Today in Islamophobia

Today in Islamophobia: In India, mosques across the country are asking worshipers to pray in shifts and not respond to provocations, amidst Hindu nationalist voices issuing threats against Muslim congregations, meanwhile in Saudi Arabia, over 1.5 million pilgrims took part in the annual Hajj pilgrimage amid regional tensions, and in the United States, the gunmen who targeted the San Diego Islamic Center left behind a document revealing a deep range of white supremacist influences tied to acts of terrorism and extreme violence. Our recommended read of the day is by Tyler Hicks for The Guardian on how Republican politicians in Texas, and across the country, have embraced anti-Muslim bigotry as a key campaign strategy. This and more below:

United States

Texas Senate runoff sees surge of anti-Muslim rhetoric in campaign ads | Recommended Read

In the bitter and expensive US Senate runoff between John Cornyn, the incumbent, and Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, the state’s Muslim community has been a frequent target for campaign ads and legal challenges. Both candidates have tried to portray the other as either too soft on the supposed threat of Islam or insufficiently aggressive toward Muslim institutions. “Every time it’s an election year, this is one of the favorite cards that the GOP plays to get votes,” said Shehla Faizi, a Texas Muslim running for state comptroller as a member of the Green party. “We have a boogeyman, the boogeyman are Muslims, and we’re going to use that to make people afraid and force them to vote for us.” Yet the many experts and advocates interviewed for this story all agreed that the frequency and vitriol of this year’s anti-Islam attacks seems to have reached a fever pitch – an observation backed up by data. Specifically, Paxton and Paxton-allied groups ran ads accusing Cornyn of supporting “Muslim mass immigration” and having “a special place in his heart for radical Islam”. Cornyn, meanwhile, has responded by emphasizing his record “fighting radical Islamic extremism” and drafting a bill aimed at “[stopping] the spread of Sharia Law in the U.S.” Even though the Senate campaign will come to an end with the 26 May election, Texas Muslims say Republican politicians are fanning the flames of anti-Muslim bigotry that’s already been at the center of many racist incidents in Texas. read the complete article

Islamophobia polled well in the GOP primaries. That could get Texans killed.

As a Texas state legislator, I believe that the deadly shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego last week is an untreated symptom. But rather than treating the underlying disease — Islamophobia — some of my colleagues in Texas politics are spreading it. When I confront them about their rhetoric, they tell me in private: It's just politics. No harm meant. But the harm is very real. And Muslims aren’t the only victims. Like a cancer spawning new cancers throughout your body, Islamophobia can metastasize into antisemitism and racism, and then the threat of violence grows. We’ve seen that happen here in Houston. In April, a young man came onto the peaceful grounds of the newly built Ismaili Center to threaten to kill Muslims and Jews. As a member of the Ismaili community, I know that campus is a place of dialogue, learning and connection. Yet it became a target of hate. Just as traditional Texas Republicans lost control of their party to MAGA, the Texas GOP has lost containment of its hate virus. Gone are the days when Muslims felt welcome in the Republican Party of Texas. Despite many in our community sharing the socially and fiscally conservative principles that defined pre-MAGA Republicans, we are now treated as enemies of the state and have become targets for violence and hate. read the complete article

The anti-Muslim rhetoric that inspired teen gunmen has been increasing for years

That the teenage gunmen in the shooting deaths of three Muslim Americans at the Islamic Center of San Diego shared white supremacy ties and anti-Muslim hate is no surprise to Muslims across the United States. It was the first thing that came to my mind as I looked for more information and worked sources to corroborate the obvious. And it didn’t take long. Within 72 hours, motive became more clear with the discovery of a 75-page manifesto titled “The New Crusade: Sons of Tarrant,” filled with Islamophobic and anti-Muslim rhetoric, antisemitic statements and the promotion of hate and violence, as law enforcement shared with the Los Angeles Times. Tarrant refers to Brenton Tarrant, who murdered 51 Muslim worshippers and injured 89 at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March 2019. In a review of the manifesto along with social media accounts believed to be used by one of the shooters, the Times found hatred toward not only Muslims but also Jews, Black people, Latinos and the LGBTQ+ community, as well as praise and idolization for school shootings, neo-Nazism, far-right extremism and the white nationalist movement. But the targeted community was Muslims at an Islamic center, which included dozens of children in school and preschool. It happened on the first day of the Islamic month of Dhul Hijjah, a period considered to be among the holiest days for Muslims around the world and those in preparation for the Hajj pilgrimage. And that is also no surprise to many Muslim Americans. read the complete article

San Diego mosque shooters left document revealing racist, neo-Nazi beliefs

Seven years after a neo-Nazi executed 51 worshippers at a mosque in New Zealand, two teenagers — seeking to follow in his footsteps — killed three people at a mosque in San Diego, California, on May 18. Then, they turned their guns on themselves. Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18, whom law enforcement officials identified as the shooters, detailed their racist and political motivations for their attack on the Islamic Center of San Diego in a 75-page document, “The New Crusade.” The document is divided into two parts, each written by one of the shooters. It calls for “the destruction of our current political system” and “an all-out race war.” The teenagers cited a deep range of white supremacist influences tied to acts of terrorism and extreme violence. They praised Brenton Tarrant — whose 2019 mosque attack constituted the deadliest act of terrorism in New Zealand’s history. Describing themselves as “The Sons of Tarrant,” Vazquez and Clark quoted Tarrant and called him “our biggest inspiration.” The teenagers devoted a large portion of the document to an anti-Black screed. They also expressed a deep familiarity with the misogynistic incel movements, according to the document and social media posts that Hatewatch reviewed. read the complete article

The San Diego Mosque Killers Weren’t Just Islamophobic. They Had Another Terrifying Motive.

