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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the United Kingdom, twelve elite British universities are accused of hiring a private security firm with military intelligence ties to track pro-Palestine student protester’s social media activity, elsewhere in the country, campaigns for local elections have kicked off around the country, with analysts already seeing a litany of candidates from Reform who’ve expressed Islamophobic views, and lastly in the United States, AZ Senate Republicans rammed a slate of three anti-Muslim bills through the Chamber in a display that one Democratic legislator called a “stain on our state.” Our recommended read of the day is by Aamna Mohdin for The Guardian on how Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) leader Wajid Akhter wants to replicate Zohran Mamdani’s grassroots voting drive with an ambitious campaign entitled “Hungry for Change”, to similarly drive progressives to the polls. This and more below:
International
‘This is our moment as British Muslims’: MCB leader takes inspiration from New York mayor | Recommended Read
Zohran Mamdani’s victory to become New York’s first Muslim mayor took place thousands of miles from the UK. But at the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), the campaign was being closely studied. “We actually spent some time with his campaign team to work out what the secret sauce was,” said Dr Wajid Akhter, who took over as secretary general of Britain’s largest and most diverse national Muslim umbrella body last year. Akhter, a GP, said he was struck by the Mamdani campaign’s communication strategy. “Even when you talk about Gaza, he would bring it back to talking about rent.” Speaking at a busy cafe in east London earlier this month, Akhter said that what stood out most was the scale of grassroots organising central to the Democratic mayor’s win. Akhter praised Mamdani’s ability to balance digital and traditional campaigning. “If you just do one side, you’re just another influencer. If you just have a ground campaign, it doesn’t penetrate the masses. If we can marry the two, then I think we’ve got something serious going.” read the complete article
United Kingdom
Did UK universities pay to ‘spy’ on pro‑Palestine students?
UK universities allegedly hired a security firm with military intelligence ties to monitor pro-Palestine students.Twelve elite British universities are accused of hiring a private security firm with military intelligence ties to track pro-Palestine student protests. Students were reportedly flagged through social media monitoring without their awareness, sparking debate over surveillance and free speech in UK higher education. read the complete article
Antisemitism and Islamophobia from Reform Candidate in Plymouth
As campaigning for the local elections kicks off around the country, we’ve already seen a litany of terrible candidates from Reform. And, despite having to select just 19 candidates, it seems that Reform in Plymouth is no better. Meet Ben Rowe, Reform’s candidate for Ham ward on Plymouth City Council. Does Reform welcome candidates who fantasise about impaling Muslims, enjoy crude anti-black stereotypes and believe that Keir Starmer is beholden to a “Globalist zion cult?” If Reform did not bother to check Rowe’s publicly accessible Facebook profile, it’s even less likely that they’ll have come across his anonymous YouTube account, where he goes by “TheRedEyedJedi” and elaborates on his bigotry in more detail. They won’t, for example, have seen his inciteful (and likely illegal) posts during the riot outside a mosque in Southport in 2024, in which he urged the rioters to “get rid of that filthy building”. Nor would they have seen his other antisemitic comments, in which he puts forward the antisemitic conspiracy that Jews are “forcing other races on our societies” and “flooding the west with Islamists”. read the complete article
United States
Call it what it is: Islamophobia
I don’t know how I didn’t see the waves of Islamophobic comments coming after hitting publish on my story about Assistant Professor of Religion Sajida Jalalzai’s tenure denial. I was just proud of a story well-reported and written — which, after a year in the making, I still am, to an extent. But my pride has since been drowned out by shame for the hate it has generated. When the San Antonio Current picked up the article, I was happy that discourse about Jalalzai’s story was reaching a wider audience. I didn’t know that I was accidentally creating a forum for more Islamophobia in a comment section I couldn’t moderate. As a student at this school, as a person with a conscience who knows right from wrong and most importantly, as a Brown woman, I can write about how appalling almost every comment I’ve read on this article is. The merits of Jalalzai’s case or her scholarship have hardly been scrutinized. The fact that she wears a hijab has been, though. The religion she practices has been. The color of her skin has been. read the complete article
CAIR weighs legal action over Arizona’s anti-Muslim bills
Senate Republicans on Monday rammed a slate of three anti-Muslim bills through the Chamber in a display that one Democratic legislator called a “stain on our state.” And a local civil rights organization may follow the lead of similar groups in Texas and Florida by suing in response. “This paints entire communities with suspicion,” Priya Sundareshan, the Senate Minority Leader, said on the Senate floor. “It is unfair, and it is un-American.” The controversial legislation centered on an attempt to crack down on the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, a Muslim civil rights group with an Arizona local chapter. The bills now have a straightforward shot at passing out of the legislature. They’ll head to the House before they’re sent to the federal government or put before voters. read the complete article