How Media Use Stephen Timm’s Alleged Attacker Roshonara Choudhary To Bash Muslims
MORE on Labour MP Stephen Timms and the woman who stabbed him. She’s 21-year-old Roshonara Choudhary. Can the media use the incident to reinforce prejudice and its new agenda? What facts do you use in your story? Is the attacker’s, gender race and religion relevant? Is Muslim relevant? Is she a Muslim? Is she crazed?
All reports mention that the attacker was a woman. But mentioning the rest is down to editorial judgement.
In the Mirror, an eyewitness called Mr Ahmed says:
I heard a big commotion, everyone was screaming. There was a women wearing Muslim clothing, an orange headscarf and a black veil. A security guard grabbed her from behind.
Former British minister and senior Labour MP Stephen Timms escaped death narrowly after being attacked by a knife-wielding Muslim woman, a resident of his constituency.
Labour MP Stephen Timms is said to be “in good spirits” in hospital after being stabbed twice in the stomach by a woman at his constituency surgery.
Stephen Timms, the MP for East Ham and a vice-chairman of the Labour Party, is thought to have been knifed twice in the stomach while meeting a female constituent at Beckton Globe community hall at 3.20pm yesterday.
Choudhary, who is unemployed and from the local area, has also been charged with two counts of possession of an offensive weapon. Two weapons have been recovered.
Choudhary, wearing what appeared to be Muslim dress, allegedly lunged at him and stabbed him twice before being restrained by a security guard and arrested.
A 21-year-old woman, who was arrested at the scene, has been held in custody in an East London police station. Police believe she may be connected to the incident.
Sky’s crime correspondent Martin Brunt said there did not appear to be any obvious motive for the attack.
He said a source had revealed the suspect was an Asian woman who is believed to have mental health problems.
Interesting – It “appears” a Muslim woman, Roshonara Choudhary, has been arrested in attempting to kill Labour MP Stephen Timms. Could this Choudhary be related to Anjem Choudhary,the infamous devout muslim cleric hellbent on overthrowing the West and installing an Islamic state.
If you say she is a Muslim, do you also report the religion of every alleged nutter?
ALL UPDATES – HERE
Posted: 15th, May 2010 | In: News Comments (38) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
November 2nd, 2010 at 2:13 pm
Why she did it? Well here’s why:
http://www.anorak.co.uk/264198/media/roshanara-choudhry-tried-to-murder-stephen-timms-mp-because-shes-muslim-and-gifted.html
November 2nd, 2010 at 1:35 pm
I am not sure this article has stood the test of time particualary well, especially as the details of the court case reveal her religion was a central factor in the incident.
November 2nd, 2010 at 1:20 pm
Hmmm… turns out the fact that she was Muslim was indeed relevant.
Just as the religion of abusive Catholic Priests is relevant.
In both cases, the unwillingness of the wider religious population to deal with these problems has contributed to the mess they find themselves in.
May 25th, 2010 at 7:12 pm
I find it scary that so few papers reported she was a Muslim. It’s political correctness gone mad when they won’t even report the basic facts. There’s every chance that there was a jihadi motivation here.
May 18th, 2010 at 10:45 pm
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/3015380/another_cultural_plus_muslim_grabs.html
Does this use of the word “muslim” when describing a woman in the news give out a more positive meaning….I wonder?
May 18th, 2010 at 6:10 pm
Nah dairy, its the naughty victim who fell on the knife , they do it all the time…….
May 18th, 2010 at 4:29 pm
23 – it is relevant in respect of the fact that she seems to have concealed the weapons beneath robes, which the vast majority of the population do not wear and which relate to a religion – not solely Islam, granted, but that seems to be the predominant reason given for wearing them in a Western society.
Identity and concealment of identity are big issues at the moment and this is why, IMO, it has been picked up on in this case.
May 18th, 2010 at 4:23 pm
get real Anonymous – anybody who goes out of the house tooled up with kitchen knives is looking for trouble – male or female.
