The British media is working to perpetuate negative stereotypes about Muslim women, and at the same time increase the British’s fear of the Muslim community by constantly linking Muslims to problems and crises, the latest of which is the Corona epidemic.

In an article published by the British Middle East Eye website, writer Fatima Rajina said that during the preparations for members of the Muslim community in Britain to celebrate Eid al-Adha late last month, everything had changed in the north of the country, when the government announced a ban on gatherings in a number of regions.

This decision meant for Muslims to rearrange their plans for the Eid, but at the same time it represented a new opportunity for a number of British media outlets to perpetuate negative stereotypes and link minorities in the minds of the British to crises and problems.

The publication of veiled pictures with news of the closure due to Corona raises many fears of the spread of Muslims (Shutterstock)

Muslims and Corona

The author stresses that what struck her most about the closure rules announced on Twitter a few hours before they took effect, was the media coverage that followed, especially the images used by some media platforms, which show Muslim women wearing the hijab and robes, and others from South Asia They wear Pakistani sarees and salwar.

And she added, "It is disturbing to use pictures of ethnic minorities, especially Muslim women, to highlight negative issues such as the spread of the new Corona virus in some areas of the United Kingdom," as what many media outlets are doing to publish pictures of the women of the Muslim community in Britain with news of closing some Regions Fearing the spread of the epidemic, it can raise in the minds of many fears of the spread of Muslims themselves in the country.

Western media historically worked to portray a negative image of Muslim women (Shutterstock)

Stereotype

Although the Muslim community constitutes only 4% of the UK’s population, there are parties that want to hold it responsible for the state’s failures, as Western media has historically worked to paint a negative image of Muslim women and that they are persecuted by the Muslim man and need help, according to the author.

The author points out that the Muslim woman remained a tool for political bidding, and her emancipation at the level of form did not contribute to changing her stereotypical image as a persecuted and marginalized party within society, but rather increased the risks facing her, so that the former First Lady of the United States, Laura Bush, confirmed in one of her statements that the invasion of Afghanistan It was essential to free the Afghan woman.

Media platforms have negatively used pictures of Muslim women in the midst of the Corona crisis (Shutterstock)

Blame others

Several media platforms have also deliberately used images of Muslim women negatively in the midst of the Corona crisis, for example the Guardian newspaper published in an article about the ban on gatherings in one of the regions in northern Britain, a picture of a South Asian woman wearing a salwar.

The author considers that such biased media coverage and the targeting of ethnic minorities through publishing similar pictures implies a lot of "hypocrisy and deceit", as minorities have been affected more than others by Covid-19, and they also suffer from the spread of racist and discriminatory practices.

The targeting of minorities, including the Muslim community, is part of an inherited culture that is based on shirking responsibility and holding it to others, especially if others are the less influential communities in society, as the author concluded.