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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the UK, police have released a photo of a man they wish to speak to in connection with alleged comments made about ‘killing Muslims’ on board a northern train heading to Warrington Central, while UK Labour Party managers blocked the words “genocide” and “apartheid” in reference to Israel’s conduct against Palestinians from being used in brochures at a side event during its annual conference in Liverpool, and in the US, Palestinian-American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has condemned as racist a cartoon that depicts her with a detonating pager, days after thousands of communication devices exploded across Lebanon in attacks blamed on Israel. Our recommended read of the day is by for Huffington Post on the disturbing and telling anti-Muslim rhetoric used against Senate Judiciary Committee witness Maya Berry last week by members of the GOP and how this behavior is emblematic of xenophobic and Islamophobic sentiments within the U.S. Republican Party. This and more below:
United States
Man, The Senate Judiciary Committee Is Broken | Recommended Read
When Maya Berry was called in as an expert to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, she thought she’d be sharing new data on hate crimes against Arab Americans and Jewish Americans since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel. Instead, Berry, the executive director of the Arab American Institute, a national nonpartisan civil rights advocacy organization, was subjected to some of the most offensive and bigoted attacks by Republican senators the committee has seen in recent years. Her experience is part of a bigger, years-long problem with this committee, a purportedly storied body responsible for major legislation and lifetime appointments to federal courts, including the Supreme Court: Some of its GOP members have ditched basic decorum and opted for disgusting attacks on the people coming before the panel. And as Republicans berated Berry, Democrats on the panel did little to back up a witness they had called to testify. “I don’t even know what it means to put a bag on your head,” Berry, who is also the co-chair of a hate crime task force at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a national coalition of civil rights groups, told HuffPost on Wednesday. She said her kids warned her to stay off of social media after the hearing, but she came across a tweet with an image of her next to the image of a prisoner at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq who had a black bag over his head. “I never thought of that,” she said, trailing off. “I never thought the bigotry would land the way it did. … Like, it’s anti-Arab racism in the middle of a hearing about hate crimes.” read the complete article
How Jill Stein's Muslim Surge Could Sink Kamala Harris
Jill Stein told Newsweek she cherishes the traction she's gaining among Muslim American voters—support that could damage Vice President Kamala Harris in November. Recent polls show Stein ahead of Harris among Muslim voters in several battleground states, including Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin, giving her Green Party a potentially pivotal role in swinging the election away from Harris in favor of former President Donald Trump. "We're grateful for the strong support of Muslim voters who share with us the determination to end genocide in Gaza, and the injustice faced by our Muslim friends," Stein told Newsweek in a statement. "We urge all people of conscience to resist the propaganda telling you to hold your nose and vote for genocide. If you vote for genocide, you are actively consenting to it and enabling it. Don't let them talk you out of your humanity." read the complete article
80% of Indian-American Muslims experience Islamophobic discrimination: Report
A new survey, The Detrimental Effects of Hindu Nationalism on Indian American Muslims, conducted by the Washington DC-based diaspora group Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) and Chicago-based ReThink Media, which offers an in-depth media, messaging and opinion research, has claimed existence of alarming trends regarding the rise of Hindu nationalism within the Indian diaspora in the United States and its profound impact on Indian American Muslims. The survey, which polled 950 Indian American Muslims in order to take a "comprehensive look" at how Hindu nationalist ideology, particularly following the rise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is "shaping social, professional, and digital interactions", said that over 80% of respondents experienced "Islamophobic harassment, discrimination, or prejudice from Hindu friends or social contacts over the past decade since Modi’s rise to power." read the complete article
US lawmaker Rashida Tlaib slams racist image of her with exploding pager
Palestinian-American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has condemned as racist a cartoon that depicts her with a detonating pager, days after thousands of communication devices exploded across Lebanon in attacks blamed on Israel. “Our community is already in so much pain right now. This racism will incite more hate + violence against our Arab & Muslim communities, and it makes everyone less safe,” Tlaib said of the cartoon published in conservative magazine National Review. “It’s disgraceful that the media continues to normalize this racism,” the only Palestinian-American lawmaker in the United States Congress wrote on X on Friday. Created by Henry Payne, the cartoon shows a woman sitting at a desk with a name card reading “Rep. Tlaib” where a device explodes. The woman remarks: “ODD. MY PAGER JUST EXPLODED.” Tlaib, a Democrat from Michigan in the US House of Representatives who is a vocal critic of Israel’s war on Gaza, has often weathered harsh vitriol from Republican and some Democratic opponents, including baseless accusations of sympathies with Hamas. read the complete article
US: Muslim groups urge voters to back Jill Stein, Cornel West or other pro-Palestine candidates
A coalition of Muslim-American groups angry at US support for Israel's devastating war on Gaza is asking Muslim voters to shun Democratic Party candidate Kamala Harris in November's presidential race and back either Jill Stein, Cornel West or other pro-Palestine candidates. "After extensive consultation, discussion, and deliberation, the American Muslim 2024 Election Task Force has decided to encourage American Muslims to vote for any presidential candidate of their choosing who supports a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and a US arms embargo on the Israeli government, such as candidates Dr Jill Stein, Dr Cornel West or Chase Oliver," read the statement, obtained by Middle East Eye. The statement was written by the American Muslim 2024 Election Task Force, an umbrella group formed this year that consists of a number of prominent Muslim organisations including the political arms of Americans for Justice in Palestine (AJP), Cair, and the US Council of Muslim Organizations. In addition to calling on Muslim Americans to vote for a pro-Palestine candidate at the presidential level, the task force's statement emphasises the need to vote for down-ballot candidates who are also advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza and arms embargo on Israel. The statement falls short of endorsing a specific candidate in the presidential election and comes after long deliberations between the leaders of these prominent Muslim organisations. read the complete article
