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SearchToday in Islamophobia: Biden DHS plans to expand grants for studying, preventing domestic violent extremism. In India, a climate activist is jailed as the BJP government clamps down on protest. Bangladesh sends more Rohingya refugees to Bhasan Char. Proud Boys celebrate Trump acquittal as group fractures following Capitol attack. Our recommended read today is by Peter Yeung on France’s controversial separatism bill. This, and more, below:
France
France’s controversial ‘separatism’ bill: Seven things to know | Recommended Read
Critics say the so-called “separatism law” is discriminatory and targets France’s 5.7 million-strong Muslim community, the largest in Europe. Its detractors include the 100 imams, 50 teachers in Islamic sciences and 50 presidents of associations in France who signed an open letter against the “unacceptable” charter on February 10. This month, French MPs staged two weeks of heated debates in the National Assembly, discussing some 1,700 proposed amendments to the bill’s 51 articles. Tensions over the legislation were highlighted by the unusually large number of amendments, which came from parties across France’s political spectrum. While France’s left lambasted an attack on civil liberties, the right criticised the government for failing to overtly tackle “Islamist extremism”, which is not mentioned in the text. Here are some key measures the legislation is set to introduce: read the complete article
United States
Biden DHS plans to expand grants for studying, preventing domestic violent extremism
The new grants would expand on those funded at the end of the Trump administration by DHS' Office of Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention, which included over $500,000 for a project at American University that studies the "growing threat of violent white supremacist extremist disinformation." The program is aimed at preventing spread of the disinformation through what researchers call "attitudinal inoculation." Similar grants, including one to study neo-Nazis, had been awarded by the Obama administration, but they were canceled by the Trump administration in 2017. The models Braddock and others are using to target and stop potential domestic terrorists before they engage in violence are similar to those developed during the Obama administration, most notably to prevent would-be jihadis from traveling overseas to support the Islamic State terrorist group or carrying out attacks at home. Many of the programs were criticized for violating the trust of the Muslim community, as some were run by U.S. attorney's offices, the same offices that would prosecute people for turning to violence or supporting terrorist organizations. read the complete article
‘White Noise’ documents the roots of modern racist violence
The commentary in “White Noise” is largely implied — there are no voice-overs, no expert interviews, no explanatory asides. Instead, as the camera follows the lives of three alt-right personas, the subjects are allowed to speak for themselves. In the process, ridiculous true life characters emerge: Mike Cernovich, a self-hating misogynist sex blogger and grifter; Lauren Southern, a Youtuber and global ethnostate lobbyer; and Richard Spencer, perhaps the hardest-to-stomach of them all, a blatant neo-Nazi and white supremacist who incited the 2017 Charlottesville riot. read the complete article
Parler: rightwing social network back online after US Capitol riot controversy
Parler, a social media service popular with American rightwing users that virtually vanished after the US Capitol riot, re-launched on Monday and said its new platform was built on “sustainable, independent technology”. In a statement announcing the relaunch, Parler also said it had appointed Mark Meckler as its interim chief executive, replacing John Matze who was fired by the board this month. read the complete article
Proud Boys celebrate Trump acquittal as group fractures following Capitol attack (
The leader of the group - who was recently revealed to have been a long-time police informant - shared a meme of Mr Trump dancing that featured a band made up of Pepe frogs. The Proud Boys is designated a hate group with "anti-Muslim", "antisemitic" and "misogynistic" beliefs by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and was recently added to Canada's terror watch list after numerous members of the organisation participated in the insurrection at the US Capitol. read the complete article
The many ways Muslim prisoners are denied religious rights in prison
Rick, an African American and Muslim prisoner, was in a correctional facility in a Midwestern state when he tried to obtain a Quran for worship. His request to the officer in charge was denied. But when he was told the price for it, he was shocked — it was far more than he could afford, and, significantly, was two to three times more expensive than a Bible. “I just couldn’t afford to buy the Quran, or anything else, for that matter,” he says, as he was denied a Quran multiple times. “The discrimination is so real. All that matters is your background and the color of your skin,” he says. read the complete article
India
How the Hindu right emerged in India's communist heartland
From the top, Kakinara, a small town in the east Indian state of West Bengal, appears like a maze, a network of crisscrossing bylanes. The area, which is 80 percent Hindu with Muslims making up the difference, has witnessed systematic Hindu-Muslim violence over the last quarter of a decade affecting mostly Muslims, noted a fact finding report by An Assemblage of Movement Research and Appraisal (AAMRA), a civil society forum that documents communal conflicts. “Riot [of] 2019 displaced 670 persons from 134 households and among them about 90% are Muslims,” the AAMRA report said. read the complete article
Climate Activist Jailed in India as Government Clamps Down on Dissent
Before anyone outside her hometown knew her name, Disha Ravi spent four years raising awareness among young people in Bangalore about the effects of climate change. Now the 21-year-old activist is jailed in New Delhi. The allegation: She distributed a “tool kit” in the form of a Google Doc containing talking points and contact information for influential groups to drum up support for farmers who have been protesting against the Indian government for months. read the complete article
How Long Will Joe Biden Pretend Narendra Modi's India Is a Democratic Ally?
In all, a nightmare for Biden, who takes the helm at a time when China is consolidating its global power and influence while the domestic mood in the U.S. remains decidedly focused inward. He is expected to rebuild American capacity at home, even as U.S. geopolitical interests require more attention than ever before. Biden’s golden balance is a global coalition of democracies to collectively take on China. But for America’s new principled alliance of democracies against China to work, the constituents of the coalition need to be, well, democratic. Pressing China on human rights while ignoring gross violations by allies is not a good look for the new Leader of the Free World, especially one who projects himself as the moral opposite of his blatantly transactional predecessor. This is where the Modi government’s increasingly undisguised tyranny becomes a Biden problem. read the complete article
United Kingdom
Football authorities in England accused of not taking Islamophobia seriously
Football authorities have been accused by Muslim grassroots football players of failing to take Islamophobia seriously despite placing a focus on the broader issue of racism in the game. In the first research of its kind, more than 40 men and women from Muslim backgrounds shared their experiences of facing anti-Muslim hatred in Sunday league football from fans, teammates and opponents. read the complete article