The racism towards Islam in the media in the media post 9/11 needs to stop now!

There have been too many cases of hate towards Islam which have been sparked by the media, most of these have been caused by group like British first, B.N.P and E.D.L. The actions from a minority of extremists has caused western countries to view Islam on whole as a bad religion. The portrayals of Islam in the media has led to bullying of children in schools, workplace harassment and law enforcement harassment.

Recently, there has been an increase in bullying and harassment, whether it be virtual or in real life which have been caused by the media demonizing Islam. The portrayl of the Syrian conflict and the growth and development of ISIS has been portrayed in the media in a very bias way which has augmented A report from CAIR shows that since post 9/11, there has been 1552 cases of anti-Muslim crimes in 2004 alone, 80% of which were committed in only 10 states in America. The IRS and FBI raided a normal Muslim family’s home and the agents questioned the family’s faith. The agents then questioned them on things related to Hamas, Hezbollah and suicide bombings. At the end of the ‘interview’ they were asked if America were to go to war with Iran, whose side would they be on. This is a clear sign of harassment by law enforcement to a working class family. As well as harassment, there have been really offensive acts against Muslim student students on college campuses. In 2003 at the University of California Los Angeles Medical Centre, prayer mats were discovered soaked in pig’s blood, as pig being Haram and this act is considered to be highly offensive and would be seen as an insulting discriminant action of the highest category. Haram in Islam means forbidden or proscribed by the Islamic law and in the Qur’an. Some people may not like the concept of Haram as the concepts of it have many things that some people may not like such as consuming alcohol, so instead of the demonizing of Islam from the media, it should educate those about the concepts of Haram and why Islam has these concepts. Some less educated people today show their disliking towards the religion because of the fact that something’s like smoking, which is one of the biggest addictions today, is Haram so they instantly dislike the religion. If the media started to educate people about Islam, we would have less bullying, harassment and also hate.

The media have shown a significant difference in how they show acts of terrorism from a specific religion. The attacks in Norway which occurred in 2011 were classified as a car bomb attack, mass shooting and an act of terrorism. The perpetrator said he did it in the name of Christianity, yet the media did not describe it as an act or terrorism. However when someone who is Muslim and does something in the name of Allah and Islam they are immediately branded as a terrorist. When a Muslim extremist planted a bomb behind a carton of milk in Varanasi, India, it killed 2 and injured 37 and those injury’s were listed as non-fatal. In the Norwegian terrorist attacks, 77 were killed and 319 were listed as non-fatal injury’s, 33 more were fatal injuries. This is all a clear sign that the media has demonized Islam as a bad religion and also are showing that when a Christian commits an act of terrorism they are not branded as a terrorist. This influences the views and the minds of news viewers and the minds of young people leading them to a mind corrupted by the media.

In Britain there are Islamaphobic group’s. The main ones include the EDL, BNP and Britain’s first. The EDL are, in my opinion, racists, hooligans and have no control over their actions. On September the third, 2011, 60 demonstrators were arrested for clashing with police. These hooligans are also made up of soldiers that have been relieved of their duty. These soldiers have been found to create some form of home-made explosive device. These devices contain a form of shrapnel to create a larger area of effect, they use small pieces such as nails, ball bearings and other small metallic objects. I think there should also be a higher charge and penalty for people who attack sacred religions. An example of this is when 2 members of the EDL torched down a mosque in Gloucester. One of them received a 4.5 year sentence and the other one received a 3.5 year sentence. Can you imagine streets without racism and also a media without the demonizing of Islam? Because I can. If people rise up to the media we can change the way some people view Islam. I think that there should be less reports on Islam in the media. Headlines like this ‘British Muslims condemn terror laws for creating ‘witch-hunt’ against Islam’ leads to headlines like this,’EDL Attack Police in Rotherham During Demonstration’. The media has a responsibility to be un-bias in case they influence the minds of the people who have less knowledge than others about the religion.

In conclusion, with the help of research and credible sources, I have found that the media has demonized Islam more than any other religion. While researching the terrorist attacks in Norway I found that acts of terrorism from Christianity are not considered acts of terrorism by the media. The media are influencing the minds of young people. On march the 10th 2015, a Liverpool fan tweeted that he would not take his children to home games because of two Muslims praying at half time. These things are against the law as they violate the UK’s hate speech law. If a regular civilian can receive up to 7 years imprisonment, then why does the media not face any charges for hate articles towards Islam? Tell me, should this be allowed? This is what the media does to people, it manipulates the minds of people making you think what they want you to think?