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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the United Kingdom, reporting from HOPE not hate reveals that Barnet Reform Candidate Leo Fruhman has a history of making anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, and anti-LGBTQ comments, elsewhere in Britain, the state is appealing a recent High Court ruling that the government’s ban on the direct-action group Palestine Action was illegal and “disproportionate”, and lastly in the United States, a new study by the Center for the Study of Organized Hate finds that the current surge in anti-Muslim hatred from elected Republicans can be traced to a social media post by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott early last year. Our recommended read of the day is by Taj Ali for The Guardian, who writes that British Muslims are leaving the Labour party because they feel their votes are being taken for granted. This and more below:
United Kingdom
Sectarianism? Family voting? No, what British Muslims are doing with their votes is called democracy | Recommended Read
The term family voting – a form of electoral fraud that refers to family members conferring, colluding or directing each other in the voting booth – seemed to come out of nowhere the day after that byelection result, circulating rapidly through the British political conversation before disappearing again. It became a talking point because the election observer group Democracy Volunteers raised concerns, saying it saw it happening in 15 of the 22 polling stations it observed. In the end, the police said they found “no evidence of any intent to influence or refrain any person from voting”. In the aftermath of the vote, much of the political right picked up the family voting thesis and ran with it. But what did they really think was going on? Was it Muslim men – the Gorton and Denton constituency is about 30% Muslim – forcing their wives to vote for Spencer, the charismatic Green candidate, because of the party’s focus on Gaza? Was it a sinister plot to direct votes away from Reform? Nobody seemed able to say. But the short-lived scandal only made sense because of a narrative that hangs in the air in modern Britain: that Muslims can’t be trusted with democracy. For the past few months, I have been speaking to people in Manchester and Birmingham as part of a forthcoming documentary for the Guardian about British Muslim voters. One of my conclusions is that the rise of the Green party – which dramatically overtook Labour in a YouGov/Sky poll in March – and other independent candidates, such as those who beat Labour in the shock victories of the 2024 election, has nothing to do with family voting, Muslim sectarianism or clan politics. It is about the disintegration of Labour’s historical base as voters feel as though they are being taken for granted. Only, this time, it’s not the white working class taking its votes elsewhere, but the rest of the working class. read the complete article
“Every Muslim Out Of Europe” – Meet Barnet’s Bigoted Reform Candidate
He has a “problem with Muslims”, thinks Gay Pride is “disgraceful” and might defect to Restore Britain – meet Leo Fruhman of Barnet. Under his pseudonym, Fruhman has certainly not held back on his antipathy for Labour politicians. calling Keir Starmer a “proper c*nt” and “Muslim loving abhorrent man”, and saying “this is beyond incredible” in response to an anti-Muslim rant by US activist Valentina Gomez in which she called Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood a “dirty Pakistani”. read the complete article
UK appeals High Court ruling that granted Palestine Action a victory
The United Kingdom is appealing the High Court’s landmark ruling that the government’s ban on Palestine Action was illegal. The two-day hearing, which begins on Tuesday at the Court of Appeal in London, comes after top judges described the proscription of the direct-action group as a terrorist organisation as “disproportionate” in February. This week’s case marks the latest development in the legal battle between the state and the activist network whose stated mission is to target companies associated with the Israeli military. Since the UK banned Palestine Action last July, thousands of Britons have participated in a coordinated campaign of civil disobedience, with more than 2,700 people arrested under terror laws for holding up signs reading, “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.” Although the government’s case suffered a blow at the High Court, the proscription remained in place amid the appeals process – and it is still illegal to show support for the group. read the complete article
British Muslims oppose the war on Iran? No kidding, so do most Brits
Is the Pope Catholic? It seems these days, we need a poll to tell us the obvious. Step in Policy Exchange, which in its recent 10-page report authored by Dr Rakib Ehsan, pronounces that, "While neither the US nor Israel is popular with the British public, British Muslims are notably more hostile towards the two countries." Given that the US and Israel have for decades aggressively bombed dozens of Muslim-majority countries that British Muslims have familial, cultural and business relationships with, some denting of goodwill is hardly surprising. Ehsan goes on to lament apparent "anti-Americanism" among British Muslims as if this is somehow not shared by millions of other concerned citizens across the UK. A recent poll by Sky News suggests only 11 percent of Britons believe the US’s actions against Iran will leave the world a safer place. And indeed, Policy Exchange’s own polling data suggests only 18 percent of Britons support the UK joining the US and Israel’s war on Iran. Across the globe, rising anxiety about the rapid breakdown of the international rules-based order in favour of a Trump-led “might is right” approach is widespread. Is it too much to consider that British Muslims might share such views, and want our government to take a firmer line in standing up to this madness? read the complete article
United States
Will Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric matter at the Supreme Court?
