Today in Islamophobia: In Austria, the EU Member State’s Federal President has granted Herbert Kickl, leader of the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPO), the authority to form a government after coalition talks in Parliament have failed, meanwhile in Canada, the University of Toronto has unveiled a Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian Discrimination Working Group (MAP DWG) which will review the school’s programs, activities, and protocols to advise on existing or potential instances of discrimination, and in the UK, the resurfacing of the “grooming gang” conspiracy theory, fueled by X and Tesla owner Elon Musk, has British Muslim and Pakistani community fearing for their safety once again. Our recommended read of the day is by Rachel Ida Buff for Jacobin on how bill HR 9495, referred to as the ” Nonprofit Killer” bill by its opponents, is reminiscent of McCarthyism and is “another part of a constellation of repression that has legitimized Islamophobia.” This and more
United States
McCarthyism Is Alive and Well With the “Nonprofit Killer” Bill | Recommended Read
The investigation of the ACPFB was facilitated by the Internal Security Act of 1950. Part of the anti-communist mobilization known as McCarthyism, the bill created a Subversive Activities Control Board, the organization that initially subpoenaed the organizational records from Green. Organizations like the ACPFB were investigated by the board and, if confirmed to be “Communist fronts,” organizations that weren’t officially Communist but were backed by the party, had to register with the federal government, limiting their political activities. Additionally, the law made it a felony to support what it described as “totalitarian dictatorship” and authorized the president to arrest and detain those suspected of espionage or subversion. Deployed exclusively against leftist organizations, the Internal Security Act eroded civil liberties and threatened any advocacy groups that could be tarred as a Communist front. As a result, many longtime supporters of the ACPFB withdrew their annual contributions, citing fear of persecution. Like McCarthyism, the current wave of repression assumes the existence of a vast anti-American international conspiracy. Ill-defined by those supposedly determined to eradicate it, this conspiracy is sometimes associated with Antifa (whatever that is, exactly) and other times with foreign terrorism or a shadowy and mostly imaginary Hamas support network. As was the case during the McCarthyist Red Scare, contemporary policy focuses exclusively on purported threats from leftist and Muslim groups, ignoring abundant evidence of homegrown, white-nationalist terrorist activities. In November 2024, the House of Representatives passed HR 9495, the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act. Known to opponents as the “Nonprofit Killer” bill, this law provides for the termination of tax-exempt or 501(c)(3) status for any organization deemed by the Internal Revenue Service of providing “material support” to “terrorism.” If it becomes law, this bill will allow the president to decide which groups to target without even the shred of procedure afforded by the Subversive Activities Control Board. Spencer Ackerman explains that the “material support” clause undergirding policies like the Nonprofit Killer bill is part of a constellation of repression that has legitimized Islamophobia and xenophobia in the name of national security since 2001. read the complete article
U of T launches Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian Discrimination Working Group
On November 29, President Meric Gertler announced that U of T will commission a Presidential, Provostial, and Vice-Presidential Working Group — the Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian Discrimination Working Group (MAP DWG). The group will review the university’s programs, activities, processes, and practices and make recommendations to support the university’s response to anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and anti-Palestinian discrimination. The announcement came almost two months after the one-year mark of Hamas’ attack on Israel, which killed approximately 1,139 people and captured more than 200 hostages on October 7, 2023. Since then, Israel’s ongoing attacks on Gaza have killed over 45,800 Palestinians and displaced approximately 2 million people. Amid the violence in the Middle East, the administration has expressed concerns over rising levels of antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus. Students and campus groups claimed the university response inadequately addressed these issues. Prior to the announcement of the working group, the university consulted with students and faculty, including members of the Muslim Students’ Association (MSA) at U of T. In interviews with The Varsity, members of the MSA shared their concerns about the creation of the working group and addressing Islamophobic incidents with the university. read the complete article
International
Fabricating Homeland Security: How India was sold the dream to become 'more like Israel'
The events of 26/11 were not the first act of violence to befall the city. Over the course of the early 1990s and the turn of the century, Mumbai had been a site of tremendous violence, including anti-Muslim riots and several bomb blasts that were even deadlier than 26/11. But given the attacks had targeted prominent financial and cultural centres in Mumbai affecting the city's affluent, and involving numerous foreign nationals, it wasn't long before the incident took on the moniker of "India's 9/11". The severity of the shock precipitated a backlash against the Indian political class for what was seen as an under-preparedness for a new global terror threat. Within days, the fault lines deepened and, amid the recriminations, western lobbyists and security consultants with a toolbox of "solutions" to India’s inadequate and antiquated security profile stepped in. And at the heart of these lobbying efforts was an assemblage of snake-oil salesmen with a weapons toolbox from Israel. In his new book, Fabricating Homeland Security: Police Entanglements across India and