May 18th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
Well what did he do must me asked. The girl certainly can’t have randomly attacked him.
May 18th, 2010 at 9:20 am
Percy
Haven’t there been more wars over who has the better deities than any other reason, apart from who has the better greener grass
May 18th, 2010 at 8:15 am
We can all be stereotyped and I am almost sure that most would feel at the least a little uncomfortable being labelled “ignorant” and “violent” .
Has the word “muslim” has been hijacked and turned into something terrible by some?…it seems so.
May 18th, 2010 at 1:15 am
Better than a media blackout ~ with a PC directed commentary ~ decided by those from on high ~ we should really be hearing more about this woman from family, friends and neighbours who knew her. We should find out ~ as with every attempted murder of a public figure ~ what her motivation was!
Shouldn’t we?
Or is Anorak handing out permission slips.
There have been a few ‘crazed’ Muslims who have gone into local UK churches with machetes.
Surprisingly Press TV said the word ‘woman’ in Iran the word ‘woman’ has been barred ~ replaced with ‘family’ or ‘families’ !!
http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/CultureAndMedia/?id=1.0.1613494695
May 17th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
I always think that if you’re going to call anyone backwards or claim that they are poorly educated, your own posting better be spot on with spelling and grammar…
Some Muslims are twats.. ditto some Catholics, Christians, etc. Doesn’t mean they all are. I’ve been treated by Muslim Doctors and Dentists: as far as I know they didn’t also own a kebab shop nor where they plotting Jihads on Friday afernoon prayers. I’ve also met several Imams through work, all of whom were lovely, and worked alongside Muslim colleagues who I would trust to watch my back 100%.
I think all sides need to try and make the effort to get along. I always do. Try it.
May 17th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
shouldnt the her majesty’s govt send all the muslims of britian to thier native countries at once?
the reasons are because : muslim faith is extremely violent faith which cannot get on with other faiths in this country
muslims do not add any value to this country & they are here for a decade but cannot just get integrated at any level
muslims in britain cannot respect the country’s law, its criminal that while they hold british passports of convenience they want sharia law here, if other british visits thier countries we are expected to obey thier laws, but its thier human rights to do what they want?? joke ha
muslims are generally uneducated (except islam faith schools) and follow each other like herd in anything, that means viciously against other faiths,terrorism & anti-britishness is 100% among them.
muslims just mass produce in numbers, given the size of this island and available resources we will have serious consequences of over crowding ( and benefit system likely to suffer most)
muslims cannot get on well with other citizens, most dont speak english, they may be here for decades but dont know the law, mass illegal immigration and multiple wives bringings to this country, they havent become moderates since moving to this country
muslims all or most support islamic fundemental terrorist activites in this country by either keeping quiet of thier communities wrongdoings or publicly voicing opinions through the mass of so called ‘islamic’ organizations..
all i found time after time they reiterate that Islam is a peaceful religeon, i am very tired of that joke.
afterall muslims dont respect the Head of this country The Queen , the country’s parliament, Law of the land or the British flag. not at all.
some ‘peace loving religeous’ member please argue with your points and enlighten me what you and Prophet Allah is all about ?
thank you.
May 17th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
Unfortunately whatever this ‘peace loving’ muslims says muslim relegeon as a whole is very backword, muslims are not civilised, look at the way most of the live here, thier view on great britain is to change this country in to an islamic state, thus each and evry muslim trying to mass produce offsprings to increase thier population like anything,building mosques everywhere, not following the laws of the land & wants sharia laws here, having thier own countless organizations here, you talk to any of the muslim for 5 mins and soon you know how religeous nutters they are, they are prepared for jihad towards any non-islamic people, thats for sure.
they are not adding any value to this country except kebab shops, the most are sponging off the state benefits & carry the british passport for convenience yet no respect to this country & flag.
the country is heading towards that way and the rest of this country’s citizens have the right to protect thier living and identity or else it will be too late,
oh anyone who tells you thsi utter truth are often branded a racist etc etc, i am no BNP or national front, but I personally expereinced that you cannot live along muslims, how long would it take this government to act ? i am sick of it.
