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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In Australia, prominent calls are being made for the federal government to adopt newly-introduced recommendations for tackling anti-Muslim bigotry and racism in the country, following a report by the government-appointed Envoy to Combat Islamophobia, meanwhile in the United Kingdom, more than 110,000 people protesting against immigration marched through London on Saturday, in one of the country’s biggest right-wing demonstrations ever, and lastly in the Netherlands, nine mosques across the country received hate-filled letters smeared with what appeared to be blood, alarming Muslim communities and prompting outrage. Our recommended read of the day is by The Guardian, which warns that Britain is at a precarious turning point where a resurgent, better-organized far right—fueled by grievance, division and Islamophobia—poses a serious threat to democratic norms. This and more below:
United Kingdom
The Guardian view on the UK’s dangerous moment: as Labour falters, the far right mobilises | Recommended Read
At the weekend, more than 110,000 marched through London in Britain’s largest far-right rally in decades. Organised by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, and billed as a “festival of free speech”, it quickly descended into conspiracy theories, Islamophobia and anti-migrant bigotry. There was violence: 26 police officers were injured. Stirring the pot was the far-right billionaire Elon Musk, dialling in via video link, who called for the dissolution of parliament and incited violence; the French rightwinger Éric Zemmour pushed the “great replacement” lie – a white nationalist myth of engineered demographic change. Maga hats, US flags and “Send them home” signs made it feel more Mar-a-Lago than Millbank. The story here is not just scale, though that is striking. It is that the far right is increasingly organised, transnational and opportunistic. While Labour was self-injuring, Mr Robinson and his allies staged a large-scale political mobilisation, laced with shocking aggression. British grievance, alarmingly, is now louder, American-branded and better funded. The killing of the American far-right influencer Charlie Kirk threw fuel on to the fire. The US right has swiftly turned the death of Kirk – shot dead at a university campus event – into a rallying cry. His widow promised that his mission would grow stronger. Donald Trump refused to call for calm – instead blaming the radical left and striking a vengeful tone. It was a moment to de-escalate. He, unsurprisingly, chose not to. Mr Trump has a track record of inflaming hatred and using violence for political gain. It is appalling that Britain will roll out the red carpet for him this week. This is the climate in which British politics now finds itself. One in which liberal democracies are not being overturned, but eroded – hollowed out from within by voter disillusionment. read the complete article
Clashes in London as 110,000 join far-right rally against immigration
More than 110,000 people protesting against immigration have marched through the United Kingdom’s capital, London, in one of the country’s biggest right-wing demonstrations, with some protesters clashing with the police and wounding at least 26 officers. The violence at the “Unite the Kingdom” march on Saturday came as police tried to keep the right-wing protesters apart from a group of some 5,000 rival demonstrators gathered at White Hall in central London. London’s Metropolitan Police said the march, organised by anti-immigrant activist Tommy Robinson, drew an estimated 110,000 to 150,000 people, far surpassing expectations. The police force said its officers faced “unacceptable violence” from some of the protesters and that four of them sustained serious injuries, among them broken teeth, a possible broken nose, a concussion, a prolapsed disc and a head injury. Robinson’s latest “Unite the Kingdom” march comes at the tail end of a highly charged summer in the UK that featured several protests staged outside hotels housing asylum seekers in England, following the arrest of an Ethiopian man who was later convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in a London suburb. Demonstrators carried the Union flag of the UK and the red and white St George’s Cross of England, while others brought those of the United States and Israel. Some wore the “Make America Great Again”, or MAGA, hats of US President Donald Trump. They chanted slogans critical of Prime Minister Keir Starmer and carried placards, with some saying, “Send them home”. Other speakers at Robinson’s event included US billionaire Elon Musk, who joined via video-link, French far-right politician Eric Zemmour, and Petr Bystron of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. read the complete article
AI images fuelling anti-immigration rhetoric
