A recent story published by MailOnline and The Sun reposted an argument between TfL passengers from December 14, 2014.

The respective headlines gave weight to the ‘You white sl*g!’ and ‘Don’t call me a white b***h!’ comments. We are then informed that ‘Two white women and two women wearing hijabs fired insults at each other while a horrified onlooker filmed the whole thing’. And ‘Shocking moment ‘racist’ Muslim women face off with white women in vicious confrontation on a London train’.

Both journalists make efforts to transcribe the argument, its insults and abuses. Yet the MailOnline copy makes little effort to highlight the abusive comments directed at the Muslim women. It acknowledges that they experience a ‘torrent of racist and Islamophobic abuse’; but does little to provide readers with statements until the end of the article.

Missing from the MailOnline copy are these statements:

“I don’t care if that’s your family or not or one of yous (sic), I don’t give a s**t she’s sitting there with her headscarf on being racist.”

“She’s sitting there with a headscarf on like I’m going to be threatened.”

“You’re a Muslim p***k, with that s**t round your head.”

To the Sun’s credit, the journalist did acknowledge that the argument was not quite so one-sided. But the accusation of racism remains directed solely at the Muslim women, abusive statements directed at the Muslim women are not afforded the same scrutiny, even when the MailOnline article acknowledges that the Muslim women experienced racist and Islamophobic abuse.

The MailOnline copy did acknowledge that the video surfaced in December 2014; but you’d need to read further down the article to learn this fact. The Sun, however, made the odd claim that  ‘an eyewitness filmed the altercation in March but the footage has only just surfaced online’. This may owe to the fact the article appeared a day after the MailOnline version appeared online.

In a heated and unpleasant argument where neither side comes across well, the context of what triggered the argument eludes both articles. That context does appear in the original video description.

YouTube user Jo Hip wrote that the argument had started ten minutes before they hit record. According to Jo Hip, “it all started when the white girl noticed the somalian girls steering at her and making comments under their breaths, after a while the white girl asked them, ‘Why do you keep on looking at me?. The Somalian girls responded by saying, ‘We’re free to look at whoever we want’”.

The description then adds:”After a while the white girl said ‘ I’ve dealt with many people like you and I won’t be intimidated’. When the Somalian girls heard the White girl say ‘People like you’, they assumed she was talking about their religion or race, they then said’ What do you mean people like us? Somalian? Muslim?? Well you’re nothing but a ‘White Slag’.”

Only after hearing the utterance of ‘white slag’ did the video record. The justification for filming was “to show the ignorance of people. Ignorance knows no colour or religion.”

This distorted framing of the article perhaps influenced some the comments from MailOnline readers. It reflected their own anxieties towards multiculturalism. Others recycled myths that the police would favour the Muslim women. It also captured their pessimism and fatalism. Soon it became clear that the comments focused less on the content and more on their own broader concerns and biases.

A bigger question, however, remains: why was a video uploaded in December 2014 reposted in 2016?

The post How a MailOnline article distorted a video from 2014 to highlight ‘racist’ Muslim women appeared first on TELL MAMA.

We have received a report of a mosque in Dewsbury having racist text spray-painted onto the windows. The graffiti was sprayed so that it was visible to those entering the mosque and clearly was meant to send a chilling message to the congregation of the mosque.

We will be contacting West Yorkshire police and offering a community impact statement on how the wider community is affected by the targeting of a mosque. The community impact statement we hope, will provide prosecutors with material that they can highlight in court when sentencing takes place to assess the wider impact of such actions.

If you have suffered anti-Muslim prejudice, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us and we have passed on the relevant material to West Yorkshire Police and will work with them where required to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice. Finally, we are also aware that the mosque is reviewing CCTV footage. This means that there is a real possibility of the perpetrators being brought to justice.

The post Dewsbury Mosque Has Racist Graffiti Scrawled Over It appeared first on TELL MAMA.

We have received a report of a mosque in Dewsbury having racist text spray-painted onto the windows. The graffiti was sprayed so that it was visible to those entering the mosque and clearly was meant to send a chilling message to the congregation of the mosque.

We will be contacting West Yorkshire police and offering a community impact statement on how the wider community is affected by the targeting of a mosque. The community impact statement we hope, will provide prosecutors with material that they can highlight in court when sentencing takes place to assess the wider impact of such actions.

If you have suffered anti-Muslim prejudice, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us and we have passed on the relevant material to West Yorkshire Police and will work with them where required to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice. Finally, we are also aware that the mosque is reviewing CCTV footage. This means that there is a real possibility of the perpetrators being brought to justice.

The post Dewsbury Mosque Has Racist Graffiti Scrawled Over It appeared first on TELL MAMA.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the divisive myth-making of the far-right and the growing hostility towards Muslims,refugees, Jewish communities and other minorities.

His remarks at a General Assembly meeting marked the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on March 21.

This growing hostility and violence is ‘manifested most directly in anti-refugee, anti-migrant and, in particular, anti-Muslim bigotry, attacks and violence’.