May 17th, 2010 at 3:47 pm
Well done for writing an article that, instead of relating the story and inviting comments from your readers; perfectly reverse-engineers your own pre-existing conclusion – and gives them the ‘right answers’ in advance.
This then gives you a platform to go on and ‘impress’ everyone with how, um, multicultural and tolerant you are…innit?
Is it *really* fomenting prejudice to describe the assailant in a stabbing?
Most people are tolerant and reasonable enough to realise that not every Muslim is violent. But it would be hard to escape the conclusion that, as a whole, Islam is a comparatively violent and negative ideology – and one which tends to set itself against the western norms of democracy, human rights and liberalism.
Now watch this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37TIP23LdpM) and tell me how Muzzie-baiting it would be to mention that this young female was a Muslim?
You see, It’s not ‘Islamophobia’ when they really do want you dead.
May 17th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
lftekhar, you say “Muslims are generally violent, do not have respect for rule and law and love to take law in own hand. Lack of education and civility is common among the muslims. And when knowledge is limited, ignorence prevail.” I can’t agree with your statement above. One can’t put all Muslims in that category.
The terrorists Muslims had been making terrorist attacks for many years in other countries; yet the Muslims living in our respective countries had been accepted, respected and no problems. It was when the terrorists Muslims struck us right in our homelands the public’s attitude towards and acceptance of the Muslims changed. Those peaceful law abiding Muslims were then lumped in with the terrorists who struck us and the distrust of, prejudice and outrage began towards them all. One could say we played right into those terrorists hands when the outrage against all Muslims began!
All Muslims were put on the defensive; people shunned them; the young Muslims were treated differently and saw the anger and many experienced the outrage and hatred for them; newspapers wrote articles about the Muslims and their faith. It became a witch hunt against all Muslims. Hatred begets hatred, anger begets anger and many of the peaceful Muslims, especially the young, became easy prey for those terrorists Muslims to take hold of and train them and teach them to hate us.
May 17th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
J L Choudrey seems to be suffering from typical Islamic schizophrenia. First he says:
“In Islam Allah (god) has said him self in the Quran (the holy book) that Humans are never allowed to take a humans life only Allah can take someones life”. Yet a few hours later he is saying “Islam says that the person that murders someone should have their head chopped off. In Saudi Arabia this punishment takes place.” There seems to be a small contradiction.
Islam is a religion of peace – and we will kill anyone who says it isn’t.
May 17th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
Charles Dexter Ward – stop being a silly billy. The fact she may have been a Muslim, doesn’t make her any more likely to leave her house with a knife intent on stabbing someone. The same would be true of a BNP member commiting the same crime – as a BNF member, he/she would be a bit of a twit, but hardly fit the profile of a stabber. This is why it should not be reported. However, if the lady happened to have a history of depression or violence, THEN it would be info that could help one form an informed judgement. Otherwise, people become lemmings – don’t they Mr Lemming?
May 17th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
So – is this article really suggesting that the public should be denied access to information that may enable them to understand this incident? Islam sees no division between the religious and the political spheres; if this crime was committed by someone wearing a BNP t-shirt and the media reported the fact, would that also “reinforce prejudice”? Why should we be kept in the dark?
May 17th, 2010 at 4:38 am
To an outsider Islam is manifested by what the followers do. In Todays world, all muslims are not terrorist but most of the terrorists are muslim. Definitely it has something to do with the religion and teaching in the community. Muslims are generally violent, do not have respect for rule and law and love to take law in own hand. Lack of education and civility is common among the muslims. And when knowledge is limited, ignorence prevail.
