Muslims now own the mass media, apparently, and any charge levied against an infidel by them, newsworthy or not, becomes a big news item, such as the hijab-wearing 11-year-old girl in Canada who lied about being attacked by an “Islamophobe”; a Huffington Post writer still wrote that she deserved an apology. Now comes more big news in the same vein: “a Muslim family says staff at a Virginia hospital told them they looked ‘scary’ and threatened to kick them out when they went to visit a newborn relative in December.” Note that one is only “allowed” to use the words “Muslim family” or “a Muslim” when the story is about alleged Muslim victimhood, not when the story is about a Muslim victimizing someone.

And since when do individual allegations of stereotyping and insults make national headlines? It is also worth mentioning that the family states that the staff took issue not with the fact that the family was Muslim, but that the women were fully covered in black niqab. It’s offensive that a hospital staffer allegedly said they looked “scary”? The niqab has been banned in China, Tajikistan, Morocco, Latvia, Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon, Chad, Austria, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, and France; Chad and Morocco specifically stipulated that they were doing so for security reasons.

Note also the last line of the hospital’s statement: “We understand how important visitors are to our patients and their care. However, certain units in the hospital require family visitation hours to assure that all patients have a quiet, healing environment.” Could all this have simply been because the Zahrs came outside visitation hours?

The implication in the headline “‘You Look Scary’: Muslim Family Describes Discrimination at Virginia Hospital” is that some “racist” hospital in Virginia has problems with “Islamophobia.” In Northern Virginia, which has a large Muslim population, that is extremely unlikely. And this is all on the word of one Muslim family. In Pakistan, woe be to a Christian who is accused of blasphemy on the mere word of a Muslim, but in the U.S. there are more stringent rules of evidence, at least for now. The message being sent to the general public in many parts of the West now is this: “You better not offend or insult Muslims, or else. You too can be shamed on ‘anti-Muslim’ charges. No evidence, just the word of the Muslim carries big risks for you.” In the case of Arwa Zahr, the damage is done, whatever the outcome of this case. The claim of “Islamophobia” has already again been imprinted on the minds of readers.

“‘You Look Scary’: Muslim Family Describes Discrimination at Virginia Hospital,” by Julie Carey and Andrea Swalec, NBC Washington, January 10, 2019: