Christchurch unearths new form of extremism

Over-the-top headline in The Guardian, online, Sunday:

Australians are asking how did we get here? Well, Islamophobia is practically enshrined as public policy.

Written by Jason Wilson, the article reflects on the massacre of Muslims in Christchurch:

There has been extensive, international discussion about the role of the online subculture of the far right in these events — the codes, memes and signals of internet-mediated white supremacy. To prevent another Christchurch we must confront the right’s hate preachers. There’s been less reflection on the fact that any 28-year-old in Australia has grown up in a period when racism, xenophobia and a hostility to Muslims … were quickly ratcheting up in the country’s public culture. In the period of the country’s enthusiastic participation in the war on terror, Islam and Muslims have frequently been treated as public enemies, and hate speech against them has inexorably been normalised.

Wilson points the finger at News Corp, publisher of The Australian:

Every step of the way, this process has not been hindered by outlets owned by News Corp, which dominates Australia’s media market in a way which citizens of other Anglophone democracies can find difficult to comprehend. News Corp has the biggest-selling newspapers in the majority of metropolitan media markets … Its influence on the national news agenda remains decisive … it has used this influence to demonise Muslims.

Demonising Muslims? Editorial, The Australian, yesterday:

At mosques in towns and cities throughout Australia and around the world, good-hearted people of all faiths and some brought flowers, messages and candles to pay their respects at the weekend. Those who have lent their support to Muslim worshippers since Friday’s atrocity in Christchurch have taken steps, however small, towards reducing the chances of similar events being repeated. Community harmony, tolerance and solidarity are important defences against terror, as imams, Muslim community leaders and political leaders on both sides of the ditch and farther afield have acknowledged in the past few days.

CBS, September 13, last year:

A new report tracking the roots, spread and effects of violent Islamist extremism found that 121 groups that share elements from a common ideology are now operating worldwide. Their activities resulted in the deaths of 84,000 people — nearly 22,000 of them civilians — in 66 countries in 2017, the report found. In remarks at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, DC, former British prime minister Tony Blair said Islamist extremism is “global and growing”. “It didn’t begin with al-Qa’ida; nor will it end with the defeat of ­Islamic State,” Blair said.

The Global Extremist Monitor was produced by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change:

(It) drew on hundreds of news sources that reported on incidents of violent extremism in 2017. There were 7841 attacks — an average of 21 per day — in 48 countries with war-torn Syria topping the list of countries most affected by violent extremism. Muslims were the most frequent victims.

Claire Lehmann, Quillette website, Saturday:

Part of the shock comes from the feeling that these types of events don’t happen here. Not in Australia, not in New Zealand. We are small, quiet countries, where people feel safe. Random violence is not a feature of everyday life, let alone on this scale.