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SearchToday in Islamophobia: Two years on, the Muslim ban continues to keep families apart, while 9/11 hearings drag on in Guantanamo. A new report reveals the FBI investigated a civil rights group as a terrorism threat while viewing the KKK as victims. In India, Modi comes under criticism for suppressing inconvenient truths while in China, Uighurs allege torture and rape. Our recommended read of the day is by Nesrine Malik, who writes on “the interrogation that begins whenever a Muslim assumes a role in the public eye”. This, and more, below:
China
[CW: rape, torture] Uighurs: Nowhere To Call Home
Abduweli Ayup, a Uighur, alleges he was raped and tortured while in detention in China for 15 months. His is one of a growing number of stories recounted by Uighurs fleeing their homeland, as China faces increasing criticism of its treatment of the country's Muslim population. Authorities say "vocational training centres" are preventing "religious extremism", educating Uighurs on the country's language and laws and providing job training. But more than a dozen Uighurs that 101 East spoke to, who eventually fled to Turkey, speak of being held against their will, beaten, tortured and starved. read the complete article
United States
2 Years Later, Trump’s Muslim Ban Is Still Keeping Families Apart
Two years ago this week, Trump signed Executive Order 13769, which barred citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen, from entering the U.S. (It has been revised multiple times and challenged repeatedly in federal courts; last year the ban was upheld by the Supreme Court over lower court decisions calling it unconstitutional.) The effect of the ban was chaotic and traumatic. Travelers were stranded at airports, newlyweds were torn apart and civilians seeking medical attention were denied visas to enter the country for treatment. Some Americans were forced to make the difficult decision to leave the U.S. and move to war-torn countries just to be with their families. Two years later — despite attempts by the courts to block the ban, and despite an amendment ostensibly created to give people suffering hardship a legal process for immigration — families like Alahiry’s are still struggling to reunite. read the complete article
'Why can't we get this over?': 9/11 hearings drag on at Guantánamo
They were first charged in 2008 and the military commission proceedings began in 2012. The accused are growing old, some of the witnesses have died and the trial is still a year off, at least, as the hearings have been bogged down in procedural arguments. The 33rd pre-trial hearing began on Monday. Camp Justice is a small outpost enclosed by fences, black netting and coils of razor wire. And it is surrounded by construction equipment, with workers on the go from before dawn to well into the evening. A $14m (£10.5m) upgrade is under way, including a building for defense counsel, and an over sized holding cell for a bedridden inmate. read the complete article
Revealed: FBI investigated civil rights group as 'terrorism' threat and viewed KKK as victims
Federal authorities ran a surveillance operation on By Any Means Necessary (Bamn), spying on the leftist group’s movements in an inquiry that came after one of Bamn’s members was stabbed at the white supremacist rally, according to documents obtained by the Guardian. The FBI’s Bamn files reveal: The FBI investigated Bamn for potential “conspiracy” against the “rights” of the “Ku Klux Klan” and white supremacists. The FBI considered the KKK as victims and the leftist protesters as potential terror threats, and downplayed the threats of the Klan, writing: “The KKK consisted of members that some perceived to be supportive of a white supremacist agenda.” The FBI’s monitoring included in-person surveillance, and the agency cited Bamn’s advocacy against “rape and sexual assault” and “police brutality” as evidence in the terrorism inquiry. read the complete article
Reporting on Trump as a Muslim American woman: 'The facts are our most important tools' | Opinion
"One of the prevailing challenges of reporting in the Trump era has been trying not to let the president dictate the terms of the news cycle"- writes Sabrina Siddiqui. "After nearly two years, it’s hard to say if anyone has yet figured out how to really cover Trump; it’s still the case that one tweet can derail the entire news cycle. It’s a reality-TV presidency, and we’re all tuned in for every twist and turn, not knowing what to expect in the next episode". read the complete article
Strange bedfellows: How a South Florida Democrat became the darling of the alt-right | Opinion