US anti-Semitism envoy faces backlash as Muslim group demands ousting
The US anti-Semitism envoy has triggered a backlash over remarks she made about the pager attacks in Lebanon last week, which have been blamed on Israel. At a recent event held by the Israeli-American Council, a moderator commented that "after October 7, there was a feeling around the world that Israel was weaker". In response, US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt said: "Do you want a beeper?" The moderator later said: "I have a few." The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has demanded that the Biden administration fire Lipstadt, calling her remarks "dangerous". "Special Envoy Lipstadt's callous remarks are not only disgusting, but also dangerous," CAIR Government Affairs Department Director Robert McCaw said in a statement. "At a time when our nation's government claims it is working to de-escalate tensions between Israel and Lebanon, her flippant celebration of state-sponsored terrorism undermines diplomatic efforts to prevent a broader war in the region," he said. He said joking about the loss of innocent lives, especially children, is a disgrace and should have no place in US foreign policy discussions. read the complete article
United Kingdom
BTP photo appeal over ‘killing Muslims’ comment on Northern train
POLICE have released a photo of a man they wish to speak to in connection with alleged comments made about ‘killing Muslims’. As previously reported, British Transport Police is investigating reports of a hate crime incident on board a train. The reported incident occurred on Saturday, September 7, at around 8.20pm, when a man was said to have made comments about ‘killing Muslims’. This was on a Northern train heading to Warrington Central, travelling between Liverpool Lime Street and Liverpool South Parkway, while the suspect is believed to be from Warrington. read the complete article
Rizwana Hamid Q&A: ‘In a small way every journalist has the power to make a difference’
Rizwana Hamid is an award-winning documentary producer and director who paved the way for a new generation of Muslim journalists in the UK. Her career began when she freelanced for print publications as a student in the 1980s, before moving into broadcast journalism as a contributor to the BBC in 1988. Throughout her career of more than 30 years, her investigative films have won awards and led to policy changes. In 2018 Hamid joined the Centre for Media Monitoring, a project launched by the Muslim Council of Britain to improve Britain’s media landscape. The centre seeks to encourage fair and responsible coverage of Muslims and Islam in mainstream media, by compiling reports on negative trends, engaging with journalists and editors, and promoting good practices. She spoke to Hyphen about her career in journalism, and the new challenges facing Muslim journalists and audiences, especially following the 7 October attacks and Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza. read the complete article
UK: Labour Party bans words 'genocide' and 'apartheid' from conference
UK Labour Party managers blocked the words "genocide" and "apartheid" in reference to Israel's conduct against Palestinians from being used in brochures at a side event during its annual conference in Liverpool. The conference's start was marked by pro-Palestine protests as over 15,000 people marched through the city on Saturday to express their opposition to Britain selling arms to Israel amid its ongoing siege and bombardment of Gaza. Controversy also erupted surrounding a planned fringe event on Palestine at the conference. The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) has revealed that party managers refused to allow the words "genocide" and "apartheid" to appear in the name of its fringe event scheduled for Monday in the conference brochure. The event, set to feature members of pro-Palestinian groups in a panel discussion alongside Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, will be described as "Justice for Palestine", with the phrases "end the genocide" and "end the apartheid" removed. PSC director Ben Jamal told Middle East Eye: "I think what this speaks to is the party leadership's failure to address the root causes of the current violence that is happening in Palestine. It says it wants that violence to end, it says it wants a ceasefire. "But it fails to acknowledge that Israel is committing the crime of apartheid, a judgement made by the International Court of Justice. It is now on trial at the world's highest court, the ICJ, which has accepted the plausibility of South Africa's case that Israel is committing genocide. read the complete article
Scotland
Humza Yousaf will continue to raise his voice for Gaza, Scotland's First Minister or not
9/11 will always be remembered as a tragedy that struck the whole world, thousands lost their lives or a loved one. A day later, thousands of miles away, a then-16-year-old Humza Yousaf was bombarded with questions at his school, asking him why Muslims hate America, why the attack took place, and if he knows where Osama bin Laden is. "We were expected to know the answer when, of course, we knew nothing more than the people who were asking the questions," Yousaf told The New Arab. From that moment, Yousaf decided to educate himself on the current affairs of the day, tuning into to watch Jon Snow on Channel 4 News every evening with his father, so fascinated by it all he went on to study politics at university. Following the Iraq War, Yousaf started questioning why Scottish sons and daughters were being sent to fight in a war the nation disagreed with. For him, the penny dropped when he learned about the struggle for Scottish independence and decided to join the Scottish National Party soon after. Just over 20 years later, Yousaf made history by becoming the first person of colour, the first second-generation immigrant, the first Muslim and the first South Asian to be elected as First Minister of Scotland. "It's never been a question of me choosing one identity over the other," Yousaf says. "You shouldn't have to choose one over the other; actually, you could be really proud and celebrate the fact that you have heritages of both." read the complete article