Muslim Anti-ISIL March Not Covered By Mainstream Media Outlets, Say Organizers
Thousands of people took part in the annual UK Arbaeen Procession, coordinatedby theHusainiIslamic Trust UK,on Sunday.
Although ShiaMuslims take part in themarch each year to marktheArbaeen, or mourning, anniversary ofImamHusain -a seventh-century leader who fought for social justice -this year organisersdecided to use the event as a platform to denounce terrorism following the recent Isis attacks in Paris, Beirut and elsewhere.
OrganiserWaqarHaidersaid:"This year we had hundreds of placards which were basically saying ‘no’ to terrorism and ‘no’ to Isis. A very direct message."
"For us it was a controversial move to go political. Normally we don’t mixpolitics with mourning. However withwhat'shappened recently, we thought we had to make sure we as a community totallydisassociateourselves withwhat'shappening elsewhere in the world."
Despite this,Mr Haider said the demonstrationstill failed to garner attention in the mainstream mediabecause of "stereotyping".
"It is the oldest annual Muslim event in London but unfortunately it is very difficult to get any media coverage. I think it's becauseof stereotyping. People see the entire Muslim community as one community."
"[But] the Muslim community is a very diverse community, with the vast majority of us horrified by Isis."
With our event, we had so many people from different ethnic backgrounds. It's more of a family event in terms of people it attracts."
Volunteer MohammedAl-Sharifi also commented on the lack of media coverage for the event.
In a tweet, hesaid: "Hundreds of Muslims flooded the streets of London yesterday to condemn terrorism. Media’s response: Silence.”
His post has been re-tweeted more than 5,000 times.
Hundreds of Muslims flooded the streets of London yesterday to condemn terrorism. Media's response: Silence. RT pic.twitter.com/ACDxXc9D1L
— Mohammed Al-Sharifi (@Malsharifi) December 7, 2015
Other social media users also believed the demonstration should have been more widely covered.
Was a really good turn out #MarbleArch let's see if the mainstream media was able to see this pic.twitter.com/zhu5mE3xBR
— NightMare (@Njdude09) December 6, 2015
@peterkford @Malsharifi Doesn't sell papers, to show that majority of Muslims are just normal law abiding people
— Louise (@SLOW64) December 7, 2015
This deserves wide publicity #viral please https://t.co/xAHeiN69SB
— John Greening (@JohnCGreening) December 7, 2015
Mr Al-Sharifi told The Independent: "I think the reason the mainstream media hasn’t covered the story is because I don’t think it's juicy enough to sell papers. It's simply not interesting enough."
"Unfortunately [some] media outlets have gone for stories that to some extent can be divisive. If a group of Muslims do something good, it's not mentioned or the religion is not mentioned. But if someone does something [negative], it is on the front page andtheir religion is mentioned."
"It's feeding this hatred and divisiveness and demonisation, I think, of Muslims."
He said the media had an increased level ofresponsibility to create a cohesive society.
"The reason my tweet went viral… is because I think people realise there is a huge disparity between what they're being fed in the media and the reality of the day-to-day interactions they have with Muslims at work, at school."
Mr Al-Sharifi called on the country's leadership to counter Islamophobia.
The Arbaeen processions take place in other locations around the world including Iraq, Nigeria and the US.
Source: The Independent
