Today in Islamophobia

Today in Islamophobia: In the United States, elected officials and Islamic leaders on Long Island gathered Monday to condemn an act of hate that took place over the weekend where a banner located on the site of a soon to be mosque was defaced with graffiti, meanwhile at a Florida airport, a British Muslim student was detained, interrogated, and deported back to the UK by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in a move his local MP in Oxford is raising with the UK Foreign Office, and lastly in the United Kingdom, a Muslim woman was abused on a bus in west London for wearing a niqab where the victim claims that she is subjected to Islamophobic abuse daily. Our recommended read of the day is by Edith Olmsted for The New Republic on how Texas Republicans are looking for ways to use state laws to ban or regulate Islamic cultural practices governed by religious rules. This and more below:

United States

Islamophobia Is Taking Over Texas | Recommended Read

Over the weekend, officials at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport abandoned plans to add additional foot washing stations used for an Islamic purification ritual after Governor Greg Abbott threatened to pull federal funding over supposed “religious discrimination.” The outrage was on its face ridiculous. Not only would the foot washing stations have been perfectly legal and accessible to all travelers, but there are already two foot-washing stations in DFW Airport. The manufactured controversy was part of a growing wave of dangerous anti-Muslim sentiment being pushed by conservative leaders in Texas, according to a sweeping report The New York Times published Monday. Looking forward, Texas Republicans are looking for ways to use state laws to ban or regulate Islamic cultural practices governed by religious rules as soon as next year. Representative Alan Schoolcraft, a Republican candidate from San Antonio, told the Times that Islam is “much more than a religion” and urged Muslims to “try to become a citizen where you’re living. Otherwise there’s going to be conflict.” read the complete article

CAIR slams Abbott’s ‘anti-Muslim stunt’ on Texas airport washing stations

The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) has condemned Texas Governor Greg Abbott for opposing stations for Islamic pre-prayer ablution, known as wudu, at two airports in the state. The civil rights group accused Abbott on Monday of performing another “anti-Muslim political stunt” with his outrage over the facilities. “Of all the silly controversies that [Abbott] has manufactured about Muslims over the past year, the airport washing station outrage might be the most ridiculous. And hypocritical,” CAIR said in a social media post. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) scrapped plans for wudu stations after Abbott threatened to revoke state funding for the transportation hub. “These ablution facilities appear designed to single out one subset of the population for special treatment based on religion. That is illegal,” Abbott said in a statement on Friday. While the First Amendment of the US Constitution bans the government from adopting or favouring any religion, rights advocates say providing religious accommodations at publicly owned facilities does not violate the law. read the complete article

Leaders condemn anti-Islamic vandalism at Long Island mosque construction site

Elected officials and Islamic leaders on Long Island gathered Monday to condemn an act of hate that took place over the weekend. A banner in front of the construction site for the Islamic Center of Mastic-Shirley, located at 516 William Floyd Parkway in Shirley, was defaced sometime between Friday night and Saturday. When completed, it will be Long Island's second-largest mosque. Officials said they intend to track down the vandals, adding, while we have free speech and religious freedom in our country, vandalizing a construction site of a religious institution is a hate crime. read the complete article

Dearborn to protect free speech, but enforce laws at anti-Muslim rally

Dearborn officials say they will protect free speech rights at a planned anti-Muslim rally, but will strictly enforce laws and ordinances to protect public safety. Dearborn Police Chief Issa Shahin said they have been working with local, state and federal law enforcement partners on preparing for what's described by organizers as a "Christian Crusader March” in Dearborn on Tuesday, Aug. 18, during a City Council meeting. The protest is being led by right-wing provocateur Jake Lang, who is making his fifth visit to Dearborn since November, with the help of Detroit pastor Lorenzo Sewell, who hosted Lang at his church on Sunday. Lang's protests are part of a long history of anti-Muslim protests by some Christian extremists targeting the city over the past 20 years. read the complete article

International

British Muslim student with valid visa refused entry to US after 23-hour detention

