Bridge Initiative Team, Author at Bridge Initiative

31 Jul 2023 | Policy/Law

Factsheet: War on Drugs: Surveillance

IMPACT: The US War on Drugs has used surveillance to aid in policing, curb the international drug trade, and enforce drug prohibition since 1971. Technologies and techniques used as part of the “war” include wiretapping,... read the complete article

Factsheet

27 Jul 2023 | Organizations

Factsheet: Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA)

IMPACT: Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA) is a Marietta, Georgia-based Hindu right-wing advocacy organization known for targeting critics of Hindu nationalism and those who highlight the persecution of religious minorities, particularly Muslims and... read the complete article

External Articles

27 Jul 2023

Silencing Muslim voices: France’s authoritarian security state

This op-ed by Bridge Initiative Senior Researcher Farid Hafez originally appeared in EU Observer. On 24 July, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom issued an alarming policy briefing on religious freedom concerns in the European Union at... read the complete article

Factsheet

13 Jul 2023 | Individuals

Factsheet: Friedrich Merz

IMPACT: Friedrich Merz is a German politician. In 2022, he became the leader of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and leader of the CDU parliamentary group in the German federal parliament, the Bundestag. He has made anti-Muslim comments and represents the conservative right-wing camp within his party. read the complete article

External Articles

27 Jun 2023

Italy: Meloni’s Islamophobic policies are pushing Muslims to the margins

This op-ed by Bridge Initiative Senior Researcher Farid Hafez originally appeared in Middle East Eye. Since taking office in October following the general elections, Italian Prime Minister and leading co-founder of the neo-fascist Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy),... read the complete article

Video

21 Jun 2023 | Event

The Criminalization of Islamophobia Studies

The Bridge Initiative brings together a panel of experts who have faced targeted harassment for their scholarly work on the state’s role in promoting Islamophobia, to discuss this growing and dangerous phenomena and the impact it’s having on academic freedom and civil society. read the complete article

Podcast

05 Jun 2023

Five Questions on Canadian Islamophobia with Amira Elghawaby

In Episode six of "Unpacking Islamophobia," our guest is Amira Elghawaby who is Canada’s first-ever Special Representative on Combating Islamophobia. In the past few years, Canada has experienced more mass killings motivated by Islamophobia than any other country in the G7. read the complete article

Factsheet

25 May 2023 | Organizations

Factsheet: Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA)

IMPACT: Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA) is a Hindu far-right organization and the US offshoot of India’s Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), designated as a “militant religious organization” by the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) World... read the complete article

Podcast

22 May 2023

Five Questions on Islamophobia and the Future of Muslims in India

In Episode Five of "Unpacking Islamophobia," our guest is Kashmiri Muslim journalist, Raqib Hameed Naik, who discusses Hindu nationalism in India and the growing violence and intolerance against the country's 200 million Muslims. Naik provides an important historical overview of Hindu nationalism, the ideologues behind this political movement and their goal of achieving a Hindu-only nation. He talks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is an openly Hindu nationalist party and under whose rule India has witnessed a drastic rise in anti-Muslim violence and polarization. read the complete article

Factsheet

04 May 2023 | Individuals

Factsheet: Sameh Egyptson

Sameh Egyptson is a Swedish academic and highly visible public commentator. He is hired as an expert by public agencies and right-wing political parties. Egyptson is engaged in spreading conspiracy theories about an alleged Islamization of Sweden by the Muslim Brotherhood. Sameh Egyptson (formerly known as Sameh Nabeh Basely Khalil) is a Swedish academic and highly profiled public debater. read the complete article