Today in Islamophobia: Presidential candidate Booker vows to end involuntary immigration detention if elected, as government documents confirm the coercive nature of Xinjiang’s internment camps. Our recommended read for today is by Elizabeth Shakman Hurd on the dangerous logic motivating Trump’s Muslim ban. This, and more, below:
United States
Dangerous Logic at the Border: Religion and the Travel Ban | Recommended Read
With anti-Muslim rhetoric at the highest levels of the U.S. government, including numerous incontrovertible statements by the President himself, how could the majority in Trump v. Hawaii find that the ban is not about religion or religious animus? read the complete article
The Somali refugees whose lives were halted by Trump's travel ban
The 30-year-old is among the 26,000 Somali refugees living in Kenya, according to the UNHCR, who were ready to travel to the US before being stopped by an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in 2017. read the complete article
Presidential hopeful Booker vows to end 'moral vandalism' of Trump immigration policy
Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker would “virtually eliminate immigration detention” if elected, his campaign said on Tuesday, including ending the use of for-profit detention facilities and minimizing the time unaccompanied children spend in custody. read the complete article
Twitter User Could Face Jail For Lynching Tweet Against Muslim Candidate
Prosecutors say that when Joseph Cecil Vandevere decided in March 2018 to anonymously tweet a graphic image of a lynching to the Muslim candidate, he was actually using interstate communication to transmit a threat ― a felony. read the complete article
Police step up patrols around St. Cloud Mosque after incident caught on tape
Video posted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations shows a man walking in a backdoor of the Central Minnesota Islamic Center last week, walking around with a German Shepard, and then throwing some of the dog's hair on the floor. read the complete article
The worst of right-wing commentator and potential congressional candidate Allen West
Right-wing pundit Allen West is expected to announce that he plans to run for political office in his newly adopted state of Texas. West has a long history of pushing smears, lies, and toxic rhetoric, especially against Muslims. read the complete article
Somali and American: Portrait of a Minnesota Community
Established by European settlers in the nineteenth century, it was once referred to as “White Cloud.” But today, this town of 68,000 inhabitants has seen a growing number of Somali refugees arrive in the last two decades to work in meat factories or to attend the local campus of the state university. read the complete article
Saudi Arabia
Mohammed bin Salman Is Making Muslims Boycott Mecca
The hashtag #boycotthajj has been trending on Twitter, amassing nearly 16,000 tweets. Sunni clerics around the world have also called for a boycott. The Tunisian Union of Imams said in June that “the money [from the hajj] that goes to Saudi authorities is not used to help poor Muslims around the world. read the complete article
China
China calls Xinjiang camps training centres, but government’s own documents say otherwise, researcher finds
Adrian Zenz, an independent German researcher focusing on Xinjiang, has examined a vast body of government documents to determine what he calls the “true nature and extent” of the camps, finding evidence of coercive internment, heavy presence of police guards and political brainwashing. read the complete article