Press Release
Rising Islamophobia and Political Hypocrisy

On the 14/1/2015 on TV2, one could follow the story on how a Muslim woman had reported 100 ordinary Danes to the police for making threats against Muslims on Facebook. She had collected 100 selected examples in just one week, which included rocket attacks on mosques and mass killings on Muslims.

Unfortunately, it is flooding with these kinds of comments from Danish non-Muslims on social media, and therefore one can wonder why the report had to come from a Muslim woman, instead of being investigated by the authorities much sooner. Police and PET (Secret Service) are already surveilling the social media, since they can prosecute Muslims for even the most insignificant comments and even smileys.

The reactions from Danish politicians did not reach anything near the tone one usually hears from Christiansborg (parliament) when the subject relates to Muslims. In an untrustworthy attempt to wash their hands, in very general terms, they "condemned threats, regardless of the target". There can be no doubt that the Danish politicians carry a huge part of the responsibility for the increasing Islamophobia and hateful rhetoric, which have become normal in Denmark. Today, Muslims are increasingly subjected to attacks, not only on social media, but to also verbal and physical attacks in heavily trafficked places and in broad daylight.

The Islamophobic atmosphere in Denmark is a result of Danish politicians who have, for more than a decade, attempted to outdo each other in demonizing with hateful statements against Islam and Muslims - gladly disseminated by the media and backed by "experts". This has naturally affected the tone of the public debate and pushed the limits for what is generally acceptable. Therefore, it is deeply hypocritical when those same people try to deny responsibility.

When Muslims are critical of the aggressive foreign policy that has cost thousands of lives, or the integration policy that seeks to forcibly convert Muslims to secularism and the values of freedom, they are criminalized and fought both politically and legally. The politicians are endlessly boasting of their "freedom of speech", but when a spokesperson for a mosque says that he wants an Islamic state in Iraq, they arrange an emergency meeting in the parliament calling for the closure of the mosque.

While the myth of freedom of expression hangs by a thread, the culture of mocking and hateful insults against the Prophet Muhammad (saw) are once again made to be the ultimate symbols of this "freedom". Now, with the elections drawing near, we will as usual see politicians stepping over one another in their eagerness to outdo each other in anti-Islamic rhetoric and more discriminating laws. All this, while accusing Muslims of digging trenches in the society.

We in Hizb ut Tahrir in Scandinavia want to make it clear that the Danish politicians will never be successful in subduing the Muslims. The Muslims community has been subjected to similar and worse attacks in many countries where they are a minority, but the response has always been an even stronger adherence to their Islamic identity.

Junes Kock
Media Representative of Hizb ut Tahrir
in Scandinavia