Farid Hafez, Author at Bridge Initiative

26 Aug 2019

The Manifesto of the El Paso Terrorist

On 6 August, 2019, a white supremacist (Patrick Crusius) committed a terrorist attack that killed twenty-two people. Prior to the execution, he left a ‘manifesto’ for the public similar to the ‘manifestos’ written by other... read the complete article

Article

07 Aug 2019

Commemorating the Victims of Utøya and Remembering Islamophobic Violence

Eight years ago, on 22 July 2011, the bloodiest terrorist attack following the end of World War II took place in Western Europe and shook the Western world. In the year of the terrorist attack by Brenton Tarrant, who was inspired by Breivik’s violent actions, it is time to look back at what has happened with regard to racist violence that draws on anti-Muslim propaganda. read the complete article

Article

31 Jul 2019

The Second European Commission’s Meeting on Combatting Anti-Muslim Racism

From 24 - 25 June 2019, a workshop on synergies and good practices on tackling anti-Muslim racism and discrimination that was co-hosted by the European Commission and the Ministry of Labour, Migration and Social Security of Spain took place in Madrid. This is the second of its kind following a meeting on 3 December 2018, where the European Commission hosted a high level conference on tackling intolerance and discrimination against Muslims in the EU. One hundred fourteen participants from civil society organisations and public authorities across all the EU Member States came together to make progress on cooperation to tackle intolerance, hate crime and anti-Muslim racism. The program included not only keynote speeches and round tables, but workshops where civil society actors, state officials and people from bureaucracy came together to exchange experiences, ideas, and best practices examples. read the complete article

Editorial

18 Jul 2019 | Individuals

Sarrazin and the German Social Democrats’ stance on Islamophobia

It is the third attempt by the Social Democrats to exclude Thilo Sarrazin from their party on allegations of racism. A chance for the Social Democrats to sharpen their profile? Sarrazin was leading as a... read the complete article

Article

05 Jul 2019 | Individuals

Remembering the Murder of Marwa El-Sherbini: A Symbol of Deadly Anti-Muslim Racism in Germany

It was the 1st of July 2009, 11.07 a.m., when Marwa El-Sherbini was stabbed to death by a white nationalist in the court of the German city of Dresden. The 31 year old observant Muslim... read the complete article

Editorial

01 Jul 2019 | Individuals

The silent murder of Walter Lübcke

On June 2 this year, Walter Lübcke, a regional politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), was found dead in his home. Lübcke was found with a bullet wound in the head, suggesting a sniper... read the complete article

Article

27 Jun 2019 | Politics

Don’t Sell to Muslims!

Recently, a Palestinian family that fled from Gaza and moved to Austria in 2010 made the news. The father, an instructor in English language at the University for Teachers in Gaza , had moved to... read the complete article

Editorial

20 May 2019 | Individuals

Criminalizing Ramadan: Illiberal tendencies in Western democracies

Ramadan has long turned into a political object in Western politics. When Madeleine Albright first started to organize iftar (fast-breaking) dinners at the White House during the Clinton era, many Western governments in Europe started to follow her newly introduced tradition. Congratulating Muslims on the advent of Ramadan has become a political ritual for leaders of Western governments to show respect not only to the followers of the second largest religion in the world, but also to a growing and contested religious minority in their own lands. read the complete article

Editorial

20 May 2019 | Politics

The Identitarian Austrian Freedom Party

The Identitarian movement has attracted a lot of attention since the white-supremacist terrorist at the Christchurch mosques made headlines, naming his manifesto – "The Great Replacement" – after a famous slogan of this movement. As the world would later get to know, the relationship was even financial. read the complete article

Editorial

20 May 2019 | Politics

Austria’s Islamophobia and the construction of the authoritarian state

The Austrian government has just implemented a Hijab-ban in primary school, pretending to save Muslim women from ‘political Islam’. This measure reveals the structural alteration of the state in the hands of a right-wing government into an ideological state. read the complete article