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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the UK, a man has been arrested after passengers saw an Islamophobic message flash up when they tried to use the free wifi at some of the biggest railway stations in the country, while Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, a former cabinet minister and chair of Britain’s Conservative Party, has resigned from the party, warning “that the party has moved too far right and cited ‘double standards in its treatment of different communities,’ and in the United States, analysts warn Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, against sidelining Arab and Muslim voters, noting that the campaign must address their response to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Our recommended read of the day is by Ashifa Kassam for the Guardian on how polls in Austria are showing that the anti-migrant, anti-Islam FPÖ, founded in the 1950s by former Nazis, could narrowly emerge as the most voted for party for the first time in the country’s postwar history in Sunday’s parliamentary elections. This and more below:
Austria
‘This is the normalisation of racism’: apprehension at prospect of election success for Austria’s far right | Recommended Read
After winning the EU elections in June, Austria’s far-right Freedom party (FPÖ) seized the moment, calling for the appointment of a EU “remigration” commissioner to be tasked with the forced return of migrants and citizens with a migration background to their countries of origin. The muted reaction that followed was a sharp contrast to Germany, where months earlier, allegations that members of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) had attended a meeting at which they discussed remigration dominated headlines and prompted tens of thousands to take to the streets in protest. The difference was not lost on Farid Hafez, a senior researcher at Georgetown University. In Austria, “there was no outcry,” he said. “This is the normalisation of racism that the far right has achieved and that has become a very normal part of daily Austrian politics.” This view will be tested on Sunday as Austrians head to the polls for parliamentary elections. Polls suggest that the anti-migrant, anti-Islam FPÖ, founded in the 1950s by former Nazis, could narrowly emerge as the most voted for party for the first time in the country’s postwar history. “The Freedom party is, historically speaking, a party that was established by ex-Nazis for ex-Nazis,” said Hafez, who is from Austria and now works with Georgetown’s The Bridge Initiative, a multiyear research project on Islamophobia. “For me, as a political scientist of colour, I believe at the end of the day, one should not underestimate the fact that these people are coming from a deeply racist ideology.” read the complete article
United Kingdom
Cyber Attack Displays ‘Islamophobic’ Message on U.K. Trains, Officials Say
The British authorities are investigating a cyberattack on Wednesday that they said displayed an anti-Muslim message on a public Wi-Fi system serving more than a dozen train stations around the country. Commuters who connected to a Wi-Fi service at stations for Network Rail, Britain’s national rail operator, were met with “Islamophobic messaging,” according to the British Transport Police, who oversee law enforcement on British rail networks. The police said they had received reports of the cyberattack just after 5 p.m. local time, and that they were leading an investigation into the incident. The service was quickly taken down, Network Rail said, and would remain down until security checks were completed. The issue emerged at 19 stations across Britain, including major transportation hubs in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Bristol and other cities, a spokesman for Network Rail said in a statement. Commuters attempting to log onto Wi-Fi at the stations were met with a webpage that said “We love you, Europe,” along with information related to terror attacks in Europe, The Manchester Evening News reported. read the complete article
Mosques open their doors to non-Muslims in Blackburn
The Lancashire Council of Mosques is backing the Muslim Council of Britain's campaign, which encourages people of all faiths and no faiths to visit their local mosques across the United Kingdom. Noreen Hameed, who is helping to manage the campaign in the Lancashire area, said: “Recent statistics reveal 70 per cent of Britons have never visited a place of worship outside their own, highlighting the need for change in our multicultural society. "Just as we visit friends and family in their homes, it is essential for communities to engage with one another, breaking down barriers and building bridges of trust and understanding." This year, the Lancashire Council of Mosques said it is focusing on supporting the Southport Mosque on Sunday, September 29, which was targeted by racist attacks this summer before residents in the town came out to fix the damage the next day, reinforcing the commitment to community solidarity. read the complete article
Man arrested after ‘Islamophobic cyberattack’ on wifi at major railway stations
A man has been arrested after passengers saw an Islamophobic message flash up when they tried to use the free wifi at some of the biggest railway stations in the country. British Transport Police said the suspect is an employee of Global Reach Technology, which provides some wifi services to Network Rail. He has been arrested on suspicion of offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and offences under the Malicious Communications Act 1988. No personal data is known to have been affected, the police added. Manchester Piccadilly, Birmingham New Street, Edinburgh Waverley, Glasgow Central and 10 stations in London were all affected by the suspected cyberattack on Wednesday evening. read the complete article
Racist thugs surrounded young Muslim women and tried to pull off their scarves in 'degrading' assault
A woman was left feeling violated and dehumanised after being subjected to horrific racist abuse and spat on during chaotic 'protests' in Manchester. In a shocking display of Islamophobia, Thomas Richard, 56, joined a mob in Piccadilly Gardens on August 3, where they targeted three young women wearing hijabs and headscarves with vile slurs. Manchester Crown Court was shown footage of the group encircling the women and spitting at them, with one man's spit hitting a woman's face as she shopped in the city centre. The court heard the victim's impact statement, where she expressed her shock and disgust at the treatment by far-right EDL members: "I am very much appalled and disgraced at the behaviour of the far-right EDL members towards myself. The assault was completely unprovoked as I was just watching from a sensible distance and do not feel under any circumstances I deserved what had happened to me.", reports the Manchester Evening News. read the complete article
UK: Baroness Warsi resigns from Conservative Party after being investigated over 'coconuts' post
A former cabinet minister and chair of Britain's Conservative Party has resigned after being placed under investigation by the party over social media posts on the notorious "coconut" trial earlier this month. In her resignation statement, Warsi warned that the party has moved too far right, citing "double standards in its treatment of different communities". "It is with a heavy heart that I have today informed my whip and decided for now to no longer take the Conservatives' whip,” Baroness Sayeeda Warsi said on Thursday evening. After her resignation, it emerged that the party had launched an investigation into the peer over social media posts about a court case in which a protester was arrested and charged for holding a placard depicting politicians Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman as “coconuts”, during a pro-Palestine march in central London. Marieha Hussain was found not guilty of a racially aggravated public order offence on 13 September. After her acquittal, Warsi posted a photo of herself on X drinking from a coconut, wishing Hussain "many congratulations". Warsi was the first Muslim to serve in a British cabinet, under David Cameron's premiership. In August 2014 she resigned from government citing its "morally indefensible" policy on Gaza. Since then she has criticised the Conservative Party over its alleged problems with Islamophobia and rhetoric on asylum seekers. read the complete article
United States
Experts warn Democrats against dismissing Arab, Muslim American voters
With the US election approaching, experts warn that Israel's genocidal war on Gaza and recent Israel-Lebanon tensions could sway Arab and Muslim-American voters in the White House race, cautioning Democrats against dismissing their influence. In a seminar conducted by the Arab Center at the National Press Club in Washington DC on Thursday, Osama Abu Irshaid, Executive Director and Board Member of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) said that while no one expects Vice President and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris to make a substantial policy change, they at least need to hear something different from her regarding Gaza, which didn't happen. "What we have seen is denying Palestinian-Americans to speak during the DNC. What we have seen is her continuous insistence that she will continue to support Israel while paying lip service to the suffering of the Palestinian people," Abu Irshaid noted. "Arab and Muslim Americans are American citizens; they shouldn't be treated as something separate, but there is this tendency to try to disfranchise the Arab and Muslim Americans," he added, saying that Harris and Democrats would be making a mistake by dismissing them. read the complete article
India
How A Delhi Riots Case With Specious Evidence Has Cast A Shadow Over The Lives Of 3 Muslim Women
When the Jafrabad police first approached A in November 2020, she had just returned home from work at a factory where she packed wedding cards at the time. Four policemen came to her house in Junta Colony parallel to the Jafrabad metro station in northeast Delhi, where just a few months earlier, Muslim women of the area led a protest against a controversial citizenship law seen as discriminatory to Muslims. “They asked me to accompany them to the police station with my Aadhar card. I didn’t know what else to do, so I did,” said A. “They asked me about the protest. I said I’d gone there only once or twice while returning from work.” “They asked me where I was on the day of the riots. I said I was at work. They asked a few more questions about the protest and let me go, saying nothing would happen,” she said, trying to remember as her two-year-old son interrupted her at every sentence. Amid the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) 2019, underway in February 2020, Muslim women and student activists organised a sit-in under the Jafrabad metro station on the night of 22 February and blocked the 66 Foota road to Seelampur. By November 2021, the Delhi Police had named 26 people in the first information report 48/2020 of the Jafrabad police station, including 20 women. The accused were Muslim women from low-income neighbourhoods around the metro station and four student activists, Gulfisha Fatima, Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita and Safoora Zargar. Seven Muslim women, including Fatima, were named in the first chargesheet filed in October 2020 and 13 in the second one filed in November 2021. read the complete article