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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the United States, Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student detained by Ice earlier this year, has filed a lawsuit demanding the Trump administration release its communications with anti-Palestinian groups he says contributed to his arrest, meanwhile in France, the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) on criticized a new Ifop poll on Muslims in France, accusing it of reinforcing “stigma” and contributing to a climate of rising Islamophobia, and lastly in the UK, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has appointed Alan Mendoza as the party’s new Chief Advisor on Global Affairs, a former executive director of the anti-Muslim think-tank, Henry Jackson Society. Our recommended read of the day is by Sharon Zhang for Truthout on how Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) has denounced Greg Abbott as unfit for office, accusing him of normalizing anti-Muslim hate speech by targeting Muslim civil-rights groups in Texas. This and more below:
United States
Omar Slams Abbott as Unfit for Office Amid His “Vile” Islamophobic Spree | Recommened Read
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) has labeled Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as a “bigot” unfit for elected office as the far right politician goes on an Islamophobic spree targeting Muslim communities across his state. “Greg Abbot called CAIR [the Council on American-Islamic Relations], the largest Muslim civil rights organization, a ‘terrorist organization’ and said Muslims are a ‘threat to our freedom.’ The normalization of anti-Muslim hate speech is vile,” Omar said in a post on social media on Wednesday. “This bigot should have no place in elected office,” she went on. Further, on Wednesday, Abbott sent a letter to district attorneys and sheriffs of two counties in Texas urging them to investigate and potentially shut down Islamic mediation groups. Making heavy use of scare quotes, Abbott singled out these groups, which operate based on Islamic law, or Sharia, and accused them of acting in place of the court system. CAIR-Texas said that this is a blatant misunderstanding of Islamic law and “sharia courts” that represents “a direct assault on religious freedom.” State lawmakers have also sharply criticized Abbott for his attacks on Muslim groups and the communities that he is supposed to serve as an elected official. read the complete article
Mahmoud Khalil sues Trump officials over ‘collusion’ with anti-Palestinian groups
Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian activist who participated in protests at Columbia University and was detained by Ice earlier this year, has filed a lawsuit demanding the Trump administration release its communications with anti-Palestinian groups he says contributed to his March arrest and efforts to detain him. The groups, a number of which have boasted about their involvement in sharing dossiers on Palestine activists with the administration, have claimed credit for Khalil’s arrest, according to the Center for Constitutional Rights, which is part of the legal team representing Khalil, and they say there is evidence that indicates the Trump administration “acted on information and misinformation – provided by these groups in cracking down” on Khalil and other pro-Palestine activists. “For months, shady organizations and individuals carried out a smear and harassment campaign designed to intimidate and silence me,” said Khalil in a statement to the Centre for Constitutional Rights. read the complete article
USF investigating harassment of Muslim students’ prayer on Tampa campus
The University of South Florida Police Department is investigating a report of men harassing Muslim students who were praying this week on the roof of a campus parking garage. At least three men interrupted the Tuesday morning prayer of roughly 10 students on the top floor of the Collins Boulevard parking garage, shouting obscenities and offering the students bacon, according to a statement and video clips posted on Instagram by the USF Muslim Student Association. The students had set up their prayer rugs in a corner of the roof level, the video shows. “All you Arab Muslims need to take your suicide bombing, terrorist butts and go back to Saudi Arabia,” one of the men told the students, one video clip shows. “Jesus Christ is coming,” another man said. “Take that towel off your head.” The men brought a box spray-painted with the words “Kaaba 2.0 Jesus is Lord.” One of the men was wearing a head covering and a white robe, known as a thobe in the Islamic faith, with the words “Jesus Is God” written on the front. “It’s easy to cram your religion down other people’s throats when you remove their heads,” one man said. “But you know, we do care about you, so we brought you some bacon.” read the complete article
'Hates Muslims, Except Billionaires': Bernie Sanders On Trump-Salman Meet
US President Donald Trump rolled out an opulent reception for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Washington on Tuesday, extending both a security pact featuring warplanes and a public defence of the royal's alleged role in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The red-carpet treatment immediately triggered backlash. Senator Bernie Sanders sharply criticised Trump's approach, accusing him of favouring authoritarian billionaires while 'disliking' ordinary Muslims. "Trump dislikes Muslims, except those who are billionaire autocrats who can make his family even richer," Sanders posted on X, responding to commentary about Mohammed bin Salman's transformation in Washington from international outcast to honoured guest at the White House. read the complete article