Anti-immigration protests outside hotels are being whipped up by fake footage generated by AI that depicts Muslims taking over the country, according to research published by MPs. A study of social media posts connected to far-right accounts responsible for organising and promoting last summer’s riots found streams of AI-generated images that reinforced harmful stereotypes associated with Muslims. This included images showing Muslims as dirty and Muslim men holding guns or carrying bombs strapped to their chests. The House of Commons home affairs committee published the research that was submitted to its inquiry into new forms of extremism. A string of academics warned that AI-generated images and AI-driven algorithms amplified and accelerated the process of mass right-wing radicalisation that culminated in the Southport riots last year, which was triggered after misinformation was spread about the attacker. They warned that the algorithms used by social media platforms such as TikTok and X are biased towards posts that are divisive and designed to drive hatred because they encourage engagement. This was helping to normalise negative connotations about Muslims and pushing more people towards taking part in anti-migrant protests, according to the research. read the complete article
Mosques in Scotland tighten security after foiled terror plot, series of Islamophobic attacks
Mosques across Scotland have tightened security following a foiled terror plot and a series of attacks on Islamic centres, with the country’s largest mosque in Glasgow now under 24-hour protection, local media reported. Omar Afzal from the Scottish Association of Mosques said there was “a great deal of fear and alarm within the community.” “It’s feeling really under threat and really vulnerable. Mosques across the country are really looking at their security measures and increasing them,” he told LBC. Afzal said some centres had already hired guards. “The country’s largest, for example, Glasgow Central Mosque, has 24-hour security now as a result of what’s happened over the last few months,” he added. The measures follow several incidents. In March, a teenager threw paint over a mosque in Aberdeen and smashed a window while people were inside. The following month, vandals targeted a mosque in Elgin for the third time, damaging several windows. More recently, the Newton Mearns Islamic Centre reported an incident in which a man allegedly attacked a schoolgirl in the street and made threats against Muslims. read the complete article
International
US cash turned Tommy Robinson into the poster boy of UK far right
Outside the Old Bailey in 2018, a reinvented Tommy Robinson flashed his perfect new teeth to 2,000 diehard supporters at a “free Tommy” rally on a stage that blocked the street. Robinson was suddenly flush with US funds that transformed him from rightwing agitator to self-styled “citizen journalist”, with slick videos and a vast social media following that helped his Unite the Kingdom demonstration draw 110,000 protesters to the streets of London on Saturday. Money from one man – US tech billionaire Robert Shillman – ties Robinson to a Who’s Who of far-right influencers with millions of followers online. Among them was US conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was murdered in Utah last week. Robinson’s reinvention for the social media age, which expanded his heavy focus on Muslims allegedly involved in child sexual abuse, was the result of his “Shillman fellowship” in 2017 to rightwing Canadian website Rebel Media – now called Rebel News – to the tune of about £85,000 over a year. Shillman, who calls himself “Dr Bob”, citing his PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is said to be a key figure in the transatlantic “counter-jihad” movement. He has invested in about 20 fellowships, working with Rebel News and rightwing thinktank the David Horowitz Freedom Center (DHFC), where the aim is “to promote freedom and to expose the lies of the radical left, the Islamist movement, and their allies in the media”. read the complete article
Zohran Mamdani proudly embodies what I often feel alienated in: my own identity as an unapologetic Muslim and progressive
He eats biryani with his hands, references Bollywood, is an unapologetic Muslim and a progressive. He has also done something politically risky for a mainstream candidate: been vocal for Palestine. Zohran Mamdani proudly embodies what I have often felt alienated in: my own positioning as a Muslim progressive – one that has been treated as an oxymoron at best, or suspect at worst. From Australia, watching him feels like having my own personality projected large. I feel both an elation at his reception and win as Democratic candidate for mayor of New York as well as exhaustion at the double bind and suspicion brown Muslims inevitably experience in the public sphere. It’s echoed here in Australia with the treatment of the first hijab‑wearing senator Fatima Payman and deputy Greens leader Mehreen Faruqi. Mamdani should be a darling of the left and liberal press. But what the veiled racism echoes, in a more subtle way, is the same anxiety I feel writ large and explicit in