Today in Islamophobia

Today in Islamophobia: In Canada, a school bus used by an Islamic school in Hamilton’s Waterdown area was targeted in an act of vandalism that included hateful graffiti, slashed bus seats and a damaged dashboard, meanwhile in the United States, a man interrupted a press conference in Texas held by organizers of the Epic Eid event that was canceled, screaming anti-Muslim phrases, and in India, Hindu nationalists are using pigs, an animal considered taboo in Islam, as a tool of intimidation against the largest religious minority of India. Our recommended read of the day is by Mark Fallon for Newsweek, who writes that the U.S. government’s post-9/11 use of torture has suspended justice and resulted in paralysis when it comes to the military court system at Guantanamo Bay. This and more below:

United States

Can US Shed Learned Legal Helplessness of Guantanamo’s Courts? | Recommended Read

On January 11, 2002, the first detainees arrived at Guantanamo Bay. Nearly a quarter-century later, the United States is still struggling to bring some of them to trial. This is not simply a story about justice delayed. It is a story about decisions—legal, political and moral—that compromised justice at its foundation. At the center of that story is a flawed belief: that coercion, even torture, could produce truth. And that demonstrating omnipotence over a person would result in truthful outcomes. It cannot and did not. The consequences of that mistake are still unfolding and have once again been on display in recent weeks. The government continues to hide, redact or classify anything that would lead to accountability for those complicit. Those involved have been able to survive, evade, resist and escape accountability. The result is a system of suspended justice and paralysis. Some defendants face the death penalty, while others remain indefinitely detained without charge. The delay is not incidental—it is structural, rooted in decisions that compromised the integrity of the process from the beginning. Central to those decisions was the misuse of psychological theory. read the complete article

Anti-Muslim protester disrupts press conference over canceled Epic Eid event

A man interrupted a press conference Tuesday held by organizers of the Epic Eid event that was canceled, screaming anti-Muslim phrases. The Epic Eid event, originally scheduled for June 1, would have been the third year it was celebrated at Epic Waters waterpark in Grand Prairie. But the event was canceled following threats from Gov. Greg Abbott to pull funding from the city. Thirty-seven seconds into the hour-long press conference, Christopher Svochak, a Christian supremacist, walked in front of the speaker, Muhammad Abdullah calling Muslims a “terrorist organization.” Svochak spoke concurrently to the press conference for the hour that it occurred. He repeatedly said that “God despises Muslims” and that “Islam is a pedophile religion.” “This isn’t Mecca, this is America,” Svochak said. Abdullah and the rest of the speakers continued to speak over Svochak. read the complete article

Congress must stop writing blank checks for Guantanamo’s cruelty

Since last year, the Trump administration has leaned into militarized immigration enforcement and the grim history of Guantanamo by killing Americans and instilling fear across communities. This included deploying troops to the Southern border and the National Guard in major cities, and holding individuals in military installations like Fort Bliss, Guantanamo Bay and a base in Djibouti. According to a congressional report released by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) in December, the Department of Defense obligated well over $2 billion on immigration enforcement in 2025. A May report from CBS revealed that a chunk of the money — over $70 million — is being wasted on migrant detention operations at Guantanamo. That cost is from the Department of Defense alone and does not account for the hundreds of millions already being spent on the post-9/11 military detention operations at Guantanamo, nor the millions from the Department of Homeland Security. Since February 2025, Guantanamo has held 832 immigrants transferred from the U.S. in appalling conditions. Operation Southern Guard, the inter-agency operation to hold individuals at Guantanamo, is the first time individuals have been taken to the base from the U.S. It provides an additional layer of cruelty as the administration uses Guantanamo’s legacy as a haven for torture and injustice. Once described by a Bush administration official as “the legal equivalent of outer space,” for decades Guantanamo has been synonymous with cruelty and repurposed by the U.S. to sidestep the law. read the complete article

Islamophobia is the next bogeyman

Our neighboring city, Frisco, Texas, appears to be a test site for the next manufactured culture war bogeyman. Remember when it was the immigrant caravan? And then wokeism and DEI corrupting public ed? And then trans people just … existing? Well, now it’s Islamophobia. Here in North Texas, we are witnessing the early stages of what I imagine will be the national playbook for leaders seeking office through fear-mongering and divisive misinformation. We are told to fear Muslims and their obvious desire to impose Shariah Law on us all. The truth is they want to build a mosque (in a region where churches are at every intersection), or a design a master-planned community (you know, like the billions popping up all over North Texas right now), or go to the dadgum waterpark. Frightening stuff. I’ve lived with Muslims my whole life. I’ve never had Shariah imposed upon me; I’ve never even had a Muslim evangelize to me, to be honest. But I’ve had Christian prayer included in the classroom. Christian nationalists want us to be terrified because they would prefer we live under their own theocracy. Maybe if we fear Shariah Law enough, we’ll allow Evangelical Fundamentalist Law instead. Don’t buy it. Don’t fall for it. read the complete article

