It Shouldn't Happen to a Muslim
Broadcast: Monday 07 July 2008 08:00 PM
On the third anniversary of the 7/7 London Bombings, political commentator and journalist Peter Oborne investigates whether these attacks and the fear of terrorism has fuelled the rise of violence, intolerance and hatred against British Muslims.
He discovers that for many in the Muslim community, Britain is becoming a very frightening place. Dispatches meets a range of British Muslims who now live in daily fear, some because their homes are constantly vandalised, others because they or family have suffered devastatingly violent attacks.
An exclusive ICM opinion poll commissioned for Dispatches reveals the extent to which Muslims have experienced hostility, abuse and prejudice since 7/7. The same poll also reveals the general public's attitudes towards Islam and relations with Muslims.
Since the bombings there has understandably been much press coverage of the attacks and other terrorist incidents. Oborne investigates whether this coverage has had the side-effect of portraying Islam and British Muslims in a relentlessly negative fashion, leading to the demonization of a diverse group of two million people, most of whom have nothing to do with terrorism.
Dispatches commissioned a sophisticated study of press coverage from Cardiff University's School of Journalism. The research examined articles published in the British press over the last eight years and their depiction of Muslims and Islam. The troubling results of the study are revealed in the film.
Oborne also investigates the sources and accuracy of a rash of press stories that have entered the public consciousness - such as a London council 'banning Christmas' out of deference to Muslims and a 'Muslim hate mob' wrecking a house rented to returning soldiers from Afghanistan.
Oborne concludes that in today's climate the media say things about Islam and Muslims they would never say about other groups. When he replaces the word' 'Muslim' in some recent headlines with 'Jews', 'Blacks' and 'Gays' and shows them to members of the public, they find those headlines deeply offensive.
In his first interview since leaving the Metropolitan Police, the man who headed anti-terror operations on 7/7 and afterwards, former assistant commissioner Andy Hayman talks about the poor relations between Muslims and the security services.
MUSLIM SURVEY
As part of the Dispatches investigation 'It Shouldn't Happen To A Muslim', Channel 4 commissioned two surveys, the details of which are revealed below.
OMNIBUS: ICM Research interviewed a random sample of 1006 adults aged 18+ by telephone on 21-22nd May 2008. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.
MUSLIMS: ICM interviewed a sample of 500 Muslims by telephone on 22-28th May 2008. Muslims were previously interviewed on the ICM random telephone omnibus and agreed to be interviewed again at some point in the future. As they were initially selected at random, it implies that the sample of Muslims is itself representative of the Muslim community in Britain.
You can download both surveys in full, as well as the top line comparisons across the two surveys.
Peter Oborne and James Jones have written a pamphlet entitled 'Muslims Under Siege: Alienating Vulnerable Communities' to accompany 'It Shouldn't Happen to a Muslim'. Download now
LIVE ONLINE DEBATE
Peter Oborne and the programme makers will be live on the site from 9pm on Monday 7 July to discuss issues raised in the programme. You can send your questions ahead of the debate.
Someone said to the Prophet, "Pray to God against the idolaters and curse them." The Prophet replied, "I have been sent to show mercy and have not been sent to curse." (Muslim)
Someone said to the Prophet, "Pray to God against the idolaters and curse them." The Prophet replied, "I have been sent to show mercy and have not been sent to curse." (Muslim)
It is indeed curious how there doesn't seem to be much publicity for this programme on the part of Channel 4 as compared to the amount of publicity for 'Undercover Mosque' back in January 2007.
Perhaps I'm just being paranoid.
"I spent thirty years learning manners, and I spent twenty years learning knowledge."
Why would Channel 4 not promote this show as much as they can? They stands to benefit, after all.
The very fact that they created 'Undercover Mosque' in the way that they did shows that they have an anti-Muslim agenda. By contrast, this documentary seems pro-Muslim and so they might not want to promote it as much.
Conspiracy theory.
"I spent thirty years learning manners, and I spent twenty years learning knowledge."
Someone said to the Prophet, "Pray to God against the idolaters and curse them." The Prophet replied, "I have been sent to show mercy and have not been sent to curse." (Muslim)
Likewise. Me and you gonna team up and blast those bigots to smithereens. (not literally )
Indeed we shall. Judging by some of the previous threads on that forum, there probably wont be much of a discussion. Though I do hope I am wrong; me and you vs mike would get boring .
Someone said to the Prophet, "Pray to God against the idolaters and curse them." The Prophet replied, "I have been sent to show mercy and have not been sent to curse." (Muslim)
As tonight's Dispatches shows, the media's coverage of Islam alienates and demonises a vulnerable British minority.