May 17th, 2010 at 12:16 am
To be fair, the MP was stabbed by a bird who was wearing Muslim clothes. This may have been a disguise, or, she may be a muslim. The only things this will truly highlight (in my opinion) within the media is: The banning of full veils, which could possibly deter anyone else from attempting to cloak themselves while doing anything similar. Secondly, why the devil wasn’t it a BNP activist who a high percentage of constituents dislike, rather than the most popular MP in Britain?
I would also expect this to impact the image of the Muslim communities that are based in Britain.
On the other hand, it may be impossible to change this image of being rather aggressive and violent… Reasons?:
Islam: Eye for an eye – “If one murders someone, their heads should be chopped off, like they do in Saudi Arabia” – Does anyone recall the: “Don’t lower yourself to their standards” lecture that you may have heard when you were younger, in retaliating to bullies, etc. In essence, this belief would make the governments, and their peoples, who willingly watch public executions, murderers too? Does this contribute towards the aggressive image, that honour killings, acid attacks, and other similar area’s of the over dominant muslim males hobbies only contribute to?
Stop knocking on doors trying to convert people to his faith: Are you a complete and utter idiot? What kind of example is that setting for the people of his constituency, of Britain? If you get attacked for doing your job, even one as beneficial as trying to change your little slice of the world for the better, you should give up, as they would want you to, even when it seems that you’ve been highly successful, and, on the contrary of knocking on peoples doors, hold surgeries where your constituents can come and talk with you, share their feedback, and ensure that you are changing their local area for the better, as you have been doing for 16 years, be the wrong example to set?
Also, in relation to the Jehova’s Witness bashing: You’re actually employing stereotypes of another religion there, which makes you as bad as the media? While on this note I would like to point out that, having some of the most decent people who live in our communities, knocking on your door, asking to lend your time, to tell you about what makes their lives feel more valuable, is actually quite a magnificent thing to do, whereas, for one of many examples I hold on this: Meeting people who are interested in your faith (or lack of faith) for 5 minutes, so they can try and take half hour to force theirs down your throat is far worse, especially when they do so in a… Overwhemingly passionate/Pretty aggressive nature… I am sure that I do not even need to specify which faith these individuals were followers of, either.
Hell fire for doing bad things? Hell fire for following the natural instincts which develop in you during your teenage years, and wanting to explore them, compared to hell fire for murdering someone…? I think your God kind of forgot to use a set of scales while determining what justice and fairplay is… Plus… Wouldn’t it have been easier for him to insert a switch which flicks when you meet “the one”, which, allegedly, he has already picked out for you, as he plans your entire life for you? Maybe Heavens a low capacity venue or something, the spiteful git.
Anyway, I think that more or less sums up my disagreements with many of the commentee’s within this forum. Before I leave you though, if it was a blue man from planet Zuton, a white factory worker in overalls, or whatever the hell else you want to think of, they would’ve been described as such, as it is the papers duty to report crimes. It is this woman’s own fault that she chose to wear a head dress most closely associated with the muslim communities that this was described. I am sure though, that if it was a Muslim who was stabbed by a white, British person, you would not be leaping to defend any part of his description, you would not say: Poor bugger, the credit crunch hit us all, so, I can understand why he’d be angry, if he was out of work, or anything similar, it would be vast, disgusting protests outside the courthouse, calls for his head, and other similar things. Why do I state that? Because there were, allegedly, British muslims, who were holding unnerving protests against the British Military for continuing a war to de-stabilise corrupt governments that their parents probably fled from in the first place, and to continue a battle (no matter how dodgy it’s beginnings were), to ensure that our pleasant little island doesn’t receive any bomb attacks similar to July the 7th, which was an attack against one of the most multi cultural, racially diverse cities in the world, hoping to get a gang of Virgins in heaven, when they’re murderers and committing suicide, and would end up in hell fire anyway (apparently)! F-ing brilliant idea.
