Opinion

Islamophobia at its deadliest

March 17, 2019

In the immediate aftermath of the mass shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, in which 49 people were killed and scores more injured, the immediate focus will be on supporting the victims’ families, a grief-stricken nation and devastated Muslims the world over. There will also be questions over the coming days over whether New Zealand had sufficient warning systems in place given that the shooter had posted disturbing material on Facebook in advance of the attack.

There will be questions over how the shooter managed to acquire several guns. And, of course, many will question the ethics of social platforms and some media outlets showing the carnage as the perpetrator, with a camera installed in his helmet, live-streamed the massacre online.

Despite all these questions, there is one certainty: Far-right ultranationalism is posing one of the biggest threats to all the world’s societies. The suspect, Australian Brenton Harrison Tarrant, espoused the “white genocide” and “Muslim tide” conspiracy theories, believing the white Western world is under threat from Muslim immigrants. Tarrant and his kind are known for their anti-Muslim screeds, including parroting the Islamophobic and erroneous conspiracy theory which predicts, counter to evidence, that Europe will become a Muslim majority continent within the next three decades. The central tenet of the conspiracy is that European peoples are dying out and being replaced by immigrants with a different, inferior and dangerous culture.

Anti-Muslim extremists like Tarrant are radicalized in the same manner as homegrown jihadists in so far as they espouse the “us” versus ”them” narration, basically a code for hatred or fear of Muslims. And they are lauded by right-wing activists. In a sickening angle to an already horrific story, as Tarrant recorded every second of his 17 minutes of mayhem, hundreds of people cheered him on online while it was happening. The message to Muslims: you are neither welcome nor safe here.

Tarrant is not an anomaly. He represents a top terrorist threat: right-wing extremism accounted for 100 percent of all terrorist attacks carried out on US soil in 2018. It is a growing phenomenon, the result of a combination of political polarization, anti-immigrant sentiment and modern technologies that help spread propaganda online.

Christchurch happened because politicians, media and the public not only continue to ignore the threat posed by right-wing extremists and white supremacy, but also continue to provide a platform to those who peddle the kind of racist, anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant hatred that radicalize white men like Tarrant.

Ultimately, if Western governments continue to ignore the growing popularity of far-right and ultranationalist groups and individuals, both online and off, then they should not be shocked the next time a mosque or anywhere else Muslims congregate is shot up by a white male who has been fed a steady diet of anti-Muslim and anti-minority fear and hatred.

Can white supremacy be defeated by candle vigils? The vigils, flowers and messages of solidarity do help. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern correctly labeled the carnage a terrorist attack and has vowed to change the country’s gun laws as a result. That will help as well. Clearly, however, Western governments aren’t giving the threat posed by right-wing extremists the attention it deserves, given neither Tarrant nor his accomplices were identified on intelligence watch lists, according to Ardern, which is troubling given Tarrant was routinely promising online to kill and harm Muslims.

The world is still coming to grips with what can only be described as unimaginably grotesque carnage, something that could only be conspired by someone deranged by a pathological hatred of Muslims. The attacks took place in a country totally unfamiliar with mass shootings and terrorism. Most telling, New Zealand was not protected from this massacre by its distance from the rest of the world. Christchurch can happen anywhere


March 17, 2019
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