As moderate parties harden their positions and far-right parties sow division. The Secretary-General’s grave tone bore the weight of Europe’s violent history. As the anti-refugee rhetoric mirrored ‘the darkest chapters of the last century’.

Ban Ki-moon spoke a universal and pluralistic truth: that ‘an assault on one minority community is an attack on all’. And that requires us to speak out against antisemitism, anti-Muslim bigotry and other forms of hate.

This year’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination also focuses on the challenges and achievements of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.

The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action promised a robust response to racism. Ratified in 2001, the framework raised concerns about growing antisemitism and Islamophobia. Point 150 “Calls upon States, in opposing all forms of racism, to recognize the need to counter anti-Semitism, anti-Arabism and Islamophobia world-wide, and urges all States to take effective measures to prevent the emergence of movements based on racism and discriminatory ideas concerning these communities”.

Yet, fifteen years later, and for the UK at least, both forms of bigotry remain growing concerns. The same problems emerge in France and Germany.

A plan of action put focus on a victim-orientated approach to tackling racism. Years earlier and the Macpherson Report redefined how police in the UK investigate hate crimes following the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993. Victim perception would dictate how police investigate hate crimes.

The Durban Declaration is not without criticism. Three human rights experts said “very little progress has been made in tackling racism, afrophobia, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance”.

Mutuma Ruteere; the Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, and Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism; Mireille Fanon Mendes-France; and the Chairperson of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, José Francisco Cali Tzay cautioned against media and political scapegoating of minorities.

The experts also highlighted the under-reporting of racist hate crime and the need for tough policing responses. Another recommendation highlighted the need for reliable data collection in order to track the effectiveness of acti-racism action plans.

The post UN Secretary-General condemns rising anti-Muslim and anti-refugee bigotry appeared first on Religious Reader.

Slovakia’s ruling party lost its parliamentary majority, and neo-Nazis gained 8 per cent of the vote in Saturday’s election.

More than 200,000 Slovakians voted for the neo-Nazi People’s Party Our Slovakia (L’SNS). That figure includes 23 per cent of first-time voters. Some of the fourteen elected L’SNS MPs were once monitored by the state. But they are now free to express their views in the National Council.

Marian Kotleba, who leads the L’SNS, gained a parliamentary seat. He was elected governor of the Banská Bystrica Region (BBSK) in 2013. Kotleba’s brother, Martin, also gained a seat in parliament. Natália Grausová, another L’SNS MP has defended the Slovak regime which acted as a Nazi satellite in World War II. The Nazis murdered 75,000 Slovak Jews (around 83 per cent of the pre-war total). Deportations stopped after a Vatican representative intervened. But after the Slovak National Uprising in 1944, the SS took control of the fascist Hlinka Guard militia.

Before taking office, Marian Kotleba fashioned himself in the image of the Hlinka Guard. Mr Kotleba established his first political party Slovenska Pospolitost (Slovak Brotherhood) in 2003. The interior ministry banned it in 2006 for its incitement to racial, national and religious hatred.

To mainstream his image required ditching overt fascism. He replaced it with the mainstream dislike of Slovakia’s isolated Roma minority. Police have arrested Kotleba for inciting racial hatred, but he’s escaped conviction.

The anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric of the ruling Smer-SD party helped Kotleba’s party. As did their hostility towards the Roma – securing votes in deprived areas with large Roma communities.

An English-language manifesto rejects EU membership and NATO. The L’SNS wants to form domestic militia groups and allow citizens to own guns. Their populist electoral rhetoric spoke of ‘banishing thieves’ from parliament and supporting ‘white’ families. A focus on Christian identity helps the party externalise Muslims as a threat.

At times, the personality cult around Marian Kotleba overrides that of other party members. Kotleba’s own rhetoric makes clear that the L’SNS seeks to ‘protect our homeland from thieves’. Externalising threats allows them to romanticise the fascism of Jozef Tiso’s Nazi satellite state.

The shift towards neo-Nazi, extremist and nationalist parties is a growing trend in parts of Europe. Poland’s Law and Justice Party (PiS) mirrors the creeping illiberal attitudes of Orban’s Hungary. In Denmark, the People’s Party are the second-largest party in parliament. Polling data put the Sweden Democrats at their highest projected share of the electoral vote at 19.9 per cent. A Median poll put the antisemitic and Islamophobic Jobbik as Hungary’s second-strongest political party at 21 per cent.

Austria’s Freedom Party and Italy’s Lega Nord continue to gain support in opinion polls. In spite of its failures in the final rounds of local elections, the Front National made historic gains in the first-round. This surge owes to their ability to exploit societal anxieties and anger directed at the EU, Muslims and refugees.

The fracturing of Slovakia’s political scene presents a challenge for Mr Fico to form a ruling majority. The surge in support for neo-Nazis caught many pundits off-guard. Other politicians condemned Kotleba’s party. But this only serves to foster their sense of self-victimisation and racist populism.

