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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the UK, Paul Givan, Education Minister of Belfast, has initiated a system-wide risk assessment initiative in response to a letter from more than 400 Muslim women from across Northern Ireland who are worried about their children going back to school, meanwhile in the US, according to research conducted by Brookings, American public attitudes toward Muslims and Islam have declined in the past few months with expressed public prejudice toward Muslims currently higher than towards any other religious, ethnic, or racial group, and lastly, Human Rights Watch has stated that the Chinese government persists in committing crimes against humanity, against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang. Our recommended read of the day is by Shada Islam for The Guardian who writes on how in light of the recent anti-Muslim riots in the UK, Europe must learn from these events and improve on its dismal record of tackling racism and Islamophobia. This and more below:
International
There’s a lesson for the EU from Britain’s riots: do more to prevent hatred and division – or violence follows | Recommended Read
European Union officials watched from the sidelines as racist violence fuelled by the far right spread across British cities earlier this month. They must learn lessons from Britain’s experience and take a long hard look at their own dismal record in addressing racial discrimination, countering Islamophobia and preventing hate against migrants. After spending years trying to convince EU officials to turn their lofty talk of building a “union of equality” into reality, I am convinced that Europe’s national leaders and senior policymakers in Brussels, including Ursula von der Leyen, the newly reappointed European Commission president, are not doing enough to push back against entrenched EU-wide racism, including Islamophobia. All too often, by accommodating Eurocentric and xenophobic far-right views, they are in fact mainstreaming and amplifying them. Scholz has reacted with understandable anger at the knife attack in Germany in which three people were killed. His promise to step up deportations and border checks and tighten weapons regulations is typical of EU leaders’ kneejerk reaction of collectively stigmatising all migrants and refugees as potential “terrorists”. I keep hoping for an equally strong official response whenever there is a far-right attack on an asylum centre, or whenever police or border security forces are violent towards minorities. But the usual response is radio silence, or victim-shaming that dehumanises black and brown migrants and Muslims. Parts of our media are complicit in pandering to the far-right social media “stars” and politicians. Few pay attention when the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights calls out “shocking levels” of racism against black Europeans, or the Council of Europe’s European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) warns of a “manifold” increase in hate incidents, including online abuse, targeting European Muslims. read the complete article
Israeli government to fund Jewish settlers' storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque for the first time
The Israeli government plans to fund the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by Jewish settlers in the occupied East Jerusalem for the first time, Israeli media reported late on Monday. Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu ordered the allocation of two million NIS (around $522,000) for the project, set to be implemented in later weeks, according to broadcaster Kan. Eliyahu has been coordinating with the National Security Ministry, led by extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, to secure Israeli police approval for the settlers' funded tours to Al-Aqsa Mosque. Eliyahu’s move comes amid ongoing incursions into the Al-Aqsa complex by illegal Israeli settlers, often under the protection of Israeli police, with Ben-Gvir involved in some of these raids. This announcement follows repeated assurances by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to maintain the status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque. read the complete article
United States
Prejudice toward Muslims is highest among all religious and ethnic groups
After years of improvement, American public attitudes toward Muslims and Islam have declined in the past few months, and expressed public prejudice toward Muslims remains higher than toward any other religious, ethnic, or racial group studied. These are two of the key findings in our latest University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll (UMDCIP) with SSRS, which measured opinions on several relevant dimensions and compared them with previous polls. The poll was carried out by SSRS among a sample of 1,510 American adults from their probability-based online panel, in addition to oversamples of 202 Blacks and 200 Hispanics, July 26-August 1. First, after years of improvement, favorable views of Muslims and Islam have declined in the two polls we have carried out in 2024. Favorable views of Muslims dropped to 64% from 78% in 2022, returning to 2016 levels; favorable attitudes toward Islam dropped to 48%. The drop in favorable views of Muslims occurred among both Democrats and Republicans, but it is notable that the drop in favorable views of Islam was more pronounced among Democrats. read the complete article
Lawmaker posts video of Utah Muslims observing tradition. His followers piled on with Islamophobia.