The two young men who attacked the Islamic Center of San Diego, killing three people and terrorizing an entire community, were overflowing with hate. The manifesto they left behind teems with bigotry; there are sections for Muslims and Black people, South Americans and LGBTQ+ people (although they use different terms), the political left and the right. “They didn’t discriminate on who they hated,” Mark Remer, the FBI special agent in charge, told reporters last week. “It covered a wide aspect of races and religions.” It’s true that the manifesto covers many different races and religions. But the men zeroed in on two groups with particular rage: Jews and women. This may seem odd, given that the men attacked a mosque. And make no mistake, despite the men claiming in their manifesto that they didn’t hate Muslims, they were clear that they do hate Islam and they hate Muslim immigrants. And they were happy to slaughter them if it meant accelerating the white Christian war on everyone else. It’s notable, though, that the men characterized Muslims primarily as “bioweapons” of Jews (although the men used a slur in place of “Jews”). The central idea of the manifesto is one that will sound familiar to anyone who has even loosely read up on Great Replacement theory: White Westerners are being replaced with Black and brown outsiders in a nefarious plot to destroy Western civilization, and Jews are the all-powerful evildoers behind this plot. read the complete article

Congress Warns America Facing New Era of Extremism and Security Threats 25 Years After 9/11

The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence held a major hearing marking 25 years since the September 11 attacks, focusing on the future of national security, domestic extremism and intelligence reform. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi warned that redirecting FBI resources toward immigration enforcement could weaken critical counterterrorism operations and impact public safety. The hearing also focused heavily on the rise of Islamophobia, antisemitism and hate-based ideologies in the United States. Witnesses stressed that combating terrorism and extremist violence must not lead to targeting entire religious communities, emphasizing unity and diversity as key American strengths. Lawmakers also explored the growing role of open-source intelligence, commercial data platforms and information-sharing reforms as the intelligence community adapts to rapidly evolving global threats and technological changes. read the complete article

India

‘Naturally scared’: India’s Muslims denied public spaces for Eid prayers

The mood is barely festive as a group of Muslim men huddle inside a small mosque to discuss the arrangements for Eid al-Adha prayers in Meerut district of India’s Uttar Pradesh state. The conversation is not about sacrificial animals or charity, but a more pressing issue before them: roads, barricades, police permissions, and where and how exactly they would offer the Eid prayers on Thursday. “Please don’t gather outside the mosque gates,” instructs a member. “If the mosque fills up, wait for the next prayer shift. Avoid arguments. Avoid videos. Don’t respond to provocations.” Men in the audience silently nod. Others in the audience exchange worried glances. For more than a decade now, right-wing Hindu groups, emboldened by the election of Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi as India’s prime minister in 2014, have been protesting against Muslims offering public prayers on Fridays and festivals, citing traffic and security concerns. These groups, and even politicians from Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have disrupted namaz on roads, in parks, or on vacant plots of land. Viral videos showing Muslims praying in open areas have sparked outrage and online campaigns, prompting the authorities, in some cases, to withdraw permissions granted to Muslims to offer namaz prayers at such sites. Last week, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a prominent far-right Hindu group aligned with the BJP, demanded a complete nationwide ban on namaz on roads, calling the practice a “show of strength” by the community. read the complete article

United Kingdom

Muslims in Havering fear for their future after neighbours back Reform

Muslims in Havering say they are worried about their future in the east London borough after thousands of their neighbours backed Reform UK in this month’s local elections. They are also apprehensive about the consequences of the new Reform-led council for mosque-building projects, with members of the area’s substantial Muslim population currently forced to meet and pray in an outhouse with restrictive opening hours. The rightwing populist political party, led by Nigel Farage, made huge gains earlier this month, winning 1,454 council seats across England, Wales and Scotland. In Havering, 39 Reform councillors were elected, giving the party overall control of the council that had previously — and unusually for the area — been run by the local Residents’ Association. One of the areas’ MPs, Andrew Rosindell, defected from the Conservative Party to Reform earlier this year. read the complete article

International

Over 1.5 million pilgrims begin Hajj amid regional tensions

The annual Hajj pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam, has begun in Saudi Arabia as more than 1.5 million pilgrims arrive from abroad amid the backdrop of a fragile ceasefire in the Iran war and a global energy crisis. The pilgrimage unfolds as the United States, Iran and regional allies discuss a “memorandum of understanding” that Washington says could reopen the Strait of Hormuz and ease an energy crisis triggered by US and Israeli attacks on Iran and Tehran’s closure of the waterway. Despite the uncertainty, many pilgrims say they are leaning on their faith. read the complete article

Think we missed something, or have suggestions for what you’d like to see here?
Contact us at: bridge@georgetown.edu