﺴﺎن ' 'و ذو ﻗﺎردﻴﺎن' ، ﻝﻠﺘوﺼل إﻝﻰ اﻝﺘﻐﻴﻴرات اﻝﺘﻲ طرأت ﻋﻠﻰ ﻫذﻩ اﻝﺘﻐطﻴﺔ . ﺘﻤﺜﻴل اﻹﺴﻼم واﻝﻤ ﺴﻠﻤﻴن ﻓﻲ اﻝﺼﺤﺎﻓﺔ اﻝﺒرﻴطﺎﻨﻴﺔ ﺴﻠﺒﻲ ﻝﻠﻐﺎﻴﺔ ﺒدرﺠﺎت ﻤﺨﺘﻠﻔﺔ وﻓﻘﺎ ﻝﺘوﺠﻪ اﻝﺼﺤﻴﻔﺔ ، ﻤﻊ ﺤﺼر اﻹﺴﻼم و اﻝﻤﺴﻠﻤﻴن ﻓﻲ ﻤﺠﻤوﻋﺔ ﻤن اﻝﻔﺌﺎت اﻝﺴﻠﺒﻴﺔ . ﺒﻌد ﻫﺠﻤﺎت ﺒﺎرﻴس، اﺘﻀﺢ أن ﺘﻐطﻴﺔ اﻹﺴﻼم و اﻝ ﻤﺴﻠﻤ ﻴن أﺼﺒﺢ أﻜﺜر ﺘطرﻓﺎ ﻓﻲ اﻝﺼﺤف اﻝﻤﺘطرﻓﺔ، وﺒﺸﻜل ﻏﻴر ﻤﺘوﻗﻊ أﺼﺒﺢ أﻜﺜر إﻴﺠﺎﺒﻴﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻝﺼﺤف اﻝﻠﻴﺒراﻝﻴﺔ . ﺨﻠﻔت ﻫﺠﻤﺎت ﺒﺎرﻴس وراءﻫﺎ ﺼدﻤﺔ ﺠد ﺴﻠﺒﻴﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻝﺠﺎﻝﻴﺔ اﻝﻤﺴﻠﻤﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺒرﻴطﺎﻨﻴﺎ، ﺤﻴث ﺘﻀﺎﻋﻔت ﻤﺸﺎﻋر ﻤﻌﺎداة ا ﻝﻤﺴﻠﻤﻴن.

اﻝﻜﻠﻤﺎت اﻝﻤﻔﺘﺎﺤﻴﺔ : :

اﻝﺘﺼور اﻝﻌﺎم، اﻝﻤﺸﺎﻋر اﻝﻤﻌﺎدﻴﺔ ﻝﻠﻤﺴﻠﻤﻴن، اﻹﺴﻼﻤوﻓوﺒﻴﺎ ( اﻝﺨوف ﻤن اﻹﺴﻼم) ،ﺸﻴطﻨﺔ اﻝﻤﺴﻠﻤﻴن، اﻝﺘﻌﻤﻴﻤﺎت اﻝﺴﻠﺒﻴﺔ، اﻝﺘﺤﻴز، اﻝﺘطرف، اﻹرﻫﺎب، واﻝﺘﻌﺼب . . TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract

Résumé

Dedication……………………………………………………….……..ii

Acknowledgment……………………………………………………….……….iii

Table of Contents………………………………………………………IV

General Introduction…………………………………………………………....1

CHAPTER ONE: Determinants of the British Press Intensive Coverage of Islam and Muslims: Demonization and Public Perception………………….……7-42

1- Introduction………………………………………………………...…...7

2- Islam and Muslims: Catching Eyes of the British Press…………..7

3- Historical Overview………………………………………….…………...12

4- British Press: The Tendentious Representation of Islam and Muslims ……..19

5- Public Perception: British Press Leverage behind Provoking Prejudice against

Islam and Muslims………………………………………………………33

6- Conclusion…………………………………………………………..41

CHAPETR TWO: Islam and Muslims in the British Press: Paris Attacks

Boosting Anti-Muslim Sentiments………………………...... 43-91

1- Introduction……………………………………………..………...... 43

2- Islam and Muslim Representation in the British Press: A Headline

Exemplar………………………………………………...... 43 3- The British Press following the Paris attacks: Headline Exemplar……...... 70

4- The Paris Attacks: Boosting Anti-Muslim Sentiments.……...... 86

5- Conclusion………………………………………..…………………….89

General Conclusion…………………………………………………………….…..92

Works cited………………………………………………………………………97 1

General Introduction

Media, in its wide-ranging usage and forms is one of the most informative

instruments that people employ to acquire knowledge from. Acquaintance that media

provides people with is not restricted to a specific rank of information. It developed to

allow all sorts of news to circulate under its umbrella. Theoretically, media’s

significance lies in its capability to serve in shortening distances. Thus, downrightly,

it can be affirmed that under media, communities all over the world are in direct

connection and are consistently au courant of what is going on.

Considering its procession through history, Islam has been a focus of attention.

From being born in a nomadic region in the 7 th century, to be spread to other parts of the world through the Islamic expansions, to reach a point of being ubiquitous. Some of the Islamic legacy was introduced to the western worlds due to the immigration phenomenon that took place hundreds of years ago, causing Islam to be slightly familiar in Britain. Later on with the scientific innovations, mostly that of the media,

Islam’s procession took another level to become a worldly known religion. Therefore, when it comes to Islam, media also plays a crucial role, which is being the world’s supplier of a grasp on Islam. These last few decades witnessed Islam to be a debatable matter due to some controversies that surrounded Muslims. Media is known to be attracted to such controversies. Thus, it was expected that Islam is to be an easy target for western media’s typical purposes, resulting in Islam and Muslims to be made as a source of stigmatization and stereotypical generalizations.

Britain is one of the most multicultural counties in Europe and in the world, which Islam reached and is now an officially recognized religion socially and legally.

It is not puzzling then that Muslims make up a considerable proportion of the British 2 population and are considered as a component that contributes to add shape to the

British multiculturalism. Basing on this fact alone, Islam and Muslim are considered to be a threat to the British natives’ status, and a threat to the majority religion,

Christianity. Therefore, negative misrepresentation of Islam and Muslims is not uncommon in the British media.

Someone who is conversant with the British people’ sophisticated mentality would identify that the traditional media, the print one, is one of media forms that the

British public still mostly rely on in their search for news. Islam and Muslims have definitely been a target for the British press. Taking into consideration the huge audience that the British press possesses, and that Islam and Muslims comprise a considerable space in the press discourse, readers would naturally be familiar and aware of what is being covered and presented to them in respect to Islam and

Muslims. This turning point of the British press turning attention towards Islam and

Muslims was adopted just recently, from the end of the 20 th century. This focus by the

British print media regarding Islam and Muslims is reported to be directed unfavorably, and Muslims in Britain have become the press’ scapegoat group.

Thus, some fundamental questions had to be raised on this subject, and are aimed to be answered throughout this memoire. As was stated earlier on Islam and

Muslims grabbing attention of the British press which was recently formed, the first question to be put forward is about the reasons behind magnetizing such attention. In addition to that, another pivotal question that came up is whether the claim concerning the British press being Islamophobic is accurate or not. Furthermore, another query to be answered is, does the press coverage of Islam and Muslims boost public’s anti-

Muslim sentiments? If so, what kind of impact it had/has on British Muslims? The final question that surfaced and is sought to be answered, is if there are any 3 occurrences of change on the scope of the representation of Islam and Muslims in the

British press be it positive or negative, particularly given the attacks which took place in the French capital lately.

Many objectives are endeavored to be achieved under this study. Firstly, one of the important aims is to go through the reasons for Islam and Muslims to be spotlighted and to catch that much of the British press attention. Another major target of the research is to figure out how the news on Islam and Muslims are consumed by the public, and how they contribute in creating anti-Muslim sentiments. Over and above, the research aims to reach a conclusion on how the depiction of Islam and

Muslims is produced in the British press (positive or negative), and under what circumstances news are treated (press manipulation). Therefore, if what is conjectured is valid, that Islam and Muslims are restrictively grouped under a set of categories such as extremism, fanaticism; terrorism, then the master objective of the study is to reveal the bias implicated in the representation of Islam and Muslims, whether explicitly or implicitly, and to disclose the frameworks that they circulate within.

This memoire’s structure is designed upon two chapters. The first acts as a theoretical entrance to the second one, whereby data would be supplied on the basis of already undertaken studies to confirm some matters related to the topic. Through this chapter the set of reasons that acted as the basis for the attention that the British press paid Islam and Muslims would be highlighted. Likewise, this chapter attempts to single out the frameworks that Islam and Muslims are bound to, and how their coverage is framed to be delivered in a particular pattern of news resulting in Islam and Muslims being put under a set of specific categories. Going back to the fact that the British mentality leans towards the traditional media rather than the modern one, and considering the fact that the British people are characterized with a prejudicial 4 attitude towards Islam and Muslims, public perception is to be discussed in order to examine whether a link could be indentified between the press’ discourse and the general perspective that the public holds on Islam, and Muslims specifically.

The data concluded from the first chapter are constituted to pave the way for the analytical part, which is assumed through a two part headline analysis within which conclusions are to be drawn. The aim behind the first headline analysis is to determine how Islam and Muslims are covered in the British press from different newspaper perspectives, and to identify the kind of discourse used to represent them, along with the categories they are confined with. The latter part of the headline analysis analyzes how Islam and Muslims are covered in The British press subsequently to the 2015 Paris attacks, with the attempt to detect any changes that might occur on their portrayal. In the final element of the chapter, a paradigm of some personal experiences of British Muslims is to be recounted so as to conceive what life is like for the British Muslims after the French attacks.

The recent decades witnessed scholars turning their attention towards the portrayal of Islam and Muslims in the British print media. Thus, this memoire relies heavily on the findings and conclusions drawn from previous studies conducted on this topic. These studies are a mixture of books, newspaper and journal articles, and other documents. Elizabeth Poole’s British Islam: Media Representations and Social

Meanings is concerned with British Muslims and Islam in Britain. It examines how

Islam and Muslims are framed in the British press and analyzes the audience perception. Her findings are built upon analysis that she executed on articles taken from different newspapers varied between broadsheets and tabloids. Another valuable work is undertaken by the same author Elizabeth Poole “Change and Continuity in the

Representation of British Muslims before and after 9/11: The UK Context”, it is of a 5 significant contribution to the subject, for it is concerned with the representation of

Muslims in the British press. The analysis of this study is focalized on two periods, pre and post 9/11in order to examine the continuation and the shift of the representation of Islam and Muslims that took place after the event, i.e.: what changed in the representation before and after 9/11. Another major work to contribute to this research is by Elzain Elgamri Islam in the British Broadsheets: How Historically- conditioned Orientalist Discourses Inform Representations of Islam as a Militant

Monolithic Entity . Elgamri examines how Islam was covered in the British press through using the discourse analysis of articles picked from three of the most standing

British newspapers: The Guardian, The Times and The Independent. He analyzes the discourse concerning Islam and Muslims that occurred after specific events that made the Islamic world stand out negatively in the western media in general and in the

British press in particular. In addition to these above-mentioned sources, some of the

British most outstanding newspapers are the source the most substantial to be used in this research to draw the final conclusions. The newspapers used are The Sun, The

Daily Express, The Daily Star, The Daily Mail, The Times, The Mirror, and The

Guardian. These plus other sources included to strengthen the essence of this study.

This piece of research to be well covered, it will rely mainly on a mixture of approaches. As a setting up, a descriptive method is to be utilized to provide a preface on the topic to theoretically answer some fundamental questions and to uncover reasons. The significance of this approach is that it allows discussing the previous contributions provided on the subject. The analytical part of the research is to be using analytical approaches, qualitatively and quantitatively mainly. Newspapers’ headlines are aimed to be quantitatively identified and then have their context and lexical choice 6 qualitatively examined with the aim of elaborating the representation of Islam and

Muslims in the British press. 7

Chapter One

Determinants of the British Press Intensive Coverage of Islam and

Muslims: Demonization and Public Perception

Introduction

Is the British print media one-sided? Are the British people prejudiced? Do these two work in liaison? A country as the U.K with tens of millions of people of different racial and religious backgrounds is tricky to function. In multicultural communities there has to be the one(s) driven out to the margins of the society, a status occupied by Muslims. Muslims in the U.K overtopped 3 millions in 2016, adding more shape to the British multicultural society. Islam and Muslims from being barely noticed in Britain to acting as the society’s scapegoat, owing this to several reasons, on top of them, press defamation. After a series of events took place, Islam and Muslims came under an intensive attention of the British print media, causing them to be put under definite categories which contributed in creating and boosting anti-Muslim sentiments.

I. Islam and Muslims: Catching Eyes of the British Press

Going through the history of British media concerning ethnic minorities, one can see that prior to and the beginning of the 1980s; Islam and Muslims were quite neglected, Islam in the United Kingdom was not covered much before the 1980s (Kim

Knott et al, 82). But things took a whole other direction when some incidents that shook the world as a whole involving Muslims took place. This paved the way for the

British media in general, and the press in particular to turn their attention towards

Islam and Muslims and to stir up hatred and antagonism against the religion and its 8 followers in their discourses. From being neglected and not worth mentioned, Islam and Muslims turned into an interesting topic for the British press, that they were provided with spaces in the front pages, and acted as a center for the press publications.

Starting with Muslims and Islam inside Britain, the discourse of Muslims in

Britain is driven by Muslims outside Britain, and global events would repeatedly be referred to when it comes to British Islam (Poole, British Islam… 93, 112). That is,

when discussing Muslims and Islam in Britain, the idea held about them or their

coverage would be influenced by the actions of Muslims outside Britain, i.e.: if a

negative event happens that has Muslims involved in, the negative sentiments of the

British people and the press’ negative discourse would be projected against Muslims

in Britain.

The thing that is in common between most scholars regarding what made the

British print media all set to make Islam and Muslims as a main theme for their discourses is that it came as a result of series of events that varied between domestic on the British soil, and others that were worldwide events. Thus, the negative discourse and the hostility that is used is not only a result of an inside threat i.e. domestic conflicts, but also when it comes to the global conflicts. This can only mean that the British press’ negativity towards Islam and Muslims is not constructed as a result of their concern on Britain’s security; however their problem is with Muslims and the religion per se.

As have been pointed out before, there are some events responsible for Islam and Muslims being targeted by the British press. Previous scholars in this respect drew some conclusions on these events as a reason for the press’ attention. Their 9 findings seem to be identical with just slight differences that each event is given more/less importance.

Some events that were referred to are from really early periods. Elizabeth

Anne Poole discusses how Islam and Muslims came to be noticed with controversies surrounding them. Before talking about their depiction in the press she mentions some events from earlier periods when Islam started to be a center of attention, among them: the European colonization, post-colonialism in 1945, the Iranian Revolution of

1979, and the oil crisis of the 1970s ( British Islam… 16).

The image of Islam has been built up in the British press with Iran being a major theme since 1979 with the Iranian revolution (Elgamri 134). So one of the events that is concerned to be a starting point for this press attention on Islam and

Muslims is the Iranian Revolution of 1979. This event was not the only one to push

Islam into the arena of British coverage, however it was the first and definitely not the only.

Other incidents that made Islam, Muslims, and the Arab world a major theme for British coverage are the Rushdie affair, with the gulf war (1991) , the 9/11 attacks, and the war on Afghanistan and Iraq, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, the campaign of violence by the Algerian Islamic Armed Group (IAG) in 1995 and 1996, the rise of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan in 1996, the Luxor massacre of foreign tourists in 1997, and the 7 July 2005 attacks on London (Elgamri 1-2). Each of these incidents listed by Elgamri took their part in the British press fair and square, but with different degrees. The Runnymede Trust argued that starting from the 1980s and on, events like the Rushdie Affair, the Honeyford Affair, and the Gulf War made Islam known on the national scale (qtd. in Poole, British Islam…5). 10

The Rushdie affair repeatedly circulated as news due to the Iranian fatwa

(religious decree) (Poole, British Islam… 112). Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses

effects on Muslims shed the light on the Islamic world like it never did before, and the

same thing with the incidents that followed. But Salman Rushdie’s affair acts as the

basis for this press attention.

Said on the other hand goes back to the Iranian Revolution (1979) as being the

main incident for Islam to enter to the western arena. While Van Dijk (1991) thinks

that what really spotted light on Islam and Muslims and made them hit the front pages

was the Rushdie affair incident, which is also argued by Dr Zaki Badawi, that it is the

Rushdie Affair that caused Muslims’ demonization in the United Kingdom (qtd. in

Poole, British Islam…25, 113, 172). Unlike Edward Said who argues that it is the

Iranian Revolution that was the starting point of turning eyes towards Islam and

Muslims, Van Dijk and Dr Zaki Badawi on the other hand consider that it is the

Rushdie Affair that caught attention of the British media. This indicates that the

Iranian Revolution made the Islamic world slightly known and covered, whilst the

Rushdie affair boosted the coverage and made it for the long term, this of course till

another event takes place that the media (press) turns its attention to. This does not

mean that when an incident happens the previous one is forgotten, rather each one of

them (with different degrees of importance) would be referred to.

Now to more recent events, the one that was catchy for the press’ attention is

the 9/11 attacks. The 9/11 incident was considered to have the ultimate degree of

coverage. The British Muslim community, subsequently to the 9/11 attacks attracted

media’s attention like it never did before since 1989 with the Rushdie affair (Elgamri

241). 11

A modern analysis on the British print media concerning the depiction of

British Muslims focuses on more recent events, between 2000-2008. It finds that coverage of Islam and Muslims in Britain was heightened in the last years due to some events involving Islam and Muslims, among the events mentioned are: the

September 11 th 2001 attacks, the July 7 th London bombings, the attacks of 3 March

2003 on Iraq, and the Glasgow Airport attack. They paid extra attention to the 9/11 attacks and the 7/7 bombing, because of the increase and high consistency in coverage even after they took place (Moore, Mason, and Lewis 5, 10).

