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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the UK, hundreds of far-right anti-Islam marched through Manchester on Saturday, demanding mass deportations of migrants and Muslims from the country, meanwhile a survey of 1,000 American Muslims and 500 British Muslims, conducted by Opinium for the Concordia Forum, shows that British and American Muslims overwhelmingly support democracy and equality, and lastly in Australia, the country’s race discrimination commissioner has denounced One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s “no good Muslims” statement as a “green light to violence”. Our recommended read of the day is by Mujib Mashal, Suhasini Raj, and Saumya Khandelwal for The New York Times on how the religious violence that played out in Sambhal, India, is an example of how the “arms of the state that once tried to play the role of referee now increasingly serve as the muscle of the forces recasting India’s secular republic as a Hindu-first nation.” This and more below:
India
India’s Hindu Right Seems Unstoppable. This City Shows How | Recommended Read
For Muslims in India’s north, the mosque, Shahi Jama Masjid, and the city that grew around it are a prominent bastion of their identity. But for the Hindu right, the 16th-century mosque is an eyesore — a symbol of an abhorred past of foreign invasions that brought Islam to India’s north and altered the region’s ancient demography. Hindu nationalists sought to dismantle the mosque through the courts by claiming it was built on a sacred Hindu site, using archaeological claims to help further the rise of Hindu nationalism. The swiftness with which the city, Sambhal, was subsequently brought to submission in the year that followed speaks to the unstoppable momentum of the Hindu Right as India’s dominant political force, leveraging the local government, the police and the judiciary. Violence along religious lines is not new in India. But what played out in Sambhal — documented in interviews and court documents — crystallized a new reality where the arms of the state that once tried to play the role of referee now increasingly serve as the muscle of the forces recasting India’s secular republic as a Hindu-first nation. read the complete article
Attacked in India, Kashmiri shawl sellers choose between safety, livelihood
Ahmad, 28, goes around houses in Hisar, a city in northern India’s Haryana state, selling shawls and other handicraft items – like thousands of other itinerant traders from Indian-administered Kashmir, who crisscross the country on foot or bicycles. But a spate of hate attacks faced by the shawl sellers in recent weeks has forced them to rethink and strategise what was once a common, winter-time sight across Indian cities: Kashmiris lugging large wraps holding shawls and other wares. Ahmad now runs a WhatsApp group in which nearly two dozen members share information as they guide each other on areas to avoid. Ahmad formed the WhatsApp group late last month after a Hindu shopkeeper in northern India’s Uttarakhand state hit Tabish Ahmad Ganie, an 18-year-old Kashmiri shawl seller, with an iron rod. “This is a Hindu village. Kashmiri Muslims won’t work here at all,” the shopkeeper was heard shouting in a viral video of the attack, which left Ganie unconscious, while his elder brother Danish, who was also attacked, suffered minor injuries. Ganie’s was not an isolated case, but part of a growing trend of attacks across India on Kashmiri traders and migrant workers, accompanied by a drumbeat of rhetoric against the region’s people on social media and at times, in public speeches from influential individuals linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). That rhetoric often depicts Kashmiris as “security threats” to India, and as “antinational” and “Pakistani agents”. read the complete article
Elderly men beaten up ‘for being Muslim’ in India
Three elderly men were repeatedly slapped and chased by a passerby in India’s Uttar Pradesh after he reportedly targeted them for being Muslim. read the complete article
United States
Huckabee’s Israel land remarks condemned as ‘dangerous and inflammatory’
Governments from across the Islamic world have condemned remarks by the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, suggesting it would “be fine” for Israel to claim a broad swath of the Middle East. Huckabee, an evangelical Christian pastor and former Arkansas governor, has long been an outspoken supporter of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. In an interview with the conservative US commentator Tucker Carlson published on Friday, the ambassador pointed to verses in the Bible that some Jews and evangelical Christians interpret as signifying the divine right of Jews to claim the land from the Nile to the Euphrates. “It would be fine if they took it all. But I don’t think that’s what we’re talking about here today,” Huckabee said, suggesting that it was Israeli restraint that prevented the Jewish state from exercising its biblical claim. read the complete article
Detentions and disappearances: how ICE has driven fear into Michigan’s Arab communities
From truck drivers to construction workers, Arab Americans in Dearborn are being swept up by ICE at places of worship and work, with devastating consequences. “The level of anxiety among people is at its highest; we’ve never seen something like this,” says Imad Hamad, executive director of the Dearborn-based American Human Rights Council. Dearborn has been on edge for months. In November 2025, rightwing provocateurs held anti-Islam rallies in the city and attempted to burn a copy of the Qur’an. At a city council meeting on 18 November 2025, extremists hurled insults and Islamophobic slurs at local leaders. On 31 January, a masked person allegedly impersonating an ICE agent was reported in a Dearborn supermarket asking shoppers about their visa status. “We thought that after the national tragedy of September 11 we would never face something more difficult than that particular experience,” Hamad says, referencing the waves of anti-Arab and Islamophobia that followed the 9/11 terrorist attacks. “Nowadays, it’s much tougher; there’s no comparison even – people are very concerned, very worried as they try to pursue their normal life.” read the complete article
MAGA lawmaker launches ‘Protecting Puppies from Sharia Act’ days after anti-Muslim post
A MAGA lawmaker has unveiled a controversial, so-called “Protecting Puppies from Sharia Act,” after a week of posting conspiracy theories about Muslims on social media. Florida Representative Randy Fine announced the bill on Thursday. The proposed legislation would cut off federal funding to states that prohibit dog ownership or consider owning a dog to be “haram.” It comes after he alleged that New Yorkers could be banned from owning dogs as part of a plan driven by Muslim supporters of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. “This bill will ban federal funds to any state or local government that considers dogs ‘haram,’” he continued. “Proceed accordingly, Mamdani.” Mayor Mamdani has never suggested banning dogs in New York City and has repeatedly expressed his support for freedom of religion. read the complete article
