Search
SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the United Kingdom, former UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s visit to Israel this past April was reportedly funded by the National Jewish Assembly (NJA), an organization headed by Gary Mond, an individual with a history of promoting anti-Muslim views, meanwhile in the United States, the Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MA) has released a mid-year civil rights report titled “Islamophobia in Massachusetts: Rising Concerns and Needed State Initiatives”, and in Canada, the appointment in early July of MP Anthony Housefather as Special Advisor on Jewish Community Relations and Antisemitism has “demonstrated Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s very questionable judgment” on the handling of the rise in hate targeting Palestinians according to Canadians United Against Hate founder Fareed Khan. Our recommended read of the day is by Ahmad Ibsais for Al Jazeera on the ongoing systemic dehuminization of Palestinians by western media outlets and politicians and how such framing strategy is used to justify the ongoing genocide in Gaza. This and more below:
International
Palestinians are being dehumanised to justify occupation and genocide | Recommended Read
It has been more than a month since a former president of the United States, Donald Trump, used my identity as an insult in a televised debate. He called his opponent, current US President Joe Biden, a “very bad Palestinian” for his alleged failure to help Israel “finish the job” of killing everyone in Gaza and stealing the land. He received zero pushback. Biden, the person who is directly funding and supplying the weapons for the ongoing genocide of my people, clearly had no issue with our identity being turned into a slur. And since Trump used my identity as a slur on national TV, the killing, maiming and repeated displacement of Palestinians continued, not only in Gaza but all across Palestine. How did this happen? How did we get here? Since October 7, anyone who has access to social media has undoubtedly seen the mangled corpses of Palestinian children killed by Israeli bombs and bullets. They have seen the starvation, the desperation and the endless destruction. So how can they still turn a blind eye to this carnage? How can they still support politicians who are funding and facilitating a blatant attempt to exterminate an entire people? The answer, of course, is dehumanisation. Many in the West, especially many in positions of power, do not believe Palestinian life has value – they do not see us as human beings. If Palestinians are somehow proved to be inherently violent beasts in a man-made cage, then our slaughter can be justified. read the complete article
United States
INSIDE THE PUSH TO GET PALESTINIAN SPEAKERS ON THE DNC MAIN STAGE
“Uncommitted” Democratic delegates and political leaders, including Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, are pushing to correct the omission by urging DNC officials to include two Palestinian American speakers on the convention’s main stage to address the ongoing war on Gaza. The Uncommitted National Movement announced its demands for Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, a pediatric intensive care physician who most recently treated patients in Gaza with the nonprofit Medical Aid for Palestinians, to speak at the convention stage earlier this month. The group said in a statement on Monday it is pushing for a second speaking slot to go to an as-of-yet-unnamed Palestinian American speaker. At a press conference on Monday, Uncommitted leaders floated several Palestinian American Democratic leaders as potential speakers, including Illinois state Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid, Georgia state Rep. Ruwa Romman, Colorado state Rep. Iman Jodeh, and Virginia Delegate Sam Rasoul. DNC officials have yet to announce their decision on whether to include the requested speakers. The DNC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. read the complete article
BREAKING: Muslim Resignees to Speak on the Islamophobia & Anti-Palestinian Racism Behind Biden Administration’s Gaza Policy
On Tuesday, Aug. 27 (12:30 p.m. ET), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) plans to host a live virtual event featuring interviews with American Muslim former government officials who resigned from the Biden administration in response to its policies on Gaza. The former officials plan to discuss their perspectives on the role that anti-Palestinian racism and anti-Muslim bigotry have played in influencing U.S. policy toward the Middle East, including the ongoing genocide in Gaza. read the complete article
CAIR-Massachusetts Releases 2024-Mid-Year Civil Rights Report Amid Rising Islamophobia
The Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MA) today released a mid-year civil rights report titled “Islamophobia in Massachusetts: Rising Concerns and Needed State Initiatives.” According to the report: “Twice as many people called CAIR-MA for help in 2023 as in 2022, an all-time high.” CAIR-MA is urging state officials and community leaders to take immediate action to address these issues and protect the rights of all Massachusetts residents regardless of their faith. To read the full report, click here. This report marks the first time CAIR-MA has published a mid-year report, prompted by an unprecedented increase in Islamophobic incidents and hate crimes across the state. Since October 2023, there has been a significant surge in Islamophobic incidents, including hate crimes, harassment, and discriminatory practices affecting Muslim residents in Massachusetts. read the complete article
How are pro-Palestinian Democrats balancing opposition to the U.S. Gaza policy?