When there are no such events to link Islam and Muslims with, the coverage decreases like in 1994 (Poole, British Islam… 103). The British press when portraying

Islam and Muslims in general they refer to those events. The decrease in coverage of

Islam and Muslims when there are not such events occurring make it more evident

that, for Islam and Muslims to be covered and to stimulate curiosity of the British

press there has to be an event of such kind to make them interesting enough and pave

the way for their negative depiction.

Muslims before the 9/11 event were not as visible as they were in the press compared to the period after this event (Poole, “Change and Continuity…” 53). This could be analyzed as this. The last outstanding event prior to 9/11 was the Luxor attacks of Egypt in 1997. So, the years after the Luxor attacks and preceding the 9/11 attacks, coverage surrounding Islam and Muslims fell back because there were not significant events involving them. This denotes the fact that the British press gets catalyzed and enthusiastic to depict Islam and Muslims because of particular events that suit the needs for their coverage. This enthusiasm is lost when a particular event is outdated, but it would still be remembered until another one takes place that heightens the coverage once more. 12

The acceleration of Islam and Muslim depiction in the British media is due to the 9/11 attacks. Among other events that contributed to the turning point of the representation of Islam and Muslims in the British print media are bombings of

London (Faimau 1, 187).

According to most scholars’ previous studies, the period when Islam and

Muslims caught attention of the British print media is restricted between the periods

1979 to 2005, while others refer more to the late 1980s with the Rushdie Affair, i.e.: starting from the event of The Iranian Revolution or the Rushdie affair, ending with the London bombing attacks. Two of the most major attacks were never mentioned in the scholars’ researches due to their recency, The Charlie Hebdo shooting of January

2015, and the November 2015 attacks, both taking place in France (Paris). Thus, they would both be discussed in details in the other chapter.

The fact of Islam and Muslims’ receiving the British press’ attention does not imply that this attention is directed in a positive sense, but quite the opposite, it is directed in a negative sense. Basically Muslims are not considered as a part of the

British society, and do not appear in normal news frameworks practicing normal activities, but they appear in the typical framework that the British press created and was established in the late 1980s (Poole, British Islam …138). These frameworks where Islam and Muslims are presented are basically restricted to negative stereotypes.

1. Historical Overview: The Events

From the events mentioned above, the ones selected here to give a hint about are amongst the most prominent ones that enticed the attention of the world in general and of Britain in particular. They were thought to be newsworthy for the British press 13 to devote so much coverage for them. They varied between domestic and international. They are: the Rushdie affair, the Taliban movement, the Luxor attack, the September 11 th attacks, the Iraqi war, the 7/7 London bombing attacks.

1.1 The Rushdie Affair

Salman Rushdie grew up in a Muslim environment, but he was not quite a

believer. He had successful pieces of writings. In 1989 he released The Satanic Verses

novel that was the most controversial book he had ever released. It caused so much

controversy and confusion amongst the Muslims starting from the title. They took it

as an offense against Islam and the Holly Book Quran, which caused the writer to be

in danger. He combined between fact and fiction. The themes of the novel really tried

to distort the history of Islam, referring to the prophet Muhammad (peace and

blessings be upon him) and Gabriel the Angel inappropriately. Muslims launched

campaigns against the book. It was banned in many countries, mostly Muslim ones

like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Other places witnessed protests

by burnings of the book like in England (Št ěpánová 3-8).

As a result the spiritual leader of Iran Ayatollah Khomeini issued a death sentence fatwa (religious edict) on February the 14th 1989 against Salman Rushdie accusing him of blasphemy and insulting the prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). Rushdie after this fatwa in fear for his life was taken to be hidden. The diplomatic relations between Iran and the United Kingdom were at stake and got suspended for 18 months (Elgamri 134). The attention that Islam and Muslims received after The Rushdie Affair Controversy was not due to Muslims’ disapproval of The Satanic Verses’ novel, nor their protests to stop its publication. However, it 14 was because of the fatwa that Ayatollah Khomeini launched declaring the death of

Salman Rushdie.

1.2 The Taliban Movement

The Soviet Union had the support, and supported the communist president in

Afghanistan Muhammad Najibullah. The government of Muhammad Najiboullah was at risk, for the opposing Islamic groups aimed to overthrow it. This led the Soviet

Union in 1979 to aid him by sending forces to Afghanistan leading to the soviet- afghan war (1979-1989). This war that lasted 10 years caused the death of a million of

Afghans with a total destruction of the country. It was not easy for the soviet either, for they faced harsh battles against the ‘Mujahedeen’. In February 1989 the Soviet

Union withdrew from Afghanistan leaving the government of Najibullah behind to face their enemy alone, but they kept on providing them with aids of weapons and ammunitions for two years. In April 1992 the communist government was too overthrown by the Mujahedeen. In the aftermath, disagreements over power between the mujahedeen started to take place (Afsar et al, 59).

As a result, the Taliban movement was founded in Kandahar, south of

Afghanistan, aiming to establish peace and to bring law and order back to the country and to set up a pure Islamic state. Taliban are graduate students of ‘Islamic seminaries’ (Elgamri 192). They were led by Mullah Muhammad Omar. At first they gained local and international support, which they later lost due to the extreme version of Islam they established. Taliban started to gain success through taking over areas one by one. By 1997 they controlled 95 percent of Afghanistan (Afsar et al. 60).

During the time of their ruling, only three countries acknowledged the Taliban regime (as legal government), Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan. 15

After the September 2001 attacks on the United States they withdrew their acknowledgement (Elgamri 192). Taliban started to team up with al Qaeda. After the

9/11 attacks Taliban were demanded to hand over Bin Laden but they refused. As a result the United States launched a war against Taliban causing the decline of Taliban in Afghanistan (Afsar et al. 60). Today the United States is still trying to negotiate with Taliban.

1.3 The Luxor attack

The Luxor attack dragged the world’s attention, because it caused the death of more than 60 people most of them were foreigners. The victims were from different countries, Switzerland, Japan, Germany, Britain and France. This attack took place at

Luxor the most tourist attractive city in Egypt on November the 17 th of 1997. This

event was, claimed to be, launched by the Egyptian Islamic Group. By that time

Taliban took control over most of the country with Kabul in September 1996, and this

made things stable. But with the Luxor attack eyes were once again on Islam and

Muslims (Elgamri 210).

By the time when Taliban was first originated it attracted a lot of attention towards it and its actions. When it started to take control attention declined, this was because their activity lessened and there were not interesting news in respect to them.

However, attention towards Islam and Muslims was regained with the fresh news of the Luxor attacks.

Troops were spread in the area and security was intensive after the attack.

According to the Interior Ministry the executers of the attack were killed in a fire exchange with police. However, this incident had disastrous consequences on the 16

Egyptian economy, since tourism is a major contributor to the economy of Egypt

(Lancaster).

1.4 The September 11 th Attacks

Another major event which is probably placed on top of the list of the events that turned the world upside down was the September 9/11 attacks on the United

States. Four airliners attacked the United States on the morning of September 11,

2001. The two first ones hit the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center.

Shortly after, the Twin Towers collapsed. The third airliner hit the Pentagon, and the fourth one was aimed towards Washington or the White House but failed and was crashed in a field in Pennsylvania, because of the airliner passengers’ try to stop the attackers (“The 9/11Commission Report” 1).

This attack claimed the lives of more than 2600 people. The hijackers were 19, most of whom were not educated. Bin Ladin was behind these attacks. As stated before, the United States before the attacks was trying to persuade the Taliban to hand over Bin Ladin but their demand was turned down (Taliban provided shelter to Bin

Ladin and al Qaeda members) (“The 9/11Commission Report” 1, 2, 3, 11).

So many attacks on the United States took place before the 9/11 with the objective of targeting Americans, like the attempt of bringing down of the World

Trade Center in 1993, or the “Black Hawk Down” incident in the same year when a helicopter was shot down causing deaths and injuries, or the attempt of blowing up

U.S airliners in 1995, and many others. So Theses attacks were not a surprise as they were a shock (“The 9/11Commission Report” 2). 17

Regardless to the allegations that these attacks were launched by Muslims or by Bin Ladin al Qaeda, these are still just allegations since no prove had never been provided except for some statements. Other claims suggest that this was an inside job that was put together by the government and/or the president. Others claimed that the

Jews were behind these attacks with backing up this claim that not a single Jew was killed despite the fact that there were Jews working there. These claims exist only as suppositions. Behind the scenes of the 9/11 attacks, would probably never be uncovered, at least not soon.

1.5 The Iraqi War

The president of that time George W. Bush claimed that the Iraqi president

Saddam Hussein acquired Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) and built his claim on a strong ground by saying that he had a proof on that, and if so this would be menacing to the United States’ security. What Saddam Hussein was accused of also is that he had connections with al Qaeda and was helping them. With that the president

George Bush declared that they have the right to defend themselves (“The War in

Iraq”).

The United States launched an invasion on Iraq with about 300,000 troops,

American and British, that lasted from March the 20th to the 1 st of May 2003 (after that started the Iraq war). The invasion resulted in the overthrowing of Saddam

Hussein’s government. This war against Iraq found many opponents among

Americans. They stated that Iraq is no harm for them and by invading it this will cause more problems and danger for the United States. The motives of the invasion on

Iraq were the WMDs and the connections between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda.

Well, none of those claims was proved. After the overthrowing of Saddam Hussein’s 18 government he fled away, but got caught and trialed. In 2006 Saddam was executed, and the war continues (“The War in Iraq”).

Barack Obama, the president taking office after George bush, declared in 2010 the withdrawal of the united sates’ troops from Iraq with leaving some back to aid with the Iraqi security forces. By the end of 2011 the United States ended its involvement in Iraq officially (“The War in Iraq”).

The American existence in Iraq has not faced an end till today, 2016. Iraqis are still being killed, jailed, tortured everyday by the American troops. Iraq is still in a mass, politically, militarily, culturally, scientifically, and in all domains. The fact that is unchallenged is that the situation of Iraq and Iraqis was way better under Saddam

Hussein than under the United States occupation (which the United States do not even consider as occupation!).

The war on Iraq was justified at the beginning by allegations. First, that the

Bush administration was worried about the security of the United States from the weapons of mass destruction which Saddam Hussein owned. Second, to prevent any terrorist attack that could come as a result of the relationship between Saddam

Hussein and al Qaeda. However with the end of the invasion in the same year 2003 nothing was confirmed, neither the WMDs nor the connection with al Qaeda, but the war was still on which made the war if it might be said, illegal. This was not enough for the United States to call off the war, and another excuse was made. This time that they wanted to create a democratic Iraq away from the unfair policy that Saddam

Hussein practiced for years. But what is evident is that the most brutal dictator and the most unfair treatment that the Iraqis went through was that under the American colonizer. 19

1.6 The 7/7 London Bombing Attacks

Like the Rushdie Affair, the 7/7 event also occurred on the British soil. This incident took place in London, in the morning of Thursday, 7 July, 2005. These attacks were a series of four separate bombings targeting the London public transport system resulting in the killing of 52 people with more than 750 injured. The first three bombings were executed separately targeting three underground trains at the same time at 8.50. The first train that was attacked was just leaving Liverpool Street station to Aldgate; this explosion caused 8 deaths and 171 injuries. The other train departed

King's Cross heading to Russell Square (in between), this bombing resulted in 27 deaths and more than 340 were injured. While the third one leaving the Edgware

Road station; this one claimed the lives of 7 people and wounded 163. These attacks were executed almost the same time. A forth explosion came an hour later on a two- decker bus in Tavistock Square, the upper deck was totally destroyed, this bomb killed 13 and the bomber, with more than 110 injuries. The whole underground system and the bus services shot down. Shortly after, the explosions were confirmed to be a series of attacks. Hours later, al Qaeda adopted the 7/7 attacks in a video, though this claim was not confirmed by investigations (Williams 1-5, 48).

II. British Press: The Tendentious Representation of Islam and

Muslims

The thing that is obvious and one can conclude without even getting into deep analysis is that Muslims are portrayed negatively in the British press. Ordinary stories on Islam and Muslims in the press are excluded from the coverage, for example coverage of Islam and Muslims in 1994 was low; this reflects the absence of Muslim activity that links them to some unfavorable activity (Poole British Islam …90, 103). 20

Here Poole stresses the idea that Islam and Muslims do not occur in the news unless there is something negative behind it, so unless a story links Islam/Muslims to unfavorable news it would not be covered.. Poole in this case suggests that news covering Islam and Muslims are not interesting since they do not reflect what the press wishes to cover which is negative activities involving them.

Decontextualization is a technique which the press uses in its coverage where they present the news in the way that suits them, whereby they exclude some backgrounds that may be positive about some characters or events that they tended to portray negatively, and this “results in Muslims being categorized negatively”(Poole

British Islam …195, 200). What Elizabeth Poole is trying to say is that even when there is a story to be covered that contains a positive side on Islam and Muslims, and this kind of coverage is quite rare, this positive side would not be presented to public.

In here, the press has manipulative techniques when it comes to choosing or modifying the news like the mentioned above ‘decontextualization’.

1. Categorization of Representation

Those recent decades witnessed scholars turning their attention towards the portrayal of Islam and Muslims in the British print media. Those scholars, through analyzing newspapers’ content, drew some conclusions on how Islam and Muslims were represented in the British press. Seeking to identify the categories and frameworks that are presumably the most applied forms of representation of Islam and

Muslims in the British press, this part, will heavily rely on the findings and conclusions of some of the researchers’ previous studies that were conducted on this topic. 21

British Islam: Media Representations and Social Meanings is the first research to be relied on to extract some of the categories of representation. This study is conducted by Elizabeth Anne Poole, which is mainly concerned with British Muslims and Islam in Britain, examining and analyzing meanings and some arguments circulating in the British print media on Islam and Muslims and its audience perception. One amongst those arguments is that Islam is demonized. Elizabeth Poole draws some conclusions on how Islam in Britain and British Muslims were framed in the British press. Her findings are built upon analysis that she executed on articles taken from different newspapers (broadsheets and tabloids), and sometimes referring to already made studies.

The second research to rely on to conclude the categories of representation of

Islam and Muslims is entitled Islam in the British Broadsheets: How Historically- conditioned Orientalist Discourses Inform Representations of Islam as a Militant

Monolithic Entity , it is undertaken by Elzain Elgamri. In order to find out how Islam was covered, Elgamri analyzes some articles that were picked from three of the most standing British newspapers: The Guardian, The Times, and The Independent , using the discourse analysis. He analyzes the discourse concerning Islam and Muslims that occurred after specific events that made the Islamic world stand out negatively in the western media in general and in the British press in particular. He devotes four chapters to some of these events to analyze how they were covered: the Rushdie affair, the rise of the Taliban movement to power, the Luxor attack and the attacks of

September 11 th , 2001.

“Change and Continuity in the Representation of British Muslims before and after 9/11: The UK Context” is the third research to contribute in extracting some of the categories. It is again undertaken by Elizabeth Poole and is mainly concerned with 22 the representation of British Muslims or Muslims in Britain in the British press. In this study she mainly analyzes two periods: pre and after 9/11 event to examine the continuation of the representation and the shift that took place after this event. The focus however was on the period after the 9/11 event. Her aim is to show the impact of some political events on the coverage, mostly the 9/11 one (The abstract). Poole’s center of analysis is the September 11 th event, other events are the Iraq War (2003)

and the 7/7 London bombings.

1.1 Cultural Differences

In her analysis of topics of coverage of Islam and Muslims, Elizabeth Poole

identifies the central themes surrounding these topics. One of these themes is cultural differences. Through the portrayal of “an alien culture” Islam becomes threatening to them (Poole British Islam …30, 117). Poole mentions the first outcome which representing Islam and Muslims in the context of cultural differences causes. That is, with the realization of the British people of the differences between their culture and that of Islam, Islam becomes a source of threats regarding the difference that exists between cultures. This denotes that British people will be concerned that the Islamic culture would threaten the purity of their ‘Britishness’.

Concluding from another work by her, Elizabeth Poole identifies the themes of coverage of British Muslims, among them those related to cultural differences.

That Muslims are a threat to the British values and this raises concerns on their integration, and that there are concerns on personal relationships because of the cultural differences between Muslims and British (“Change and Continuity…”52). In this work, Poole keeps on with extracting other results of the coverage of cultural differences. That these differences threaten the values of the British people; this in 23 turn causes problems of Muslims integration in the British society, with another result taking place at the level of relationships between both groups.

Talking about relationships, covering relationship stories of British Muslims is a way to reflect the cultural differences between the two cultures, making the Islamic one as a threat to the British one. They cover stories like the brutality of men towards their wives relating this to abduction stories, underage marriages, women treatment...

(Poole British Islam …98-99). It is inaccurate to reflect negative attitudes by few

Muslims on a whole community or on the religion and link them to Culture while they

are behaviors by some individuals that have nothing to do with neither culture, nor the

Muslim community, nor Islam. In such discourses the press interposes its

manipulative techniques. Purposefully, the press intends from covering relationships

in Islam to make one culture as superior the other as inferior reflecting the bad sides

on all Muslims and on the religion, showing Britain as liberal and Islam as extremist.

