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SearchToday in Islamophobia: UN warns Bangladesh of new crisis over Rohingya relocation plan, even as Myanmar promises justice for genocide. U.S envoy calls China’s camps in Xinjiang ‘horrific’. In the U.S, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib says there is Islamophobia within the Democratic Party and a new op-ed frames Trump’s travel ban as a tool of domestic war on terror. Our recommended read of the day is on Jeanine Pirro and her long history of anti-Muslim comments. This, and more, below:
United States
Jeanine Pirro’s anti-Muslim comments earned a rebuke from Fox News. They weren’t her first | Recommended Read
Pirro’s comments, falsely equating adherence to the Muslim faith with opposition to the U.S. Constitution, caused a wave of outrage. On Twitter, a Fox News producer criticized the host of “Justice with Judge Jeannine” for contributing to “the false narrative that somehow Muslims hate America,” noting that some of Pirro’s co-workers at the network are Muslim. Ina statement to The Washington Post, the network said it “strongly condemn[s]” the host’s words, and that Fox News executives “have addressed the matter with her directly.” It was not the first time Pirro has exposed her audience to anti-Muslim rhetoric. In 2015, after deadly terrorist attacks in France, Pirro invited Steve Emerson, a journalist and commentator, to discuss “no-go zones” in Britain. Emerson, who runs the Investigative Project on Terrorism, often identifies himself as a terrorism expert. read the complete article
Trump administration 'denied Muslim detainee’s green card application after Border Patrol fed him pork for days'
The Trump administration denied a green card application for a Muslim immigrant who accused Border Patrol of serving him pork sandwiches for more than six days, it has been claimed. Two years ago, Adnan Asif Parveen filed a green card application after marrying an US citizen. He did not receive a decision from US Citizenship and Immigration Services until days after he was detained at a Border Patrol checkpoint in Falfurrias, Texas on January 11. Although Mr Asif had a work permit allowing him to legally work in the country while his green card application was pending, Border Patrol detained the Pakistani immigrant for six days. “I feel like it’s simply because he’s Muslim,” Jennifer Asif, his wife, told HuffPost. “All we have tried to do is be a family and be legal. Every step of the way has been completely complicated. It’s hard not to be discouraged.” read the complete article
Tlaib: There's Islamophobia in the Democratic Party
"I know this would be somewhat shocking for some, but I think Islamophobia is very much among the Democratic Party as well as the Republican Party," said Tlaib. She and Omar are the first Muslim women elected to Congress. "And I know that's hard for people to hear, but there's only been four members of Congress that are of Muslim faith. Three of them currently serve in this institution," Tlaib said. "So you think Democrats have some Islamophobia and that's at the root of some of this consternation?" interviewer Alex Wagner asked in response. "I think our country's struggling with it," Tlaib replied. read the complete article
Opinion | The Ban and the Borderlands Within: The Travel Ban as a Domestic War on Terror Tool
Following the ruling in Trump v. Hawaii, the Travel Ban was no longer a campaign tactic peddled to mobilize voters. Rather, it became a judicially endorsed War on Terror policy enforced at the border, and was stretched as a counterterror tool deep inside Muslim American communities by federal and local law enforcement. The fear that gripped Muslim immigrants abroad and in American airports was just as palpable within communities with thriving and visible Muslim populations, particularly those that housed Muslim populations from the “Travel Ban states." The scholarly and popular focus has narrowed in on the Ban’s impact on Muslim immigrants attempting to come into the U.S., while neglecting how the Ban imperils immigrants, lawful permanent residents (LPRs), and citizens from the restricted states inside the country, namely, Muslim American communities—the heavily policed borderlands within. read the complete article
Muslim groups condemn Fox News host for questioning Rep. Omar’s loyalty to US
“Such an open and un-American expression of religious bigotry should be rejected by any media outlet seeking even a modicum of credibility,” said Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “Jeanine Pirro should be fired, and Fox News should apologize to its viewing audience.” Pirro, who is a legal pundit for the conservative Fox News outlet, accused the Muslim congresswoman of advocating for Shariah law in America and for condemning Israel because of her religious beliefs. Pirro responded to the backlash on Sunday by denying that she had called Omar “un-American.” “My intention was to ask a question and start a debate, but of course because one is Muslim does not mean you don’t support the Constitution,” she said. In a separate statement on Sunday, Fox News said “we strongly condemn” Pirro’s statements and have addressed them with the host directly. In a tweet, Omar thanked Fox News for its statement. read the complete article