A British student who was detained and deported after flying to the US claims he was profiled for being Muslim. Laith Alani said he felt as if he had been kidnapped when he was interrogated for nine hours and detained in a holding cell for another 14 hours by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at Orlando international airport. His local MP, Anneliese Dodds, has raised the case with the UK’s Foreign Office. Muslim and Arab organisations have raised concerns about the treatment of travellers to the US. The 20-year-old from Oxford said he had booked a one-week, £2,500 visit to Florida’s theme parks, with hopes to meet a relative based in California. Instead, his electronic devices and social media accounts were searched and he was interrogated about his relatives, neighbours, hobbies and travel history before being escorted on to a British Airways flight back to the UK. “I felt like I’d been kidnapped. I was threatened with handcuffs. He’s profiled me because I’m Muslim. I count myself lucky I wasn’t shot, deported to another country or beaten.” read the complete article

Cost of ignorance: Does West know Islam or distort it?

Today, Islamophobia is one of the social issues frequently encountered in many countries around the world, particularly in the West. Although the term literally means “fear of Islam,” this phenomenon actually stems not from Islam itself, but from a lack of accurate information about Islam. People are more prone to perceive the unknown as a threat. The unknown is often filled with fear; fear, in turn, gradually becomes prejudice. Islamophobia is also largely shaped by this psychological mechanism. The human mind often relies on generalizations when making sense of complex events. If a society comes to know a religion not directly from its primary sources but solely through negative news reports in media, political rhetoric or acts of terrorism, it may, over time, develop a perception of that religion that does not align with reality. When a lack of knowledge, uncertainty and fear converge, prejudices intensify, and over time, these prejudices fuel discrimination and social polarization. The integrated threat theory, developed by researchers Stephan and Stephan, demonstrates that individuals are more likely to develop prejudices when they perceive groups they do not know well enough as a real or symbolic threat. Similarly, psychologist Gordon Allport states that prejudice is often fueled by ignorance, stereotypes and social distance, whereas meaningful relationships built on an equal footing between different groups significantly reduce these prejudices. read the complete article

UK far-right activist Tommy Robinson backs Israeli minister's re-election bid

British anti-Islam agitator Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson, has weighed in on Israel's election campaign, endorsing far-right Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli ahead of the Likud primary. Yaxley-Lennon appeared in a video shared by Chikli on Saturday, urging Likud members to support his "dear friend" in Monday's ballot. "I want to wish every success to my dear friend Minister Amichai Chikli," Yaxley-Lennon said. "Minister Chikli understands the problems the West faces and that we must unite all Western patriots for Western civilisation," he added, before promoting Chikli's number on the ballot. Chikli enthusiastically welcomed the endorsement, boasting of his efforts to deepen Israel's ties with Europe's far right and describing his embrace of movements previously shunned by Israeli governments and Jewish organisations as breaking a "foolish boycott". read the complete article

United Kingdom

Muslim woman threatened on bus says abuse is daily

A Muslim woman who was abused on a bus in west London for wearing a niqab has said that she is subjected to Islamophobic abuse on a daily basis in the capital. "Spitting, barging, pushing. It happens to me every single day," says 21-year-old Salsabil. "We kind of convince ourselves that this is something we have to tolerate rather than report." A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said that "no community in London should have to endure intimidation or abuse" and the force was "committed to tackling all forms of hate crime". Salsabil said she was travelling home from central London on 31 July when she was verbally abused because of her niqab, a veil for her face that leaves the area around the eyes clear and is worn with a headscarf. She got off the bus and said she boarded the next one, and was again subjected to verbal abuse regarding her niqab. The incident was captured on video. Salsabil said the man threatened to kill her, and another passenger intervened and became embroiled in a punch-up with the man. read the complete article

Reform UK MS fails to respond to questions about whether there is a link between his attacks on Islam and hate crimes

A Reform UK MS who has been criticised for making Islamophobic comments has failed to respond to concerns that his rhetoric has increased the likelihood of hate crimes against Muslims. Joe Martin represents Caerdydd Penarth, which includes the Grangetown district of Cardiff, where last week one of his constituents was the victim of an unprovoked assault in which she was punched and had her hijab ripped off. A man and a woman have since been arrested. Since being elected to the Senedd in May, Mr Martin has made a series of “culture war” statements focussed on Reform’s favourite topics of migration and Islam. read the complete article

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