Polish magazine “wSieci” published an inflammatory front cover showing a European woman being assaulted by three pairs of dark-skinned hands with “Islam rapes Europe” as the headline.
The magazine cover depicts a blonde woman draped in a European Union flag with male hands grabbing at her hair and arms and depicted as trying to tear off the flag.
The article inside the magazine referred to the assaults and sexual harassments in Cologne, Germany on New Year’s Eve, which sparked a great deal of backlash, in particular from right-wing European groups.
The published front cover sparked major outrage among Western activists on social media, as well as Islamic institutions, including the Dar Al-Ifta-affiliated Islamphobia observatory, which issued a statement Saturday condemning the cover.
Activists on Twitter described the magazine cover as being part of a “long racist history”. Some users, such as Niloufar and Ekud, went so far as to compare the “Islamophobia propaganda” to neo-Nazi propaganda.
“Islam is a main component of European communities, the introduction of strict legislations is essential to stop abuses against Muslims in Europe,” the Islamophobia observatory said in a statement.
The cover is considered an incitement against Islam, Western Muslims, and immigrants, the observatory said, noting that the cover depicts Muslims as enemies of European countries, who must thereby be eliminated.
The observatory stressed that Western media are using the same propaganda methods employed during World War II, aiming to depict Muslims as vandals. It called for the firm confrontation of these “acts of incitement” that aim to “defame” Muslims in Europe.
“Terrorism is not related to Islam and most terrorism victims are Muslims,” the statement read.
The observatory was established in December 2015 by Dar Al-Ifta. Its main role is to suggest all possible means to counter the widespread campaigns aiming to defame Islam outside Egypt and Muslim world. It also aims to minimise the effect of Islamophobia on Muslims abroad and correct false concepts about Islam.
Dar Al-Ifta explained that the establishment of the observatory came in the wake of the violations and hate attacks against Muslims abroad by far-right radicals.
