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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the United States, a coalition of Harvard University faculty and graduate students lined up outside its main gate holding black and white signs to demonstrate the silencing of Arab, Muslim and Palestinian voices on campus, meanwhile in Europe, FIFA has opened proceedings against the Spanish FA after anti-Muslim chants were heard at Spain’s home game against Egypt on March 31, and lastly in Australia, officials have arrested Ben Roberts-Smith, a decorated Australian soldier who stands accused of committing five counts of war crimes in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012. Our recommended read of the day is by Helen Morgan for Hyphen on an arson attack in the Spanish town of Piera and how the authorities’ “response” highlights gaps in justice. This and more below:
Spain
What a mosque fire shows about Muslim life in Pedro Sánchez’s Spain | Recommended Read
Early one Saturday morning in July 2025 in the quiet commuter town of Piera, an hour from Barcelona, a mosque was set on fire days before it was due to open. “We found everything destroyed, everything burned,” said Yahya Mokhtari, the mosque’s president. “The whole community was very angry and very sad.” The Catalan police found traces of accelerants at the scene, leading to suspicion the fire was started deliberately, but the presiding judge closed the investigation weeks later, ordering no further measures and conditioning any reopening on new evidence. The local Islamic community – represented by lawyer Benet Salellas – requested the case be reopened, criticising the judge’s “passivity” and linking the fire to a series of earlier attacks on Piera’s youth centre. The case is currently under appeal to the provincial court of Barcelona. Núria Parlon, Catalan minister of the interior, suggested that the fire could be a hate crime, while Carme González, Piera’s mayor, pointed to Islamophobic rhetoric being spread intentionally. Francesc Ordóñez Ponz, a criminal lawyer at Salellas’ firm, argued the burning represented “the ultimate expression of contempt for the Islamic community”. read the complete article
International
FIFA opens disciplinary proceedings against Spanish FA over anti-Muslim chants
FIFA has opened proceedings against the Spanish FA after anti-Muslim chants were heard at Spain’s home game against Egypt on March 31. “FIFA has today initiated disciplinary proceedings against the Spanish Football Federation for the incidents that occurred during the friendly match against Egypt,” a statement from world football’s governing body read on Tuesday. Sections of the home crowd at Espanyol’s RCDE Stadium in Catalonia were seen jumping and heard chanting: “bote, bote, bote musulman el que no bote”, which translates to “jump, jump, jump, whoever doesn’t jump is a Muslim”. The refrain was heard again later in the first half and shortly after half-time. Fans were warned against discriminatory behaviour by the stadium announcer after they were heard singing the anti-Muslim chant. Spain’s Lamine Yamal, 18, said the following day that those who participated in the chants were “ignorant and racist”. read the complete article
Decorated Australian Soldier Arrested for Afghanistan War Crimes
On April 7, Australian police arrested Ben Roberts-Smith, a decorated Australian soldier who stands accused of committing five counts of war crimes in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012. Many of the details of Roberts-Smith’s alleged crimes were made public when he sued media outlets that had first reported on the allegations. He lost the defamation case. For victims of abuses in Afghanistan, this is a long-awaited but significant step toward accountability. Almost six years have passed since the release of the Independent Afghanistan Inquiry (known as the Brereton Report), which detailed alleged war crimes committed by Australian Special Forces in Afghanistan spanning 2005 to 2016. So far no one has stood trial for these crimes, and no victims or their families are known to have been compensated. In addition to identifying some of the alleged war crimes that led to Schulz and Roberts-Smith’s arrests, the Brereton Report recommended the Australian government pay compensation to survivors and families of victims unlawfully killed without waiting for the establishment of individual criminal liability. read the complete article
In a world that expects the opposite from us, the joy of Muslim women is radical
I have never hidden my faith, but I have still come across people who seem shocked or surprised that I am Muslim. Many of these experiences have been interactions with older white women in feminist spaces, especially in my early 20s, when I was involved with feminist-led organisations in Sheffield. What was it that made them think I wasn’t a Muslim? The way I look because I don’t wear a hijab? That I’m not afraid to share my opinions? That I work in a white, male-dominated industry? Or perhaps they spotted me laughing with a colleague and my happiness doesn’t fit into their perceptions of a Muslim woman? I still have to navigate awkward and sometimes uncomfortable interactions in some feminist spaces. I’ve had difficult conversations with people that elicit reactions of defensiveness or accusations of racism when talking about white feminism and its harms. This term refers to a type of feminism that focuses exclusively on white middle-class women and prioritises individual power over collective liberation. It assumes that white women experience misogyny in the same way all women experience misogyny. But that is not the case and is therefore an exclusionary approach to tackling gender inequality. Specifically, Muslim women are left out of this form of feminism. It has also fed many of the negative stereotypes and myths that affect our lives, including the belief that oppression of Muslim women is rooted only in our faith. read the complete article
United States
Harvard faculty and students hold silent protest for alleged anti-Arab and anti-Muslim discrimination by the university
A coalition of Harvard University faculty and graduate students lined up outside its main gate Tuesday holding black and white signs to demonstrate the silencing of Arab, Muslim and Palestinian voices on the Ivy League campus. Members of Harvard United for an Inclusive Campus let their signs speak for them during the noontime protest. “Harvard Silences,” read one. “Harvard bans, silences and erases Arab and Muslim voices,” read another. The signs pointed to alleged anti-Arab and-Muslim bias and connect them to the Trump administration’s latest lawsuits filed against the university and the escalating war in the Middle East. The action aimed to shed light on over 500 discrimination complaints tracked by the coalition that demonstrators say reflect Harvard’s attempt to appease the Trump administration. Harvard established two task forces to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus following the suprise terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 by Palestinian militants. But the university in 2025 adopted a controversial definition of antisemitism promoted by the Trump administration that faculty say could lead to the suppression of other groups. read the complete article
Anti-Muslim rhetoric in Texas politics
Rep. Salman Bhojani, one of the first Muslim state legislators, joins TribCast to talk about the backlash his community has experienced in state government and the GOP primaries. read the complete article