Bangladesh
UN warns Bangladesh of 'new crisis' over Rohingya relocation plan
Yanghee Lee, the UN special rapporteur on Myanmar who visited Bhasan Char recently, told the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday that she was unsure if the Bay of Bengal island was "truly habitable". She also warned "ill-planned" relocations without the consent of refugees "have the potential to create a new crisis". Rohingya advocates say the refugees would effectively be trapped on Bhasan Char, a muddy, low-lying island that floods frequently during monsoon season and offers few livelihood opportunities. More than 730,000 Rohingya are confined to overcrowded camps in Bangladesh after fleeing a campaign of arson, murder and rape waged in Myanmar by the country's military since late 2017. read the complete article
Myanmar
Individuals responsible for Rohingya atrocities will face justice
Following a visit to Bangladesh refugee camps, the ICC’s Phakiso Mochochoko said the fact that Myanmar is not a signatory to the Hague-based international court “will not in any way be a hindrance” to an investigation. “It may present a little bit of challenge for us in terms of investigation, but we have faced a situation like this in the past and we’ve been able to deal with them,” the court’s director of jurisdiction told reporters in the capital Dhaka. read the complete article
China
US envoy calls China's Muslim camps 'horrific,' wants probe
Sam Brownback, U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, said China has done nothing to assuage concerns from the U.S. and others over the detention of Uighurs, Kazakhs and members of other Muslim minority groups. "We've been putting out very clearly that this is a horrific situation that's taking place in Xinjiang," Brownback said in a telephone news conference with reporters, referring to the northwestern region that is home to most Chinese Muslims. "It is just a very tragic and I think a horrific situation there," he said. read the complete article
United Kingdom
Opinion | Britain's Conservative Party has an Islamophobia problem
Last week, she raised the issue once again: She accused Prime Minister Theresa May of "burying her head in the sand" over Islamophobia, adding that she believes the Tories had become "institutionally Islamophobic". For once, her complaints seemed to get some traction - not long after her comments made headlines in the British media, fourteen Conservative Party members were suspended for Islamophobic Facebook posts. But a few suspensions don't get to the heart of the matter - the scale and the roots of the problem are still being drowned out. When asked about Baroness Warsi's comments Conservative MP Henry Smith gave a flavour of just how Britain's governing elite fails to understand racism in general and Islamophobia in particular - he claimed Islamophobia wasn't a significant issue in the Conservative Party because "he hadn't come across it". read the complete article
Tory chairman accused of inconsistency over Islamophobia claims
The Conservative party chairman, Brandon Lewis, has been accused of selectively responding to allegations of Islamophobia and other abusive online behaviour by Tory members, after 10 new cases were highlighted but no action taken. Fresh material gathered by an anonymous Twitter user who has been drawing attention to the issue included one member’s complaint that “we’ll be a Muslim country under sharia law if Labourget in” and another’s that Muslims “steal dogs”. A third member, who photographed himself with Boris Johnson in 2015, once wrote that he was “going through a few magazines the other day down at the local mosque … then the rifle jammed”. read the complete article
These Leaked Emails Reveal Number 10 Apologised After Conservative HQ Failed To Respond To Islamophobia Complaints
Two Conservative association chairs, Ajay Jagota and Gerard Leake, accused party chair Brandon Lewis and the CCHQ complaints department of failing to take action against a Tory councillor who is alleged to have made an anti-Muslim remark. In revelations that cast fresh doubt on Lewis’ claim to have a “zero tolerance” policy on anti-Muslimbehaviour, the leaked emails show he was first made aware of the allegation in September 2018 but neither he nor the party’s complaints unit responded despite repeated requests for answers. read the complete article