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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the United Kingdom, the government has announced a new fund to provide a comprehensive service to monitor anti-Muslim hate and support victims, meanwhile in India, the country’s lower house of parliament has passed a controversial bill moved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government to amend laws governing Muslim endowments worth more than $14bn, and in the United States, Randy Fine, the anti-Palestinian candidate for a Florida seat in the US House of Representatives, emerged victorious on Tuesday in a special election in a heavily Republican congressional district. Our recommended read of the day is by Nadeine Asbali for The Guardian on how this past Monday marks the first time ever that the entirety of the Eid prayer was televised in British broadcast history. This and more below:
United Kingdom
As a child, I was afraid of my friends seeing me pray. Watching Eid live on the BBC was a huge moment | Recommended Read
If anything is going to get me to turn on BBC One early on Eid morning, it’s Eid prayer being televised on a UK terrestrial channel for the first time in British broadcasting history. Held at Bradford Central Mosque, the groundbreaking coverage on Monday followed the entirety of the Eid prayer – starting with Qur’anic recitation, then a sermon in both English and Arabic and the congregational prayer itself, culminating in the customary eid mubarak embraces. I am a tough critic of the type of representation we normally see. Typically, Muslims are portrayed positively in the media only if we make ourselves suitably palatable. We must humanise ourselves by baking cakes, winning medals or poking fun at who we are for cheap laughs. When I’ve seen Ramadan and Eid on TV in the past, it’s usually been in the harmless, sanitised realms of cookery shows where you would be forgiven for thinking that the most spiritual time in the Muslim calendar is actually all about samosas and biryani. That is exactly what made this year’s Eid Live screening so special. Muslim prayer is an act that is vilified, criminalised and maligned – consider the prayer ban debate in schools for example. Many, including me, have sometimes felt scrutinised or even unsafe when praying in public. So it feels significant that it was the Eid prayer specifically that was televised. The show could have replicated what has been done countless times, focusing on superficial and innocuous things such as Eid clothes and food. But broadcasting Qur’anic recitation and showcasing the way we pray to the entire nation, I hope, normalises something that is so often seen as foreign and threatening. read the complete article
New fund to tackle hatred against Muslims
Efforts to tackle anti-Muslim hatred and Islamophobia bolstered by improved strategic approach following highest level of anti-Muslim hatred incidents recorded this year. Incidents monitored, increased awareness of hate-crime and better support for victims will help create safer streets as part of the government’s Plan for Change. New ideas and proposals will support in tackling religiously motivated hatred against Muslims head on. A new fund to provide a comprehensive service to monitor anti-Muslim hate and support victims has today (2 April) been announced, with applications opening on Monday, 7 April. Last year, police-recorded hate crime statistics found almost two in five of all religious hate crimes targeted Muslims, an increase of 13% in comparison to the year before. With cases on the rise, up-to-date and detailed information on incidents and drivers of this form of hatred will play a fundamental part in supporting the government to combat anti-Muslim hate and Islamophobia and ensure Muslim communities feel safe and supported. read the complete article
United States
Caught on camera: Man hurls insults at Muslim women praying in Alpharetta
Three Muslim women say they were verbally attacked by a man while praying in an Alpharetta parking lot, and they are now speaking out for the first time. The incident was recorded, and the women provided the video to FOX 5 Atlanta, showing the man making derogatory comments. The Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) Georgia reports a significant increase in anti-Muslim incidents and is calling for action. Alpharetta police reviewed the video and stated that no crime was committed, citing protected speech, but the women and their attorneys are seeking a public apology and considering further actions. The women talked about the importance of standing up against such behavior to prevent similar incidents from happening to others in the community. read the complete article
Randy Fine of “Gaza must be destroyed” infamy wins US House seat
Randy Fine, the anti-Palestinian candidate for a Florida seat in the US House of Representatives, emerged victorious on Tuesday in a special election in a heavily Republican congressional district. The Republican Fine, who became increasingly desperate in the campaign’s final days, took matters in an increasingly ugly direction, calling his opponent “Jihad Josh Weil” because he is Muslim. Accusing Weil of lying about his (Fine’s) position on social security, the frontrunning Fine asserted, “While I understand Jihad Josh’s violent ideology allows him to lie, he is not with his Islamic terrorist friends in the Middle East anymore.” Fine has a long track record of anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab invective to go along with this Islamophobic attack on Weil. For his part, Weil has noted Fine’s recent threatening words against the only two Muslim women in the US House of Representatives, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. read the complete article
