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SearchToday in Islamophobia: China threatens European citizens over Xinjiang protest, as a new report finds that Muslim children are almost twice as likely to be bullied in California schools. In France, the government resists calls for school trip headscarf ban. Our recommended read today is by Nithin Coca on the eerie similarities between Kashmir and Xinjiang. This, and more, below:
International
China Is Exporting Its Anti-Muslim Strategy to India | Recommended Read
In July 2009, days after violent riots in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang and homeland of the mostly Muslim Uighurs, Chinese authorities took the drastic move of shutting down the Internet and all other communications. For 10 months, the entire region—larger than Texas and home to more than 20 million residents—was cut off from the world. A decade later, just across the border, Indian authorities cut Internet, mobile, and even postal communication in Muslim-majority Kashmir as they stripped the state of its special autonomy. Despite their allowing, on October 14, a limited number of mobile phones to function, Kashmir for the most part remains isolated to this day, and no one knows when communication will be restored. read the complete article
Cotton On and Target Australia stop buying cotton from Xinjiang over human rights concerns
Cotton On and Target Australia have stopped sourcing cotton from China's Xinjiang province due to concerns about mass human rights abuses there by Chinese authorities. Cotton On Group completed an internal investigation into its supply chain after Four Corners revealed in July that Uyghur Muslims were being rounded up as part of a detention program and forced to work in textile factories in Xinjiang. Four Corners also revealed that Target Australia was already conducting an internal review into where it sourced its cotton from in Xinjiang. read the complete article
What is the ‘Muslim Atlantic’? An Interview with Daniel DeHanas
In this interview with Religion & Diplomacy editor Judd Birdsall, project co-leader Daniel DeHanas discusses the project’s first report, Mapping the Muslim Atlantic: US and UK Muslim Debates on Race, Gender, and Securitization, written with Peter Mandaville. DeHanas highlights linkages, similarities, and differences between Muslims in America and Britain, as well as implications for policymakers. Through our own research projects over the years, Peter and I have both noticed ways that American and British Muslims have been forging and strengthening bonds with each other. In part, they have grown more connected in order to face common challenges, such as the rise of populist politics and increasingly negative public attitudes toward Islam. In part, Muslims have made connections as they moved or traveled across the Atlantic, or have reckoned with their religious tradition in a diverse and globalized world, finding themselves drawn into transatlantic debates. read the complete article
United States
Muslim Students Still Almost Twice As Likely To Face Bullying At School Despite 'Minimal Improvement'
The report, "Singled Out: Islamophobia in the Classroom and the Impact of Discrimination on Muslim Students," published Wednesday, collects the results of an annual survey of Muslim students across California. Conducted by the state's chapter of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA), the survey asked approximately 1,500 Muslim students between the ages of 11 and 18 enrolled in both public and private schools about their experiences in the classroom and in interactions with their classmates and teachers. The majority of surveyed students—70 percent—told CAIR they felt welcome in their schools, up one point from last year's 69 percent. The report's overall numbers further indicate that Muslim students across the state are "experiencing bullying based on their religious identity at a lower rate than previous years." read the complete article
American Priority Conference Attendees Cheer for Anti-Muslim Bigotry
The American Priority Festival and Conference was hosted last week at the Trump National Doral Miami golf resort, and organizers billed top pro-Trump speakers in its lineup. Organizers and attendees insisted that the environment of the conference was one of love and tolerance, but inside, a violent video was featured in a side room and attendees chanted for war. Additionally, many speakers spoke out against members of the Muslim faith, and one speaker urged Trump to “name the enemy”—the enemy, in his mind, being the totality of Islam. On Friday, NewsmaxTV host John Cardillo hosted a panel that was ostensibly about U.S. national security but often veered into complaints against social media and mass media. Near the end of the panel discussion, Jonathan Gilliam, a former Navy SEAL and FBI agent, offered his take on the Trump administration’s abandonment of the Kurds in northern Syria. Gilliam defended Trump’s move in Syria, but criticized Trump for not declaring all Islam as a threat to America. read the complete article
France
French secularism is giving far-right MPs licence to target Muslim women yet again
Another year, another row over secularism and the hijab in France. What happened was this: a woman that wanted to take part in her son’s school trip was deliberately victimised in an attempt to keep visible Muslims out of sight and deter Islamic integration into French society. France has had a long history of political controversies surrounding the hijab, resulting in a legal ban on wearing a hijab in classrooms and government offices in 2004. More worryingly, a recent opinion poll found that two in three French people are in favour of prohibiting parents accompanying children on school trips from wearing visible religious symbols – but this attitude restricts individuals from expressing their true identity. read the complete article
China
'Think of your family': China threatens European citizens over Xinjiang protests
Two days after Abdujelil Emet sat in the public gallery of Germany’s parliament during a hearing on human rights, he received a phone call from his sister for the first time in three years. But the call from Xinjiang, in western China, was anything but a joyous family chat. It was made at the direction of Chinese security officers, part of a campaign by Beijing to silence criticism of policies that have seen more than a million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities detained in internment camps. Emet’s sister began by praising the Communist party and making claims of a much improved life under its guidance before delivering a shock: his brother had died a year earlier. But Emet, 54, was suspicious from the start; he had never given his family his phone number. Amid the heartbreaking news and sloganeering, he could hear a flurry of whispers in the background, and he demanded to speak to the unknown voice. Moments later the phone was handed to a Chinese official who refused to identify himself. read the complete article
United Kingdom
Opinion | On Islamophobia, Britishness and the shrinking political space
In terms of the content of CCE’s publications, there was nothing new or of substance regarding the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), for whom I work, or indeed any of the other Muslim organisations like CAGE, Mend and Hizbut Tahrir, mentioned in them. The relentless tirade from certain media and political classes against Muslim civil society has not only expelled Muslims from the political space, it has shrunk that space to its minimum for almost everyone. The European Union's Fundamental Rights Agency highlighted this nearly two years ago as a Europe-wide trend that delegitimises critique and prevents civil society organisations (CSOs) from fulfilling their function as critical voices and places of expertise. read the complete article