Imagine if you picked up a newspaper to discover the following headline, "Gay sickos' Maddie kidnap shock". What would your response be?
Or perhaps if you read, "Christmas is banned: it offends Jews". Or even, "Black people tell us how to run our schools".
You would probably be offended and outraged in equal measure – and rightly so. In modern Britain, it is no longer acceptable for the media to engage in such egregiously inaccurate or recklessly bigoted coverage of minority groups.
There is, however, one glaring exception to this rule – Muslims. As writer and broadcaster Peter Oborne points out in tonight's Dispatches on Channel 4, these rather shocking headlines have already appeared in our national press, but only in relation to Britain's Muslim minority. In the wake of 7/7, the press has been given free rein to effectively demonise the Islamic faith and its two million adherents in this country.
Dispatches commissioned Cardiff University's school of journalism to carry out a unique study of the content and, above all, context of almost a thousand articles written about Islam and Muslims since 2000. The Cardiff researchers discovered that over two-thirds of stories identified Muslims either as a source of problems or as a threat – not just in the context of terrorism but on cultural issues too. In fact, this year for the first time, the volume of stories focusing on cultural differences overtook those related to terrorism. Over the entire period, more than one in four stories contained the rather pernicious idea that Islam is dangerous, backward or irrational.
As a practicing Muslim and as a television journalist, I find myself awkwardly straddling the divide between British Islam and the British media. With my journalist's hat on, I recognise and support the very legitimate desire of the media to cover, and comment on, the growing terrorist threat to this country from "homegrown" extremists. (Dispatches has a long and proud record in this area.)
With my Muslim hat on, however, I grow tired of having to also endure a barrage of lazy stereotypes, inflammatory headlines, disparaging generalisations and often inaccurate and baseless stories. Did a local council, for example, "ban Christmas" to avoid offending Muslims? No. Did Natwest remove its piggy banks to avoid offending Muslims? Not at all. Did a "Muslim hate mob" vandalise a house full of British squaddies? Nope.
To pretend that this relentlessly negative coverage of a marginalised minority has no effect on community relations or on integration is naive, if not disingenuous. Portraying Muslims as different and dangerous can have serious repercussions, and tonight's Dispatches draws attention to a growing number of Muslims who now live in daily fear; some because their homes are repeatedly vandalized, others because they have suffered devastatingly violent attacks. In an exclusive ICM poll (pdf) for the programme, a third of Britain's Muslims say they or their family members have suffered abuse or hostility since 7/7, and over two-thirds of the wider British public think that prejudice against Muslims has increased. Yet, at the same time, a majority of the public also continues to believe that the religion of Islam is to blame for the bombings.
Three years on, it is time to stop conflating the actions of a tiny minority of extremists with the entire Muslim community or the whole religion of Islam. It is time for newspaper editors, reporters, columnists and commentators to stop the negative stereotyping and fear-mongering that reinforces the public perception of Muslims and Islam as strange, foreign and threatening, and further alienates and stigmatises an already vulnerable community of British citizens. As Peter Oborne points out, "There is an urgent need for a change in our public culture."
Dispatches: It Shouldn't Happen to a Muslim will be broadcast tonight at 8pm on Channel 4.
Indeed we shall. Judging by some of the previous threads on that forum, there probably wont be much of a discussion. Though I do hope I am wrong; me and you vs mike would get boring .
Actually, I logged on to the same forum after 'Undercover Mosque' back in Jan 07 and it was really busy. Unfortunately, I was too young to sign up (lool) so I had to just sit there and helplessly and watch Islam and Muslims getting attacked.
Not this time!
"I spent thirty years learning manners, and I spent twenty years learning knowledge."
Should I seek a source of law other than God, when it is He Who has sent down unto you the Book (Qur'an) fully explained? And those whom We have given them the Book know that it has been sent down from the Lord with truth, so be not of those in doubt.
It was pretty good actually, I was astonished yet highly amused at the man's arrogance, or should I say, single mindedness, when he was comparing Muslims & Mosques to Cockroaches! !
Insha'Allah I might watch Qur'an next week too, since when did Channel 4 make such good programmes?!
Last edited by Ali.; 07-07-2008 at 09:12 PM.
Should I seek a source of law other than God, when it is He Who has sent down unto you the Book (Qur'an) fully explained? And those whom We have given them the Book know that it has been sent down from the Lord with truth, so be not of those in doubt.
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