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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the US, developers of a proposed Muslim-centric development in Lino Lakes have filed a federal lawsuit, alleging the city’s one-year moratorium on new development is “unconstitutional” and motivated by anti-Muslim bias, meanwhile in Sweden, the Swedish government has accused Iran of sending thousands of text messages last year calling for revenge attacks over the burning of the Quran during a public protest, and lastly, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has addressed a broad spectrum of topics during a speech at the annual UN General Assembly, including Islamophobia, the war in Ukraine and Sudan, the crisis in Libya, and issues concerning Cyprus. Our recommended read of the day is by Tariq Mehmood for The New Arab on his experience as a young man living in Bradford England during the ‘Paki Bashings’ of the 1970s and 80s and how current trends of state sponsored Islamophobia in the UK are stirring the “racist underbelly” of the country. This and more below:
United Kingdom
The rise of the UK far-right: Pending pogroms or a passing wave? | Recommended Read
Ever since the racist, far-right outpouring in the UK this August, several people have come up to me and asked, "How bad was it back in the day?" What they're referring to are the 1970s and the 1980s, a time when Blacks and Asians had to fight a sea of fascist violence on the streets and institutional racism at work. Every day, before leaving the house, I double-checked if I had my knife in my pocket — a precaution many of us were forced to take. But unlike the recent far-right riots — which viciously exploited the murder of three little girls in Southport — back then, when I walked through a major city centre, I was never as frightened as I was a couple of months ago as I walked through a northern city. This summer, racists revealed themselves up and down the UK. They set buildings ablaze, rampaged through streets, and attacked Muslims — as well as those who looked like Muslims — all because they were enraged by murders falsely attributed to a Muslim asylum seeker. But this lie didn't matter to them, of course. Their target was premeditated. Just like the current wave of racist violence, which targeted mosques, the waves of the past also targeted our places of worship, including Sikh and Hindu temples. The major difference between then and now is that irrespective of religious background, we would rush to each other's defence. For example, around 1980, in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, a large number of youth, including Sikhs and Hindus, went to defend a mosque under attack. I was among them. We were united in confronting street violence, regardless of religion. read the complete article
United States
Developers sue Lino Lakes over building moratorium, claiming anti-Muslim bias
Developers of a proposed Muslim-centric development in Lino Lakes have filed a federal lawsuit, alleging the city’s one-year moratorium on new development is “unconstitutional” and motivated by anti-Muslim bias. The city passed the moratorium in July following intense debate and community pushback over the proposed 156-acre Madinah Lakes development. Council members said it would give the city time to create a master plan for 900 acres of undeveloped land, including the project site. After the lawsuit was filed Tuesday, attorneys representing Zikar Holdings, the project developer, held a news conference outside the U.S. District Courthouse in Minneapolis outlining violations of the First and Fourteenth amendments and the Fair Housing Act, among other claims. The lawsuit cites an email by Lyden, praising an anti-Muslim rant, as evidence of religious bias. Lyden was one of four council members who voted for the moratorium. On Monday, the City Council passed a resolution censuring Lyden over the email. read the complete article
The University of Michigan is Islamophobic
As a Muslim Arab growing up in America, I watched the occupation of Iraq pass without Bush behind bars as the Middle East was made a murderous chess match for politicians who did not care that their checkmate cost millions of our lives. In that, my people were made lesser and I always felt that no one genuinely cared about anti-Muslim bigotry, let alone anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab racism. After all, domestically, our mosques were surveilled, our men detained without due process, our finances questioned as material support for terrorism and our deportation made the basis of a politically viable policy and slogan. To me, it was self-evident — Muslim, Palestinian and Arab lives are made meaningless when it’s politically palatable as per American default. Despite this reality, when I stepped foot on this campus as an undergrad, I naively believed that its liberal-leaning population would act as a shield where I’d feel safe, far away from the bigotry surrounding the nation. Quickly, I fell in love with Ann Arbor and despite the lack of people who looked like me, I felt that I could voice myself comfortably and did so as a typical over-involved student. Years later, as I have dwelled on campus and seen its ebbs and flows as a double wolverine finishing my law degree this upcoming May, I can earnestly proclaim the University of Michigan is an intrinsically anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab institution. University President Santa Ono, the Board of Regents and the administration have quite frankly turned dormant campus Islamophobia and racism into an institutional weapon against their students and I no longer feel safe — let alone welcome — on a campus that is about to be the academic home of two degrees. read the complete article