May 16th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
Abdel – it might not be wrong information to say the woman is Muslim; but it is not an established fact, nor relevant unless it can be proved it is…
May 16th, 2010 at 6:53 pm
Hello. I am a Muslim and Firstly I would like to say that my Religion Islam didnt tell anyone to do anything bad in this world. So ‘Cheryl’ you asked me whether i would feel bad if another person of another faith and nationality tried to kill the MP, Yes I would 100% feel bad because a human killing a human is a very bad thing in this world. Also i know that all faiths say that humans arent allowed to kill humans, and I am a muslim so ill talk about Islam, In Islam Allah (god) has said him self in the Quran (the holy book) that Humans are never allowed to take a humans life only Allah can take someones life and in Islam it says that if any humans take any other humans life then their head should be chooped of by the Government. Also the very important thing is that ‘Percy’ has said that this MP knocks on peoples door and tries to convert them to his religion, that is very bad and if this is true then more people will try to attack him. If the MP has really done that then i suggest he stops all this because people lose anger when it comes to religion.Also my religion is Islam, and in Islam it didnt say anything bad, whoever is a terrorist Islam didnt tell them “Be a Terrorist and harm and attack people”. Islam is a peacfull religion. If any muslims does anything bad then please dont blame Islam for that because Islam doesnt accpet any terrorist and Islam doesnt like any bad people. Please do whatever you wish but please dont ever include Religions in anything its a very bad thing to do. Just remember that you came to this world once but in a short time you will have to go back. Also if this Roshonara Chaudhury has worn a Islamic Dress and attacked the MP then thats not the Islamic dresses fault its Roshonara Chaudhurys Parents and Familys Fault because they couldnt teach their child what Islam is. Women like Roshonara Chaudhury should be in jail their entire life otherwise the world will be ruined with this crimes. The person that calls them self a Muslim and does bad things that isnt in the Islamic Law then that person isnt a real muslim. Allah (God) has clearly said that the person that does any bad things then Hell Fire is ready for them.Thanks Everyone
May 16th, 2010 at 5:58 pm
The majority of the media is anti-Islam and will find any excuse to bash Islam. What the woman did is a crime against Humanity and must be judged in court by the judges and not by us because we are not qualified to do so. But in reporting any crimes it appears that the word Msulim has become a flavoured word that spies up any sentences. It is a shame on reporters who knowingly give out wrong information.
May 16th, 2010 at 11:55 am
J I Chowdhury, would you feel less bad if a person of another nationality or faith had tried to kill him? All faiths preach it is wrong to take anothers life. However, Islam is the only one I’ve heard of that states one who takes the life of another should have their head chopped off. A murder for a murder?
Yes, in Saudi Arabia a person who murders would have their head chopped off. In Saudi Arabia they stone to death in a public square even young men and women who commit acts they wouldn’t even be charged against the law for doing in other countries.
May 16th, 2010 at 10:47 am
Are Muslims superpowers then Jillian?
This person booked an appointment with her MP, she didn’t declare war on him, but she did have two knives about her person, and attacked him. Any yob in the street armed thus would be arrested as a violent thug.
May 16th, 2010 at 10:38 am
…P.S. ….or an M.P.
May 16th, 2010 at 10:36 am
the press writers might have added more relevance to the muslim reference if they had also told readers the religion or race of Mr. Stephen Timms M.P…..but I’m going to have a stab at guessing anyway….he wears a suit & tie & knocks on doors trying to convert people to his beliefs….so he must be either a Jehovahs Witness or a double glazing salesman….
May 16th, 2010 at 10:35 am
Not as violent as other superpowers. Just because someone drops carpet bombs and flies away and you don’t see how many people are killed or have their limbs torn away doesn’t make them less violent. Just ask yourself who is the perpretator before you make a ignorant comment such as ‘muslims are violent’.
May 16th, 2010 at 9:41 am
As well she might Anorak, and would that they would all, including the boys