New Zealand mosque attacks: Politicians and media have blood on their hands

By Siema Iqbal

March 15, 2019 "Information Clearing House" -  We woke to news of at least 49 Muslims murdered in New Zealand by far-right fanatics. 

We watched - or consciously avoided watching - in horror the live-streamed footage of Muslims being gunned down while praying. How depraved has society become when social media is used to lionise massacres? 

I had to tell my children about the attack. I told them not to watch the videos or to be afraid of being who they are: Muslims.

Spreading hatred

Today, the media and politicians like American president Donald Trump and former British foreign secretary Boris Johnson, have condemned the attacks. The same media and the same politicians have helped spread hatred against Muslims and Islam. They have blood on their hands.

This terrible mass murder was committed on the other side of the world supposedly in the name of "Europe". There are lessons for us here in Britain, just as there are across the world. 

This hatred is institutional. We knew Islamophobia was endemic in the Conservative party, but we turned a blind eye. Not anymore.

 

Do not dare say that Islamophobia does not exist. The media and politicians must be held to account.

If we allow fanatics to turn up outside mosques with their banners of hate, and give airtime and social media platforms to the likes of Tommy Robinson and Katie Hopkins, this is what happens. 

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