International

Al-Aqsa imam warns against Israeli bill to ban Muslim call to prayer

The imam of Al-Aqsa Mosque has warned against an Israeli bill that would legalise restrictions on the Muslim call to prayer after it was approved by a ministerial committee on Sunday. Sheikh Ekrima Sabri said efforts to curb the adhan - the Islamic call to prayer - had resurfaced after "repeated failed attempts to ban it or reduce its volume". "The current attempt to ban the Muslim call to prayer has taken a dangerous turn by legalising the banning of the call to prayer through issuing a law to prohibit it," he said on Monday. The proposed legislation was approved on Sunday by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, following its submission by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and National Security Committee chair Zvika Fogel. The committee plays a key role in determining whether proposed legislation advances to a preliminary reading in Israel's parliament, the Knesset. read the complete article

‘Not just ticking the box’: what representation really means for Muslims in the arts

In recent years there’s been a quiet revolution on our screens. In Nida Manzoor’s Channel 4 sitcom We Are Lady Parts, a group of women start a punk band. In the Disney+ comedy Deli Boys, brothers end up taking over their father’s drug empire, and in the BBC comedy short Proper Ladies, schoolgirls try to escape detention. These diverse contemporary comedies all have one thing in common: centring Muslim characters whose faith is not portrayed as the defining feature of their lives, and whose identities are not presented as narrow stereotypes. “For me, great representation is where the whole point of the story isn’t: ‘Oh, look, we’ve got a Muslim character’,” says British-Moroccan actor and writer Safia Lamrani. “It’s when you’ve got a Muslim character who’s a pro-swimmer, or studying at school, or a superhero or villain. Their identity isn’t the only point of the story.” In 2024, a report by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre found that Muslims were “particularly poorly represented” across roles in arts, culture and heritage in the UK. But within this space, a growing number of writers are creating work that pushes back against limiting and sometimes harmful portrayals of Muslim life, focusing on stories of suffering or conflict. For Lamrani, the drive to change these narratives is what got her into the arts. read the complete article

India

From cows to pigs: How India’s Hindu right-wing turned the swine into a weapon to attack Muslims

Ahead of the recent Eid celebrations, a minor neighbourhood disagreement over goats temporarily kept in a makeshift shed at a Mumbai residential complex escalated into a national controversy. About 50 goats were brought in by Muslim residents for slaughter, prompting objections over hygiene and inconvenience within residential areas. A wave of protests ensued, with people chanting slogans and reciting Hanuman Chalisa, Hindu devotional hymns. The episode took an ugly turn with the introduction of a pig by people associated with groups like Bajrang Dal, a militant Hindu body aligned with India’s RSS organisation, the ideological fountainhead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP party. The police intervened and the Muslim residents of the neighbourhood eventually relocated their goats to a municipality-designated site. The incident is not first of its kind: members of Hindutva organisations have previously used pigs, an animal considered taboo in Islam, as a tool of intimidation against the largest religious minority of India. Analysts say the use of pigs in protests against Muslims’ religious practices constitutes systematic harassment under the shadow of majoritarian politics of Modi’s BJP party. read the complete article

Canada

Waterdown Islamic School bus vandalized, damaged with hateful graffiti

A school bus used by an Islamic school in Hamilton's Waterdown area was targeted in an act of vandalism that included hateful graffiti, slashed bus seats and a damaged dashboard, according to a representative from the school. A worker went to check the bus on Sunday night and discovered the damage, said a statement on behalf of the school. Const. Trevor McKenna with Hamilton police said the Hate Crime Unit is now investigating. The bus belongs to the Waterdown Islamic School, located at 20 Innovation Dr., which serves students between junior-kindergarten and Grade 6. It's a private school where "Qur’anic values and the Ontario curriculum work hand-in-hand," according to its website. The school is backed by the Toledo Foundation, a Muslim charity. Pictures reviewed by CBC Hamilton show the bus had seats ripped open, damage to the dashboard and Islamophobic messaging written on some of the walls. read the complete article

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