Events like the Rushdie Affair and other events of such sort helped in creating feelings of threat among the British society, that Muslims are being protective to their culture, and it is difficult for them to integrate in the British society, which in turn was threatening to the British values (Poole British Islam …5). One of the reasons that shed the light on cultural differences is detected by Elizabeth Poole which is the

Rushdie Affair. When the British people witnessed the reaction of Muslims to the

Satanic Verses, which was reported by the press as violent and they linked it to culture, they started to generate the perception that Muslims are not tolerant if a legacy of them, be it religious or cultural, is violated.

Poole denotes that Muslims’ cultural and religious differences that create a clash with the British ones, is a predominant theme in the British Muslims’ coverage, 24 significantly in coverage of British Muslims before 9/11 (“Change and

Continuity…”58). Always with the fusion between the cultural and religious differences, culture is often brought up when covering religious beliefs. Problems and negative cultural practices are depicted as being derived from Islamic beliefs with comparing them to British or Christian behaviors deriving the differences between the two, in order to present the Islamic culture as a strange one. This results in the ‘blame discourse’ that is, if Muslims are discriminated the blame is on them for their differences (Poole British Islam …109, 116). This means that the press usually relates

religious differences to culture. Some cultural negative aspects are reflected on the

religion Islam, which is inadequate, for they are human made hobbies and practices

and it is wrong to refer to them as a derived from the religion. Islam is made as a

source for the negative actions of people. This depiction by the press of cultural

differences between Muslims and the British people when it comes to practices or

beliefs plays as a justification for the bad treatment that Muslims receive.

Another outcome is that the press depiction made the cultural practices of

Muslims seem as ‘backward’ and strange in relation to the dominant culture (British

or Christian) that is never questioned (Poole British Islam …119). What can be

derived from Elizabeth Poole’s argument is that the press choice of this theme would

obviously give bad and wrong impressions to the public about the Islamic culture,

thus they would think of it as threatening to the British values and way of life.

This theme of cultural differences illustrates the failure of Islam and Muslims

in catching up with the modem world (Poole British Islam …140). Another negative consequence occurring on Islam and Muslims through the demonstration of cultural differences is that it makes them appear as backward people of a backward religion who cannot reach the modernity of Britain and the British people. 25

The incapability of the integration of Muslims in Britain is a major concern, and because of what have been seen as Muslims’ rejection of integration, Islam became targeted (Poole British Islam …90, 140). The press coverage made the inability or the rejection of Muslims to assimilate in different societies as a weapon to fight them with. This Resulted in Islam to be targeted, and acted as a reason to it.

The press depiction of cultural differences seeks to provide the public with a negative image on Muslims as well as on Islam. Through being categorized under the umbrella of cultural differences, Islam and Muslims are opened for criticism and for inferior treatments and are exposed to being cut off and isolated from the society.

1.2 Binary Opposition

This category is closely related to the previous category of cultural differences, since the press extracts those differences and compares them to the

Western or British ones. The West is presented along with all the positive and favorable characterizations like, developed, superior…whereas, on the flip side the

East and Islam, especially are presented with everything that contradicts the West i.e.: the negative characterizations, as undeveloped and inferior, this is what is described as “The dichotomisation between East and West” that was a result of the press representation of binary oppositions (Poole British Islam …26). What has been called as dichotomisation is where Islam and the East were put as a side of juxtaposition.

They have been accompanied by really negative characterizations whereby they were being presented as inferior to the superior West.

As was indicated before under the umbrella of cultural differences, comparing them to the majority culture, Muslims’ practices and beliefs are portrayed as exotic with keeping practices of the dominant group out of question (Poole British 26

Islam …119). What the press does in here is that they take some cultural aspects practiced by Muslims and compares them to the British ones, here of course they intend to portray the British practices or beliefs as normal while the ones of Muslims as ‘strange’ and ‘backward’. The binary opposition here is that, the irrationality of

Muslims that is conveyed would be compared to the rationality of the British, or their failure to assimilate with the modern world, that was stated before in the cultural differences, stands for Muslims’ backwardness with contrast to the British modernity.

Once again the Rushdie Affair is brought up in the press discourse. This time

Salman Rushdie is one part of the binary opposition whereas he is portrayed with everything that is good, as ‘freedom’, ‘intellect’, ‘rationalism’, while on the other hand Muslims are portrayed with all that is bad, like ‘restrictive’, ‘fanatical’,

‘threatening’ (Poole British Islam …232). Salman Rushdie, because he has been

rejected by the Muslim community and embraced by the British society, in this binary

opposition he acts as the representative of the British society with portraying him in a

positive way, while on the other hand criticisms are launched against Muslims.

1.3 Fundamentalism and Criminality

Criminality and fundamentalism are among the dominant topics of coverage

(Poole “Change and Continuity…”52). Sayyid argues “that Islamic fundamentalism has become a metaphor for fundamentalism in general” (qtd. in Poole British

Islam …30). This argument by Sayyid reflects the Popularization of this term

‘fundamentalism’ in reflecting Islam and Muslims, i.e.: when saying fundamentalism

it automatically refers to Islamic fundamentalism.

Elizabeth Poole’s analysis of topics where Muslims are involved in politics found out that Muslims are depicted mainly in relation to criminal activity, and that 27 the chance to make the news increases when they are involved in a criminal activity, rather than being in normal situations, with 74 % of Subjects that are linked to British

Islam related to crime ( British Islam …90, 104, 116). Muslims are not interesting enough for the press to be provided with space in coverage unless they are represented in relation to a context of criminality. The overwhelming majority of news about

British Islam is associated with crime.

Poole also states that “Islamic fundamentalism in Britain” and “Muslims’ criminal behavior” are among the predominant topics that are linked to British Islam.

She argues that associating British Islam with fundamentalism and criminality suggests a threat from within (i.e.: in Britain) ( British Islam …87, 119). The press in its coverage of Islam and Muslims, British Islam and Muslims in particular, it focuses in putting them in a context of fundamentalism and criminality, which implies that they are a danger on the British security.

Reinforcing the argument by Elizabeth Poole, that Fundamentalism is a term that was restricted to ‘Islamic fundamentalism’, thus (quoting from Elizabeth Poole)

Muslims’ radical acts were considered as fundamentalism…etc. After 9/11 attacks, the frequently association of the terms Fundamentalist and Fundamentalism with

Islam and Muslims, these terms replaced them in the media (no need to use Islam and

Muslims anymore) (Elgamri 226, 261). This confirms the predominantly restriction of

Islam and Muslims under this category of ‘fundamentalism’.

Fundamentalism and criminality are among the topics that the British press restricted the coverage of Islam and Muslims within. Through representing them under the shed of these two categories, the press aims to make Islam and Muslims 28 appear t o the public as a threat on Britain and on the British people, providing an unfavorable image about them.

1.4 Extremism, Terrorism, and Violence

Said (1981) and Esposito (1992) argue that “extremity is constituted as fundamentalism which is then linked to terrorism” (qtd. in Poole British

Islam …30). These arguments by Said and Esposito of linking extremity to fundamentalism to terrorism, indicates that those categories are associated together to a large degree. Elizabeth Poole furthermore states that the favorable representation of

Islam is underestimated due to its association with extremism ( British Islam …180).

So even if there is positive discourse on Islam and Muslims which is extremely rare it is still the stereotypical discourse of extremism which is the overwhelming.

Through depicting Islam as a jeopardy to the West and to the modern world’s global progressive principles and doctrines, the western media including the British print one, are charged of intending to convey a specific frame of Islam, and that through relating Islam to militancy and its violent actions, this results in the negative image on Islam and in linking Islam and Muslims to terrorism, violence and extremism. The press generalizations when covering Islam using terms such as

‘Muslim terrorists’ and ‘Islamic terrorism’, neglecting the fact that not all Muslims are terrorists and that there are those with different ‘Muslim attitudes’ opposing such acts, this way of coverage makes people think of Muslims on the basis of the minority

(Elgamri 3, 259-260). I.e.: the press in its process to link Islam and Muslims to different types of extremism, it uses negative generalizations which are produced through a specific type of expressions, for example ‘Islamic terrorism’ and ‘Muslim terrorists’. These two expressions when provided to the public would be interpreted as 29 all Muslims are terrorists and Islam is a source of terrorism. Terrorism goes back to reflect Islam, while the term terrorists goes back to reflect Muslims. This is a word effect and manipulation which is one of the press’ techniques to manipulate the produced meaning. This coverage neglects the moderate Muslims who constitute a majority, and focuses on the few Muslim people who are alleged to be involved in extremist activities. Therefore the reader would have the impression that Islam and

Muslims are all about terrorism, since a moderate picture is never provided.

These categories of extremism, violence, and terrorism are brought up after events involving Islam and Muslim. In the Rushdie affair Protestors are portrayed in an image that links them to extremism and violence. Under the same event of the

Rushdie Affair, Islam and Muslims were associated with terrorism (Elgamri 139,

165).

Coverage of Islam under another event, the Taliban movement, did not differ much, it is still basically negative. In this regard, in all the three newspapers there is an “Explicit identification of Islam with the Taliban militias, and implicit association of Islam with violence and extremism…” Elgamri identifies two themes in the coverage of the Taliban movement; one of them is the violent actions of the movement. After Taliban took over Kabul in 1996, coverage was loosened until another event took place that gave the press a reason to continue its negative coverage of Islam (Elgamri 195, 208, 210). Violence and extremism are always present to reflect Islam and Muslims. When the activity of Taliban lessened and there were not negative news to associate them with and automatically reflect them on Islam, their coverage decreased. This connotes the fact that Islam and Muslims are aimed to be represented to public only within this context of negativity and controversies. This 30 was until another chance occurred, the Luxor attacks, which were the chance of the press to keep up with the unfavorable representation of Islam. Among the categories that Elgamri identifies in the three newspapers on the Luxor attacks is the association of Islam with violence and terrorism, this time through focusing on their Islamic identity, (of those who committed the attacks who are allegedly Muslims) (Elgamri

218).

It is well known that the September 11 th attacks witnessed the worst coverage

of Islam and Muslims ever. ‘Islamic terror’, ‘Islamic terrorism’ and ‘Islamic

terrorists’, such terms were used in the coverage of the 9/11 attacks (Elgamri 228).

After those attacks the association of Islam and Muslims as a whole with terrorism

was heightened through the usage of such generalizations.

News’ coverage on Muslims mainly focused, and continues to focus on

terrorism. The association of British Muslims with terrorism was the most

considerable turning point in post 9/11 coverage. Terrorism was not a new thing to

associate Islam with; before 9/11 it was used in connection with the universal Islam,

but British Muslims were not associated with terrorism before the September 11 th attacks (Poole “Change and Continuity…”54-55). Islam and Muslims in general or

Muslims outside Britain prior to 9/11 attacks were linked to terrorism, however this designation was not associated with British Muslims until after 9/11attacks that they also started to be placed under the umbrella of terrorism.

Those involved in ‘Islamic terrorism’ are referred to by different names,

amongst them, ‘bombers’, ‘Islamic fundamentalists’, ‘violent Muslim fanatics’, or

‘Islamic extremists’. Fusing these categories in the press makes terms replace each

other easily “so when extremist or militant is used, they are infused with ideas of 31 terrorism.” Attitudes against those called with these monikers do not have to be vindicated (Poole “Change and Continuity…”55). Terrorism here is fused with fundamentalism, extremism, violence and fanaticism…thence this shows an interrelation between the categories. This manipulation of words leads to make them mean the same thing, like when to say a bomber, or a fanatic, or others they all mean terrorism, terrorism would always be the center of attention when tackling the topic of

Islam and Muslims. Leading to what is called the blame discourse that was referred to earlier in cultural differences. The blame discourse can be projected on the situation here. if Muslims who are referred to by one of these labels (fundamentalists, extremists, terrorists…) face harassments, attacks, or discrimination, it would not be the fault of the doers of such actions, but the fault of Muslims because they are considered as fundamentalists, extremists, and bombers. Then it is okay for them to be inferior or to be punished.

“…the acts of terrorism are clearly linked to Islamic belief” (Poole “Change and Continuity…”55). That is fingers are pointed against the religion. Terrorism is pictured as being derived from Islam, i.e.: to depict Islam as the motivation behind the terroristic activities. This leads to the conclusion that the fight is mainly launched against Islam.

1.5 Women in Islam

The aim behind categorizing Islam and Muslims in a context that involves women by the British press in coverage is to give a negative impression on both Islam and Muslims. Elizabeth Poole on this matter expresses the idea by the Runnymede

Trust, Lueg, Gunter and Viney, and Sayyid, saying that the way of clothing of Muslim women strengthened the portrayal of the religion as being misogynistic giving the 32 idea that Islam is oppressive. Elizabeth Poole’s findings indicate the low visibility of women in general in newspapers. In relation to British Islam, her findings also show women’s low visibility. Poole identifies some of the topics where Muslim women are represented as “the main actor” and concludes that they denote in “Muslim women being regarded as victims of male aggression, at the mercy of, rather than being deviant themselves” ( British Islam …29, 124-127).

Women are excluded from coverage that would portray them as independent or as active citizens, they are always dependent. This leads to the conclusion that

Muslim women are not highly represented in the press and when they are, they are represented as oppressed by Islam and Muslims. This way of portrayal of women by the British press makes it seem that women are being oppressed by the British press that excludes them from public and practical life not by Islam and Muslims.

In some stories like that of Sarah Cook (a young British girl who got married to a Turkish man then got divorced, whose story turned the British press crazy over

Islam and Muslims), the veil is represented as a restriction that is uncomfortable and that indicates Islam as ‘patriarchal’ (Poole British Islam …154-155). Muslim women are represented in the British press so as to convey a negative image on the religion, depicting them as victims of Islam, giving the impression that Islam is unfair to women. Muslim women themselves oppose this idea. They consider the veil as a way for their protection and as a fulfillment to their beliefs. Plus, women’s choice to be dressed in the Islamic dress is their choice and this is an indicator for their freedom.

So far, Muslims are associated with fundamentalism, terrorism, extremism, criminality, and violence. Islam and Muslims’ representation being restricted to stories surrounding topics and themes such as being involved in criminal activities, or 33 depicted as fundamentalists, or to be linked to extremism, terrorism, and violence would undoubtedly convey the message that Islam and Muslims represent a threat to the British security as a whole. The ultimate conclusion to be derived from this part of

Islam and Muslim representation in the British press is the consensus agreement that the British press is biased in its representation of Islam and Muslims. From these analyses, categories whereby Islam and Muslims circulate in the British press were brought out. There is a reemergence of some of the categories in different parts. This manifests the most common frameworks that Islam and Muslims were/are restricted to in the press discourse. Hence, from this basis, cultural differences, binary oppositions, fundamentalism, extremism, criminality, terrorism, violence, and women oppression, are the categories that Islam and Muslims were confined with. Therefore, this context of such categories is the mostly utilized one in which Islam and Muslims are bound to in the British print media.

III. Public Perception: British Press Leverage behind Provoking

Prejudice against Islam and Muslims

Islam has a more occurrence in the press negatively, which is shown in the public discourses, with a consistency between the press coverage and the audience perception (Poole, British Islam …298, 322).Starting from here, before tackling the

press separately, it should be noted that media with press included, is one of the main

sources that the British people acquire knowledge about Islam and Muslims mostly

from. A 2002 YouGov Poll reported that 74% of the British public claim to have no

knowledge or almost no knowledge about Islam, 64% amongst the ones who do,

claimed that knowledge they have is obtained from the media (qtd. in Allen 6). If this is

the situation, then it should be figured out what exactly is being gained from the media 34 about Islam and Muslims (Allen 6). It is known that coverage of Islam and Muslims in media is mostly and more likely to be negative. So, since it is the source that the knowledge of people about Islam and Muslims is derived from, logically, without relying on figures, public perception on Islam and Muslims is decidedly negative.

Corner reports, that Poole also concludes, the importance of the media as a source of ‘public knowledge’ on Islam and Muslims in the United Kingdom. Poole adds that the framework and discourses where Islam is ‘known’ are limited by the media “but the success of the discourse is in its ‘fit’ with preconceptions”( British Islam… 312). In here, Poole argues that the reason why media discourses receive such an acceptance by the public is that it reflects the idea that people already have in mind about Islam.

Contrariwise, in an article published in The Spectator magazine by Damian

Thompson, he starts by proclaiming that Muslims were never been turned against by

British public opinion, then he gives results of a 2014 survey which shows that 26% of ‘us’, which he likely used to refer to the British people, have ‘unfavorable’ behaviors to Muslims in Britain. Then Thompson compares this percentage to other countries’ percentages which have bigger numbers, Spain (46%), Greece (53%), and

Italy (63%) (Thompson). By this comparison he aims to articulate the idea that in

Britain it is not a common phenomenon to have ‘unfavorable’ feelings against

Muslims and that it is worse in other places like the ones he mentions.

Damian Thompson keeps on with complementing the ‘tolerance’ of the British people towards Muslims. He gives the example of the 7/7 London bombings saying that even following this incident the positive attitudes of the British public dropped just slightly (Thompson). 35

If Damian Thompson really thinks that the British people are tolerant towards

Islam and Muslims, it is just not convincing. He is trying to make excuses for their anti-Muslim sentiments by comparing percentage to other countries. By making a reference to the 7/7 bombings he is obviously giving hints that it is Muslims’ fault, and with those attacks the British public is still tolerant! Damian Thompson’s usage of the pronoun ‘us’ is clearly employed to separate between Muslims and the British, which is alone racist, knowing that there are British Muslims.

