Thursday, January 18, 2007
The Sun apologises about fake "Muslim attack" story. posted by Richard Seymour
The Sun was forced to apologise this week over its lies about the riots in Windsor. This was at the peak of an hysterical Islamophobic frenzy last year when newspapers and media outlets were referring to "no go areas" and "ghettos". Racist thugs had firebombed a Muslim-run dairy centre that week, apparently believing that a mosque (of all wicked things) was going to be built in Her Majesty's back yard. Of course, even that much wasn't true: someone was going to set aside a derelict depot next to the dairy as a community centre for the tiny Muslim community there. When the racists tried to attack the dairy, they ended up in a confrontation with staff members, (and this was described as 'race riots').Then it was alleged by The Sun, Britain's number one bogroll, that "Muslim yobs" tossed bricks through the windows of a house that four cavalry officers were to move into. They were alleged to have daubed the house with "messages of hate", and made "phone threats" to the four officers. All of this was a pack of lies, and even a close reading of the initial story would have raised suspicion, as indeed it did. There were no threatening calls traced to the barracks, no one from any faith or racial group has been thus far accused of the attack on the house, and no religious or racial motive is suspected. However, the frenzy it stirred up at the time prompted Tory MP Philip Davies to say:
"This is outrageous. If there’s anybody who should f*** off it’s the Muslims who are doing this kind of thing. Police should pull out the stops to track down these vile thugs."
That's one politician who should be out of a job. Besides that, it is high time the editor of The Sun was sacked for incitement to racial hatred, and its owner expropriated and locked up as a tax fraud. One other thing: local papers were making it clear that there was no racial or religious motive suspected in the attack on the house, and that there no threatening phone calls to the barracks months ago when the story was still live. So, The Sun's withdrawal of the story therefore comes long after the damage has already been done, and is obscure enough to ensure as little as possible will be undone.