Rashida Tlaib, Jewish Michigan attorney general trade accusations of prejudice on back of campus anti-Palestine crackdown
US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib faced accusations of antisemitism this week following the interpretation of a statement she made alleging anti-Palestinian bias after Michigan's attorney general announced she would file charges against pro-Palestinian student protesters. Tlaib, who represents southeastern Michigan, responded to the announcement, telling The Detroit Metro Times that she believed this decision to punish the University of Michigan protesters was linked to bias against the issue of Palestine. "It seems that the attorney general decided if the issue was Palestine, she was going to treat it differently, and that alone speaks volumes about possible biases within the agency she runs," Tlaib said, referring to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's decision to file charges against the students who had been protesting Israel's war in Gaza. Nessel, who is Jewish, took to social media, comparing the recent cartoon of Tlaib in the National Review in which she was depicted with a pager linking her with Hezbollah, to Tlaib's criticism of the attorney general filing charges against the students. "Rashida’s religion should not be used in a cartoon to imply that she’s a terrorist. It’s Islamophobic and wrong," Nessel wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "Just as Rashida should not use my religion to imply I cannot perform my job fairly as Attorney General. It’s antisemitic and wrong." read the complete article
International
'Islamophobia and racism spreading like poison ivy' — Erdogan
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has addressed a broad spectrum of topics during his speech at the annual UN General Assembly, including Islamophobia, the war in Ukraine and Sudan, the crisis in Libya and issues concerning Cyprus. “We are witnessing Islamophobia, xenophobia, and racism spreading around the world like poisonous ivy,” Erdogan remarked, highlighting the growing number of Islamophobic attacks globally. Erdogan also drew attention to the fact that almost every day there is an attack on mosques and the holy book of Islam. "In the middle of Europe, people's houses are being set on fire and their most basic rights are being blatantly usurped on the basis of their ethnic and religious identity. No one can ignore this growing danger anymore," Erdogan added. He also expressed anticipation for the swift appointment of a Special Representative to combat Islamophobia at the UN, as outlined in the draft resolution adopted on March 15, 2024. read the complete article
Sweden accuses Iran of hack inciting revenge for Quran burnings
Sweden has accused Iran of sending thousands of text messages calling for revenge attacks over the burning of the Quran. In a statement released on Tuesday, the Swedish Prosecution Authority said that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) hacked into a local SMS operator last year and sent out about 15,000 text messages calling for retaliation after Islam’s holy book was burned during protests. “[A] cyber group acted on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to carry out an influence campaign,” the Swedish Security Service SAPO said in a statement. “The purpose was, among other things, to paint the image of Sweden as an Islamophobic country and create division in society,” it said. Swedish broadcaster SVT published a photo of a text message, saying that “those who desecrated the Quran must have their work covered in ashes” and calling Swedes “demons”. Iranian authorities had made no comment on the accusations at the time of writing. read the complete article
“Islamophobia is unjustifed fear of Muslims”: Prof Ahmed Shaheed
“There is this constant view that international human rights law doesn’t really allow you to look at concerns raised by Muslims, which I think is a fallacy,” says Prof Ahmed Shaheed who in 2021 submitted the first and only report by the UN dedicated to Islamophobia. Shaheed served as the UN special rapporteur on freedom of religion from 2016 to 2022. He serves as an adviser on ‘hate speech’ to the United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention. He is a member of the Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief convened by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The international human rights law professor tells Maktoob’s Shaheen Abdulla about debates around Islamophobia and his engagements with India. read the complete article