'Against Our Jewish Values' Jewish Groups Denounce GOP Rep. Randy Fine's 'Abhorrent, Racist and anti-Muslim Remarks'
'As political violence and attacks on religious minorities hit record levels, Members of Congress must lead by example, not fuel more hatred through dehumanization,' the Congressional Jewish Caucus said, joining several Jewish groups who also demanded that Fine be censured and stripped of his committee assignments. read the complete article
International
Fighting the 'Jesus Was a Palestinian Lie': Inside Israel's MAGA Influence Campaigns
Some users got curious and managed to trace the source – a public relations firm owned by media consultant Brad Parscale, who ran Donald Trump's digital campaign in 2016 and 2020 until he was replaced. The firm, Clock Tower X, is running a pro-Israel campaign that targets the American evangelical right and says it aims to fight antisemitism. But this effort is actually part of a bid to revive Israel's standing among Christians who are no longer among the country's most staunch supporters. Through official filings in the United States, Haaretz published in November that Israel had hired international companies, among them American firms, for campaigns including one producing pro-Israel content for millions of churchgoers. The contracts outlined planned campaigns and were revealed through documents filed with the U.S. Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, FARA, which requires the registration and disclosure of entities operating in the United States on behalf of foreign principals. The largest contract – worth $9 million – was signed with Parscale's firm, which states its objective: "planning and executing a U.S. campaign to combat antisemitism." Now the firm's first products are out: websites pushing a pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian message – and the antisemitism efforts are negligible. The SMS campaign is just the start. Documents recently filed under FARA show that the projects pitched last year are now materializing; the documents reveal that Parscale's firm set up a network of at least seven websites pushing a pro-Israel narrative. The content, a Haaretz review of all the content found, is frequently aligned with the foreign and domestic agenda of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. read the complete article
EXCLUSIVE: Muslims in the UK and US Support Democracy More Than the General Public
Muslims in the US and the UK overwhelmingly favor democracy and equality, but most do not believe they are always treated fairly under the law, according to a new poll shared exclusively with Zeteo. The survey of 1,000 American Muslims and 500 British Muslims, conducted by Opinium for the Concordia Forum, a transatlantic thinktank and networking group, in October 2025, measured views on democracy, equality, and the intersection of religion and country. The results dispel tired tropes about Muslims amplified by politicians and the mainstream media that have triggered a rise in Islamophobia. read the complete article
Israel blocks Palestinians from attending Ramadan Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa
Israel has severely restricted Palestinians’ access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem for the first Friday prayers of Ramadan. Israeli authorities said on Friday they would allow no more than 10,000 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank into one of Islam’s holiest sites for the day, and only with permits – a fraction of the number who have visited to mark the occasion in previous years. Only children under the age of 12, men over 55, and women 50 years or older are eligible. Israel’s Channel 12 reported that only about 2,000 Palestinians were able to cross through the Qalandiya checkpoint towards Jerusalem by the morning, amid a state of Israeli military high alert at checkpoints separating the West Bank and East Jerusalem. “In previous years, we’ve seen up to 250,000 worshippers in that holy site, and now only a fraction of that is expected." read the complete article
United Kingdom
Your Party can be a political home for British Muslims
It's not always easy being a British Muslim. Racist politicians have done their best to make us feel like our identity is a contradiction in terms. From the “war on terror” and the aftermath of 7/7, to the Prevent programme, to the repression of the pro-Palestine movement, the British state and right-wing media like to paint us as enemies within. Over the past two summers, we saw the terrifying consequences, as mobs laid siege to mosques on the streets of England amid racist riots. It’s no surprise, then, that many British Muslims recoil from Reform UK, whose leading figures openly denigrate us, and from a Conservative Party with a long history of surveilling us, demonising us and even expressing outright bigotry towards us. For decades, Labour has been the “natural home” for British Muslims. Yet with the brief exception of Jeremy Corbyn’s principled leadership, this support has been eroding for decades. The genocide in Gaza and Labour’s complicity in it were, of course, the spark for a total collapse in support for the party. In its place rose an army of independents, from our own elections as local councillors in Redbridge and Bradford, all the way to some spectacular victories in parliament, such as Shockat Adam’s unseating of Jonathan Ashworth in Leicester South. Catalysed by Gaza, this independent movement was the bedrock on which Your Party was built, providing the nascent political party with a basis in parliament and deep roots in communities, as well as a possible alliance between British Muslims and the organised left. read the complete article
Australia
'Green light to violence': Anti-racism commissioner denounces Hanson's remarks
Australia's race discrimination commissioner has denounced One Nation leader Pauline Hanson's remarks about Muslims, saying they gave a "green light to violence". Hanson said there were "no good Muslims" in an interview with Sky News on Monday, days before the start of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. She later partially walked back her comments, which the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said had been the subject of criminal complaints. In an interview with SBS News, race discrimination commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman said he was deeply concerned by Hanson's remarks. "When a public figure, a politician, demonises and dehumanises a whole group of people, that's a green light to violence from others," he said. "It emboldened others to act violently towards that group." read the complete article