Arsalan Iftikhar, Author at Bridge Initiative

02 Feb 2023

U.S. Should Appoint Islamophobia Envoy Like Canada

In January 2023, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that he would appoint Amira Elghawaby to become Canada’s first special representative for combating Islamophobia to tackle racism, discrimination and religious intolerance faced by millions of... read the complete article

Editorial

12 Dec 2022 | Terms/Tropes

Western Double Standards & 2022 FIFA Qatar World Cup

The recent controversies surrounding the 2022 FIFA World Cup revolve around an ongoing orientalist lens where Western pundits still continue to view the greater Muslim world laced in condescension and double standards not given to other non-Muslim countries, (like China or Russia) who get to host global sporting events without much controversy at all. read the complete article

Article

07 Nov 2022 | Individuals

India’s 2022 Anti-Muslim Yearbook: Bollywood Bigotry & Hijab Bans

India’s movie industry known as “Bollywood” has cemented itself as the world’s leading film market when it comes to selling seats (2 billion tickets sold annually). Even though India’s most famous Bollywood superstar is a... read the complete article

Editorial

04 Nov 2022 | Politics

Please Don’t Let Islamophobia Co-Opt Hijab Protests

In my nearly two decades as an international human rights lawyer, I have rarely seen stranger political bedfellows than watching anti-Muslim forces cheering pro-democracy Iranians in the wake of the horrific murder of 22-year-old Mahsa... read the complete article

Article

04 Oct 2022 | Individuals

Report: Muslims Represent Only 1% of Hollywood TV Roles

Even though the world’s 1.9 billion Muslims currently represent nearly one-fourth (24%) of the world’s nearly 8 billion person population today, a recent September 2022 report from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative... read the complete article

Article

06 Sep 2022 | Individuals

Fifth Anniversary of Rohingya Muslim Genocide in Myanmar

Approximately five years ago- on August 25, 2017- the military of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) began a campaign of ethnic cleansing against over 1,000,000 Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state. The military defended its actions,... read the complete article

Article

01 Sep 2022 | Individuals

‘American Muslim Poll 2022’ Shows Islamophobia is Alive & Well

The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) recently released their 6th annual “American Muslim Poll 2022,” supported by the Bridge Initiative, which provides a national snapshot of American Muslims (and people of other backgrounds)... read the complete article

Article

20 Aug 2021 | Individuals

Global Islamophobia & The “Great Replacement” Conspiracy Theory

In March 2019, a young white supremacist walked into 2 different mosque locations in Christchurch, New Zealand and livestreamed a horrific massacre of 51 innocent Muslim worshippers on Facebook Live in the worst act of... read the complete article

Editorial

20 Apr 2020 | Individuals

COVID-19’s Impact on Persecuted Muslims Worldwide

The current coronavirus pandemic has forced our entire human race to adjust to a “new normal” of quarantine lifestyles around the globe. At the same time, we must not forget that there are also millions... read the complete article

Editorial

14 Mar 2020

Christchurch Anniversary: The Islamophobic ‘Great Replacement’ Theory

On March 15, 2019, a 29-year-old white supremacist walked into two different mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand and live-streamed his mass murder of 51 Muslim worshippers in the bloodiest act of Islamophobic terrorism in modern... read the complete article