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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In India, a group of passengers assaulted an elderly Muslim man over an accusation he was carrying beef, just one day after another man was lynched for similar allegations, meanwhile in the United Kingdom, official documents revealed that in the months leading up to this summer’s anti-Muslim riots, authorities believed that the threat of violence from far-right protests was likely to be “minimal”, and in the United States, a new survey finds that Vice President Kamala Harris and Green Party candidate Jill Stein are virtually tied, with about 29 percent of Muslims planning to vote for each candidate. Our recommended read of the day is by Bridge Senior Research Fellow Farid Hafez for the EU Observer on an investigation by RTL Germany, which revealed how members of the Identitarian movement, which are well-connected to far-right political parties in Europe, called for a “Srebrenica 2.0,” meaning a genocide of Muslims, adding “1995 was Srebrenica, the genocide of Muslims. That was very cool.” This and more below:
International
Europe's Identitarian Movement — old fascism in new clothes | Recommended Read
On Wednesday (28 August), German broadcaster RTL screened coverage obtained through investigative documentation into one of Europe’s growing and popular rightwing extremist movements, the Identitarian movement. The Identitarian movement has become the main representative of what has been called the 'New Right'. Most political parties from France’s National Rally to the Alternative for Germany and the Freedom Party of Austria can be seen as part of the New Right, an attempt to sell old fascist parties in new clothes, to pretend a break with the Nazi ideology and the embrace of democratic values. While those parties have become successful players in the parliamentary arena — with some of them even participating in local and national governments — the Identitarian Movement has become the main operator on the street, far away from official statements made in the public. The group of journalists from Germany traveled throughout Germany and Austria, where it met with activists from the Identitarian movement including some with official positions in political parties such as the Alternative for Germany. In private conversations, they would be much more open than in the general public. read the complete article
Concern voiced over rise in Islamophobia
A leading international security organisation has added its voice to growing concern about a surge in Islamophobia in wake of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. A rising tide of Islamophobia across Europe is, says the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), compounded by an intensified wave of Islamophobic disinformation – or the deliberate spread of false information. The OSCE says it is concerned, stating that, “amidst an increase in prejudice and violence against Muslims in a growing number of countries, greater efforts are needed to build dialogue and counter anti-Muslim hatred.” The Vienna-based organisation said, “There has been an upsurge in hatred against Muslims especially since the renewed outbreak of hostilities in the Middle East in October last year, with online and offline hate speech, threats and violence having a negative impact on Muslim communities, particularly women and girls.” Official data show that Islamophobic crimes in Germany more than doubled in 2023, with nearly one in 10 incidents involving violence, according to the German Alliance against Islamophobia and discrimination against Muslims (CLAIM). Austria and other EU countries have also reported similar trends while racism and intolerance are rising in France, fuelled by the war in Gaza and far-right ideas in public debate, according to France’s human rights commission, the CNCDH. read the complete article
How state Islamophobia could come back to bite the West
What, then, has been the response of political parties in the US and UK, which lay claim to presenting progressive opinions? How have the Democrats in the US and the Labour government in Britain reacted to this surge of racism against Muslims? Earlier this month, the Democratic National Committee (DNC)’s response was to reject a call to have a Palestinian speaker on the main stage of its convention. Why did the party do this? The Washington Post reported that Democratic leaders were concerned that a convention speech addressing the war in Gaza would “threaten the unity” that had been present throughout the event. They wanted a love fest. So they kept Gaza out of the party’s celebrations. “I was just told that I don’t have a voice here in this party,” Layla Elabed, co-founder of the Uncommitted movement, told reporters on Wednesday. Is the same true in Britain? Unfortunately, even more so. Keir Starmer’s premiership was shaken this summer by the worst race riots Britain had experienced in a century, sparked by a false rumour that the killer of three young girls at a dance class in Southport was Muslim. Starmer visited a mosque in Solihull, where he was greeted by protesters, but he has done nothing publicly to meet representatives of the Muslim or Palestinian communities since, nor has any member of his government. During the riots, Starmer ignored communications from the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), the country’s largest body representing British Muslims. Muslims are not a minority. There are more than 1.8 billion of them, or about one-quarter of the world’s population. Starmer and Biden’s shunning of Muslims over the paramount need to have Israel’s back is extensively and exhaustively covered in the Arab media daily. This coverage is further evidence for Arab communities that the West does not care that nothing has changed since colonial days. Just imagine the effect it would have if either Britain or the US reversed course and listened to a Muslim voice, even if they did not like what was said. read the complete article
