Muslim leaders from around the world have accused the mainstream media, politicians and academics of contributing to the conditions fuelling terrorist violence against their community such as Friday’s attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand, which claimed 50 lives.
More than 350 leading Islamic figures from countries including the UK, US and South Africa have signed a letter to the Guardian, which links the actions of the suspected shooter, the 28-year-old Australian Brenton Tarrant, to an atmosphere of “systemic and institutionalised Islamophobia”.
The letter says: “This bigotry has been fuelled by certain callous academics, reckless politicians as well as media outlets who regularly feature those who demonise Islam and Muslims with impunity, disguising their vile mantra behind a veneer of objectivity.
“The massacre of Muslims did not just begin with bullets fired from the barrel of Tarrant’s gun. Rather it was decades in the making: inspired by Islamophobic media reports, hundreds and thousands of column inches of hatred printed in the press, many Muslim-hating politicians and unchecked social media bigotry. [The Guardian] Read more
