Somebody posted a claim into a FB group from a highly dubious source, with what appears to be an extremely absurd claim that …
REFUGEES SAY GERMANY MUST BAN ALL ALCOHOL OR SEX ATTACKS WILL CONTINUE
Sorry about the caps-lock, but that is theirs, not mine. I initially posted a comment pointing out that the source is a site that simply promotes made-up stuff to get $$ via the advertising around the stories, hence it was all pure grade 1 brass plated BS.
I would love to have been right about that (well the part about that site is correct, it is not a credible source), but it turns out that the claim itself is actually partially true.
The UKs Daily Mail reports it, so it just must be true … right? … There they write …
Germany needs to ban alcohol if it wants to prevent further sexual violence and to help North African migrants integrate into society, a Muslim pressure group has claimed.
Commenting on the Cologne sex-attack controversy, MuslimStern, which has 20,000 followers on Facebook, said its mission was to ‘highlight the way the media was using the incidents to promote racism against minorities’.
The group complained that the female victims had brought the unwanted attention to themselves by dressing in a manner that North African men were not accustomed to.
OK, yes, “Daily Fail” is a term used to usually describe the Daily Mail due to their promotion of highly questionable stuff at the best of times and so anything from the DM does require you to deploy a rather heavy dose of salt and not just a light pinch, so it really is best to bypass them and see if there is an actual source for this.
What is the Source here?
The source is a German Facebook group called “Muslim Stern”, but a quick search there and there is no sign of the posting … but then the DM does explain that it has since been removed. Perhaps the real revelation here is that Daily Mail “journalists” no longer leave the office, they simply surf Facebook now.
Now for a reality Check
Let’s make an assumption and just take what the Daily Mail is saying at face value, that Muslim Stern did indeed adopt this position. They do have a screenshot of the now removed posting, so that is a wholly reasonable stance to take, however, promoting this Facebook posting as the Daily Mail has done is highly problematic for several reasons (apart from the rather obvious one) …
- Often the assumption is made that all refugees are highly religious Muslims, and that is simply not factual. Humans in general hold religious beliefs with varying degrees of confidence and so some will be simply cultural, others (a very small minority) will indeed be Islamists, and the vast majority will in all probability rest somewhere in between. Let us also not forget that Syrians are most probably Sunni who have fled the Alewife Assad regime, and have not rushed to ISIS, but have also walked away from them as well.
- Who exactly elected the Muslim Stern Facebook group to speak on behalf of all Muslims? Nobody did, and nobody ever could, because the word “Muslim” describes a vast diversity of thinking and belief just as the word “Christian” does, and so anything they might assert as their position is simply the opinion of a small minority at best.
- Who exactly is Muslim Stern? It is simply a small Facebook group and does not in any way represent anybody, and so the Daily Mail is simply promoting an anonymous FB posting … so why exactly is that news worthy?
Regarding the content … victim blaming is the typical response of the religious extremist (and I’m including not just Islamists in that thought, the Christian Fundamentalists do exactly the same). It is a stance that is driven by the deeply held belief that they hold the high moral ground and are in a position to dictate to everybody else. That can and does often manifest as …
- Bend your behaviour to our specific religious beliefs. If you don’t, then there will be consequences
… and also often tends to embrace the idea that Women need to be subservient, silent, and stay at home under the protection of men, and are almost in effect banished to simply being property. “Well she was asking for it, look at how she was dressed” is the typical manifestation of this religious conservative thinking here, and that blaming the victim mentality is of course wholly inappropriate.
Do Muslims generally behave like this?
No, this is usually the exclusive preserve of the Islamists, and also the Christian Fundamentalists, and is a manifestation of their right-wing fascist mind-set that is driven by the “I’m the only one that is right, so I get to tell you want to do” belief.
So it is indeed perhaps back to my original stance being correct, the claim is basically pure brass plated Grade 1 BS, and in this case it is the Daily Mail that is guilty of latching on to some anonymous Facebook pronouncements issued by some religious kooks, then blowing it up out of proportion and presenting it as if it was an official Muslim demand, which it clearly is not, and never could be.