United Kingdom
Faith leaders urge UK to unite against hate after Tommy Robinson’s anti-Islam plan revealed
Religious leaders are urging people throughout the UK to “stand in solidarity against hatred” after far-right activist Tommy Robinson tried to turn different faith groups against followers of Islam. The Chief Rabbi, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the heads of the Hindu Council and the Muslim Council of Britain have urged Britons to come together in the face of far-right plans to launch a campaign of hate against British Muslims. As i revealed on Thursday, Robinson – whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – planned to use people from different religious communities in a campaign to try to turn Britons against those who follow Islam. Details of meetings held by Robinson were passed to i revealing the inner strategy of the far-right activist’s attempts to canvas support from the Sikh, Hindu, Jewish and black communities as well as to mobilise football hooligans. However, Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis has led faith communities in condemnation of Robinson’s effort to divide society. read the complete article
“We must work together”: How UK migrant communities are rebuilding from the far-right riots, one month on
Just a few weeks ago, the UK saw unprecedented scenes of violence and destruction as far-right rioters took to towns and cities all over the country, spreading anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim hate. “The riots made me feel unsafe and unwelcomed,” says Augusta Itua, who is chair of trustees at Hackney Migrant Centre. “I felt vulnerable and easily identifiable as a target because I wear my identity on my skin.” “Since arriving in the UK in 2012, I have worked, paid taxes, and studied, contributing tirelessly to advancing the rights of all children and young people,” she said. It was the tragic killing of three young girls in Southport that sparked the riots. Misinformation spread online galvanised far-right anger, as it was suggested that the suspect Axel Rudakubana, who was not initially named due to his age, was a Muslim and immigrant. Violence first erupted in Southport on July 30, and then in dozens of locations around the country on the following weekend. In the wake of the destruction, organisers continued to rally support from would-be rioters. Messages were shared on platforms like Telegram naming nearly 40 migrant centres as targets, seemingly picked at random. Some responded by saying that if they couldn’t see an area near them on the list, they should just search for the centre nearest to them. read the complete article
UK police risk assessment before riots said far-right threat probably ‘minimal’
In the months leading up to this summer’s riots, police leaders believed that the threat of violence from far-right protests was likely to be “minimal”, official papers reveal. Documents from December 2023 show that police instead prioritised the pro-Palestinian movement, environmental protests, football matches and animal rights activism as potentially threatening public order. Police deny that their internal documents show them underestimating the threat from the far right before the worst riots in more than a decade this summer, but experts disagree. Among other issues, the risk assessment covered gatherings that could descend into disorder. The paper said of disparate groups making up the extreme far right: “It is also probable that events will be organised by a small cohort of dedicated members, attendance will be at low levels and disruption minimal.” In a document from two years earlier, the far right was listed as a priority potential threat. read the complete article
United States
Muslims Were Reliably Democratic Voters. With US Gaza Policy, That’s Changed.
Up to 69 percent of registered Muslims report voting primarily for the Democratic Party, but third-party presidential candidates who oppose sending weapons to Israel have roughly cut that majority in half, according to two national surveys released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Thursday. Vice President Kamala Harris and Green Party candidate Jill Stein are virtually tied, with about 29 percent of Muslims planning to vote for each candidate, according to a survey of 1,159 voters conducted shortly after the DNC. Another 4 percent plan to vote for Cornel West, the unaffiliated antiwar candidate who is still fighting to be on the ballot in multiple states. Just over 11 percent plan to vote for Republican Donald Trump, and 16 percent remain undecided. Only 8 percent said they are not planning to vote in November. “This is showing that Muslim voters who traditionally in the last election voted over 60 percent for Biden, that 60 percent has evenly split now between two candidates who have two very different messages that are addressing their concerns,” said Robert McCaw, CAIR’s director of government affairs, during a press conference Thursday. read the complete article
Hollywood 'dehumanising' Palestinians on screen, say filmmakers
Dozens of filmmakers have signed a letter in support of Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda's Emmy nomination, accusing Hollywood of "dehumanising" Palestinians on screen for decades. The letter, obtained by Variety and signed by prominent filmmakers including BAFTA winner Farah Nabulsi, director Elia Suleiman, and Hany Abu Assad, marks the first collaborative initiative by Palestinian filmmakers since 7 October. The letter said that the recent attempt to censor Owda's voice, following the call for her nomination to be rescinded, was "only the latest repressive attempt to deny Palestinians the right to reclaim our narrative, share our history, and in this case bring attention to the atrocities our people are facing in the hopes that we can bring an end to them". The letter thanked NATAS for "standing up to pressure and insisting on freedom of expression" by defending the journalist’s nomination. The filmmakers were outraged by Hollywood's alleged dehumanisation and racism towards Palestinians during Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza, which has seen more than 40,000 Palestinians killed, the vast majority civilians. read the complete article
