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SearchToday in Islamophobia: The situation in China worsens as Uighur families are forced to let Chinese male officials in their homes as ‘relatives’. A Mosque in France is attacked as Islamophobia worsens in the country. Boston College Republicans invite a Speaker with a history of Islamophobic comments. Our recommended read today is on a new study that tracked hate-fueled attacks on Muslim candidates in 2018, referring to them as “dogs”, “pieces of garbage” and terrorists. This, and more, below:
United States
Twitter fueled attacks on Muslim candidates in 2018, study finds| Recommended Read
The study, by the Social Science Research Council, analyzed 113,000 Twitter messages directed at Muslim candidates. The tweets called the candidates “dogs” and “pieces of garbage” and accused them of marrying siblings, being terrorists and seeking to impose the values of a “demonic” faith on Americans. The threats and verbal attacks flowed so heavily toward Omar (D-Minn.) — who came to the United States as a refugee from Somalia and has become a visible symbol of Muslim political aspirations — that the report categorized more half of all accounts that mentioned Omar as “trolls” because they tweeted or retweeted hateful, Islamophobic or xenophobic content. The vitriol of the tweets far surpassed what Muslim candidates reported encountering on campaign trails in their own districts, evidence, the report said, that Twitter was responsible for the spread of images and words from a small number of influential voices to a national and international audience. read the complete article
Boston College Republicans to Host Speaker With History of Islamophobic Comments
Andrew Klavan, a popular conservative journalist and writer, will be coming to Boston College on Tuesday for a Boston College Republicans-sponsored event. Klavan often talks about Judeo-Christian identity in the West, and his previous university speaking engagements have been protested by students and administrators alike who view some of his past comments as Islamophobic and racist. In May, Stanford administrators openly criticized a Klavan speaking event at the University for his views on Islam, particularly citing a Daily Wire video in which he attacks Muslims. read the complete article
Muslim Rights Advocate Meets With Facebook CEO Zuckerberg
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to sit down in his home Monday evening with Muslim rights advocate Farhana Khera to discuss efforts to remove anti-Muslim hate speech from the social network. Earlier, Khera spoke exclusively with NBC Bay Area's Robert Handa about what she hopes to get out of the meeting. read the complete article
China
Muslim wives in China 'are forced to sleep in the same bed as male officials while their husbands are being indoctrinated in re-education camps'
Uighur wives from China's Xinjiang Province have been required to 'invite' inspectors into their homes under a mandatory surveillance programme when their spouses are under detention, according to reports. With their husbands away from home, those Muslim women must provide information about their lives and political views to the male inspectors, who call themselves their 'relatives', it is reported. They are encouraged to 'develop feelings' towards each other, one official claimed. 'The "relatives" come to visit us here every two months… they stay with their paired relatives day and night,' one Communist official from the county of Yengisar in Kashgar prefecture told Radio Free Asia. 'They help [the families] with their ideology, bringing new ideas. They talk to them about life, during which time they develop feelings for one another,' he said. read the complete article
France
The Bayonne mosque attack is the latest symptom of France’s rampant Islamophobia
Claude Sinke, the 84 year-old accused, has already been charged with two attempted murders, arson and gun crimes for which he could face life imprisonment. Perhaps even less surprisingly, it has also emerged that Sinke stood as an election candidate for the Front National (now renamed National Rally) as recently as 2015. The notoriously Islamophobic party was happy for Sinke to represent them in his home village of Saint-Martin-de-Seignanx, six miles from Bayonne. He won 17.4 percent of the local council poll – not enough to win a seat, but a clear indication that his views were not considered beyond the pale. This was despite plenty of clues to his radicalization online: he regularly posted venom about Muslims and other minority groups. Local politicians and civil servants had him down as an extremist bigot, who should be approached with caution. read the complete article
United Kingdom
Michael Gove Pledges Inquiry Into Tory Islamophobia Before End Of The Year
Michael Gove has committed the Conservatives to holding an inquiry into Islamophobia in the party before the end of the year. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said it would be established whether or not the party won the general election on December 12. “We will have an and inquiry into Islamophobia and it will be established before the end of the year absolutely,” he told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme. “It’s very important any inquiry is as open as possible,” Gove added. “We need to tackle prejudice and racism in all its form.” read the complete article
Australia
Islamophobia on the rise in Australia
Canberra's top intelligence officer said there was “no doubt” some right-wing extremists have been inspired by the Christchurch mosque attack, and that an attack in Australia by the extreme right is “plausible”. Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation director general Mike Burgess issued the warning at a parliamentary committee meeting early this month, and his agency's annual report said the threat has increased in recent years. The warning came as Australia’s top Islamic body warned a national government inquiry that discrimination against Muslims is on the rise. The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils said the government’s proposed Religious Discrimination Bill does not go far enough to address an increasingly intolerant society. Australian writer Randa Abdel-Fattah, who is working on a research project with the generation who grew up during the War on Terror, told The National that anti-Muslim bigotry “intensified and escalated" after the attacks of 9/11. read the complete article
India
India’s Supreme Court Is About to Settle a 500-Year-Old Religious Dispute
To Hindus, it’s the revered birthplace of the god Ram. To Muslims, it’s the site of a 16th century mosque that was razed in 1992 by Hindu extremists. After a long legal fight -- and much bloodshed -- India’s Supreme Court is set to rule on which of the country’s biggest religions owns the site. Either way, the court’s decision is likely to inflame religious tensions at a time when Hindu hardliners are feeling increasingly empowered under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party government. read the complete article
Myanmar
'Our only aim is to go home': Rohingya refugees face stark choice
“We got a lot more before in terms of food and help, but now it feels like we are not getting enough support from the government and NGOs. We are also more restricted in our movement,” he says, sitting on a bench outside his house, surrounded by discarded plastic bottles and rotting food. The Bangladeshi government has launched a crackdown in the camp, shutting shops run by refugees, blocking internet services, confiscating mobile phones, putting up fencing and setting an 8pm curfew, meaning people can’t leave their homes at night. Bangladesh appears to be getting frustrated with its more than 1 million guests. Politics is turning and it has been reported that locals in Cox’s Bazar are running out of patience. The government is finalizing plans to move 100,000 refugees to an island in the Bay of Bengal and refugees wonder if it is all connected. read the complete article
Canada
Quebec’s values test is dangerous politics
Quebec’s “values test” on new immigrants, which begins Jan. 1, may seem harmless, but many racialized, immigrant community members don’t live happily ever after in Quebec – not when xenophobia and Islamophobia permeate people’s lives, often to devastating impact. These types of policies, and the accompanying rhetoric, create an unwelcome atmosphere that has already led some people to leave. Earlier this fall, Quebec’s Human Rights Commission called on the provincial government to acknowledge the serious extent of Islamophobia and discrimination and to do more to address the phenomenon. The commission interviewed members of minority communities and discovered hate and racism had caused people all sorts of significant harm. The political climate was a contributing factor. read the complete article