Eight years ago, in the Supreme Court’s first significant battle over a Donald Trump policy, the justices dismissed the president’s anti-Muslim rhetoric and upheld a travel ban on majority-Muslim countries. Now, Trump’s lawyers are invoking the decision as they urge the justices to ignore his derogatory comments about Haitians and endorse his plan to deport certain migrants previously granted “temporary protected status” in the US because of turmoil in their home country. The travel ban case allowed the president to defend the ban based on a “legitimate” national security interest, irrespective of whether it had been motivated by animus. The decision launched the court’s pattern of bolstering Trump’s power. It was also the first major case in which the court’s conservatives adopted what has a become blinkered approach to the president’s biased assertions. read the complete article
Study traces anti-Muslim campaign to Greg Abbott
The current surge in anti-Muslim hatred from elected Republicans can be traced to a social media post by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott early last year, according to a new study by the Center for the Study of Organized Hate. Since then, Republican officials have collectively published more than 1,100 Islamophobic posts on official media accounts, the nonprofit think tank reported in “Manufacturing the Muslim Threat: Inside the GOP’s Anti-Muslim Social Media and Legislative Campaign.” “Republican members of Congress and governors have promoted conspiracy theories about Muslim Americans, called for the deportation and denaturalization of Muslims, promoted negative portrayals of Islam, described U.S. cities with significant Muslim populations as ‘conquered’ or ‘invaded’” and falsely recast domestic terror attacks as Muslim-led, the report says. And it all began with Abbott’s Feb. 24, 2025, post on X. read the complete article
Our different faiths teach us to love one another, not fuel anti-Muslim hate
We are a Christian and a Muslim. We are Texans. We have also witnessed anti-Muslim sentiments in recent weeks and months, thanks to the fearmongering about Shariah from Gov. Greg Abbott, and other top Texas officials and political candidates. One of us, Cameron Vickrey, had such an experience during a recent conversation with an acquaintance. He was lamenting learning how a number of mosques opened in Texas last year. He explained that he doesn't feel safe, and he said he worried about "jihadists" promoting a dangerous ideology. We would counter that none of us deserves to have our religion judged by its worst adherents, and just like Christianity, which is also capable of producing violent extremists, Islam teaches peace. Christianity has been in the cultural majority for the past 250 years in the United States, so even most non-Christians are somewhat familiar with the faith's teachings and values. But there is little such understanding of Islam. And in the place of curiosity and wonder, fear and hatred easily take over. In response, we decided to share what we believe are the most influential and important teachings of our faiths. read the complete article
Andrea Mazzarino, The Trauma and the Terror Among Us
Instead of a workaday force that makes sure the rules are followed, it’s become an internal police force that bears increasing resemblance to what the United States military has been doing in dozens of other countries around the world as part of the never-ending Global War on Terror (GWOT) that this country has been waging for almost a quarter-century now in response to the September 11, 2001, attacks. America’s wars are indeed coming home. The War on Terror has been notable for its heavy reliance on special forces operations like nighttime raids on civilian homes and incursions into mosques, schools, and marketplaces to search for enemy combatants or information. In particular, the U.S. scaled back large troop deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan after its failed wars in those countries, and yet, by 2016, about 70% of the world’s nations had U.S. special operations forces deployed in them. At the height of the Afghanistan war in 2010-2011, U.S. special operations forces were conducting thousands of nighttime raids into Afghan homes in search of suspected terrorists. Since those special forces operate outside of conventional battlefield settings, often with little planning and without embedded journalists, the public has had few chances to scrutinize their activities. Not surprisingly, then, we haven’t paid much attention to the civilian deaths that resulted. Roughly 40% — or close to half a million — of those killed directly in our wars have been civilians, an unnerving number of them children. Our military’s reliance on special operations, urban warfare, and proximity-based ways of identifying suspected terrorists (more on that later) means that many people with no connection whatsoever to the warring parties have been shot down or bombed out in their homes, markets, or schools, among other places. And that’s because the U.S. military has come to rely on a form of targeting called “pattern-of-life surveillance,” whereby they look for suspected opposition leaders by using what they know of their daily routines to aid with target identification. This approach holds some serious implications for the safety of civilians and has arguably led to extra anger and so the ability of armed opposition groups to recruit new members more easily. read the complete article