A reversal of perpetrator and victim with regard to Islamism is noted by the Islam critic and human rights activist Sabatina James referring to the public youth channel “Funk”. “Racism is the state-Islamic persecution of all other religions and the women belonging to them, but not the criticism of these conditions,” says James in reference to a video of the programme ” Datteltäter”, in which the hijab is celebrated as an anti-racist and feminist symbol. “Those who declare criticism of Sharia violence to be racism are reversing perpetrators and victims in the finest Nazi manner,” the former Muslim woman criticises in an interview with the newspaper Tagespost.
The real pressure is on non-Muslims and liberal Muslims in Islamic countries. This pressure is exerted through sometimes drastic measures such as rape, forced marriage, kidnapping of women and flogging, and is legitimised by state recognition and practice of Islamic Sharia law. “This is the real pressure that is being concealed here,” criticises James, who herself escaped a forced marriage and converted to the Catholic faith. Through the Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (EMRI) and through the Islamic Community of States OIC, such punishments are backed by all Islamic states.
James criticises the video’s lack of criticism of oppressive practices and misses a distancing from them. The video could therefore also be attributed to the oppression of women. “Those who declare criticism of Sharia violence to be racism are confusing the perpetrator and the victim in the finest Nazi manner, just as Hitler and the Mufti of Jerusalem got along perfectly, with the former financing the latter and commissioning him to advertise the extermination of the Jews.”
In the video “My headscarf my choice” of the programme “Datteltäter”, which aims to “change the mainstream narrative concerning Muslim(s)”, women from different backgrounds pose with different headscarves while fast music plays and the light flickers like at a fashion show. A woman’s voice describes the headscarf as an accessory: “My hijab is style, statement, self-confidence. It wasn’t always easy to stand up to the pressure of society.”
Further, the veil, which refers to the headscarf as well as face veils and burqas, is presented as a symbol of anti-racism and feminism: “My hijab is feminism, which stands for freedom and dignity. … My hijab is anti-racism. Because my hijab does not pick and choose according to appearance, language or origin. Of course my hijab is also a projection screen for your prejudices. But what you do with your hate is your thing, not mine.”
“Funk” is a joint youth programme of the public broadcasters ARD and ZDF. It is intended to provide information, orientation and entertainment. According to its own information, “Funk” is financed annually with about 45 million euros from the broadcasting contribution.