Palestine/Israel (Stanford University Press), Rhys Machold details how the 26/11 attacks - seen as an exceptional moment in India's post-independence history - was used to bring western models of "homeland security" - a far-reaching security architecture ostensibly meant to "protect" the country - to India, or more specifically to the city of Mumbai. Machold, a senior lecturer at the University of Glasgow, finds that even as the embers in Leopold Cafe and Nariman House in Colaba simmered, these pro-Israel lobbyists managed to convince much of the Mumbai police that signing on to a raft of police exchanges, training and commercial relationships was the only way to reclaim public order. The Maharashtra state government went on a spending spree, procuring armoured cars, speedboats (the Pakistani assailants allegedly came over by sea), night vision goggles, and communication devices, in a desperate attempt to abate concerns and build public confidence. That India and Israel have enjoyed burgeoning ties over the past decade and have, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu's stewardship, culminating in the formation of a strategic partnership is no secret. read the complete article
Israeli historian Ilan Pappe: ‘This is the last phase of Zionism’
Unlike other Israelis, Illan Pappe said, he learnt the language “of the colonised” by spending time in Palestine, surrounding himself with Palestinian friends, and taking formal Arabic lessons. Hundreds of academics, officials, international rights activists and everyday Danes aghast at Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza attended the event in the Danish capital hosted by the European Network for Palestinians. The group was founded recently, and its members include Danes of Palestinian heritage. Pappe later told the audience that since the outbreak of Israel’s latest war on Gaza, he has been shocked by Europe’s response. “I share with a lot of people a surprise at the European position,” he said on stage. “Europe, that claims to be a model of civilisation, ignored the most televised genocide of modern times.” On the sidelines, Al Jazeera interviewed 70-year-old Pappe, a leading Israeli historian, author and professor who has spent much of his life fighting for Palestinian rights. We asked him about Zionism, solidarity, and what he thinks a shifting American political landscape means for Gaza. read the complete article
United Kingdom
Grooming gangs: This vile racist campaign puts Muslims in serious danger
Since the new year we have all been engrossed in a renewed national conversation, largely provoked by an offshore, foreign billionaire in Elon Musk, about child sexual exploitation and grooming gangs. An issue as serious as they come. Only for many of us this is not a new story. We have kept watching as years of investigations took place, enquiries were conducted and serious recommendations were made for reform. But this latest chapter in the story has taken a particularly dark turn. There are those who seem intent on making the scandal of child sexual exploitation and grooming in Britain a problem exclusively in the Pakistani and Muslim community. Some of the most senior politicians in Westminster, who have never before taken an interest in this issue, seem now to be the loudest voices in the room. Using every platform, every media appearance and every minute in the chambers of the Houses of Parliament to call for a national enquiry and decry "Pakistani Muslim" grooming gangs. But where were they before? Why did the Conservative government, in power for over 14 years, not implement a single of the 20 recommendations of Professor Alexis Jay’s seven-year national review into child abuse? Why does a simple Hansard check show that Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch, and Robert Jenrick, did not use any of the time they have had in Parliament over the years to raise this issue before this month? Why has Badenoch not met with any survivors of grooming gangs to hear from them first-hand the changes that need to be made? We know why. Because this conversation in Westminster has nothing to do with the actual victims or the crimes - this is all politics of the most disgusting kind. We have a wave of bad-faith actors from across the political spectrum using the very real crimes committed (most often) against young women and girls as a platform to launch their political careers and become the new darlings of the far right. read the complete article
Austria
OPINION - Possibility of a far-right government in Austria: The first 'Volkskanzler' after Hitler?
After the coalition talks between the Austrian People’s Party (OVP), the Social Democrats (SPO), and the Liberals (NEOS) failed, the Federal President granted Herbert Kickl, leader of the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPO), the authority to form a government. This marked a significant turning point, as Kickl emerged as the ultimate victor in last September’s national elections. Kickl, who served as minister of the interior during that period, became a controversial figure, notorious for raiding his own intelligence service in an effort to expose what he perceived as the conservative deep state’s machinations against the FPO. Former intelligence officials viewed his actions as efforts to uncover connections between the FPO and far-right extremists. Since then, Kickl has become more polarizing, positioning himself as the face of protests against the so-called “Corona dictatorship.” His rhetoric has enabled him to attract voters beyond the traditional FPO base. Known for scripting speeches for Austria’s first successful FPO leader, Jorg Haider, in the 1990s, Kickl now aspires to become Austria's first “Volkskanzler” (People’s Chancellor) since Adolf Hitler — a term with deep-rooted Nazi connotations. It is this symbolic level that frightens many within the conservative political camp, not to mention many of the controversial policies introduced by Kickl, especially when it comes to closing mosques, preparing raids of Muslim homes, and even banning Muslim associations, as happened under the governance of Sebastian Kurz (OVP) and former FPO chairman Heinz-Christian Strache. read the complete article