‘Instant Nationalism’ and the ‘Cyber Mufti’: The Arab Diaspora in Europe and the Transnational Media

Abstract

This study explores the media consumption of members of the Arab minority in Germany, and addresses the implications of the modes of media consumption on this group in general and in terms of differences according to gender and generation. The main claim of this study is that the access of minority members to the Arab satellite media in the 1990s has strengthened their sense of belonging to their Arab homeland and identity. Consequently, in national terms it creates a form of ‘instant Arab nationalism’ while, from a religious perspective, the media functions as a ‘cyber mufti’. Members of the first generation tended to consume mainly television media, while the younger generation, who grew up in the German culture and possess computer skills, tended to rely more on the Internet.