A wall of half a dozen men closed ranks around Rasha Mubarak. Leering at the young Palestinian-American woman who filmed them on her phone, they shoved Make America Great Again caps into her face, waved signs inscribed with anti-Muslim messages and spewed insults. Animal. Anti-Semite. Woman-hater. Terrorist. Mubarak’s antagonists were part of a group gathered outside Hallandale Beach City Hall on Jan. 23, in a rally that to some, was intended to be a defense of Israel against a growing boycott movement. It became a platform for anti-Muslim hate. Setting that tone and mixed into the crowd were self-described Islamophobes, white nationalists, sympathizers of the Ku Klux Klan and members of alt-right factions who had come to support an unlikely new ally: Hallandale Beach Commissioner Anabelle Lima-Taub, known until recent weeks as an outspoken feminist and Democrat. read the complete article
From Celebrated to Vilified, House’s Muslim Women Absorb Blows Over Israel | Opinion
Their uncompromising views on Israel have made them perhaps the most embattled new members of the Democratic House majority. Almost daily, Republicans brashly accuse Ms. Tlaib and Ms. Omar of anti-Semitism and bigotry, hoping to make them the Democrats’ version of Representative Steve King as they try to tar the entire Democratic Party with their criticism of the Jewish state. The tussle over Ms. Tlaib and Ms. Omar has exposed a growing generational divide within the Democratic Party, pitting an old guard of stalwart supporters of Israel against an ascendant wing of young liberals — including many young Jews — willing to accuse the Israeli government of human rights abuses and demanding movement toward a Palestinian state. read the complete article
Recommended Read | High-profile Muslims have a right not to expect an inquisition | Opinion
"There is an interrogation that begins whenever a Muslim assumes any role in the public eye, a sort of Muslim inquisition. One can be a writer or a politician or a chef, and be asked questions that have nothing whatsoever to do with the matter at hand. Do you think homosexuality is a sin? What do you think of underage marriage? Do you think Israel has the right to exist? These questions are also asked in spurious surveys commissioned in the hope of generating headlines that suggest the majority of Muslims are violently homophobic, or conform to whatever latest trope is doing the rounds". read the complete article
India
The Guardian view on India’s Mr Modi: suppressing inconvenient facts | Opinion
Narendra Modi’s 2014 election victory in India, the most resounding for 25 years, was built on two weaknesses: the shattered credibility of his opponents in the Congress party and the economic downturn the country was experiencing. One of Mr Modi’s most memorable campaign pledges was to create 10m jobs a year, or about 840,000 jobs a month. It was a promise that resonated across India’s caste divides for young people, who represent roughly two-thirds of nation’s population of 1.35 billion. However, it turns out Mr Modi’s Bharitya Janata party (BJP) government has been creating jobs – just not enough. read the complete article
Canada
Muslim groups denounce Quebec Premier Legault’s statements on Islamophobia
The National Council of Canadian Muslims called on Legault to retract the remarks made Thursday, two days after the second anniversary of a mosque shooting that killed six Muslim men in Quebec City. Ihsaan Gardee, the group’s executive director, said in a statement late Thursday that Legault’s comments “are an absolute insult to the families of the victims and to Muslim communities in Quebec and across Canada who continue to grieve this tragedy.” read the complete article
Poland
Poland's political divide widens more after mayor is slain
Poland's political fissures have widened in recent months, pitting conservatives — many of them government supporters — against liberal critics who accuse the ruling party of threatening the country's hard-won democracy by undermining the independence of the judiciary and the media. In this toxic atmosphere, there has been an increase in hate speech, political threats and, most stunningly, the assassination of popular Gdansk Mayor Pawel Adamowicz, a critic of the ruling Law and Justice Party's anti-immigrant policies. Some government critics blamed Poland's heated political discourse, some of it from state television. Commentators had often vilified Adamowicz for his open acceptance of refugees and gays, and his widow said he had been getting death threats, causing the family to live in fear. read the complete article