Page - 117 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 07/02

Making Space, Claiming Place | 117www.jrfm.eu 2021, 7/2, 107–131 egies,51 NIDA’s representation in most established news outlets is more neu- tral in tone, and their idealistic brand of politics is often noted.52 However, the politicians of NIDA have also had their share of negative experiences with journalists from mainstream media outlets.53 Throughout the years, they have dealt with several cases where journalists have depicted them as suspicious or unreliable (especially in right-wing media), fitting into stereo- types of Muslims in (Western) media coverage as violent, radical, and prone to terrorism.54 In line with the work by Knut Lundby, Stig Hjarvard, Mia Lövheim, and Haakon Jernsletten referenced above, these mediatized con- troversies were often directly related to the supposed politicization of Is- lam – for example in 2018 a leftist pact with NIDA and other progressive parties in Rotterdam failed to transpire because of an old and controversial NIDA tweet.55 One of the issues that NIDA have dealt with in the last years, just like DENK, is their being persistently labeled a “Muslim party” in several large mainstream media outlets. In the next section, I will examine more closely how the label “Muslim party” signifies a form of media framing that has been extensively studied in academic literature and is used to “culturally generalize” Muslims.56 “Muslim” Parties Ever since DENK and NIDA have become active, one finds the label “Muslim party” littered throughout newspapers in reference to them both. To pro- vide some examples: in 2015, the Algemeen Dagblad, the NOS, and the Parool all referred to NIDA as a Muslim party, without much critical reflection on 51 Van der Laan 2016. 52 Former politician Fouad el Haji, for example, is quoted as saying that NIDA is ideology oriented, sincere, and unifying, which contrasts with the focus on feelings of discontent among their supporters, which he believes DENK is capitalizing on. Brahim Bourzik, also a former politician, notes that the idealistic side of NIDA is (partially) rooted in how the party has embraced a “softer” side of Islam; see Hoogstad 2017. 53 Van Arkel 2020. 54 Eid 2014, for example, argues that Western political discourses and media portrayals tend to promulgate racialized orientalist stereotypes, with fanaticism a characteristic often ascribed to Muslims as a homogenous group. 55 Liukku/Beek 2018. 56 Shadid 2005; 2009.