Hartmann et al argued that:

Newspapers being widely read, have some influence on topics of

public discussion which become ‘part of the shared perspectives that

people use to make sense of their world’…Newspapers, through the

selection and inclusion of topics, frame social reality, constructing

social meaning for their readers, and promote particular ‘ways of

seeing’ Islam in Britain. (qtd. in Poole, British Islam… 146-147)

This argument by Hartmann et al demonstrates the idea of the strong influence that newspapers may have on their readers in particular topics to the extent that newspapers may act as the basis for people’s perspectives to understand their world, including how to see Islam and how to react in respect to it. This of course is through some processes that the press takes into consideration like for example manipulation of news. So the press in particular topics has the power to make or break its target, in this case the target would be Islam and Muslims.

Media is a significant source that people gain their knowledge about Islam from, however it restricts the way Muslims are known (Poole “Change and

Continuity…” 53). Poole is referring to the press media since her research is 36 concerned more with press. She is trying to say and as it was mentioned before, media in general and press in particular are the main or one of the main sources that people rely on to acquire knowledge about Islam from. On the reverse side, she says that the ways Muslims are known are restricted in the media. This is probably because of the repeatedly employed images of Muslims in the press coverage that is mostly negative i.e.: Muslims’ image is restricted to a particular set of frameworks for example, extremism, terrorism…which would make them received in a negative way.

Hypothetically, if readers, not necessarily constant ones, are aware of what is being published in the newspapers and have some knowledge on what kind of stories are being covered, this would probably leave an impression on them. In this case it can be said that the press is to some extant effective and influential to the point of being somehow important, since it has the possibility of leaving an impact on its readers. On the other hand there are those regular readers that a newspaper does not just leave some slight impression on them; however it would act as the source for their information and as the basis for their logic. Consequently those readers would embrace the thoughts of that specific paper and more likely their actions would be according to the newspaper’s ideology. Supposedly, their actions would be a reflection or would be justified by this papers’ way of seeing things (like the earlier mentioned blame discourse by Elizabeth Poole). Thus the importance of the print media is that it is capable of shaping people’s opinions on specific matters. The same for the British press with Islam and Muslims, especially when they are given so much

(negative) attention in coverage. Hopefully through these few next studies, the British public perception and attitudes towards Islam and Muslims in relation to the British press would be more transparent. 37

Elizabeth Poole examines the production of meanings of Islam through the interaction between text and audience, with two main questions to be addressed, the first is about the extent the press’ discourse is partaken by the audience, the other is about the context Islam is interpreted ( British Islam …244). The analysis is conducted

–an oral and written questionnaire– on a group of participants that is made up of

Muslims and non-Muslims, the non-Muslims are in turn divided between the ones with contact and the ones with no contact (i.e.: contact with Muslims). She provides the participants with some texts from the press for discussion, taken from different newspapers (which titles are provided in Appendix g page 348 of the Elizabeth

Poole’s thesis).

When the participants were asked about their media usage, the majority (58%) reported to read newspapers daily or regularly. This shows their interest in the press. In a section Poole attempts to reveal how different groups understand Muslims, her conclusion is that discourse by the non-Muslims is identical to the press. She adds that there is divergence in the non-Muslims’ understandings, whereby the discourse of the participants who have contact is closer to the Guardian’s ‘liberal interpretations’, while discourse of the ones with no contact corresponds with that of “the conservative lower tabloids” (Poole, British Islam …245, 273). This suggests that the press is strongly influential regarding Islam and Muslims, and once more emphasizes and confirms the strong leverage of the press on its readers to the extent of adopting its views. That the

Guardian is liberal, its readers have liberal views. While the lower tabloids, known for their extreme coverage of Islam and Muslims, its readers have conservative views.

Muslims were found to reject the discourse and sought Rectify the image

(Poole, British Islam …273). For Muslims’ perception, since the discourse about them in the articles was negative as well as the representation of the image of Islam and 38

Muslims, Muslim participants tried to give a counter image of what was presented by the press, to oppose the negative image presented on them.

A research on the “recall of news stories on Islam” was conducted, whereby the different groups were asked about the events or the stories that they recall or remember the most on Islam. Amidst the findings in this research is that the events recalled by the non-Muslims are those that “were negatively framed in the press and are dominated by conflict, aggression and irrationality” (Poole, British Islam …294). This is an indication

that what is perceived by the public on Islam and Muslims, and is fixed in their minds

are the unfavorable frameworks that they were/are put in press coverage.

Out of analysis, Poole asserts that Islam has a more occurrence in the press

negatively, which is shown in the public discourses. Another outcome that Poole finds

is the consistency between the press coverage and the audience perception (Poole,

British Islam …298, 322).

A 2006 INSTED study argued that over the previous 10 years, the press

coverage on Islam and Muslims in the British national newspapers had accelerated by

about 270%, 91% of that press coverage was considered as negative (Allen 2). It is

fair enough to say that the British press predisposition in representing Islam and

Muslims is basically unfavorable.

Allen again reports another INSTED research of 2007 that suggests some of

the outcomes of such coverage, amongst the proposed ones is that this kind of

coverage probably stimulates some uncomfortable feelings for the non-Muslims such

as “insecurity, suspicion and anxiety”. Those negative feelings are not created only

among the non-Muslims, but also among the Muslims. This coverage neither

contributes to reduce the negative actions against Muslims by the non-Muslims, for 39 example discrimination and hate crimes, nor enhances the peaceful debates between

Muslims and the non-Muslims to cooperate (Allen 2). Consequently and clearly this negative representation of Islam and Muslims prevents the non-Muslims from dealing with Muslims, and reduces the susceptibility to live together. It probably even acts as the motive behind discrimination, hatred and prejudice against Muslims.

Always in this matter, to further analyze the British public perception, hints on

British public attitudes are taken from an article that was published in the well known national British newspaper The Guardian. This article discusses a video that was put on YouTube. This video was outrageous and bothersome to watch, it took place at a bus in London where there was a black woman (said to be originally from Jamaica) with no reason at all started to verbally attack and abuse some Muslim females, insulting them and calling them some horrific names using swear words. Among the

Muslim women that were attacked, one was pregnant, but it did not seem to matter to the abuser.

This video was ‘shocking’, ‘depressing’ and Islamophobic. No one intervened among the passengers, even the Muslims (Harker). Through this article, there is a reference to the newspapers’ relation behind hate feelings. Joseph Harker suggests:

But her words echo the messages sent out to anyone who reads our

daily newspapers, or listens to our radio phone-ins. When, daily,

Muslims are portrayed as terrorists, as sexual groomers, as women

oppressors, from forced marriage to FGM, it’s not surprising this sinks

in.

What Joseph Harker means here is that the words she used are a reflection of what is being published in the newspapers, whereby Muslims’ image is being 40 distorted through characterizing them with everything that is negative and unfavorable. Thus, it would not be a shock if the press is the source of influence behind that woman’s attitude. This indicates that the press is such a negative influence when it comes to Islam and Muslims that it stimulates bad attitudes against them.

Black people had bad experience with media discrimination, calling them names with negative writings that limited them in an unfavorable framework.

Demonisation transferred from black people to Muslims…“we should be deeply sceptical of what we read” (Harker). Joseph Harker by this is trying to compare between both experiences, that of black people and for Muslims, to draw a similar picture between what the blacks had been through with what is happening with

Muslims today, adding a warning from trusting what is read. Apparently ‘read’ in this part makes a reference to newspapers. This appears to be a warning by Harker to people not to blindly believe everything they read, since they have been through the same experience they know the tricks of the press and how untrustworthy it can be.

Since the British press obviously tends to be negative when it comes to Islam and

Muslims, and the fact that Harker alarms people to be aware and to be doubting of what they read about Islam and Muslims, shows that the press does not have a realistic base in its depiction of Islam and Muslims.

Purposely, the studies of this part are basically chosen from different periods of time to detect an existence of a consistency or an occurrence of a shift. Elizabeth

Poole’s is the oldest amongst the other two, a 1999 study. While the others, one of

2012, the other is of 2015 from different periods but close to each other. What can be deduced from this analysis is that the path that the press follows does not seem to undergo a noticeable change of improvement in its depiction of Islam and Muslims. 41

And that the non-Muslim attitudes towards Islam and Muslims is practically going on the same path and actually getting worse with time. What is also lucid is the strong connection between press and the public, and the clout it has on them that controls their views. What is in common between these studies is their agreement (with different degrees) that what the British press produces in respect to Islam and

Muslims is (totally or partially) projected on the British public perception on Islam and Muslims, resulting in the demonization of Islam and Muslims both in the press, and as a held perception by the public, which goes hand in hand.

Islam has a more occurrence in the press negatively, which is shown in the public discourses, with a consistency between the press coverage and the audience perception (Poole, British Islam …298, 322).

Conclusion

Through this chapter reasons were revealed, connections were made, and conclusions were drawn. Theoretical reasons responsible for putting Islam and

Muslims under the spotlight for media in general and for the British press in particular were confirmed. Those reasons are represented in various events that involved

Muslims as main actors. They started from the 2 nd half of the 20 th century onwards,

events such as the Rushdie affair, the Luxor attacks, the 9/11 attacks, and the 7/7

bombings. On account of that, generalizations were constructed to link Islam and

Muslims to the events, that they received negative attention especially by the British

press. This negative attention was not limited only to the events, but extended beyond.

Since then, Islam and Muslims were being continuously targeted by the British press’

unfavorable discourses. The analysis proposed various categories that Islam and

Muslim representation were/are restricted to. There was a reemergence of specific 42 categories which proves their large-scale usage in Islam and Muslims coverage.

Among the mostly used categories identified are, terrorism, extremism, fanaticism, criminality, cultural differences, and binary opposition. Another upshot identified through the chapter was the linkage between the press representation and British public perceiving of this representation, which underlined that perception on Islam and Muslims matches the discourse delivered by the press. 43

Chapter Two

Islam and Muslims in the British Press: Paris Attacks Boosting Anti-

Muslim Sentiments

Introduction

Arguments around Islam and Muslims being demonized in the British press have been circulating between scholars since a while ago. This paved the way for many studies to be undertaken on the matter in order to whether confirm or disconfirm such allegations. Some of the valuable studies executed on this topic were referred to in the first chapter. The British newspapers adopt different orientations towards Islam and Muslims, which can be variable depending on the circumstances.

The British press negative representation of Islam and Muslims varied from one newspaper to another, especially now with the French attacks taking place causing changes on some newspapers’ tendencies and contributing in elevating anti-Muslim sentiments through coverage.

I. Islam and Muslim Representation in the British Press: A Headline

Exemplar

In an analysis of Islam and Muslims representation, this study uses 200.000 articles from the British press that were published between 1998 and 2009 to analyze.

It concludes the association of Islam with negative categories (terrorism, conflict, extremism), and that their representation is unfavorable. The articles analyzed are from different newspapers among them: The Star, The Times, The Sun, The

Independent ,The Guardian, and The Daily Mail.

44

Among this study’s findings, there are a “7 newspaper facts” which provide an insight of some British newspapers’ orientation; most of them appeared to be negative. For instance, in The Daily Mail the term Muslim was replaced by Moslem

which is “similar to the Arabic word for oppressor”. The Daily Express was the most to focus on immigration and Sharia law introduction in Britain (obviously in a negative way). The Daily Star reported readers’ statements that were inappropriate

(statements of course against Islam/Muslims). The Sun was the most to refer to ‘evil’ in regard to Islam (the Sun is known for its hostility against Islam and Muslims). The

Guardian had the tendency to criticize newspapers for being Islamophobic (Baker,

Gabrielatos, and McEnery 4-12). This study tries to show negativity towards Islam

and Muslims in the British press.

Through a quantitative study, a glimpse would be caught at some headlines

taken from different British newspapers in respect to Islam and Muslims. The aim

behind this is to investigate if the antagonism against Islam and Muslims, and the

categories mentioned in the first chapter where Muslims were restricted to like

terrorism, extremism, fanaticism, and others can be detected just from the headlines.

Hopefully, this would allow perceiving even slightly the perspective and tendency of

some British newspapers towards Islam and Muslims.

The newspapers’ headlines chosen to be analyzed in relation to Islam and

Muslims (accompanied with sub-headlines if needed) are: The Sun, The Daily

Express, The Daily Mail, The Daily Star, The Mirror, The Times, and The Guardian .

It should be noted that the headlines selected from these newspapers are those intended to serve the research, those that tend to be negative, the ones that are positive or neutral are disregarded.

45

1. Headline Analysis

The articles as well were read to make sure that the headlines reflect the content, and they pretty much surely do.

Newspapers to have their headlines analyzed contained the most extreme ones and the most moderate ones. If a newspaper despite the negativity against Islam and

Muslims contains a considerable amount of positive headlines, this would be referred to briefly in the analysis (not in the headline exemplar). But those that are extreme against Islam and Muslims and their negative tendency is overwhelming, if they happen to contain some of positive or neutral headlines on Islam and Muslims, these headline would be disregarded since it would not make any difference to their extreme view.

1.1 The Sun

- “We Killed this British Soldier: It's an Eye for an Eye: Muslim Fanatic's

Evil Rant after Squaddie Butchered” , published in May 23 rd , 2013 by

Mike Sullivan, Crime Editor Jonathan Reilly, Tom Wells and Tom

Morgan.

- “Unveiled: As Judge Orders Woman to Uncover Face, The Sun Demands

Vital Reforms:

1) BAN veils in school, courts and hospitals

2) BAN them in airports, banks and secure areas

3) LET employer decide if ok in the workplace

4) BUT freedom to wear them in the street”

46

Published in September the 17 th , 2013by Dan Charity . This article is

accompanied with a picture of a woman’s face in a Burqa.

- “Horror as ‘Muslim Convert’ Beheads Woman in Garden”: was published

September the 5 th , 2014 by Mike Sullivan, Tom Morgan, Dan Sales, and

Emer Martin.

- “UK Shouldn’t Ban Burka... Muslims Should Bin them”: published

November the 10 th , 2013by Tony Parsons.

- “Jihadists are Just a Bunch of W*****s” , published in January the 30 th ,

2015 by Tom Newton Dunn.

- “Jihad it Coming” , published September the 9th , 2015 by Alex West, Tom

Morgan and Tom Newton Dunn. This article is accompanied with an

image of three ISIS/ISIL* members.

- “United Against I.S.: as Police Swoop on First Suspected Islamic State

Terror Cell in UK, the Sun Urges Brits of all Faiths to Stand up to

Extremists” , published in October the 8 th , 2014 by Mike Sullivan.

The Sun is a tabloid that is known with its extremely harsh depiction of Islam and Muslims and animosity towards them. This negativity can be spotted from its headlines from which a simple sample is provided above. From the headlines, The

Sun limits its coverage of Islam and Muslims with all news which makes Islam appear for the reader in the worst image. It links Islam and Muslims to fanaticism, extremism, violence, and such terms. Muslims in The Sun are also depicted as murderers, and as a threat to Britain and to the British people. The Sun also tackles the way Muslim women dress. For example talking about the ‘burqa’ and expressing the

47 dissension to the veil. Some of The Sun ’s publications about Islam and Muslims were not genuine and were fabricated that they received high criticism even from the

British press itself.

From this unpretentious analysis of headlines, hostility and antagonism of The

Sun newspaper against Islam and Muslims does not necessarily need a close and a critical analysis for them to be detected, because its negativity is explicit. The Sun ’s incredibly harsh coverage of Islam and Muslims is not limited only to this sample.

However, likewise the rest of the headlines give the same impression of negativity. It can be said that positivity towards Islam and Muslims is basically absent in this paper that is almost impossible to be traced.

1.2 The Daily Express

- “Ban the Veil” , published in October the 7 th , 2006 by Padraic Flanagan.

- “Muslim Law Reaches Britain” , published in November the 30 th , 2006 by

David Pilditch.

- “Muslim Plot to Behead Briton” , published in January the 30 th , 2008 by

Martin Stote.

- “Muslim Schools Ban our Culture” , published in February the 20 th , 2009

by Macer Hall.

- “British Muslims are Killing our Troops” , published in February the 26 th ,

2009 by John Ingham, Defence Editor.

- “Now Muslims Demand Full Sharia Law : A RADICAL Muslim Group

Sparked Outrage Last Night as it Launched a Massive Campaign to

Impose Sharia Law on Britain" , published in October the 15 th , 2009 by

Martyn Brown.

48

- “Muslim Plot to Kill Pope” , published in September the 18 th , 2010 by

John Twomey, David Pilditch and Nathan Rao.

- “Muslims Tell British: Go to Hell” , published in November the 4 th , 2010

by John Twomey and Cyril Dixon.

- “British Pupils Ordered to ‘CONVERT TO ISLAM’ for Bizarre Homework

Assignment” , published in February the 21 st , 2016 (at 00:02 and updated

00:27 the same day) by Jonathan Bucks.

- “Law Protecting Women from Violence Attacked as UN-ISLAMIC by

Council of Islamic Ideology” , published in March the 4 th , 2016 (at 02:03

updated 09:57 the same day) by Tom Parfitt.

Another newspaper that some of its headlines were analyzed is The Daily

Express . From its headlines, The Daily Express , like The Sun , is also amongst the newspapers that most tend to give a very negative and extreme image of Islam and

Muslims. The headlines of this newspaper tend to create generalizations about

Muslims for example ‘Muslim plot’, ‘British Muslims’, ‘Muslims’, etc. This technique does not provide a specific category, but it generalizes the news on all

Muslims. This has enormous negative effects on Islam and Muslims, since there is always that category of readers who trust the press’ generalizations and make them as basis for their knowledge. For example when someone reads ‘Muslim plot’ the message they receive is that it is a conspiracy by all Muslims.

What can be derived from The Daily Express ’ headlines is their focus on warnings from the Islamic law ‘Sharia law’ introduction into Britain. This confirms what the study provides as a fact about The Daily Express ’ focus on Sharia law introduction in Britain (Baker, Gabrielatos, and McEnery 7). The depiction of

49

Muslims in extreme activities is also present in this exemplar of the headlines. As The

Sun, The Daily Express also expresses its objection to the veil “Ban the Veil” .