The post Slovakia election: neo-Nazi party gains fourteen seats appeared first on Religious Reader.

Pictures showing the injuries to an Asian man have emerged after he was attacked a few days ago at a BP garage on Herringthorpe Valley Road in Rotherham.

In the attack, the Asian man was said to have lost part of his finger as he was repeatedly punched in the early hours of Saturday morning on the 27th of February 2016. The injury was caused by what was described as a meat cleaver and the victim was attacked by a white male of tall build. He could not provide a description of the second individual involved.

The victim received medical attention in hospital after the attack and was in a stable condition.

Rotherham has become a focal point of far right activities and with community tensions and perceptions affected by the recent grooming scandal that has rocked the small town. More recently, South Yorkshire police have stepped up patrols after the verdict on the Rotherham grooming gang with a view to providing re-assurance to communities and ensuring a visible presence.

The post Rotherham – Shocking Pictures Emerge of British Asian Attacked in Racial Incident appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Pictures showing the injuries to an Asian man have emerged after he was attacked a few days ago at a BP garage on Herringthorpe Valley Road in Rotherham.

In the attack, the Asian man was said to have lost part of his finger as he was repeatedly punched in the early hours of Saturday morning on the 27th of February 2016. The injury was caused by what was described as a meat cleaver and the victim was attacked by a white male of tall build. He could not provide a description of the second individual involved.

The victim received medical attention in hospital after the attack and was in a stable condition.

Rotherham has become a focal point of far right activities and with community tensions and perceptions affected by the recent grooming scandal that has rocked the small town. More recently, South Yorkshire police have stepped up patrols after the verdict on the Rotherham grooming gang with a view to providing re-assurance to communities and ensuring a visible presence.

The post Rotherham – Shocking Pictures Emerge of British Asian Attacked in Racial Incident appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Pictures showing the injuries to an Asian man have emerged after he was attacked a few days ago at a BP garage on Herringthorpe Valley Road in Rotherham.

In the attack, the Asian man was said to have lost part of his finger as he was repeatedly punched in the early hours of Saturday morning on the 27th of February 2016. The injury was caused by what was described as a meat cleaver and the victim was attacked by a white male of tall build. He could not provide a description of the second individual involved.

The victim received medical attention in hospital after the attack and was in a stable condition.

Rotherham has become a focal point of far right activities and with community tensions and perceptions affected by the recent grooming scandal that has rocked the small town. More recently, South Yorkshire police have stepped up patrols after the verdict on the Rotherham grooming gang with a view to providing re-assurance to communities and ensuring a visible presence.

The post Rotherham – Shocking Pictures Emerge of British Asian Attacked in Racial Incident appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Pictures showing the injuries to an Asian man have emerged after he was attacked a few days ago at a BP garage on Herringthorpe Valley Road in Rotherham.

In the attack, the Asian man was said to have lost part of his finger as he was repeatedly punched in the early hours of Saturday morning on the 27th of February 2016. The injury was caused by what was described as a meat cleaver and the victim was attacked by a white male of tall build. He could not provide a description of the second individual involved.

The victim received medical attention in hospital after the attack and was in a stable condition.

Rotherham has become a focal point of far right activities and with community tensions and perceptions affected by the recent grooming scandal that has rocked the small town. More recently, South Yorkshire police have stepped up patrols after the verdict on the Rotherham grooming gang with a view to providing re-assurance to communities and ensuring a visible presence.

The post Rotherham – Shocking Pictures Emerge of British Asian Attacked in Racial Incident appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Merseyside Police reached out to Tell MAMA following a violent and unprovoked assault on a Muslim woman in the Everton area of Merseyside.

The 38-year-old, who wears the hijab and is of Arab descent, had passed a children’s play area on route to a supermarket at around 8pm on February 11. She noticed two white men stood near to the junction of Ullswater Street.

One of the men shouted racist abuse at her which was anti-migrant in nature. The second man then approached the woman, grabbed her hijab and punched her repeatedly in the face. Both men then left the scene.

The vicious assault left the woman with bruising and swelling to her face. Her fractured cheekbone will require surgery to repair. The attack left the woman feeling dazed, hurt and in shock.

Staff from Tell MAMA continue to offer further support to the woman. Merseyside Police released a public appeal and e-fit of one of the suspects on February 19.

Tell MAMA and Merseyside Police have been working together to support the victim. We are pleased that in a case as serious as this she had the confidence to contact the police.

Although physical attacks such as this are somewhat rare, it is essential that they are reported to the Police or Tell MAMA so that the perpetrators are brought to justice.

If you have been targeted with anti-Muslim hostility you can call us in confidence on 0800 456 1226 or email us at info@tellmamauk.org.

Anyone with information about the assault can contact Merseyside Police’s SIGMA team on 0151 777 4078 or the confidential Crimestoppers line on 0800 555 111.

The post Merseyside Police investigate unprovoked racist assault on Muslim woman appeared first on TELL MAMA.