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SearchToday in Islamophobia: Man arrested in France after shooting two at a mosque, as a second Yemeni family is reunited in the U.S in spite of the Muslim Ban. SAALT’s September Hate Report documents hate violence, racism, and Islamophobia. Our recommended read today is on Facebook, and how it is failing Muslims in Assam. This, and more, below:
International
Facebook Failed The Rohingya In Myanmar. Now It May Be Repeating Its Mistakes In Assam | Recommended Read
Hate speech that targeted Bengali Muslims in the Indian state of Assam has spread on Facebook, even as the country’s government launched a controversial program to crack down on people immigrating illegally, a new report claims. The report, titled “Megaphone for Hate,” was released Monday evening by Avaaz, a nonprofit activism network that works on issues like human rights around the world. Comments and posts that called Bengali Muslims “pigs,” “terrorists,” “dogs,” “rapists,” and “criminals,” — seemingly in violation of Facebook’s standards on hate speech — were shared nearly 100,000 times and viewed at least 5.4 million times, showed the Avaaz review, which covered 800 Facebook posts related to Assam. As of September, Facebook had removed just 96 of the 213 posts and comments that the organization reported, including calls to poison Hindu girls to prevent Muslims from raping them. read the complete article
Why Isn’t the International Community Doing More About China’s Internment of Muslims?
As countries have begun to carry out independent investigations into the camps, more and more governments have come forward in condemnation of China, using diplomatic platforms such as the Human Rights Council (HCR) of the United Nations to do so. However, China has been quick to characterize criticisms of the camps as attacks on its sovereignty. In the examination of the international response to the human rights abuses taking place in China, a central conflict becomes apparent, a conflict also found at the heart of the greater sphere of international politics: how can these nations reconcile respect for China’s sovereignty while simultaneously protecting human rights? While there is no clear answer, there are three facets of international response: individual states’ responses, the UN’s collective response, and the international community’s response beyond the UN, which can all be analyzed to better understand how nations grapple with this dilemma. Individual state condemnations can be compared and contrasted with international discussions taking place at the United Nations. There is also the issue of the UN’s formal response as a collective body — and the subsequent criticisms of that response. read the complete article
United States
Police sergeant facing discipline over anti-Muslim Facebook posts launches free-speech lawsuit
The database, called the Plain View Project, was launched by Philadelphia criminal defense attorney Emily Baker-White in June after she discovered violent and racist memes posted by an officer in one of her cases. Curious to see how widespread such rhetoric is among U.S. law enforcement, she enlisted the help of other attorneys and researchers to identify more than 3,500 personal Facebook accounts belonging to law enforcement officials. read the complete article
SAALT September Hate Report documents hate violence, racism and Islamophobia
The SAALT September Hate Report, once again, brought to fore many deplorable hate crimes that deserve more headlines, as well as serious action to contain such incidents. In the month of September 2019 alone, SAALT tracked 11 incidents of race-based violence in various parts of the country. Out of these incidents, three involved hate violence, one was of racial profiling and seven were political rhetoric that were xenophobic, or Islamophobic in nature. read the complete article
What Trump’s travel ban really looks like, almost two years in
Was it actually a Muslim ban, as it was called at the time it was introduced? Or was that just an anti-Trump label? What percentage of people from those banned countries did pass the “enhanced vetting” and get an actual visa to enter the United States? I looked through the government’s data to find answers. This analysis shows that only 537 immigrant visas were issued in 2018 for the 12 months after the travel ban went into effect for individuals born in Iran. Compare that to 6,643 visas issued in the previous year. That is a 92% decrease in number of visas issued. Other Muslim countries in the ban were similarly affected. read the complete article
Another Family Has Been Reunited Under The Muslim Ban
Nearly three years since the Muslim Ban, another family has been reunited. It wouldn’t have been possible without Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez’s office or the Yemeni American Merchants Association (YAMA), neighbors said. On the morning of Monday, October 28, Velázquez sat alongside the president of YAMA Abdul Mubarez, YAMA Board Secretary Dr. Debbie Almontaser, and the family impacted by the ban itself– the Alammari family. “We are here to present a human face to the actions taken by this president,” Velázquez said. “When President Trump issued the Muslim Ban, immediately I showed up to JFK… We raised our voices to say that that is not who we are. That we are a nation that respects laws, that is compassionate, that is recognized for its kindness.” read the complete article
France
France mosque shooting: Man in his 80s arrested after two shot in Bayonne
The 84-year-old suspect, named locally as Claude Sinké, is also accused of trying to burn down the mosque. He was arrested at his home in Saint-Martin-de-Seignanx, near Bayonne after fleeing the scene by car. He reportedly set a vehicle on fire before he left. Police found a gas canister and a handgun in his car. Patrice Peyruqueou, a police union official in Bayonne, said: “The suspect threw an incendiary device at the mosque and then drove away. He was apparently trying to set fire to the mosque when two worshippers intervened and he shot them.” One of the worshippers was hit in the chest. The two wounded men, aged 78 and 74, were taken to hospital. They were described as being in serious but stable condition. The incident follows an increase in attempts to vandalise mosques in France. read the complete article
India
India Finally Lets Lawmakers Into Kashmir: Far-Right Europeans
After months of denying journalists, Indian lawmakers and an American senator access to the locked-down Kashmir region, the Indian government on Tuesday allowed a visit by mostly far-right members of the European Parliament, representing anti-immigration parties with histories of anti-Muslim rhetoric. The European delegation allowed to visit on Tuesday consists mostly of members of far-right populist parties, including the Alternative for Germany, Poland’s governing Law and Justice party and the French party National Rally. Indian news reports said 22 of the 27 lawmakers in the group were from far-right parties. read the complete article