![[Farid Hafez]](https://bridge.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-10.45.01-AM.jpeg "Farid Hafez")
The Bridge Initiative is a multi-year research project on Islamophobia housed in Georgetown University.
The Bridge Initiative aims to disseminate original and accessible research, offers engaging analysis and commentary on contemporary issues, and hosts a wide repository of educational resources to inform the general public about Islamophobia.
Research & Resources
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, describing their campaign as a “clearance operation” aimed at militants. Marking the five year anniversary of the brutal campaign of…
‘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) two years into the COVID-19 pandemic. With the November 2022 midterm elections right around the corner, the ISPU researchers interviewed…
The Misappropriation of Islamic Terminology
Phrases such as “Christian Sharia Law” and “election jihad” do two things: 1) use Islam and Muslims as a point of reference for all things bad, evil, and unjust, and 2) acknowledge the negative connotations around Islamic terminology in the post-9/11 world and misappropriate these terms to manufacture a threat. Both scenarios are successful because the association of Islam and Muslims with danger is already ingrained in the public’s mind. It’s not only a replay of age-old orientalist thinking — everything “over there” is bad/uncivilized, and “we” are not “them” — but it’s also a sort of linguistic Islamophobia, instrumentalizing Islamic terminology to connect Muslims with danger, violence, and oppression.