There are also the headlines that try to create a gap between Muslims and the

British “ Muslim Schools Ban our Culture ”, whereby they are creating a line between the Muslim and the British culture making the Muslim culture seems as a threat to the

British one. Or to provoke a kind of feelings of hatred between Muslims and the

British people by representing Muslims as reluctant and hostile to the British, like in this headline “ Muslims Tell British: Go to Hell” .

In another headline “ Law Protecting Women from Violence Attacked as UN-

ISLAMIC by Council of Islamic Ideology” , in here Muslims are represented as supporters of violence against women through making this Islamic council as a representative of the Islamic community in objecting the law that protects women from violence. This reinforces the image that in Islam women are being oppressed by the males.

The Daily Express ’ orientation towards Islam and Muslims from this sample of headline analysis again as The Sun ’s is evident. There is an explicit extreme negativity against Islam and Muslims. Negativity of this newspaper is not limited only within this small frame of headlines, but the unfavorable direction of the paper is in its headlines in general even in those outside this sample with a rare or even a non existence of positivity. The extreme orientation of The Sun and The Daily Express towards Islam and Muslims is close, even the choice of topics of both papers in this respect is analogical.

1.3 The Daily Mail

50

- “Sharia Lessons for Pupils Aged Six: BBC Uncovers 'Weekend Schools'

that Teach Pupils how to Hack off Thieves' Hands” , updated 16:09 GMT,

November the 24 th , 2010 by James Slack.

- “'British Soldiers' Heads will be Removed... you cannot Beat the Muslims':

Letter to Parents from Teenager Convicted of Islamic Terror Plot which

Revealed his Hopes of Killing 'Every Gay, Every Shia'” , published in

February the 19 th , 2015 (at 15:26 GMT, updated at 18:44 of the same day)

by Duncan Gardham and Richard Spillett.

- “UK Muslims Helping Jihadis, Says Cameron: Communities Must Stop

'Quietly Condoning' Barbaric ISIS, PM Warns in Blunt Speech :

• Cameron Will Urge Families to Oppose Ideology Driving Young

People to ISIS

• Will Ask Parents to Stop Blaming Police for Failing to Stop Syria-

Bound Teens

• Some Muslims are Guilty of Normalising Hatred of Western Values, he

Warns

• This 'Quiet Condoning' Makes it Easier for Violent Extremism to Take

Hold”

It was published in June the 18 th , 2015 and updated in June the 19 th , 2015

by Jason Groves.

- “British Soldiers will be Beheaded and Paraded over the Internet, Warn

Somalia Islamist Group Al-Shabaab after David Cameron Announces the

UK Will Send Troops there to Fight Terrorism” , published in October the

51

7th , 2015 (at 17:16 GMT, updated at 23:00 GMT of the same day) by

Sophie Jane Evans.

- “Fanatics' Campaign of Hate on Campus is Revealed: Islamic Zealots

who Backed Jihadi John are Poisoning the Minds of Students” , it was

published at 22:00 GMT of January the 7 th , 2016 and updated at 11:23

GMT of January the 8 th , 2016.

- “Cameron's Call to Muslim Mothers to Learn English to Help Beat

Fanatics as 700 Britons are now Believed to Have Travelled to Syria to

Join Jihadis” , published in January the 17 th , 2016 (at 01:24 GMT, and was

updated at 11:55 GMT the same day) by Glen Owen.

- “The Islamic Extremists Taking over UK Prisons: Muslims Make up Just

one in 20 Britons - but one in SEVEN Inmates. As Levi Bellfield Embraces

Islam, we Reveal How Fanatics Recruit Behind Bars in 'Jihadi Jails'” ,

published at 23:29 GMT of February the 14 th , 2016 and updated at 07:04

GMT of February the 15 th , 2016 by Tom Rawstorne.

- “Dear Mum, I'm Going to be a Muslim: Anger over Pupils' RE Project

that Asked them to Write a Letter to their Parents Explaining why they

Were Converting to Islam” , published in February the 23 rd , 2016 (at 03:20

GMT, was updated the same day at 03:22 GMT) by Tammy Hughes.

- “Muslim School 'Says UK Culture is Poisonous': Privately-Run

Madrassah Accused of 'Dividing' Communities by Teaching Children

Extreme Form of Islam” , published at 23:32 GMT of March the 31 st , 2016,

and updated at 08:18 GMT of April the 1 st , 2016 by Eleanor Harding.

- “'I was Woken to this Guy Shouting in my Face': Muslim Man Yells

'Allahu Akbar' Repeatedly Terrifying Etihad Airline Passengers as he

52

Performs Call to Prayer” , published at 18:11 GMT of April the 1 st , 2016,

updated at 10:15 GMT of April the 2 nd , 2016 by Harriet Mallinson.

The Daily Mail of course as most of the British newspapers tends to be negative against Islam and Muslims which is evident from its headlines. This newspaper as well uses generalizations about Muslims with applying expressions such as ‘Islamic terror’, ‘Islamic zealots’, ‘Islamic extremists’…From the headlines, there is the presence of warnings from schools that they depict as trying to introduce something related to Islam. There is one that shows the Sharia law as extreme and barbaric and warns from its introduction to pupils.

The matter of culture is also brought up in The Daily Mail ’s “Muslim School

'Says UK Culture is Poisonous' ” this time making accusations against Muslim schools of rejecting the British culture. This way, the readers would be reminded that

Muslims’ culture is different from the British one and that Muslims oppose it, creating an atmosphere of disharmony between the two communities. The Daily Mail uses stories on some radical Muslim individuals or groups with the usage of a technique of quoting their extreme words to provide its readers with a more exaggerated extreme image on Islam and Muslims as a whole, like “ British Soldiers' Heads will Be

Removed… ” or “ British Soldiers will Be Beheaded ”.

It also tackles the issue of prisons and how Muslims make up a large portion as prisoners. They are depicted as a menace and as a threat even from behind the bars, as this headline proposes “ The Islamic Extremists Taking over UK Prisons: Muslims

Make up Just One in 20 Britons - but One in SEVEN Inmates…we Reveal How

Fanatics Recruit Behind Bars in 'Jihadi Jails' ”. It can be noticed that the word ‘seven’ is capitalized; this is to grab more attention to the figure.

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Another headline “ 'I was Woken to this Guy Shouting in my Face': Muslim

Man Yells 'Allahu Akbar' Repeatedly Terrifying Etihad Airline Passengers as he

Performs Call to Prayer ”. This sort of headlines with this selective choice of words makes Islam and Muslims seem barbaric through representing them as being different from normal people practicing exotic activities, which was only a peaceful activity, the Adhan, to remind and call people for prayers. This headline could have been positive or even neutral, instead of making it ‘terrifying’ it could have been described as a peaceful Muslim activity since no harm can be caused on account of it.

The Daily Mail contains some headlines that are not really positive but tackles issues such as discrimination against Muslims more than the other two newspapers.

However, like the other two, The Daily Mail is clearly negative towards Islam and

Muslims with most of its headlines in regard to them tend to be unfavorable. Kim

Hoaxashian owns a YouTube channel; he is basically a media and government doubter and defies their credibility (Hoaxashian “My Channel trailer”). He states that

“The Daily Mail publish horrific propaganda about Muslims which could be described as hate speech…” 15 stories per day are concluded attacking Muslims in only one page of The Daily Mail . These stories varied between terrorism, raping boys, illegal immigrants, and others. The number of stories that ‘demonize Muslims’ used to be higher (Hoaxashian “How Many Anti Muslim Stories…”). Thus, this far The Sun ’s,

The Daily Express ’, and The Daily Mail ’s orientation towards Islam and Muslims is negative and runs against them with different degrees, with The Sun and The Daily

Express taking the lead in being negative to the extreme.

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1.4 The Daily Star / The Daily Star Sunday

These two newspaper sisters are gathered, unlike in the above-mentioned study, because it is difficult to differentiate between their articles. If a headline is missing the name of the author, it is because the article is not available:

- “BBC PUT MUSLIMS BEFORE YOU!” published in October the 16 th ,

2008. (the words came originally capitalized in the headline to catch more

attention maybe)

- “Muslim Thugs Age Just 12 in Knife Attack on Brit Schoolboy” , published

in November the 18 th , 2010.

- “Islamist Threat in UK Playgrounds 9-YEAR-OLD SCHOOLBOY ‘IS

JIHADI EXTREMIST’” , published in March the 2 nd , 2014. (words

originally capitalized)

- “Boy, 9, ‘Showed Signs of Extremism' as British Muslims Claim to be

Targeted by Authorities : ANTI-TERROR Experts Fear Children as Young

as Nine are Exhibiting Signs of Islamic Extremism” , published in March

the 2 nd , 2014 by Dominik Lemanski. (Words originally capitalized)

- “One in Five Muslims Sympathise with British Fighters in Syria” ,

published in November the 23 rd , 2015 by Chris Summers.

- “Muslim Cabby Refused to Let Woman to Sit in the Front Seat for

‘Religious Reasons’” , published in December the 20 th , 2015 by Lizzie

Stromme.

- “Top Muslim Group Claims Anti-Domestic Violence Law is 'Un-Islamic'” ,

published in March the 4 th , 2016 by Tom Parfitt.

55

- “Mystery 200-Year-Old Letter Revealed World War 3 Plans – and Final

Battle against Islam” , published in March the 7 th , 2016 by Rory

McKeown.

- “WATCH: Passengers Panic as Muslim Man Shouts 'Allahu Akbar' Mid-

Flight” , published in April the 2 nd , 2016 by Tom Evans. (the word

originally capitalized)

The other headlines to be analyzed are those of The Daily Star newspapers.

From the headlines, The Daily Star ’s extreme attitude against Islam and Muslims is visible. It makes generalizations as was revealed before in The Daily Express and The

Daily Mail ; by using expressions such as ‘Islamist threat’, ‘Islamic extremism’,

‘Muslim thugs’.

It links Muslims to extremism with the focus on Muslim children using descriptions consisting of sharp words like “Muslim thugs” and portrays them as extremists, like what came in these headlines:

• “Islamist Threat in UK Playgrounds 9-YEAR-OLD SCHOOLBOY ‘IS

JIHADI EXTREMIST’ ” with the capitalization of a whole sentence to

highlight the statement. Again the attempt of introducing Muslims as

threatening to the UK is present here. This time the threat is by a 9 year

old kid who is presented as an extremist!

• Another headline that targets children is “ Boy, 9, ‘Showed Signs of

Extremism'…: ANTI-TERROR Experts Fear Children as Young as

Nine are Exhibiting Signs of Islamic Extremism ”. Always underlying

threats by Muslim children linking them to extremism, with

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capitalizing the expression ‘anti-terror’, to suggest a threat of

terrorism.

• And “ Muslim Thugs Age Just 12 in Knife Attack on Brit Schoolboy” .

The Daily Star editor Dawn Neesom was investigated at the Leveson inquiry over Muslim coverage where Counsel Robert Jay QC brought up this last headline

“Muslim Thugs Age Just 12 in Knife Attack on Brit Schoolboy” . He indicated the point that the victim was referred to as British and the offenders as Muslims while they are also British, and he then asked her whether someone can be a Muslim and at the same time a British. Jay also indicated the point that this attack is only a Facebook comment (Buaras). This headline’s extremism is shown especially in its emphasizing on the identity ‘Muslim Thugs’ VS ‘Brit Schoolboy’. This does not have any other interpretation except of being racist by differentiating between Muslims and the

British in a binary opposition.

This shows an aspect of The Daily Star ’s prejudice against Muslims, that they do not even consider them as British. Their aim is to exclude Muslims from the

British society considering them as outsiders with a hint that threats are associated with Muslims, otherwise why would this headline differentiate between the two sides by including ‘Muslims’ since they are all British. This headline has no credible or ethical bases since they reported it as a Muslim attack on a British boy while it was only a Facebook comment that was not serious, to reinforce anti-Muslim sentiments.

This shows how The Daily Star manipulates the headlines to distort the image of

Islam and Muslims.

Another category of headlines in The Daily Star seeks to present a conception that women are oppressed by Islam and Muslims. Like this one in here “ Muslim

57

Cabby Refused to Let Woman to Sit in the Front Seat for ‘Religious Reasons’” which shows men as superior to females without giving the real reasons, that this act is made out of respect to the inviolability of women . Another one “ Top Muslim Group Claims

Anti-Domestic Violence Law Is 'Un-Islamic' ” that also showed up in The Daily

Express which objective is obvious, that is to represent Islam and Muslims as supporters of violence against women.

Other headlines launch ideas to suggest and to give an innuendo that Muslims are a threat to the British people status like in “BBC PUT MUSLIMS BEFORE YOU! ”

Other headlines such as “ Mystery 200-Year-Old Letter Revealed World War 3 Plans – and Final Battle against Islam” portray Islam as the enemy. Presumptively, this headline gives the impression that Islam is an evil that ought to be fought. A news that circulated in The Daily Mail is also present in The Daily Star , “WATCH: Passengers

Panic as Muslim Man Shouts 'Allahu Akbar' Mid-Flight” reflects an implied binary opposition between the Muslim man and the ‘normal’ passengers, to make Islam and

Muslims seem exotic and different from the ‘normal’ British.

The Daily Star was inquired by the Leveson Inquiry for its “anti-Muslim agenda” after one of its journalists Richard Peppiatt resigned for this reason. Most of the newspapers owned by the Jewish are negative against Islam ( The Daily Star is owned by a Jewish). Peppiat accused the Daily Star of formulating the news to suit their anti-Islamic policy (“The Guardian Is Following Anti -Islamic Agenda: Leveson

Inquiry”) like its headline “ Muslim Thugs Age Just 12 in Knife Attack on Brit

Schoolboy” that suggests a murder that never happened but was only a comment on

Facebook. Thus, whether from the headlines of this sample or outside, The Daily Star in general is presumably a newspaper that is extremely racist and that has an inclination to be one of the most negative ones towards Islam and Muslims.

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1.5 The Mirror

- “British Women Filmed 'Urging Young Girls to Join Islamic State

Terrorists in Syria'” , published in November the 23 rd , 2015 (at 21:02, and

was updated at 21:10) by Alex Wellman.

- “Sharia Law is Alive and Well in the UK as Investigation Uncovers

Shocking Details” , published in December the 5 th , 2015 (at 13:21, and was

updated at 15:19 the same day) by Alex Wellman.

- “Islam is the 'Fastest Growing Religion' and will 'Overtake Christianity by

the End of the Century'” , published in December the 10 th , 2015 (at 09:47

and updated at 09:52 of the same day) by Ruth Halkon.

- “School Asks Pupils to Write to their Parents Telling them they have

Converted to Islam” , published in February the 22 nd , 2016 (at 12:34, and

was updated at 12:58) by Bethany White.

The Mirror as other newspapers also shows signs of negativity. Its headlines from this sample share warnings that Islam and Muslims are a threat. Muslims are linked to extremism and are depicted as a security threat in a headline that says

“British Women Filmed 'Urging Young Girls to Join Islamic State Terrorists in

Syria'” . The Sharia law is again brought up as a threat of its existence in Britain as in

“Sharia Law Is Alive and Well in the UK as Investigation Uncovers Shocking

Details” .

As occurred in other newspapers, Islam is again portrayed in juxtaposition this

time with Christianity, “ Islam Is the 'Fastest Growing Religion' and will 'Overtake

Christianity by the End of the Century' ”. This is to make people believe that Islam is

menacing to Christianity. A headline that occurred in The Daily Express also shows

59 up in the Mirror which suggests that Islam and Muslims are a threat to school pupils,

“School Asks Pupils to Write to their Parents Telling them they have Converted to

Islam”.

“Muslim Man Tells ISIS: 'If You Don't Like this Country - Why Did you

Come?' in Furious Rant” , this headline for example shows a side of Islam that most of other newspapers try to hide or ignore. It suggests that not all Muslims are extremists or terrorists by providing space for a moderate Muslim to show his opposition to extremism. “ Hundreds of Muslims Marching against Terrorism in

London 'Ignored by British Media'” is another headline from The Mirror that shows

Muslim moderates standing against terrorism. This headline also contains the fact that

such positive acts are ignored by the British media. These two examples amid others

show sympathy of The Mirror towards Islam and Muslims. Thus, despite its negativity, The Mirror has more positivity towards Islam and Muslims than the above-mentioned newspapers.

1.6 The Times

- “Muslim Jail Population Doubles” , published in November the 15 th , 2013

by Richard Ford.

- “Hundreds More UK Muslims Choose Jihad than Army” , published by

Deborah Haynes and Fiona Hamilton, and was last updated in August the

22 nd , 2014 at 12:04 AM.

- “Give us Time: this is Islam’s Reformation” , published in November the

18 th , 2015 by Usama Hasan.

- “Terror Attacks Have Everything to Do with Islam” , published in

November the 20 th , 2015 by Melanie Phillips.

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- “Muslim Council ‘Secretly Linked’ to Brotherhood” , published by

Andrew Norfolk, Michael Savage, Faisal Hanif, and Bel Trew, last

updated December the 19 th , 2015 at 5:43 PM.

- Muslims ‘stay silent’ on extremism tip-off scheme , published by Fiona

Hamilton, last updated December the 26 th , 2015 at 12:01 AM.

- “Muslim Extremists Recruiting in Jails” , published by Richard Ford, Alice

Thomson, and Rachel Sylvester, and was last updated in December the

28 th , 2015 at 12:01 AM.

- “Schoolgirl Became Cheerleader for Jihad” , published by Neil Johnston,

John Simpson, Fiona Hamilton, Faisal Hanif, and Bruno Waterfield, last

updated January the 7 th , 2016 at 12:01 AM.

