VIDEO: On Muslim Identity — What Is “British” Islam?

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Muslim identity seems to be the topic de rigueur, an issue that has the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, on his feet and one which has also become a staple for the British and international press. But rather than an informed outlook on a complex issue with many strands, the discussion and debate has only two boxes: one for the “happy” assimilated Muslim and the other an “extremist.”

In this feature for Islam Channel’s news programme, “The Report,” journalist Yasmin Khatun explores the topic, asking “What is ‘British’ Islam?”

Interpreting Media Coverage Of The Chapel Hill Shooting

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The fatal shooting of Deah Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Mohammed, 21, and her sister Razan Mohammed Abu-Salha, 19 in a Suburban neighborhood in North Carolina was reported more than 12 hours after the fact on national television. Chapel Hill Police released the identity of the self-confessed killer, Craig Hicks, 46, approximately seven hours after a 911 call by a distressed neighbor. He reportedly shot all three of them, point blank, in the head.

Why did it take so long for national media to pick the story up? Their silence stood in stark contrast to prompt coverage of the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris last month. Only after a social media outburst protesting their lack of coverage did we see CNN, FOX and MSNBC headline the shooting of 3 Muslims in Chapel Hill.

This initial radio-silence reinforced the other-ness of Muslim Americans as well as other minorities in the US. It spoke louder than any anti-Muslim messages online could have.

Why Can’t the American Government Stop Talking About RT?

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In the current climate of political Russophobia, the American government just can’t stop talking about RT News (Russia Today). Secretary of State John Kerry has blasted it as a “propaganda bullhorn.”

The Chair of the US Broadcasting Board of Governors labelled it beside Boko Haram and ISIS and now Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland has called it a broadcaster of “untruths … with a tiny, tiny viewership.”

The obvious question to ask is, why do they insist on talking about RT if it really is all the things they call it? The answer is just as obvious. It is because they understand that RT is the opposite of all of these things, and people are beginning to find out.

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