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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In India, the country’s parliament has passed an unprecedented land bill which critics have slammed as a government attempt to seize Muslim property and attack Muslim religious autonomy, meanwhile in the United States, the ex-husband of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) apologized to three Muslim women for a heckling incident in a mall parking lot near Atlanta that police are calling “disgusting,” and in Germany, two EU nationals and an American recently served with deportation orders by Berlin’s state government for attending demonstrations against Israel’s war on Gaza told Middle East Eye they strongly reject accusations of antisemitism and indirect support for Hamas. Our recommended read of the day is by Abdullah Alsawfta for Austin American-Statesman on how the rise and prevalence of Islamophobia across the United States is something we should all feel called to speak out about. This and more below:
United States
Islamophobia is on the rise across America. Silence can no longer be an option | Recommended Read
A 6-year-old Palestinian Muslim boy in Illinois was brutally murdered in 2023 — stabbed 26 times by the family's landlord, according to police, in a crime authorities later determined was motivated by anti-Muslim hate. Just one month later, three Palestinian students were targeted and shot while walking in the streets of Vermont. Six months later, police said, a 3-year-old nearly drowned at the hands of a woman who made racist remarks toward the child’s Muslim family in Euless, Texas. These tragic incidents are part of a troubling pattern of growing Islamophobia in the United States. Here in Austin, that has meant Muslim students — like myself — feel unsafe and increasingly face Islamophobic attacks. In October, while I was praying at Nueces Mosque, a man threw large rocks at the mosque, damaging it and scaring a community member. We called the police and filed a hate crime report. Days later, a friend was walking back from campus when someone drove beside her and yelled that she was a terrorist. Worse: Bystanders who should have stood up for her simply stared. That made her feel isolated and alone, she told me later. These are two of the many hate incidents that have recently occurred in Austin. Community members regularly say they don’t feel safe walking in the streets of Austin. read the complete article
Marjorie Taylor Greene's Ex-Husband Owns Up To Hate Incident With Muslim Women
The ex-husband of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) apologized Friday to three Muslim women for an incident police called “disgusting.” Perry Greene was caught on video heckling the women in a mall parking lot just north of Atlanta on March 31. The women said they were praying at the time. In a clip of the incident, Greene talks out the window of his Tesla Cybertruck to tell them they were “worshipping a false god” and reportedly ordered the U.S.-born trio to “go back to your country” multiple times. “All of it was just out of pure hate,” one of the women said, per Atlanta News First. The victims said to CNN that they had gone to the mall in Alpharetta for a treat to mark the end of Ramadan. Their legal team demanded an apology, according to the outlet, and Greene met with the women at their mosque before he issued his public mea culpa. “I came today just to meet with the young ladies that I was mean to and treated disrespectfully about their religion and about what they were doing,” Greene said during a news conference in Johns Creek, Georgia. “I just wanted them to know that I humbly apologize to them because no one should be treated that way, and that’s not the right way for us to treat anybody. ... We shouldn’t allow that in our society.” read the complete article
India
India accused of anti-Muslim land grab over new waqf law overhaul
The Indian parliament has passed an unprecedented land bill which critics have slammed as a government attempt to seize Muslim property and attack Muslim religious autonomy. Passed last week, the contentious Waqf Amendment Bill deals with charitably endowed property, referred to in Arabic as "waqf", a phenomenon which has been widespread in the Indian subcontinent for centuries. The Waqf Act of 1995 established government waqf boards to regulate endowed property, which includes centuries-old mosques, schools, graveyards and hospitals used by many of India's 200 million Muslims. The new legislation requires waqf boards to produce documents to prove that properties are charitably endowed. Many waqfs, however, are undocumented, meaning that their ownership will be determined by a state-appointed collector. Disputed land will be assumed to be government property. Asaduddin Owaisi, a prominent Muslim MP and opponent of the bill, told The Independent: "Waqf by user means a property becomes waqf through long-term possession and use. "Properties from centuries ago were rarely documented, yet they’ve served religious purposes for generations." The act further overturns a previous requirement for the Central Waqf Council to include Muslims of "national eminence" in administration, financial management, engineering, architecture or medicine, as well as Muslim members of parliament. One of the more controversial aspects of the legislation is a requirement for a Muslim to have been a Muslim for at least five years in order to make an endowment. Many politicians in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have presented the new bill as a defence against "land jihad", a conspiracy theory that Indian Muslims have used waqfs to try and take over the country. read the complete article
Germany
Pro-Palestine activists targeted for deportation hit out at German state repression
On a video call, two EU nationals and an American recently served with deportation orders by Berlin’s state government for attending demonstrations against Israel’s war on Gaza told Middle East Eye they strongly reject accustions of antisemitism and indirect support for Hamas. Kasia Wlaszczyk, a Polish culture worker, 31-year-old Irish artist Roberta Murray, and 27-year-old American social work student Cooper Longbottom, were served the deportation orders last month, along with 29-year-old Irish citizen Shane O’Brien. The four activists have been given less than a month to leave Germany. Lawyers representing them have filed an injunction to suspend the deportation deadline set for 21 April while they wait for an appeal hearing, which could take a few months. The activists hope their case will shed light on the oppression the Palestine solidarity movement is facing in Germany in the wake of Israel’s war on Gaza – and wake up wider German society to the rapid erosion of civil liberties in their country. read the complete article