- “Women must Integrate, Cameron Tells Muslims” , published by Francis

Elliott and Lucy Fisher, last updated in January the 18 th , 2016 at 12:01

AM.

- “Missionary Kidnapped by ‘British’ Jihadist” , published by Bel Trew, last

updated in January the 28 th , 2016 at 12:01 AM.

Also as a British newspaper, negativity for sure exists in The Times . As in The

Daily Mail , headlines in The Times circulate around Muslims from within prisons.

One headline tackles the increasing number of Muslims in prisons “Muslim Jail

Population Doubles”. While another one tackles prisoners’ extremism, “ Muslim

Extremists Recruiting in Jails” . Such headlines aim to reflect the idea that Islam and

Muslims are a threat considering the big number of Muslim prisoners and the

possibility of ‘recruiting” and spreading their message from behind the bars. In one

headline “ Give us Time: this is Islam’s Reformation”, Islam is depicted as a religion

61 that needs to be reformed. It is inconvenient to say that a religion is in the process to be changed, because this suggests that a particular religion is inadequate.

In this small sample of headlines, The Times newspaper repeatedly links Islam

and Muslims to extremism, terrorism, to acts of violence and murders:

- Muslims are depicted as a security threat from within i.e.: inside the

United Kingdom:

• In one headline Muslims are depicted as being attracted to ‘jihad than

army’, that is they choose to follow the path of extremism rather than

to be good British citizens.

• In another headline the talk is again about schools. To convey a

message that Islam is a threat to the British schools, as in this headline

“Schoolgirl Became Cheerleader for Jihad" , which reports a British

convert joining ‘jihad.

• Another headline again shows signs of extremism of British Muslims

in “ Missionary Kidnapped by ‘British’ Jihadist” . In this headline,

juxtaposition can be spotted that brings Islam and Christianity On

opposite sides, so that these two religions would be seen as enemies,

with Christianity as the victim (victimized of course by Islam).

- Always with Islam being covered as a threat, in another drastic headline,

Islam is explicitly associated with terrorism: “Terror Attacks Have

Everything to Do with Islam” .

- Muslims are depicted as “ ‘Stay Silent’ on Extremism” . So that they seem

as unresisting to the terror attacks that are taking place. That also leads

them to be considered as a threat and probably extremism supporters.

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“Islam against Terror” , this headline from the Times, despite the contradictions from the sample when it links Islam to terror, in here it clears Islam from terrorism by saying that it is ‘against terror’. By going through The Times ’ headlines in general, despite the unfavorable headlines against Islam and Muslims that obviously exist, as The Mirror , positivity towards them can be detected.

1.7 The Guardian

- “Islam-Based Law Harsh but Flexible” , published by Jamie Wilson in

January the 14 th , 1999, and was last modified in January the 1 st , 2016.

- “Islamists in Court for Paris Terror Campaign : Militants Accused of

Punishing France for Supporting Algiers” , published by Jon Henley in

June the 2 nd , 1999, and was last modified in January the 1 st , 2016.

- “Cleric 'Supported' Islamic Terrorism” , published in August the 18th ,

1999, and last modified in January the 1 st , 2016.

- “'I was Sold to a Man ... is this Islam?’ Pakistan's Military Ruler has

Failed to Combat the Murder of Women who Resist Forced Marriages” ,

by Rory McCarthy in January the 29 th , 2001, and was last modified in

January the 21 th , 2016.

- “Islam has Become its Own Enemy” , it was published by Ziauddin Sardar

at in October the 21 st , 2001, and was last modified in January the 1 st , 2016.

- “Desire to Integrate on the Wane as Muslims Resent 'War on Islam' : Poll

Shows Sense of Isolation is Growing” , published by Alan Travis in March

the 16 th , 2004, and was last modified in January the 8 th , 2016.

- “Muslims and Violence” , published by Raza Griffiths and Shahzad Ahmed

in July the 25 th , 2005, and was last modified in January the 16 th , 2016. (it

is a letter that is extremely negative towards Islam and Muslims)

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- “Sharia Law? Don't Even Think about it” , it was published by Marcel

Berlins in February the 20 th , 2006, and last modified in January the 1 st ,

2016.

- “Memo to EU: we Call it Islamic Terrorism because it is Terror Inspired

by Islam” , published by Nick Cohen in May the 14 th , 2006, last modified

in December the 31 st , 2015.

- “Hijab for Men: Cover up, Grow a Beard, and Avoid Red: Why is there

More Concern over a Man who is 'Improperly' Dressed than one who

Beats his Wife?” Published by Brian Whitaker in February the 20 th , 2007,

and last modified in December the 31 st , 2015.

- “Egyptian Blogger Jailed for Four Years for Insulting Islam” , it was

published by Ian Black in February the 23 rd , 2007, and was last modified

in January the 14 th , 2016.

- “Just Say no to Sharia Law” , it was published by Peter Tatchell in

November the 19 th , 2009, and was last modified in December the 31 st , of

2015.

- “This Trend of Young Muslim Girls Wearing the Hijab is Disturbing:

Little Girls are Being Taught to View Themselves as Sexual Objects that

Must Be Covered up From an Early Age” , published by Baher Ibrahim in

November the 23 rd , 2010, and last modified in December the 31 st , 2015.

- “Covering the Face Eliminates the Personality behind the Veil” , it was

published in April the 17 th , 2011, and last modified in January the 10 th ,

2016.

64

- “Islam Must Embrace Reason and Responsibility” , it was published by

Henry Porter in September the 23 rd , 2012, and last modified in December

the 31 st , 2015.

- “How the Hijab has Made Sexual Harassment Worse in Iran : Islamic

Dress Laws have Failed to Protect Women who Talk of Constant

Unwanted Attention with the Tacit Approval of all, Including the

Authorities who are Supposed to Protect them” , published in September

the 15 th , 2015 by Tehran Bureau.

- “Why I Speak out against Islamism : Criticism of Islamism is Much

Needed. It’s Time for the Left to Support the Many who, Like me, Refuse

and Resist” , published by Maryam Namazie in October the 13 th , 2015, and

last modified December the 3 rd , 2015.

- “Guantánamo Bay Prisoners Ask Judge to Ban Use of Female Guards : US

Military Reacts Angrily after Five Detainees, Including Alleged 9/11

Mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Say Contact with Women Violates

Their Muslim Faith” , published by Ed Pilkington in November the 5 th ,

2015 at 19.04 GMT, and was last modified at 19.17 GMT the same day.

The Guardian is known for its sympathy and tolerance towards Islam and

Muslims. It provides a ‘counter discourse’ that challenges the ‘dominant forms of representation’ (Poole, “Change and Continuity…”59). The dominant forms of representation of Islam and Muslims which The Guardian challenges are apparently the negative stereotypical ones.

The guardian opens spaces to provide a positive image of British Muslims. An article published by The Guardian after the Luxor attacks was basically positive towards Islam and Muslims. While in the same article there is a section on ‘the

65 dissidents’ that enhances the negative interpretations (Poole, British Islam …199).

This manifests the two faces of The Guardian . First, that it tends to be positive towards Islam and Muslims. Second that amidst this toleration there is negativity even if slightly.

The aim behind the headline analysis of the other newspapers is different from that of The Guardian . In the other newspapers what is sought to be demonstrated is the negativity towards Islam and Muslims which is obvious and explicit and known to be there with not much positivity worth to be mentioned in most of them. However, with The Guardian , what is intended to be manifested is the fact that negativity towards Islam and Muslims does exist that is almost implicit amidst the explicit positivity, because it is not known for everybody that The Guardian actually has negativity.

Muslims’ inability of integration in the British society is raised in a headline and its sub-headline which says that “ Desire to Integrate on the Wane as Muslims

Resent 'War on Islam' : Poll Shows Sense of Isolation is growing ”. These kinds of statements are threatening to the Muslim community status in Britain, because the reader would think of Muslims as outsiders and would not consider them as a part of the society.

Some other headlines of The Guardian tackle the Sharia law. “ Islam-Based

Law Harsh but Flexible ”, the first part of this headline describes the Sharia law as harsh which is an inaccurate criticism to be made by someone who is not a knowledgeable Muslim. This headline sure enough gives a negative impression on

Islam. “ Sharia Law? Don't Even Think about it” , is a headline that announces the objection on Sharia law. This is a typical reaction of a non-Muslim towards the

66

Islamic law, but to represent it in this negative framework presents Islam in a negative image. “J ust Say No to Sharia Law ” this headline like the one that preceded it also shows denunciation to the Islamic law.

Other category of headlines links Islam and Muslims to different forms of extremism, like terrorism,

• This is a headline “ Cleric 'Supported' Islamic Terrorism ” that

associates Islam and Muslims with terrorism. First, through making a

negative generalization ‘Islamic terrorism’. This generalization applies

that terrorism is driven by Islam. Second, this headline implicitly links

Islam and Muslims to terrorism by representing the ‘support’ of a

cleric to terrorism. This paves the way for the reader to think if a cleric

supports terrorism it applies that all Muslims do.

• This next headline is of a letter that was published in The Guardian ,

“Muslims and Violence ”; this headline indicates a generalization which

explicitly links Muslims with no exception to violence.

• The association of Islam with terrorism is once again brought up in a

real extreme headline “ Memo to EU: we Call it Islamic Terrorism

because it is Terror Inspired by Islam ”. This statement directly with no

manipulations of implicitness states that terrorism is generated from

Islam. A generalization is again made with the expression of ‘Islamic

terrorism’.

• “Egyptian Blogger Jailed for Four Years for Insulting Islam” is

another headline that tries to draw a restrictive image on Islam. This is

67

by showing a person whom they depicted as a victim had been

punished with giving no other facts of his deeds.

• “Islam Must Embrace Reason and Responsibility ” is another extreme

headline against Islam and Muslims. To call for Islam to “embrace

reason and responsibility” clearly suggests that Islam is unreasonable,

irrational, and irresponsible. Such racist prejudgments are unacceptable

to be made.

Another rank of headlines from The Guardian tackles the situation of women in Islam unpleasantly from different angles:

• “'I was sold to a man ... is this Islam?' ” This headline which is obvious

from the choice of its words gives a bad tone on Islam in respect to

women. It presents Islam and Muslims as despicable and oppressive to

women.

• This headline accompanied with its sub-headline, “ Guantánamo Bay

Prisoners Ask Judge to Ban Use of Female Guards : US Military

Reacts Angrily after Five Detainees, Including Alleged 9/11

Mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Say Contact with Women

Violates their Muslim Faith ” endeavors to represent women in Islam to

be worthless. In Islam, not making physical contact with a female is

not out of a sexist behavior. Rather it has got a background of

principles and values among them to guard respect of both sexes.

• “This Trend of Young Muslim Girls Wearing the Hijab is Disturbing:

Little Girls are Being Taught to View Themselves as Sexual Objects

that Must Be Covered up from an Early Age ”. This headline along with

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its sub-headline, they represent the hijab as a reason that creates a

negative vision of little girls on themselves. It is an improper criticism

to say that covering bodies even for little girls makes them think of

themselves as ‘sexual objects’, but quite the opposite, because it

protects them. This headline provides the reader with a bad picture on

hijab which would be automatically reflected on Islam.

• A different headline on the same matter i.e.: Muslim women way of

dress, “ Covering the Face Eliminates the Personality behind the Veil ”,

is likewise, negative towards the Muslim way of dress. This time it is

the burqa that the headline suggests it excludes the personality of the

one who wears it.

• In this respect still, this next headline “ How the Hijab has Made Sexual

Harassment Worse in Iran ”, criticizes the hijeb in an extremely

negative way that is, it causes women to face more harm by wearing it.

If this headline is stating that a woman with hijab i.e.: with a covered

body, is more exposed to ‘Sexual Harassment’ than one without, this

statement would be rejected by anyone whose thinking is logical.

The objective of showing some of the negativity of The Guardian towards

Islam and Muslims from this exemplar is achieved. The Guardian ‘s negativity varied, from criticizing the Sharia law, to tackling women and the way they dress unfavorably, to linking Islam and Muslims to terrorism, extremisms, and violence.

However, despite this negativity, The Guardian is the most positive newspaper towards Islam and Muslims and the one that tends to defend Islam the most. It criticizes other newspapers for their negative coverage of Islam and Muslims, and

69 represents moderate people who try to defend Islam. It is the most that criticizes

Islamophobic newspapers (Baker, Gabrielatos, and McEnery 7).

The Guardian has a paradoxical nature when it comes to Islam and Muslims.

It is negative as well as it is positive. It portrays Islam and Muslims in an unfavorable way, terrorism, extremism, however, its orientation towards them is directed more to positivity than to negativity unlike the other newspapers. Regardless to some extent of negativity, as it is manifested from the headlines, it is accurate to state that The

Guardian is the newspaper that leans in favor of Islam and Muslims the most, more

than any other newspaper. This positivity is sometimes arranged by criticizing others

for being anti-Islam and anti-Muslims, other times by portraying or representing

moderate Muslims to the public.

As an upshot to this headline analysis, it is plausible to say that, whether

moderate or extreme newspapers, the British press in general is unfavorable towards

Islam and Muslims, and all newspapers share the aspect of being negative in their

coverage, which appears whether in their choice of stories or in the lexical choice All

newspapers with no exception try to generate a negative image on Islam and Muslims

to offer it to the reader with different degrees. As it is evident and as was stated

before, the degree of this negativity is not steady among all newspapers, but unsteady.

Three types of newspapers were identified in this analysis. There are the conservative

ones that are extreme and radical towards Islam and Muslims that their anti-Muslim

sentiment is explicit with taking the lead in being negative like The Sun, The Daily

Express, and The Daily Star . There are the newspapers with a more implicit anti-

Muslim sentiment, and their negativity exceeds the positivity by far with a slight degree of the positive or neutral coverage like The Daily Mail, The Mirror and The

Times. While other papers’ positive intention towards Islam and Muslims is hard to be

70 unrecognized these are the liberal ones standing in the middle of extreme negativity and extreme positivity like The Guardian .

The news framework where Islam and Muslims are narrowed in most newspapers is designed to give an extremely bad image of them. Through this analysis Islam and Muslims are being ranked in such stable and corresponding categories in all newspapers, moderate and extreme. Numerous categories have been identified through the process of analysis and many of them stood out due to the repetitive appearance. Islam and Muslims are put in a context of acting as a threat whether on status or as a security threat. Most newspapers tackle Islam and Muslims in a situation linking them to extremism, fanaticism, terrorism, murders, and violence.

A gap between Muslims and the British is created by being put as a part of binary oppositions. Islamic law, the Sharia law, is brought out in a context where it is often criticized. Most of newspapers outline the topic of women. Whether to object Muslim women way of dress, or to behold the idea that Islam and Muslims are oppressive to women.

II. The British Press following the Paris attacks: Headline Exemplar

1. General Overview: The 2015 Paris Attacks

The first chapter dealt with some of the events that attracted the attention of the media in general and the British press in particular towards Islam and Muslims.

This part of the research deals with the more recent events that took place in France,

Paris in 2015: the Charlie Hebdo magazine attack and the November attacks, which put Islam and Muslims under the spotlights like never before. A concise overview on the attacks is provided below.

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1.1 The Charlie Hebdo Attack

Charlie Hebdo is a “French satirical magazine” in Paris, which frequently received threats for its caricature publications of the prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). For this reason, the magazine was attacked by three men causing the death of 12 people and 11 were injured. Amongst the dead was the magazine editor Stephane Charbonnier (“Deadly attack on satirical magazine in

Paris”).

At night thousands of Parisians gathered out for the victims. The social media reacted with "Je suis Charlie". One suspect, Hamyd Mourad, turned himself in when his name was on social media. Police kept on looking for the other two suspects, the brothers Cherif Kouachi and Said Kouachi. Police surrounded a building in

Dammartin-en-Goele where the brothers were suspected to be there. Eventually they ended up both dead (Levs, Payne, and Pearson).

1.2 The November Attacks

This attack executed on the 13 th of November of 2015, targeted six locations in

Paris and caused the death of 130 at least, with hundreds of injuries (CNN Library).

France was having a friendly football match with Germany in the “Stade de France”, whereby outside it the three first explosions took place. The executers of these first three attacks all had the same explosive vests on. The first explosion happened at

21:20 and ended up with two deaths, the bomber who blew himself up and a man who was passing through. At 21:30 the second explosion was executed when another man blew himself with his suicide vest. A third attack took place at 12:53 with another man blowing himself (“Paris attacks: What happened on the night”). In total, these

72 attacks outside the stadium ended up with four people dead, the attackers and a passing man (CNN Library).

In the meantime, other attacks were taking place in another location, in Rue

Alibert. The first one targeted a bar Le Carillon at 21:25, while the second aimed at a restaurant called Le Petit Cambodge. These attacks of Rue Alibert left behind 15 deaths and 15 seriously wounded by gunmen. The other location where the attacks occurred is rue de la Fontaine au Roi near Cafe Bonne Biere and La Casa Nostra pizzeria at 21:32, it caused the death of five people with eight being seriously injured, again by gunmen (“Paris attacks: What happened on the night”).

The next attack took place at 21:36 in the rue de Charonne that targeted La

Belle Equipe bar by two gunmen who shut nineteen people dead and nine serious injuries. The following attack occurred at 21:40, whereby a man exploded himself in the Boulevard Voltaire in a restaurant Le Comptoir Voltaire causing one person to be severely wounded (“Paris attacks: What happened on the night”).

The last attack was also launched at 21:40. An American band was performing in Bataclan concert hall, where three armed men fired at people causing eighty nine deaths. At 00:20 there was an encounter between police and the attackers. One of them was killed by police and also by his explosives, and the other two blew themselves up (CNN Library).

