Islamophobia becoming normalised in the media

[nomas]

Genuinely shocked by this headline on MSN.com today (UK site).

The title is

"Muslim convert explains why UK is 'best' as she boasts 'everything is free'"

No one seems to blink an eye at this blatant Islamophobia anymore.

Substitute Muslim for any other minority and people would be shocked for example:

• "Jewish convert explains why UK is 'best' as she boasts 'everything is free'"
• "Black person explains why UK is 'best' as she boasts 'everything is free'"
• "Christian convert explains why UK is 'best' as she boasts 'everything is free'"

Muslim convert explains why UK is 'best' as she boasts 'everything is free'

She is quoted as saying that she thinks the U.K. is best because everything is free. Hardly something to boast about I’d have thought but she’s telling what her experience in this country is like.

It’s worrying that this country is seen as a bottomless pit of handouts.

I am not delighted she had not paid tacx

Anyone with a health condition who has access to the NHS could make these claims. Medical treatment here is free. This is hardly hold the front page news. What's slightly unusual is to hear a person express gratitude for free health care, given most of us take it for granted.
This is a nasty piece of propaganda. Taking what sounds very much like a woman's expression of gratitude and appreciation for the uk and twisting it to make it sound as though Muslim people are fleecing the system.
I agree with you OP, it's bad. But they've been sly enough to use her quotes, the headline and let the racists join the dots. Which they never need much encouragement to do.

Feel like I’ve had a head injury reading that

@5128gap medical treatment is not free in the U.K. We pay our taxes to fund it.

The UK government spends approximately £257.5 billion a year on public health and the NHS. This comes from taxpayers.

the media is very Islamophobic.

The media is Islamophobic because it gets more clicks. They don't believe in anything.

The amount of deletions is ridiculous. Pointing our hypocrisy is now a deleting offence. Crazy.

YANBU. When a person of colour commits a crime well then we the reporting focuses on their ‘otherness’ and their religion because all people of colour are religious. We never hear of white Christian male commits xxx crime, it’s always their name. I mean the RAF Fairford thing the media were wetting their pants and speculation was rife. It’s very depressing.

Omg if I had a pound for every time on mumsnet alone I've seen "this would never happen to muslims" I'd be a millionaire. Thanks for starting the thread OP, I've been meaning to start one myself, although I know it won't go down well.

@Mumsntfan1 sooooo many minority groups say "this would never happen to Muslims!" about things that have happened to them and it's bordering on hilarious at times as it happen ALL THE TIME, to the extent that for most muslims it's not even really considered a problem anymore.

Recently on here I've seen; (colon not working before someone corrects me)

A Traveller woman who was taken into care as a child and placed with non Travellers saying "this would never happen to Muslims". It happens all the time, simply because there are very few Muslim foster carers, (and there are even less Traveller foster carers, so ergo the kids go to non Travellers)

Any antisemitism thread nearly always becomes about pitting muslims against jews. How Muslims don't need security, they don't get attacked, aren't at risk, don't need to do security drills in schools, are better musicians(!). All faiths are entitled to a security grant, many mosques do not like to get noticeable security as it increases the "they don't integrate" rhetoric and can increase hostility. Mosques get attacked all the time, too often to be of interest to the media (unless it's very significant). "Kill all Muslims" grafitti is not considered a big deal as it happens so often.

Any documentary showing a religion/cult unfavourably; "this would never happen to Muslims". Please read comments on social media, people are not behind the door in saying how much they hate muslims. Even documentaries about mormons or something unrelated to islam will have loads of "well at least they aren't as bad as muslims" comments.

Muslims, or even those who are just perceived as muslim (many hindus/sikhs/or just 'Asian looking') are attacked, threatened, harassed, physically and verbally assaulted, have clothing pulled off, get their homes/cars damaged all on a daily basis. It has become part of everyday life for so many.

It does indeed. Including 16p for every £1 we spend that is subject to VAT. So we all support it by paying tax, including this woman. She (and I) mean it's free at the point of access.

Thanks @Echobelly , you are always a voice of reason on these threads.

Thanks @5128gap , you are always a voice of reason

You're right that there's a lot of hatred and ignorance out there.

You should try being a Jew at the moment. The anti-semitism is off the charts right now.

I agree anti-Semitism is crazy high too. But I was shocked at a mainstream news site openly espousing Islamophobic tropes. They will push the boundaries as much as they can, and I don’t think it’s happening to any other minority. There are sections of the press trying to normalise Islamophobia.

France is non secular.

It's not just biased, but such a poor show, I don't know how reporters look at themselves after writing crap like this.

Funnily enough, the people this kind of rage bait will excite are the same ones sensing every immigrant home, because they are so ungrateful for all the country offers them. Here we have a woman who, like many of us, is grateful the NHS is free at the point of access; and some idiot trots out a headline about her being glad she receives 'everything ' for free.

Ultimately, this kind of story usually finds a receptive audience, so the creative writers will continue to stoke discord.

Lies, damn lies and statistics...the best performing ethic group across attainment 8, are the Chinese, Indians, Africans and Bangladeshis. The worst performing are the Black Caribbean, Roma and White British communities. Pakistanis are just slightly below the average.

lol..should have finished those GCSEs. The report talks about proportionality, not absolute (pop sentence above into chat GPT for simpler explanation)

lol..me too!

No

Medical treatment isn't free. We all pay for it out of our taxes. 50 years from now the system will probably cease to exist. We're already in a situation where the tax burden is the highest we have been since the war, and the way this country is going it'll just get worse.

The problem isn't immigrants or black and brown people, but rather corporate interests and our political system - having short 5-year election cycles doesn't allow for long term structural solutions.

Sadly too many uneducated people take their intellectually inferior route, listening to the guy earning £700p/h telling you that the problem is the one earning £7p/h.

I meant free at the point of access. I know we pay from our taxes. The woman in the article does too through VAT.
I agree with your post.