the rise of Trumpism and its echoes in Australia. Demographic changes are irrevocably transforming power in western democracies. As we, the sons and daughters of migrants from formerly colonised nations, seek power in media and politics and transform the societies we have grown up in, we are still seen as threatening, and not just to the far right. We are seen as having “broken the rules of multiculturalism” for disagreeing, and too often the very people championing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) feel more comfortable offering a (conditional) hand than power sharing and equality. This idea of being too Muslim for progressives or too progressive for Muslim communities and somehow an impostor in both those worlds, which bar entry because of what they perceive as parts of you that are incompatible, is an experience I’ve often felt. But Mamdani’s ability to sit proudly in that, a respect for his heritage, a confidence in his self, and a vision for the future, is a real decolonial practice. Because so many of us are also sitting in the overlap of political Venn diagrams and showing others it is possible too. read the complete article
Canada
Photos of ‘unveiled’ Muslim woman are not intimate images: B.C. tribunal
Photos of a Muslim woman in which she is not wearing a hijab are not intimate images, a B.C. tribunal has ruled. The Civil Resolution Tribunal published its decision on the case Friday, dismissing a claim for damages under B.C.’s Intimate Images Protection Act. The legislation allows people to seek up to $5,000 in compensation from individuals who share or threaten to share their intimate images without consent. The woman, whose identity is anonymized under a publication ban, told the tribunal photos of her without her hijab were shared with court officials, some of whom were male, by her ex-husband in the course of a family law proceeding. “The applicant says that because she is a Muslim woman, she does not appear unveiled, without her hijab, in front of unrelated men. She argues the involuntary exposure of her hair, arms, or body to unrelated men is equivalent to public nudity,” tribunal vice-chair Andrea Ritchie wrote. “She says the respondent, who shares her faith, knows this and improperly submitted the photos to the court in an attempt to humiliate and degrade her.” Ritchie reviewed the photos and found the woman was shown without her hijab in 13 images, but also found the photos did not meet the legal criteria of intimate images. read the complete article
Australia
Urgent calls for the federal government to adopt recommendations to combat Islamophobia
Prominent calls are being made for the federal government to adopt newly-introduced recommendations, following a report by the government-appointed Envoy to Combat Islamophobia. It follows data from the Islamophobia Register Australia, revealing a 530 per cent increase in incidents since October 7, 2023. The Islamophobia Register Australia has called for the federal government to adopt the recommendations by an Islamophobia envoy and repair relations with the Muslim community in the country. This, as Australia's first Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia, Aftab Malik, handed down his report on addressing Islamophobia in Australia last week [[Friday]]. The co-executive director of the Islamophobia Register Australia, Sharara Attai welcomes the report. The recommendations include to grant Islamophobia the "same rights, protections, and legal recourse" as other forms of discrimination; a review of counter-terrorism laws; and the establishment of a commission of inquiry into anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab racism. He says discrimination against Muslim groups in Australia has been persistent, but that number of incidents has risen sharply since October 2023. Mr Malik says global events can fuel Islamophobia within the country. read the complete article
Netherlands
9 Dutch mosques targeted with hate mail smeared in suspected blood
Nine mosques across the Netherlands received hate-filled letters smeared with what appeared to be blood, alarming Muslim communities and prompting outrage, local media reported Friday. The mosques targeted are located in Rotterdam, Eindhoven, Arnhem, Tilburg, and The Hague, according to Dutch daily AD. The letters contained defamatory language, insults, and cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad - seeking to insult by flouting Islam’s ban on such representations. "This is a form of intimidation and threat,” Joram van Klaveren of the national mosque association K9 told public broadcaster NOS. "The letters are full of hate rhetoric. In Rotterdam, one letter even referred to the ‘last days of Islam in Europe’.” Van Klaveren said the incident evoked painful memories of past violent attacks on Muslims, including the 2019 terrorist assault on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in which 51 people were killed, and the murder of a worshipper during prayers in France earlier this year. read the complete article