Texas governor declares one of America’s largest Muslim civil rights group a terrorist organization
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has declared one of the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy groups in the US, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a 'foreign terrorist organization' and a 'transnational criminal organization'. He stated this proclamation would allow the state to attempt to shut down the group and prevent it from acquiring land within Texas. However, neither CAIR nor the Muslim Brotherhood are officially designated as foreign terrorist organisations by the US government. CAIR told Abbott in a letter that his announcement had no basis “in law or fact." The group accused his office of stoking “anti-Muslim hysteria.” Months ago, Texas Republicans moved aggressively to try to stop a Muslim-centered planned community around one of the state’s largest mosques near Dallas. Abbott and other GOP state officials launched investigations into the development tied to the East Plano Islamic Center, saying the group is trying to create a Muslim-exclusive community that would impose Islamic law. read the complete article
CAIR sues Texas over terrorist designation
The Council on American-Islamic Relations’s (CAIR) legal arm has filed a lawsuit challenging Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) designation of their group as a “foreign terrorist organization” — a stance at odds with the U.S. government. CAIR is the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights advocacy organization, according to a description on its website. The organization’s legal defense fund and the Muslim Legal Fund of America, a legal advocacy group for Muslims, sued both Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) on Thursday to prevent the enforcement of Abbott’s designation. “The lawsuit we have filed today is our first step towards defeating Governor Abbott again so that our nation protects free speech and due process for all Americans,” Masri continued. read the complete article
New York politics used to promote misinformation, hard-right war against Muslims
Anti-Muslim and hard-right activists used Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign and subsequent election as mayor of New York City to spread racist misinformation and bigoted conspiracy theories. Many progressive activists viewed Mamdani’s historic victory as the city’s first Muslim and South Asian mayor as a triumph of pluralism. Anti-Muslim groups, in contrast, suggested that the practicing Muslim and progressive politician’s victory signaled the downfall not only of the city, but the country. read the complete article
United Kingdom
Farage's Reform appoints director of 'anti-Muslim' think tank as senior advisor
Nigel Farage's Reform UK has appointed the executive director of a think tank described as a "monstrous animal" and "racist organisation" by one of its own founders as the party's chief advisor on global affairs. Alan Mendoza was a Conservative councillor in Westminster but announced earlier this week he had defected to Reform, the anti-immigrant party that is currently topping national polls. The move provides a significant indicator of the direction Reform may take in the coming months - particularly on foreign policy. Mendoza's think tank, the Henry Jackson Society (HJS), was formed in 2011 and has promoted a neoconservative approach to foreign and domestic policy. It is heavily pro-Israel and significantly influenced successive Tory governments' counter-terror policies. HJS has argued that the government should take a hardline approach towards what it considered Islamist extremism, including the non-violent and legal varieties. read the complete article
France
French organization denounces 'instrumentalization' of Muslims in controversial survey
The French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) on Thursday criticized a new Ifop poll on Muslims in France, accusing it of reinforcing "stigma" and contributing to a climate of rising Islamophobia. In a statement, the council said the survey, commissioned by the magazine Ecran de veille, was presented as "a snapshot of the relationship between Muslims in France and Islam and Islamism," but in reality amounted to "yet another attempt to stigmatize French citizens of Muslim faith and their religious practices." The CFCM warned that some of the poll’s findings and interpretations were “questionable,” noting that they had already been “widely adopted and exploited by Islamophobic circles” to portray Muslims as an “internal and existential threat” to French society. The council also pointed out that the poll itself contradicts narratives promoted by far-right groups. “Other data, notably the fact that Muslims do not represent more than 7% of the French population, particularly undermine the ‘great replacement’ theory,” it said. The CFCM said the survey’s approach contained “numerous methodological biases” that rendered its conclusions “approximate, erroneous, and lacking in scientific value.” read the complete article