Islam and Muslims were even more demonized in the media after the 2015

French attacks. The fact that these attacks were orchestrated and executed by Muslims paved the way for a more unfavorable coverage of Muslims by making generalizations through categorizing Muslims under different umbrellas such as terrorism, extremism etc. The headline analysis would be persisted in this part to

73 include only the headlines published as a reaction to the French attacks. The aim behind this analysis is to examine the reaction of the British press and the direction that it took in respect to Islam and Muslims after these French attacks. Headlines for this part would be supplied from: The Sun for being the most extreme among the newspapers above in its orientation against Islam and Muslims, and The Guardian for

being the most tolerant. The aim is to examine any changes that might occur on both

of them and the reasons behind that.

2. Headline Analysis

It should be noted here also that the articles of these headlines have been read

closely and critically to make sure the headline reflects the content of the article. The

headlines proved to be identical with the purport of the articles. Thus this analysis of

headlines can be accurate also to be applied on the content of the articles.

• The Portrayal of the “Charlie Hebdo” Attacks in The Sun

- “To All the Muslims Appalled by Paris... Time to Show it” , published in

January the 8 th , 2015 by Rod Liddle. (This headline is harsh and tries to

link the religion behind the motives of the attack).

- “Spy Boss Warns: Paris-Style Attacks are Inevitable for Britain”,

published January the 9 th , 2015 by Felix Allen.

- “‘Moderate Muslims Must Do More to Fight Islamic Extremism'” ,

published in January the 11 th , 2015 by Tom Newton Dunn.

- “1 in 4 UK Muslims Say Hebdo Killings Justified: Shock Poll on Paris

Massacre” , published in February the 26 th , 2015 by James Mills.

- “If 800,000 UK Muslims Back Attack on Paris, it’s Time to Worry” ,

published in February the 26 th , 2015 by Kelvin Mackenzie.

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• The Portrayal of “the November Attacks” in The Sun

- “Is Isis Actually the Beating Heart of Islam?” it was published in

November the 16 th , 2015 by Kelvin Mackenzie.

- “In Wake of Violence it’s Time for a New Version of Islam” , published in

November the 17 th , 2015 by Shakeel.

- “1 in 5 Brit Muslims' Sympathy for Jihadis” , Published in November the

23 rd , 2015 by Tom Newton Dunn.

The Sun is repeatedly in its attempts to portray Islam and Muslims as a threat.

One category of headlines of the Sun newspaper is up to implicitly make the reader believe that Muslims are not eager enough to resist the unfavorable actions:

This headline “To All the Muslims Appalled by Paris... Time to Show it” is calling Muslims to show their renunciation of the attacks. It tries to give the impression that Muslims are not doing what they are supposed to do, that is, they are not united against the acts of terror. This expression “time to show it” implies that

Muslims have never shown their rejection to the attacks.

Another headline of such kind “‘Moderate Muslims Must Do More to Fight

Islamic Extremism'” is demanding Muslims to fight extremism, this displays the idea for the reader that Muslims are not using enough efforts to fight terrorism and extremism, which automatically transmits to the reader the judgment that Muslims support terrorism and extremism. This helps in generating and promoting for the notion of the Islamic threat. Or there is another possibility of trying to instigate

Muslims against each other. Another negative aspect in this title is that it contains one of the racist expressions that creates a negative generalization about Islam and

Muslims ‘Islamic Extremism' which suggests that extremism is by Islam, or that all

Muslims are extremists.

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Muslims throughout the world during both the 2015 Paris attacks showed their condolence and sympathy towards the victims of the attacks and their families. It came in The Guardian that “…Muslims across the world, were shocked and appalled by the murders” (Ramdani). Thus, these kinds of headlines that try to make Muslims seem unresisting to the terror acts while they are, cannot be considered as genuine because they are misleading to the real facts.

This next assortment of headlines seems to be prevalent in The Sun after the

Paris attacks. Similar to the latter category that implicitly depicts Islam and Muslims

as supporters for terrorism and extremism through portraying them as silent and

unresisting to extremism, this category explicitly gives the conclusion that Muslims

are extremists or extremism and terrorism supporters:

In these headlines which are normally a result of a poll “1 in 4 UK Muslims

Say Hebdo Killings Justified” and “If 800,000 UK Muslims Back Attack on Paris, it’s

Time to Worry” , British Muslims are being pictured as adherents of the attacks.

Whether the results are true or not, these headlines give the impression that Muslims

are terrorism supporters and are a threat, especially on Britain. Even if these headlines

miss the usage of a verbal generalization, they supposedly enhance a sense of

generalization that most of or all Muslims support terrorism. Whereas many Muslims

inside and outside Britain condemn the attacks which is a fact that is missing from the

headlines.

The sun ’s most controversial article is “ 1 in 5 Brit Muslims’ sympathy for

jihadis ”, its aim is to make people believe that British Muslims support terrorism, its

findings were denied and rejected since the process was fabricated. The guardian

called it “irresponsible, dangerous and grossly misleading” the Mirror reacted with a

76 headline that says “ No, 1 in 5 British Muslims doesn't have sympathy with ISIS… ” and

apart from Muslims many others rejected it. This is not the only headline that The Sun

faked, it is one among others.

In this same respect of The Sun providing the reader with an image that Islam

and Muslims represent a threat, another category of headlines is featured. This time in

this set of headlines, the religion Islam is being the target:

In one headline “In Wake of Violence it’s Time for a New Version of Islam”

There is a proclamation for the reformation of Islam. Logically and ethically, it is

unsuitable for someone to call up for changes to occur on a religion just because it

does not suit their personal taste. Islam is based on fundamentals that determine it as a

religion, how come an ineligible person suggests that a whole religion needs to be

modified. If a religion undergoes a reformation it would lose its real essence, and

would no longer worth to be called a religion or qualified to be followed. This sort of

headlines produces a kind of an insinuation for the reader that Islam is inappropriate,

which paves the way for the negative interpretations to take place.

“Is Isis Actually the Beating Heart of Islam?” is another headline where the

religion is once more brought up. This is one of the most drastic headlines, whereby

Islam is being compared to the radical group of Isis. This headline is too explicit and

does not need an analysis to understand what kind of images it is trying to draw about

Islam. Both sides of the headline Islam and Isis are not brought together in a

paradoxical way, but vice versa, they are brought in conjunction. Isis is a radical

group claiming to fight for Islam; it adopts an extreme and an unreal version of Islam

where all kinds of terror acts are justified by Islam, which are rejected by Islam itself.

It has been cut open many times by Muslim figures that Isis ideology has nothing to

77 do with the Islamic one. However, it clearly does not make any difference for The Sun

that raises a question making Islam appear as the source from where this group is

generated.

To sum up, The Sun as it has always been towards Islam and Muslims is racist

and harsh. Its degree of negativity has not undergone much of changes except for its

manipulated and fake articles about Muslims that added fuel to fire, which made it

even worse. The association of Islam and Muslims with extremisms, terrorism, and

threats naturally exist. Its direction towards Islam and Muslims from this sample of

headlines did not undergo explicit changes; there is the same negative and hateful

coverage that does not seem to be lessened or extended. But in the matter of fact

negativity of The Sun is heightened after the Paris attacks through its technique of the

manipulation of the results of polls to provide a more negative coverage on Islam and

Muslims

However, some changes can be noticed. Among its extreme racism towards

Islam and Muslims, after the French attacks some of The Sun ’s publications tackled

moderate Islam. It is unusual for The Sun to promote something that is even close to

positive concerning Islam and Muslims! Presumably this slight sense of moderation

by The Sun is untruthful and fake. It came as a reaction after the criticism that it

received for its incredibility of some of its publications on Muslims that were not

valid. The Sun ’s orientation in respect to Islam and Muslims as it is known is negative

and racist in an explicit manner. While after the Paris attacks, it is even more extreme

and radical, but in a more implicit manner than it was before. Thus, it can be deduced

that The Sun is one of the most Islamophic British newspapers if not even placed on

top of them.

78

• The Portrayal of “the Charlie Hebdo” Attacks in The Guardian

- “Charlie Hebdo: Don’t Blame this Bloodshed on France’s Muslims” ,

published in January the 8 th , 2015 by Nabila Ramdani, and last modified

January the 9 th , 2015.

- “Muslims in Europe Fear Anti-Islamic Mood will Intensify after Paris

Attacks: Anti-Immigrant Politicians from Germany to Sweden Citing

Charlie Hebdo Killings as Support for their Position” ,”, published in

January the 9 th , 2015 by Kate Connolly, Angelique Chrisafis, and

Stephanie Kirchgaessner, last modified in January the 15 th , 2015.

- “I Admire Charlie Hebdo's Courage. But it Does not Deserve a PEN

Award: The Award is for Writers and Journalists who Tell us the Truth

about the World in which we Live, not Drawing Rude Caricatures and

Mocking Religion” , published in April the 28 th , 2015 by Francine Prose,

and last modified in April the 30 th , 2015.

- “Charlie Hebdo’s Refugee Cartoon isn’t Satirical. It’s Inflammatory : The

French Magazine May Have Wanted to Give Prejudice a Kicking – but

Ended up Giving it a Platform” , published in January the 15 th , 2016 by

Jonathan Freedland, and last modified in January the 17 th , 2016.

- “How Did Charlie Hebdo Get it so Wrong? In Blaming all Followers of

Islam for Terrorism, the French Magazine is Finding its Catharsis in

Bigotry”, published in April the 4 th , 2016 by Nesrine Malik, and was last

modified April the 5 th , 2016.

- “Hate Crimes against Muslims in Britain Spike after 'Jihadi' Attacks,

Study Finds: Anti-Muslim Attacks in the UK Nearly Quadrupled after the

79

Charlie Hebdo Massacre in Paris…” published in June the 17 th , 2015 by

Alan Travis, and last modified in May the 5 th , 2016.

• The Portrayal of “the November Attacks” in The Guardian

- “Now we're at War? We've Been at War Since 9/11, from Paris to

Peshawar: Yes, this Attack on Paris is an Act of War. But it’s not a War of

Islam Versus the West when Most of its Victims are Muslims” , published

in November the 16 th , 2015 by Stan Grant, last modified in May the 5 th ,

2016.

- “Paris Attacks: the Muslim Victims of Terrorist Bullets” , published in

November the 18 th , 2015 by Anne Penketh, last modified in November the

23 rd , 2015.

- “Muslim Council of Britain Takes Out Advert Denouncing Paris Attack” ,

published in November the 18 th , 2015 at 22:13 GMT by Aisha Gani, last

modified the same day at 23:30 GMT.

- “Police Scotland Confirm Spike in Hate Crime after Paris Attacks” ,

published in November the 20 th , 2015 at 14:41 GMT by Libby Brooks, and

last modified the same day at 15:38 GMT.

- “'There is a Massive Paranoia': UK Muslims on Life after Paris: Despite

having Done ‘Nothing Wrong’, British Muslims who Spoke to the

Guardian are Wary of a Growing Islamophobia Creeping into Society” ,

published in November the 21 st , 2015 at 08:00 GMT by Libby Brooks and

Damien Gayle, last modified the same day at 08:07GMT.

- “Why it's Wrong to Demand that Muslims Condemn Isis: And why it’s also

Wrong to Refer to ‘Muslims’ as if they are a Single Entity” , published in

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November the 24 th , 2015 at 12:14 GMT by Roy Greenslade, last modified

the same day at 12:16 GMT.

- “As a Muslim Woman I was Never Fearful in Britain. But Today I’m

Afraid: Since the Paris Attacks, People who Look Like me are Given Hell

Every Day. I no Longer Think it will Get Better” , published in December

the 1 st , 2015 at 8:00 GMT by Masuma Rahim, last modified the same day

at 11:52 GMT.

There is a prevalence of some topics over others whereby Islam and Muslims are positioned in The Guardian subsequent to both of the Paris attacks of 2015:

Some headlines work on reminding the reader that what is going on around the world of such events is not driven by Islam or is Muslims’ fault just because it is

Muslims who undertake a particular act of terror. The first category of headlines is actually put in the context of defending Islam and Muslims, whether directly or indirectly:

Headlines like “Now... But it’s not a War of Islam Versus the West when Most of its Victims are Muslims” and “Paris Attacks: the Muslim Victims of Terrorist

Bullets” refer to the fact that the horrific outcomes of the French attack did not only victimize the non-Muslims, but there were also Muslim losses. These headlines indirectly indicate that even if the attacks are allegedly executed in the name of Islam, they are not upheld by Islam or by Muslims.

Another headline aims at revoking the negative generalizations that are often provoked by the press when it comes to Islam and Muslims. The headline that serves this assumption is “Muslim Council of Britain Takes Out Advert Denouncing Paris

Attack” . Through stating that such a powerful Muslim body as the MCB denounces

81 the attack signifies that the attack is discarded and disapproved by every Muslim.

Several other headlines in The guardian prove Muslims’ condemnation of the attacks.

Such news absolves the Muslims and disconnects the wholly Muslim community form the stigmatization of the notion of terrorism.

There is also another headline that serves as an advantage for Muslims, “Why it's Wrong to Demand that Muslims Condemn Isis: And why it’s also Wrong to Refer to ‘Muslims’ as if they are a Single Entity” . Unlike The Sun urging Muslims to step up and condemn the attacks giving a negative impression on Muslims, The Guardian stands in the opposite side. This headline by The Guardian strengthens the position that Muslims are not responsible for the actions by Isis and do not have to prove anything. While the sub-headline tries to disconnect Muslims from terrorism by suggesting that Muslims are not a one monolithic block but they actually differ.

If a terrorist organization like Isis claims to be Muslim and to fight in the

Islam, this does not go for the whole Muslim community. Islam and Muslims are innocent from such crimes committed by Muslims in the name of Islam. Most

Muslims if not all, whose understanding on Islam is correct renounce such crimes and acts of terror. This is also manifested by The Guardian .

“Charlie Hebdo: Don’t Blame this Bloodshed on France’s Muslims” , is essentially one of the headlines that are explicitly positive in respect to Islam and

Muslims. This headline along the lines of the other headlines of this category emphasizes the point that Muslims are not responsible for the attack. This time it focuses on Muslims of France, probably considering the sufferance they have been through under the heightened security after the attack when many innocent Muslims were/are abused.

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The second category of headlines addresses the subject of the circumstances and the conditions that surrounded Muslims after the attacks. Noticeably the context of this course of headlines is aimed for positive reasons, probably to shed the light on

Muslims’ struggle and for raising awareness among the readers to create a sense of sympathy towards them, for they are in great danger of being victimized not only verbally but also physically:

“Muslims in Europe Fear anti-Islamic Mood Will Intensify after Paris

Attacks: Anti-Immigrant Politicians from Germany to Sweden Citing Charlie Hebdo

Killings as Support for their Position” , in this headline The Guardian raises the issue of anti-Muslim sentiment in Europe that might be elevated after the Paris attacks. The sub-headline tackles another point in this respect that some ‘politicians’ would take advantage of the Paris attacks in targeting Muslims. These politicians that the headline addresses are obviously those right wing ones whose objective is to boot out

Muslims. Thus, the spread of hatred against Muslims would pretty much serve their interests. This headline’s likelihood to work as an advantage for Muslims is that it might spread awareness and warn the reader of such people’s bad intentions in marginalizing Muslims for their own interests.

Most of The Guardian ’s headlines in this category whereby they emphasize on the struggle that Muslims undergo after the Paris attacks treat the issue from within i.e.: inside the UK. One headline “…UK Muslims on life after Paris: Despite having

Done ‘Nothing Wrong’, British Muslims who Spoke to the Guardian are Wary of a

Growing Islamophobia Creeping into Society” , expresses the fears of British Muslims after the Paris attacks that despite their innocence they might be the scapegoats to pay for what others have committed in the name of their religion. While another one

83

“Police Scotland Confirm Spike in Hate Crime after Paris Attacks” confirms the augmentation of hate crimes following the Paris attacks and specifies it in Scotland.

Other headlines such as “As a Muslim Woman I was Never Fearful in Britain.

But Today I’m Afraid: Since the Paris Attacks, People who Look Like me are Given

Hell Every Day…” always tackle anti-Muslim sentiments after the attacks, and the

jeopardy they are facing everyday for being Muslims. Another headline “Hate Crimes against Muslims in Britain Spike after 'Jihadi' Attacks, Study Finds: Anti-Muslim

Attacks in the UK Nearly Quadrupled after the Charlie Hebdo Massacre in Paris…” reflects the outcome of a study that demonstrates the enormous increase in the hate crime rate against Muslims in the UK.

The third category is made up of a set of headlines that came as a reaction to the Charlie Hebdo attack. The Guardian in here is in fact criticizing different sides of the magazine:

In this next headline “I Admire Charlie Hebdo's Courage. But it Does Not

Deserve a PEN Award: The Award is for Writers and Journalists who Tell us the

Truth about the World in which we Live, Not Drawing Rude Caricatures and Mocking

Religion” the Charlie Hebdo magazine is receiving a sharp judgment of its unmerited award that it received. It is criticized for its inappropriate sense of humor, with making religions a source for its mockery. This is pretty much what the magazine has done when it disrespected Islam and Muslims through making offensive caricatures of the prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).

Another headline by The Guardian in its criticism for the magazine is about the famous Syrian refugee child whose body was found on the shores. Unsurprisingly this also was a theme for Charlie Hebdo to make fun of, that The guardian responded

84 to it as this “Charlie Hebdo’s Refugee Cartoon Isn’t Satirical. It’s Inflammatory : The

French Magazine May Have Wanted to Give Prejudice a Kicking – but Ended up

Giving it a Platform” , it criticizes it for mocking a refugee kid whose way of death made the world mourn. The headline is not fully judgmental for Charlie Hebdo.