People who support the Palestinian cause represent a significant part of the Democratic coalition, and they include Ruwa Romman. The Georgia state representative is in Chicago for the DNC and joins us now. Representative, as a Palestinian yourself, what exactly do you want to hear from Kamala Harris when it comes to Israel and Gaza? RUWA ROMMAN: Yeah, thanks for having me. And, you know, for us, specifically, the asks have actually not changed. I think sometimes people think that somehow the goalposts have moved, but they haven't. Specifically, when we are calling for things like a cease-fire, we are talking about how to even get there. And that is why there has been this sort of new movement, particularly around the slogan, not another bomb, because the demand has been and continues to be, there needs to be an immediate cease-fire. The bombs need to stop dropping. The sort of mass killing of civilians needs to stop because that seems to have kind of gotten lost along the way. MARTÍNEZ: Do you want Kamala Harris to demand a cease-fire right now and an arms embargo on Israel, even if it somehow hurts her chances to defeat Donald Trump? ROMMAN: So that's an interesting framing of the question because we now have polling from Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona, I believe, by IMU, where it actually shows that when you ask Democrats and independents about how they feel about conditioning military aid, they actually say that it would make them more likely to vote for her. So this idea that it would hurt her chances is actually incorrect because it would prevent, you know, one of the few places where a rift could emerge in our coalitions. read the complete article
United Kingdom
Equalities of Oppression: How calling for an increase of terrorism laws harms us all
Since the ascent of the Terrorism Act 2000, there has been a structural violence that has embedded itself against Muslim communities. As catalogued consistently by our team at CAGE International, there exists in the UK a very real two-tier system of laws where terrorism laws, in particular, target Muslim communities. From being disproportionality detained at ports of entry and exit under terrorism laws, through to the almost exclusive use of citizenship deprivation cases against our communities– the law is felt in its discriminatory nature. What is key to understand, is that this is not an incorrect application of the law, but actually the way the law was purposely designed to operate – from its inception through to its operation – it was always intended for Muslims. Calls for the proscription of the largely defunct English Defence League (EDL) does little to end the organising of racist riots and attacks against Muslim communities – especially if we understand the EDL as the final manifestation of a narrative-making that stems from the media and political class – the narrative they feed from is not exceptional, it is ubiquitous. Thus, calling for more use of proscription laws – the same laws that are politically used to serve the purpose of delegitimising resistance movements abroad and supporting genocidal states such as Israel – do not serve any purpose other than to position them within the rule of law, rather than an abhorrent bastardisation of fundamental justice. read the complete article
Fact Check: Man charged over stirring racial hate, not ‘anti-establishment rhetoric’
A man in Britain was arrested and charged for publishing written material to incite racial hatred, not for expressing “anti-establishment rhetoric”, as suggested in misleading social media posts. The posts shared a screenshot showing three paragraphs of a BBC article about Wayne O’Rourke but omitted the charge against him. However, O’Rourke was charged with publishing written material to stir up racial hate, Lincolnshire Police, said in an online article. The full version of the BBC article that was in part shown in the screenshot said: “A 40-year-old man has appeared in court charged with publishing written material online to stir up racial hatred.” Further down, it said: “Nottingham Magistrates' Court heard the posts were alleged to contain anti-Muslim and anti-establishment rhetoric.” read the complete article
Ex-UK Home Secretary Braverman’s Israel trip funded by anti-Muslim Zionist activist
Former UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s April visit to Israel, costing a hefty $36,000 (£27,801.27) for a four-night stay, was reportedly funded by the National Jewish Assembly (NJA), an organisation headed by Gary Mond, a known Zionist with a history of promoting anti-Muslim views. Revelation about Braverman’s trip to Israel and ties to Mond was shared by Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab British Understanding (CAABU), raising further questions about the links between advocates of the apartheid state and far-right leaders accused of stoking anti-Muslim pogroms in the UK. Mond, the former senior vice-president of the anti-Palestinian group Board of Deputies of British Jews, resigned from that position following an investigation into alleged Islamophobic and far-right comments. Notably, he has promoted Pamela Geller, a figure notorious for describing Islam as a “genocidal ideology” and expressing support for the English Defence League (EDL) whose founder, Tommy Robinson, has himself come under scrutiny over his role in the anti-Muslim pogroms and Zionist backers. Doyle went on to reveal Mond’s ties with Geller and how he promoted the notorious Islamophobe. Braverman herself has come under sharp criticism over her role in amplifying the far-right against Muslims and migrants while government minister. She is one of several MP’s accused of sowing racism and division that led to the recent riots in the UK. read the complete article
Canada
Islamophobia evident in appointment of MP Housefather as special advisor
The appointment in early July of MP Anthony Housefather to a new role as the federal government’s special advisor on Jewish community relations and antisemitism has demonstrated Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s very questionable judgment around how to handle the surge in hate against Palestinians across the country. It also shows that racism and Islamophobia are alive and well at the highest levels of the Canadian government with the appointment of someone who has pushed racist and Islamophobic anti-Palestinian narratives since last fall when Israel launched its war in Gaza in response to the October 7th attack by Hamas. Given that the Palestinian death toll in Gaza has surpassed 47,000 as of the end of July this appeasement to pro-Israel organizations that support Israel’s genocide against Palestinians is inexcusable. Housefather’s appointment is also indicative of Trudeau’s own anti-Palestinian prejudice and the failure of his government to fight hate as it relates to anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia. Because how can one be committed to fighting hate and racism when racists and Islamophobes sit in influential positions at the top levels of government? read the complete article
Pro-Israel and anti-Muslim — working to bring UK violence here
After spending months promoting supremacist violence Canada’s Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism is now openly stoking racism against Canadian Arabs and Muslims. In fact, Deborah Lyons’ recent statement highlights Zionism’s role in stirring Islamophobia and racism. An advocate of Israel’s holocaust in Gaza, Lyons recently participated in Toronto’s Walk for Israel, an Israel flag raising ceremony and celebrated a military operation that killed 270 Palestinians to free four Israelis. Lyons has also called for state forces to repress peoples’ right to gather, smeared protests against Canada’s complicity in Israel’s violence and lent government credibility to what turned into the most publicized incident of anti-Palestinian racism in Canadian history. But Lyons recently crossed a (domestic racism) threshold when she blamed “demographics” and “diversity” for opposition to Israel’s genocide. In a front-page National Post article headlined “Antisemitism Czar ponders role of demographics”, a Justin Trudeau appointee supposedly fighting discrimination stated: “One of the things, again, as somebody who’s travelled a lot internationally, is, why is Canada having this unprecedented surge in antisemitism right now? What is it about the make-up of our society? What is it about our push for diversity and inclusivity? And what is it about our demographics? What is it about our country that is seeing such a level that has actually caused other countries, to say ‘What’s going on in Canada? We wouldn’t have expected this from Canada.’” In defending the indefensible in Gaza, liberal Zionists have increasingly echoed racist talking points. read the complete article