Hier kann man einem urbanen Mythos beim Entstehen zuschauen:
„Muslime beschweren sich über Postkarte mit süßem Hündchen!“
Die Daily Mail und der Telegraph greifen eine Geschichte auf, die im schottischen Tayside spielt.
Dort hat die Polizei einen jungen Schäferhund, der sich ausserordentlicher Beliebtheit erfreut: Rebel, der kleine schwarze Rüde.
Sein Bild wird eingesetzt, um zu Spenden aufzurufen oder auf besondere Nummern aufmerksam zu machen, wie es auf der unten stehenden Karte geschieht.
Diese Karte ist nun zum Gegenstand der Aufregung geworden, denn angeblich, so heißt es in den Berichten der englischen Blätter, habe die Karte bei muslimischen Ladenbesitzern für Unmut gesorgt:
„It is understood that Muslims have been upset by it because dogs are considered ritually unclean. Some shopkeepers have been refusing to display the advert.
Dundee councillor Mohammed Asif said last night, “My concern was that it’s not welcomed by all communities, with the dog on the cards. It was probably a waste of resources going to these communities.
“They (the police) should have understood. Since then the police have explained that it was an oversight on their part, and that if they’d seen it was going to cause upset they wouldn’t have done it.”
Der Telegraph berichtet, die Polizei sei nun reumütig und gestehe, man habe den „diversity adviser“ vor der Verteilung der Postkarte nicht befragt.
Die Darstellung geht offenbar auf die Kommentare des Stadtrats von Dundee, Mohammed Asif, zurück. Er hatte die Bedenken gegen die Postkarte bei einer Sitzung des joint police board geäußert.
Doch am 2. Juli allerdings berichtet die lokale Zeitung „The Courier“, dass die ganze Aufregung keine Basis in der muslimischen Bevölkerung hat:
„But Mr Asif’s comments have won little support among the public or Dundee’s Islamic community.
Last night Mahmud Sarwar, trustee of the Scottish Islamic and Cultural Centre and the Dura Street mosque, appealed for calm.
He said he had no problems with the postcard and called on homeowners and local businesses to display them as it is in the public interest.
“I’ve not heard anything about that from members of the community,” Mr Sarwar said.
“I was round some shops today and at the mosque and nobody has said anything about it.”
Mr Sarwar said that religious sensitivities would prevent him from displaying the postcard on a building of religious significance but there was nothing to stop them being displayed in shops.
“There is not a dog—it is just a picture,” he said.
Mr Sarwar also queried whether the concerns raised by Councillor Asif belonged to him or his constituents.
“Maybe that is his own thinking—everyone has the right to say things regarding their own wishes,” he said.
The controversy erupted when Councillor Asif said he was concerned the cards would not be welcomed in all communities and had been a waste of police resources.
The issue has generated intense interest from people across the region and beyond, many of whom contacted The Courier to express their point of view.
One concerned resident said, “The story mentioned that Muslim-owned shops and convenience stores were rejecting the card due to the fact that it had a picture of a puppy on it and that Muslims found this offensive as they deem dogs to be ‘unclean.’
“Surely these cannot be the same Muslim-owned shops which have dog food cans and packets on the shelves and bacon and pork sausages in the chill cabinet with the pictures of happy pups and contented porkers beaming from the packaging?”
A resident from Wolseley Street, Dundee, said, “I have always endeavoured to be considerate to others regardless of race, colour, creed, etc.
“However I am amazed at the reaction Mohammed Asif expresses.
“Many of the shops he mentions—if not all—sell dog food, complete with graphic labels. Should they not wish for whatever reason to support an initiative by our local police, so be it.”
Steve Ross, of Fleming Gardens, said, “Tayside Police may be forced to spend valuable funds on changing the postcard they have produced to advertise their new non-emergency phone number because a certain section of the community consider a dog to be dirty—just let’s get on with our lives and preserve British culture.
“As a cat owner I don’t care too much for dogs but I do about the spending of what I assume to be public money to pacify a few.”
After reading about it on The Courier website, Eileen McInally, from Santa Monica, California, was prompted to write, “This story is absolutely unbelievable—what wrong have the police done?
“How can anyone find an image of a dog offensive? Absolutely no apology is necessary.
“The complainers should be reminded that Britain is a Christian country, full of people who love dogs.”
Cheers, an off-licence on Campfield Square, Broughty Ferry, which is owned and operated by Muslims, has not been given the postcards to display or distribute.
Shop assistant Irza Saeed said, however, Cheers would be happy to have the postcards featuring police-dog-in-training Rebel and advertising the new contact number for non-emergency calls to the police.
“We have a lot of customers of different cultures and religions but we are owned by Muslims and the workers are Muslim,” Miss Saeed said.
“I don’t feel that I’d be especially concerned or upset if we were given the postcards to distribute or that there would be anything wrong with that. However, it is part of Islam that we don’t have dogs around us.
“Most of our people are afraid of dogs but we try not to make a big deal of it.”
To make a big deal out of it – das ist aber genau die Absicht der Kollegen von Mail und Telegraph. Und es dauert sicher auch nicht lange, bis die Geschichte von Rebel zum Teil der so genannten „islamkritischen“ Folklore geworden ist, die uns die stetig sich ausbreitende Islamisierung Europas inklusive Scharia weismachen will.
Aus einer Begebenheit, die man auch als Beleg dafür lesen könnte, dass Muslime erstaunlich pragmatisch mit den Anforderungen ihres Glaubens umgehen, wird eine Episode aus dem Untergang des christlichen Abendlandes gemacht. Beim Leser bleibt hängen, dass diese fanatischen Muslime sich nicht einmal von einem süssen Hündchen von ihren schrecklich rigiden Glaubensgesetzen abbringen lassen. Und dass sie rechtschaffenen Tierfreunden eine harsche Scharia-Ordnung aufdrücken wolle.
Solch eine tendenziöse und böswillige Berichterstattung ist eine Schande. Und die Kollegen vom „Courier“ können stolz auf sich sein.
(Dank an Chajm.)