Because it presumes that the magazine might have had a positive objective by this mockery, but again going back to criticizing it, The Guardian stated that regardless to its goals even if they are to transmit a positive message to the reader, it only contributed in promoting even more prejudice.

In that it can be said that even freedom of expression has, and if not, it should have limits, especially in such sensitive matters. To make the death of a child who was running for his life from the flames of the war in his mother country trying to find a refuge in another place ends up his face put in the sand of a foreign country a funny story to fulfill their selfish objectives is just unacceptable.

“How Did Charlie Hebdo Get it so Wrong?: In Blaming all Followers of

Islam for Terrorism, the French Magazine is Finding its Catharsis in Bigotry”, this title has an explicit sense of rejection of The Guardian against Charlie Hebdo. It protests on the morals and beliefs of the magazine, and it directly opposes its policy and orientation that it adopted against Muslims which is rooted from discrimination.

The fact of Charlie Hebdo receiving feelings of anger and hate from the

Islamic world does not mean that Muslims are extremists. But it was a natural reaction of people that their religion’s sanctity has been violated. The only excuse that supporters of the magazine found logical is that the magazine is practicing its right of freedom of speech. It has to be stated then that freedom of speech when it reaches religions has no sense of logic if it is to offend people’s most respected principals.

85

For The Guardian to provide space in the paper and defies the general opinion to

defend even indirectly the right of Muslims is a great step for the paper towards

moderation, and an achievement for Muslims. Other categories apart from the ones

mentioned here, there were those calling for protecting the right of freedom of speech

and expression, others condemning the attacks and sympathizing with victims and

their families.

As it is done in the first exemplar of the analysis and with The Sun just above,

the aim with The Guardian was also to extract only the negative headlines since it is a

common knowledge that The Guardian is moderate towards Islam and Muslims.

However unexpectedly and surprisingly, after going through the publications of The

Guardian subsequently to the Charlie Hebdo attack, no negative headline against

Islam and Muslims could be identified.

Prior to the Paris attacks like most of the British newspapers, The Guardian had a sense of negative coverage of Islam and Muslims, and its hostility against them was manifested. Unlike prior to the Paris attacks, no negative generalizations against the Muslim community could be detected after. The Guardian ’s negativity before the attacks is less extreme compared to other newspapers, and its possessiveness in covering Islam and Muslims is overwhelming to the negativity, with a total absence of negativity after the attacks but only favorable coverage of Islam and Muslims.

Considering that, it is reasonable then to say that The Guardian has a direction of moderation towards Islam and Muslims.

Now concerning the changes that occurred on The Guardian’s orientation after the Paris attacks, it must be said that the paper was subjected to some changes. Before the analysis it was expected that The Guardian will adopt a more severe coverage of

86

Islam and Muslims. However, the results of the analysis were unexpected. The

Guardian after the Paris attacks became actually more tolerant towards Islam and

Muslims that no negative coverage could be identified in the process, but only favorable one that worked on defending Islam and Muslims. Therefore, whether prior to or after the attacks it is adequate to profess that The Guardian is the most tolerant

British newspaper.

This part of analysis brought together the most extreme paper, The Sun , with the most moderate paper, The Guardian , for analysis to detect any changes that occurred on both after the Paris attacks. What has been manifested through this analysis is, as was expected from the extreme press that it adopted a more negative and extreme position towards Islam and Muslims. While which was not expected from the moderate press that was also negative, that after those attacks no negative headline could be identified, only the ones attempting to defend Islam and Muslims, and urging people to sympathize with Muslims.

III. The Paris Attacks: Boosting Anti-Muslim Sentiments

After every attack involving Muslims takes place, Muslims face more discrimination and anti-Muslim sentiments around the world and all Muslim communities take the blame, resulting in the demonization of both the religion and its followers. These last attacks of Paris vastly contributed to raise Islamophobic sentiments against Muslims including in Britain where the ratio of Islamophobic attacks rose to a great degree. Statistics show that after the Paris attacks hate crimes against Muslims in London more than tripled. This study provides a figure comparison to demonstrate the extent of the aggravation in hate crimes after the

87 attacks, whereby they counted 24 anti-Muslim incidents before the attacks, while 46 after and 76 later (Gani).

Another study shows that after the November Paris attacks, Islamophobic hate crimes against Muslims in Britain increased to more than 300%. The study also concludes that female Muslims are the ones being targeted the most (Mogul). The reason that women are targeted the most is because of their Islamic outfit the hijab (it makes it easy for them to be identified as Muslims). Such crimes took place at public places (“Paris Attacks Aftermath...”).

1. Islamophobia in Britain: Women Being Attacked for Wearing Hijab

These next attacks came as a reaction to the Paris attacks. They differ between those taking after the Charlie Hebdo attack, and others after the November attacks.

• Incident one: “I've felt so unsafe in my own city”

Saba Zaman: a Muslim woman whose life changed after the Paris attacks after going through several experiences. A man on train spat on her and called her a ‘dog’.

A second incident that she experiences was more serious that it made her feel unsecure when a man grabbed her from her hijab. Zaman has witnessed other incidents happening to other women, like once a Muslim woman was pushed and offended because of "wearing a ninja outfit". (“Anti-Islam Hate…”)

• Incident Two: "I don't feel safe at all now”

This Islamophobic attack is more physical than verbal. The victim Choudhury is a veiled Muslim who was then 18 years old. She was attacked in November the

23 rd , so after the Paris November attacks, by getting punched by a man in a street in

Birmingham. The victim suspects that she was attacked because of her hijab since he

88 did not steal anything. She believes that Muslims are liable to attacks because of the late Paris attacks and that it made life hard for them. Choudhury got physically injured but more emotionally. This attack left an impact on her parents as well that they asked her to take off her hijab (Chan).

• Incident Three: “Muslim woman in hijab kicked backwards off a bus to

the floor”

A woman in hijab is again being the target. The victim got attacked on a

London bus by two other women. It was reported by witnesses that this woman in her

40s was exposed to both verbal and physical abuse. The victim was punched in her head and was literally kicked off outside the bus to the sidewalk while the verbal abuse continues. The woman was injured and taken for treatment to the hospital

(Crossley).

• Incident Four

This next incident also took place at London underground. Yoshiyuki

Shinohara the perpetrator was an 81 year old who stood behind the victim waiting for the right moment to attack. He then pushed a woman in hijab on a moving train.

Fortunately she was shoved back by the train. The victim was later hospitalized for slight injuries (O'neill).

• Incident Five: “A white man spat at me in a buss [bus]”

Another veiled woman gets verbally abused again on a London bus. Iqra

Mohamed, a 20 year old Muslim student, was subjected to an Islamophobic attack where she was spat on and was called names such as racist and a terrorist. She states that it was because of her hijab. The surprising aspect is that the bus was full of

89 people while no one tried to defend her, and others were actually laughing instead of taking action (“Muslim Woman…”).

The fact that the press has a direct relation with public perception, people’s reaction should not be surprising. With the Sun being their representative, the way the right wing or the extreme press delivered these events, it should not be puzzling that

Muslims would face the harshest times. However, regardless to what effect the press left on the readers, these Islamophobic incidents that are only few drops in a large sea of such criminal acts that cause harm to powerless human beings because of their religion and what they believe in is unethical, illegal and unacceptable. It is unfair to

Muslims to say that Islamophobic actions and hate crimes against them are a new phenomenon. Rather, whenever a negative event occurs in the world alleged to be undertaken by some Muslims, from 9/11 to 7/7 bombings reaching the recent Paris attacks, the press demonizes Islam and Muslims leading public opinion to turn against innocent Muslims and history punishes them.

Not to mention that much is already lost to this, what is worrying is that the rate of hate crimes is in rise, especially now after the French attacks. After the Paris attacks, apart from the United Kingdom, Muslims have been through hell facing physical and verbal insults and abuses of all kinds that cause them long term injuries, physically and to a greater extent mentally. Therefore, considering the gravity of this phenomenon, more measures need to be taken, starting from a press reformation, to propagating awareness among people.

Conclusion

This chapter’s analysis of headlines from different newspapers, confirmed what has been reported about the British press. The results drawn from the general

90 analysis proved the existence of antagonism and demonization of Islam and Muslims in the British press. Categories extracted in the first chapter, and referred to earlier, extremism, fanaticism, terrorism, binary oppositions, women, threats, violence, murders, were proved to be the categories that Islam and Muslims are repeatedly associated with in coverage by all newspapers, both the moderate and the extreme.

The newspapers’ negative orientation towards Islam and Muslims differed from one newspaper to another. The thing in common is that all newspapers shared the aspect of being negative in a way or another towards Islam and Muslims, even the supposed to be moderate ones. There were the newspapers taking the lead of being explicitly extremely negative, The Sun , The Daily Star, and The Daily Express . There were the ones with an extreme negativity but less than the above ones, with a tendency to occasionally have a very slight positivity or neutrality, The Daily Mail , The Times , and The Mirror . The liberal newspapers also had an extreme side to criticize Islam

and Muslims and put them in the above-mentioned categories, which was expected

actually. However, their sense of positivity is also considerable and is equivalent to or

exceeds their negativity, The Guardian . On the whole, all newspapers with no exception try to demonize Islam and Muslims; each has its way in doing so.

This is before the attacks while after, the moderate newspapers with The

Guardian as their representative, unexpectedly and surprisingly were free from the negative categories and generalizations, with providing an unprecedented moderate and positive image on Islam and Muslims. On the flip side, there are the extreme newspapers with The Sun as their representative, which their negativity in placing

Islam and Muslims under the categories of terrorism, extremism, fanaticism, etc, is there, and its extremism against Islam and Muslims was actually elevated through the process of manipulating poll studies to put Islam and Muslims as adherents of

91 terrorism, and alike. Accordingly, the liberal press after the Paris attacks, adopted more tolerance regarding Islam and Muslims, and generated more sympathy towards them. While the conservative press after the attacks, adopted a more extreme tendency where it tried to demonize Islam and Muslims in all ways possible.

Above all as might be expected, anti-Muslim sentiment among the British people is taken for granted, especially after the Paris attacks. The phenomenon has accelerated, and hate crimes have developed all over the U.K, from verbal abuses to physical ones, taking place almost every day. British Muslims no longer feel safe in their own countries among all hate, bigotry, and prejudice they receive from the white

British people. This is likely related to what is being published in the British press, whereby Islam and Muslims are receiving extensive negative coverage from the right wing press like The Sun, The Daily Express, and The Daily Star , the popular newspapers among the British. Muslims are being portrayed as terrorists, and Islam as a religion of terrorism, associating them to radical groups such as Isis. It is natural then that they are to be blamed for what is going on from attacks by people who restrict their knowledge and rely on such low-level papers as their ultimate source for news.

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General Conclusion

Whether it is racism, Ethnocentrism, Eurocentrism, Xenophobia, or

Islamophobia, Islam and Muslims, as a religion and as devoted followers of the religion, are estranged by the non-Muslims, especially by the Western World, be it by individuals or by whole communities. Generalizations of Prejudgments caused

Muslims and Islam in turn to be the communities’ scapegoat group, and to be blamed for the minorities’ iniquities. These sentiments of resentment directed against Islam and Muslims are not baseless, but came as a result of a process in which the Western media played a crucial role through investing its techniques to draw an unpleasant image on Islam and Muslim. The typical Western media contribute s with a high degree to promote in spreading a negative conception of Islam and Muslims, with the

British print media topping the list. This promotion of such ideation by the British press raised animosity of the British people against Islam and Muslims.

On the basis of some previous studies, an account on specific matters circulating around the coverage of Islam and Muslims by the British press was provided. Before the 1979s when the Islamic world was overlooked, especially from the political arena, everything that used to happen to over a billion of Muslims around the world, event, tragedy, calamity, did not seem to entice even a bit of the British media’s attention. However, a shift was manifested. Starting from the 1980s, when

Islam and Muslims started to receive an extensive attention, by the British press in particular. A crucial ground was determined to be the reason that put Islam and

Muslims under the spotlights. Controversies started to surround the religion Islam, due to some events consisted of Muslims as main actors started to take place. The wrongdoings that were alleged to be committed by a few Muslims were reflected on the religion causing both Muslims and Islam to be demonized in the British press 93 discourses. The events that made Islam and Muslims a focus of attention were launched with the Iranian revolution in 1979, followed by The Rushdie affair with the publishing of his novel the Satanic Verses in 1989, then the Luxor attack, then to receiving the highest peak of attention with the 9/11 attacks, and accelerated by the

Iraqi War, and the 7/7 London bombings, reaching the recent 2015 Paris attacks.

These events got Islam and Muslims to be noticed as a dangerous monolithic entity, with more attention directed towards them by each incident. Consequently, their demonization in the British press started to be produced. Since then Islam and

Muslims often hit the headlines to cover unfavorable news. Expressions such as extremism, fanaticism, terrorism, radicalism, were pretty much associated with Islam and Muslims, and became predominantly synonymous to them.

The British public acquires their knowledge on Islam and Muslims mainly from the media, the press basically. This would unquestionably leads Islam and

Muslims to be perceived from such perspective, that of the media, whether consciously or unconsciously. As it was expected, there was a consensus agreement of the existence of a causal relationship between the British press and the Public opinion regarding Islam and Muslims. That, what the British press produces in respect to

Islam and Muslims is totally or partially projected on the British public perception, resulting in Islam and Muslims to be comprehended in a specific framework, the one that the press sells to the public. This leads to the conclusion that the British people’s hostility towards Islam and Muslims and the preconception held on them is elevated by the press.

In order to trace how the representation of Islam and Muslims is produced by the British press, a headline analysis was conducted on seven different British newspapers. On this basis, the orientation of the British press towards Islam and 94

Muslims was identified. Basically, Islam and Muslims were negatively represented in all of those newspapers with different degrees. There are those, the most extreme and racist ones, with an explicit negativity and almost a complete absence of positivity or neutrality, like The Sun, The Daily Express, and The Daily Star . Newspapers such as

The Mirror, The Times, and The Daily Mail , are also quite negative towards Islam and

Muslims, however despite their negative direction a slight positivity or neutrality can be detected. However, this does not make of them as moderates since most of their headlines tend to be unfavorable and promote for negative ideas about Islam and

Muslims. The last newspaper analyzed is The Guardian , which is known to be the most tolerant and moderate when it comes to Islam and Muslims. Through analysis of its headlines, the paradoxical nature of The Guardian is revealed. In a considerable proportion of its headlines it tends to reflect a positive image of Islam and Muslims, while on the flip side, as the other newspapers it contributes in providing an unfavorable portrayal of them. The discourse circulating in covering Islam and

Muslims in these newspapers varied. Throughout all of the newspapers with no exception, Islam and Muslims were restricted to a stable set of frameworks. They are represented as a threat, culturally, socially, religiously, politically, or a security threat.

They were associated with terrorism, fanaticism, extremism, violence, murders, and were put in a context of binary oppositions, conforming what has been reported in this respect.

Unlike the first headline analysis which was undertaken at a more general scope, this one is more specified. Going further with the analysis, two of the most well known newspapers in the UK had their headlines analyzed to examine how Islam and Muslims were represented after the 2015 Paris attacks, The Sun as a representative for the extreme newspapers, and The Guardian as a representative for 95 the moderate ones. The results of The Sun revealed that Islam and Muslims are still categorized within the same categories of extremism, terrorism, and threats, and as it was predictable its extremity went further. The technique that seems to be overused by The Sun after the Paris attacks is to present poll findings, whereby British Muslims

were pictured as adherents of the attacks, to explicitly associate them with terrorism,

which was a serious allegation. A number of those poll findings were not accurate but

they made up. Something unusual in The Sun after the attacks that surfaced through

analysis is an existence of a slight sense of moderation! However later on, this

unusual moderation by The Sun appeared to be a manipulative technique that was

used after receiving criticism to cover up for the fabricated processes to demonize

Muslims even more. Whereas in The Guardian , unlike prior to the attacks when it

used to cover Islam and Muslims negatively, unexpectedly, after the Attacks none

negativity could be identified. It was totally the opposite, almost all of its headlines

after the attacks attempted to defend Muslims and to resist negative generalizations

that were launched against Islam and Muslims after the attacks. Therefore, what can

be drawn from this analysis is that the extreme newspapers from being explicitly

negative and hostile to Islam and Muslims, to being even more extreme but in an

implicit way through covering their negativity with a sense of tolerance . While

moderate newspapers actually lifted up their degree of positivity after the attacks, the

extreme ones lifted up their agitation.

It can now be genuinely stated that the overall picture presented on Islam and

Muslims in the British press is clearly one that is hideous, racist, extremist, and

Islamophobic. While analyzing, the British press image seems to meet Crossroads

with the British government. The British government is the most or one of the most

Western government’s toleration towards Islam and Muslims. It passed laws that 96 actually work for the sake of Islam and Muslims, like the blasphemy laws. If Muslims publically face insults, physically or verbally by another non-Muslim British, they would receive a jail sentence. This policy is also applied social media comments.

Unlike other Western governments, the British government is not tolerant when

Muslims’ laws are overridden. However, these measures are not applied with the press, which is free to write whatever serves its interests, like mudslinging Islam and

Muslims without being exposed to any kinds of punishments. Taking into consideration that most proportion of the harm that Muslims are exposed to by hate crimes is inspired by the press defamation of them and of the religion. There has to be a reason and a reasonable explanation behind the British government’s toleration with the press that it is let off the hook of what it publishes on Islam and Muslims. This seems as an interesting matter to discuss and to keep searching through while tackling the British press with a more political flavor. 97

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