Re-inventing Islam: Gender and the Protestant Roots of American Islamophobia
From the end of the American Civil War to the start of World War II, the Protestant missionary movement unintentionally tilled the soil in which American Islamophobia would eventually take root. Re-inventing Islam explores the deep roots of this recent phenomenon, using gender as a lens and focusing specifically on the historical role of Protestant leaders and missionaries in transmitting ideas about Islam. Looking beyond typical studies of texts that male clergy and theologians wrote, this book identifies gendered discourses, images, and performances as key in Protestant portrayals of Islam. To understand the unique ways in which nineteenth- and twentieth-century American and British missionaries shaped the ideas they inherited from the Reformation, Re-inventing Islam begins in the sixteenth century, long before any systematic Protestant attempt to evangelize Muslim societies. read the complete article
India
Indian parliament’s lower house passes controversial Muslim endowments bill
India’s lower house of parliament has passed a controversial bill moved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government to amend laws governing Muslim endowments worth more than $14bn. The waqf bill would add non-Muslims to boards that manage the endowments and give the government a more significant role in validating their land holdings. Waqf refers to personal property – moveable or immovable – that is permanently donated by Muslims for religious or charitable purposes. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) argues the proposed changes to a 1995 waqf law will help fight corruption and mismanagement while promoting diversity. But Muslims fear the move could leave waqf properties – historic mosques, shops, shrines, graveyards and thousands of acres of land – more vulnerable to confiscations, disputes and demolitions. On Wednesday, a heated debate on the waqf bill took place in the country’s lower house of the parliament, with the Congress-led opposition calling it unconstitutional and discriminatory against Muslims. read the complete article
New Zealand
New Zealand’s human rights chief apologizes for 'Islamophobic' remarks
New Zealand’s human rights chief Stephen Rainbow has apologized for “Islamophobic” remarks after he received strong criticism from Jewish and Muslim groups, according to reports Wednesday. Rainbow said in a statement that New Zealand has no place for Islamophobia and that he personally apologized to the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ). His comments indicating that Muslims are the greatest threat to the Jewish community on the island instead of the white supremacists drew criticism from the representative of Alternative Jewish Voices -- Philippa Yasbek and Dayenu: Jews Against Occupation -- two anti-Zionist Jewish organizations, along with FIANZ, according to New Zealand Radio. Yasbek sent an email to Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and FIANZ after a Feb. 24 meeting with Rainbow, Race Relations Commissioner Melissa Derby and two Human Rights Commission staffers, during which Rainbow’s remarks were made. Yasbek told Goldsmith that "Dr Rainbow asserted that the SIS (Security Intelligence Service) threat assessment shows that Muslims pose a greater threat to the Jewish community in New Zealand than white supremacists," and "white supremacists make up the bulk of violent extremists in Aotearoa," using the Mori world for New Zeland. read the complete article
Germany
Germany adopts 'illegal' Trump-style deportation of pro-Palestine activists
The Berlin Senate, an executive body in the German capital, is trying to deport four pro-Palestine activists without a hearing or formal criminal charges in an unprecedented move that critics say is illegal and mirrors the draconian deportations being ordered by the Trump administration. According to the German authorities, these measures—which involve three EU nationals (two Irish, one Polish) and one US citizen—are necessary because they threaten 'national security', but the activists' legal team insists that the German state is trampling on free speech rights and using lower-level laws to crack down on pro-Palestinian and anti-war activism. The four—two of whom identify as trans—have been given until April to leave Germany, with a ban on re-entry and residence for 3 years after. All four individuals allegedly participated in a pro-Palestinian protest camp in the courtyard of the Freie Universität Berlin, which had called for a stop to Israel's war on Gaza. Individuals appealing deportation are typically allowed to remain in Germany while their cases are processed. In this instance, the authorities have opted for an expedited removal, a decision which their legal team say is highly unusual. read the complete article
Singapore
Singapore detains teenage boy allegedly planning to kill Muslims
The 17-year-old boy was detained in March, the ISD said in a statement, adding that he had regarded white supremacist Brenton Tarrant -- who in 2019 had killed worshippers at mosques in New Zealand -- as a "hero". ISD also said he had "identified as an 'East Asian Supremacist'", and had decided on five mosques across Singapore for his post-Friday prayer attacks. "This boy wanted to kill at least 100 Muslims, so that he can kill more Muslims than Tarrant had killed. He also wanted to live-stream his attacks," Home Minister K Shanmugam told reporters. "When he was arrested... he had already made a number of attempts to get a gun. He told ISD quite openly if he had gotten a gun, he would have carried out his attacks." The teen had been in online contact with 18-year-old Nick Lee, who was detained in December for having similar plans. read the complete article