A state legislator’s social media post of a video of Utah Muslims observing the Islamic tradition of Arba’in created a firestorm online, with dozens criticizing him as racist and scores of others disparaging the faith and its followers. On Monday, Layton Republican Rep. Trevor Lee posted a video on X — formerly Twitter — of a group of Shiite Muslims observing Arba’in, a worldwide tradition marking the end of 40 days of mourning for the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Hussein. Lee’s only message on the post was: “In the small town of Taylorsville Utah.” He later replied to his own post, “Not a single American flag in sight.” Lee’s followers piled on with anti-Muslim sentiment, calling Islam a “demonic ideology,” and saying the people should be sent back to where they came from. Other responses called Lee racist and xenophobic for singling out the Muslim women and making them a target for hatred and bigotry. As of Tuesday afternoon, Lee’s tweet had been viewed more than 5.4 million times, reposted — without additional context — more than 550 times, and had more than 2,400 likes. read the complete article
Despite the Challenges, This Is Why I Wear a Hijab as a Muslim Teacher
In January 2018, I signed up to work as a substitute teacher at a public school in Columbus, Ohio. When I showed up, I wore what I thought was professional attire for a school teacher, including a long-sleeved shirt and dress pants. I also wore my hijab, which is a symbol of my faith and tradition in the Muslim community. When I arrived, the principal saw me and immediately frowned once she saw my appearance and the hijab on my head. She then informed me that it would be my first and last day at the school before I left to go to my classroom. While walking the school hallways with the classroom assistant, I asked her what she thought about the principal canceling my assignment. She said I looked too different, and the students would not accept me. It was then that I also noticed that almost all the staff and students were white. This situation left me disheartened, and I couldn't shake the feeling that my appearance — and perhaps my outwardly Muslim expression — had affected their decision. That incident was a stark introduction to the challenges I face as a hijabi and Muslim woman in a predominantly white school. The hijab and what it represents in Islam is often misunderstood and unfairly stereotyped. Still, despite these challenges, I believe my story is important — not only to create a better understanding of Muslim culture and Muslim women’s identity, but also to build a more welcoming educational environment for Muslim educators and students. read the complete article
United Kingdom
The UK keeps missing the mark on anti-Muslim hate
Here in the United Kingdom, we've just been through an anti-Muslim pogrom, but you wouldn't know it. Reading media coverage of the past few weeks, you wouldn't think that anti-Muslim hate was the driver for the riots throughout the country. One month on, everyone here is talking about "race" riots or the "disturbances." A recent BBC article on how our prime minister should address the "root" causes of the riots failed to mention anti-Muslim hate even once. And on Friday, a UN committee urged Britain to pass measures to curb hate speech and xenophobic rhetoric, yet also failed to mention Islamophobia. However, the rioters weren't targeting churches, synagogues, Hindu temples or Sikh gurdwaras, but pointedly mosques, and in one case even Muslim graves. The trigger for the anti-Muslim riots in Southport stemmed from orchestrated disinformation online, that the criminal behind the murders of the little girls at a dance class was a Muslim and an asylum seeker. The rioters' target was Muslims, without any doubt, which then widened to include brown and Black people. Nothing happens in a vacuum. Historic anti-Muslim prejudice, coupled with decades of unbridled anti-Muslim discourse in this country at every level of society, just needed a spark to light the fire. Southport was that spark. read the complete article
Risk assessments on schools near racist violence
Risk assessments are being carried out at schools near to recent protests and racist disorder in Belfast, the education minister has said. Paul Givan set out the plans in response to a letter from more than 400 Muslim women from across Northern Ireland, who are worried about their children going back to school. In the letter, the minister acknowledged that "recent events may make it more difficult for children from ethnic minority communities" to be happy, learning and succeeding at school. The Muslim Mothers Collective wrote to minister to say they are "deeply concerned" about the recent disorder in Belfast which saw many ethnic minority owned businesses attacked. "The intensity of recent events has truly shocked us", the Muslim Mothers Collective wrote in a letter to the education minister. "With schools set to reopen in just a few weeks, we are concerned about the ongoing impact on our children. "Many of those involved in recent attacks and protests are very young, and some will be returning to school alongside our children. We don't want them to fear our hate each other", the letter said. They added that mothers now "constantly worry" about whether it is safe to go out with their children. read the complete article
‘I can count the Muslim members on my hands’ — Muslim Tories on the state of the party
The Conservative party has a battle on its hands to win back British Muslims. The Tories have been mired in allegations of Islamophobia for years, including in a 2023 report commissioned by the party itself. A poll of members earlier this year found more than half viewed Islam as a threat to the British way of life. Polling for Hyphen in May and June suggested just 12% of British Muslims were planning to vote Tory, barely half the figure of 24% of the general population who ultimately cast ballots for the Conservatives in July. Conservative members and supporters are hoping the selection of a new leader in November will revive the party’s fortunes following its worst election defeat in history — but the scale of the challenge has left the party’s remaining Muslim politicians anxious. Hyphen approached nearly a dozen MPs, peers and councillors for this article; just three agreed to speak on the record. In Leicester, where the Conservatives managed to gain 17 seats on the council in 2023, councillor Abdul Osman has seen several local Muslim party members resign over the conflict in Gaza. He also feels that his party has not taken Islamophobia seriously, despite a series of reports highlighting the problem both within the Conservatives and in society at large. As a result, Muslim communities have lost confidence in them. “If you look at Leicester in relation to the numbers of [Muslim] Conservative members, I can count them on my hands,” he said. That is despite nearly a quarter of people in Leicester describing themselves as Muslim. read the complete article
New Zealand
Islamophobic pamphlets distributed in letterboxes is 'gross' - mayor
Posties in the capital are refusing to deliver pamphlets containing misinformation about Islamic calls to prayer. The pamphlets, by Better Wellington, claim the council wants the city's mosques to broadcast the Islamic call to prayer through loud speakers -- believed to be a reference to recent District Plan changes which allow mosques to use their speakers on special occasions. It comes as other households in Wellington are being leafletted by cards from the Stop Co-Governance group urging people to "fight back" against "radical Maori taking over our country." Wellington mayor Tory Whanau speaks to Charlotte. read the complete article
China
China: UN Needs to Address Crimes Against Humanity
The Chinese government persists in committing crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang while denying repression there, Human Rights Watch said today. Ahead of the two-year anniversary on August 31, 2022, of the United Nations human rights office’s damning report on Xinjiang, the UN high commissioner for human rights and UN member countries should intensify pressure on the Chinese government to end its abuses. “Beijing’s brazen refusal to meaningfully address well-documented crimes in Xinjiang is no surprise, but shows the need for a robust follow-up by the UN human rights chief and UN member states,” said Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch. “Contrary to the Chinese government’s claims, its punitive campaign against millions of Uyghurs in Xinjiang continues to inflict great pain.” Over the past two years, the Chinese government has dismissed all calls to end its severe repression in Xinjiang, which includes mass arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearances, mass surveillance, cultural and religious persecution, separation of families, forced labor, sexual violence, and violations of reproductive rights. read the complete article