The Violent “Othering” of Palestinians Has Political Roots
In my book, Black Bodies, White Gazes, I interrogate the white gaze, which I describe as a structural and habitual way of racially distorting the world in binary and hierarchical terms, buttressed by ideological, material and institutional power. In that book, I argue for the dismantlement of whiteness and the eradication of the white gaze. In Black Skin, White Masks, Frantz Fanon tells the story of being on a train when he is confronted by a young white boy who says to his white mother, “Look, a Negro!” The white boy says to his mother that he is frightened by Fanon, which is indicative of the white gaze which perceives Fanon’s Black body as monstrous and dangerous. I’ve personally felt the sting of the white gaze. In this interview, I want to understand what it is like within the Palestinian context to be confronted by Israeli racism. I can only imagine being a Palestinian at a checkpoint and feeling the weight of an anti-Palestinian gaze and a voice that says, “Look, a Palestinian!” To get clarity on this issue, I spoke with Yasmeen Daher, a political philosopher, writer and feminist organizer. Daher taught previously at Bir-Zeit University in Palestine and the Simone de Beauvoir Institute in Canada. She currently resides and works in Berlin. In this exclusive interview, we also discuss issues of grievability, Germany’s guilt vis-à-vis its support of Israel and what real solidarity looks like. read the complete article
India
Why the oppression of Muslims continues despite a weakened Modi
Even by India’s falling standards for extrajudicial, partisan government action against Muslims and Dalits, ignoring the violence of Hindu fundamentalists and tolerating hate speech by chief ministers from the ruling party, the days after Narendra Modi began his third term as prime minister have been ominous. Electoral reverses were supposed to temper Modi 3.0, but a string of Islamophobic atrocities and comments have emanated from states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, indicating the continuing – even growing –impunity and confidence that Hindutva groups and the police enjoy. While the virulence and violence against Muslims are not new, what is more blatant than ever in BJP states is the visible confidence of Hindu fundamentalists that the might of the law and the State will not be used against them. Most recent Muslim oppression is reported from BJP states, where chief ministers have, contrary to their constitutional oaths, deployed dog whistles against Muslims and attempted to scare or shame Hindus into backing their party. read the complete article
Elderly Muslim man accused of carrying beef beaten on train in India
A group of passengers on a train in India assaulted an elderly Muslim man over an accusation he was carrying beef, just one day after another man was lynched for similar allegations. read the complete article
Germany
German right-wingers called for ‘Srebrenica 2.0’ to Exterminate Muslims in Germany
A few days before the state elections in Thuringia and Saxony, the journalists of the RTL EXTRA show exposed the entanglements between the AfD and the right-wing extremist Identitarian Movement in a secret investigation. According to Behind the Scenes, the AfD cooperates with extremist groups to advance its political goals, according to research. Officially, right-wing populists distance themselves from such networks. The survey also shows that high-ranking AfD politicians are involved in the Identitarian movement. Investigative journalists spent four months investigating the closed circles of the Identitarian movement. During an “activist weekend” in Vienna, they documented brutal fights in a makeshift boxing ring, with the intention of illustrating the group’s willingness to use violence. read the complete article
How Germany burned its ‘bridge to the Islamic world’
In March 2003, the German Foreign Office established an online platform, named Qantara, which means “bridge” in classical Arabic, in response to the 9/11 attacks in the United States and the hostility they triggered in the West against Muslims. The declared aim of the independent portal, run by German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle, was to “bridge” cultural differences between the West and the Islamic world and provide a neutral platform for interreligious dialogue. The portal, which publishes content in English, German and Arabic, operated successfully for more than 20 years, seemingly with no editorial guidance from the German government. This changed, however, when it began publishing content critical of German debates on anti-Semitism in the context of the Gaza genocide. Earlier this year, it was announced that Qantara would be restructured, and its management would be transferred from Deutsche Welle to the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen – IFA), which is affiliated to and funded by the Federal Foreign Office. Before the change in management, Qantara was respected for its objective, informative, in-depth reporting and analysis on the Middle East and the wider Islamic world, both in Germany and the region itself. This is no longer the case. Right now, under the editorial direction of the Foreign Office-affiliated IFA, Qantara appears focused not on initiating intercultural and interreligious dialogue and discussion, but on confirming the German government’s biases and prejudices about Muslims, specifically Palestinians, through poorly researched and edited opinion articles. read the complete article