The Sun's Condemnation Of Islamophobia Makes A Welcome Change From These 6 Stories
The Sun's Stand Against Islamophobia Is A Welcome Change From These 6 Stories
Jack Sommers— The Huffington Post UK
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The Sun has come out all guns blazing today against Islamic State (IS) - but this time with great emphasis on sympathy for British Muslims, a group it has previously been accused of slandering.
The front page has the headline "UNITED AGAINST IS" on top of a large photo of a woman wearing a headscarf in the colours of the Union Jack.
"The Sun urges Brits of all faiths to stand up to extremists," the tabloid says, adding that Muslim clerics must "ceaselessly condemn IS".
In a strongly-worded editorial in which it calls IS "shadows from the Dark Ages", the paper says: "We must not give way to Islamophobia. The military success of IS vastly exaggerates its support.
"Most British Muslims are proud to belong to both a nationality and a religion which value peace, tolerance and the sanctity of life."
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The Sun's front page today
Across six pages, the paper pushes its new campaign, saying "Together we can defeat IS", which won it support on social media for the "bold" front page.
Some might say it was ironic that The Sun came out so strongly against Islamophobia, given that Britain's biggest selling paper has often been accused of it in recent years - through inflammatory emphasis on religion to outright inaccuracies.
Here are six of those times.
6 Times The Sun Was Accused Of Islamophobia
September 2014 - 'Muslim Convert'-Gate(01 of06)
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Last month, a man was arrested in connection with the death of 82-year-old Palmira Silva, who was reportedly beheaded in her own garden. The Sun was branded "deliberately inflammatory" as people questioned why his religion was relevant, especially given that the police had ruled out any link to terrorism by that stage. (credit:The Sun)
May 2014 - Halal Hysteria(02 of06)
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Pizza Express' 'halal secret' screamed the headline. It reported that all the chicken used by the chain was killed in accordance with Islamic law, sparking a race by the press to see who could reveal which other food outlets sold what type halal meat first. This was onstensibly reported as an animal welfare issue but controversy over whether halal-slaughtered animals do suffer more - and the fact Pizza Express already said on its website its chicken was halal - left some unconvinced.
So everyone knew about Pizza Express meat being halal, and its on their website, *except* The Sun until today? http://t.co/HGi1t4MWMG
Using a mocking pun to discuss a sensitive issue, The Sun said that Channel 4's decision to broadcast the Muslim call to prayer during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan could "inflame tension", which prompted this reply:
Channel4's decision 2 air Adhan could inflame tension according 2 Sun "newspaper" but headline "Ramadan a ding dong" doesn't? #sunRamadan
March 2008 - The Muslim bus driver who asked everyone to get off his bus to pray(04 of06)
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The Sun reported that London bus driver Arunas Raulynaitis had stopped his bus so he could pray and was mistaken for a "fanatic" because of his rucksack. Five months later, the paper apologised and said the claims were "completely untrue". "Mr Raulynaitis is not a fanatic and he did not ask passengers to leave his bus to allow him to pray," the correction read. "In fact, he was praying during his statutory rest break." (credit:The Sun)
October 2006 - Muslim hate mobs attack soldiers' homes(05 of06)
February 2008 - Muslims' Hospital Bug Snub(06 of06)
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'Thousands of hospital patients are in danger of catching deadly superbugs because Muslim medical students refuse to follow new hygiene rules,' the paper reported. In their book Muslims Under Siege, authors James Jones and Peter Oborne visited Leicester University to see the evidence for themselves. 'Not a single doctor or member of staff we spoke to had come across any problems with hand-washing,' they wrote. 'Dr Paul Symonds, Reader and Consultant Clinical Oncologist at Leicester University, told us: "I personally haven’t seen it. I know of no-one who says they’ve seen it, and I’ve discussed it with our junior staff, nurses, colleagues, and everyone just looks blankly at me with blank incomprehension… the issue has not arisen."' (credit:The Sun)