- Islamophobia
- January 11, 2011
- 3 minutes read
Batman’s Muslim Offside Draws Ire of US Right-Wing
In early 1939, Superman was successful in action comics as Batman used to battle many enemies but now he has to face the anger of right-wing US bloggers who are furious that the comic-book-caped crusader has recruited a Muslim to run his crime-fighting franchise in Paris.
In the December issues of DC Comics Detective Comics Annual and Batman Annual, Batman Incorporated recruited Bilal Asselah, a Frenchman of Algerian origin to help in fighting criminals in France, and this has raised hostile statements by US right-wing bloggers, according to US "Bleeding Cool" website on Saturday, January 8, 2011.
Comments featured on US blogs strongly attacked Batman's Muslim operative as the American right has attacked David Hine, the writer of the album featuring Nightrunner, saying a Muslim personality serves specific political goals.
"The character’s name is Bilal Asselah and he is an Algerian Sunni Muslim and an immigrant that is physically fit and adept at the gymnastic sport parkour," said Huston.
Asselah, a 22-year-old Muslim of Algerian origin from Clichy-sous-Bois, which is a tough Paris suburb where urban unrest sparked riots in immigrant districts across France in 2005.
One night, Asselah and his friend were caught up in the unrest where they were beaten up by police who mistook them for rioters.
Asselah's furious friend reacted by burning down a police station and ended up being killed by police.
Bilal, on the other side and thanks to the influence of his pious Muslim mother, rejects hate and fear.
Grieved by his friend’s death, the Muslim young man turned to parkour, a form of acrobatics where practitioners jump from buildings and leap over walls and street furniture.
American right-wing commentators and bloggers see nothing wrong, in principle, with extending US comic-book culture to the land of the "cheese-eating surrender monkeys". Yet they are incensed that DC Comics should have chosen, not a blond, blue-eyed Frenchman in a beret – but, instead, a young man of Algerian origin.
The right-wing blogger, the Angry White Dude blog Warner Todd Huston, wrote on his website Publius Forum: "Apparently Batman couldn't find any actual Frenchman to be the 'French saviour'." In this age when Muslim youths are terrorising [France], heck in this age of international Muslim terrorism assaulting the whole world, Batman's readers will be confused by what is really going on in the world."
He mocked the writer's Muslim fictional character, saying: I suggest that the author grants the Muslim hero strange new powers to bury women to their waists and bash their heads in with large rocks, in reference to death by stoning, which is applied in a number of Islamic countries". Right-wingers said that a Muslim was not fit to play the role of a superhero and fight crime.