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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In Germany, the country’s leading human rights organization has warned of increasing anti-Muslim racism, urging politicians and media to avoid harmful generalizations, meanwhile in India, a Muslim couple in the northern Indian city of Moradabad were subjected to Islamophobic attacks as residents of the neighbourhood protested against them buying a house there, and in the US, prominent Muslim American scholar and activist Omar Suleiman expressed apprehension in an interview with Anadolu Ajansi about what another Trump presidency could bring for the community. Our recommended read of the day is by Aamna Mohdin for The Guardian on a new report by the Centre for Media Monitoring (CfMM), which finds that British broadcaster GB News accounted for half of all news broadcast coverage of Muslims over two years, a majority of which was “overwhelmingly negative.” This and more below:
United Kingdom
GB News broadcasts half of all UK stories about Muslims, analysis shows | Recommended Read
GB News accounted for half of all news broadcast coverage of Muslims over a two-year period, much of it negative, according to new analysis. The findings demonstrate an “excessive” focus on Muslims bordering on an “obsession”, according to a new report by the Centre for Media Monitoring (CfMM). Researchers alleged the stories about Islam are “overwhelmingly negative” and fail to understand the diverse nature of Muslim communities in the UK. They said the coverage could fuel community tensions and contribute to civil unrest. Sayeeda Warsi described the research as “shocking”, while former ITN executive and Ofcom regulator, Stewart Purvis, said the findings raised vital questions for the broadcasting regulator. The two-year analysis found that GB News mentioned Muslims or Islam more than 17,000 times in its output, which they say accounted for almost 50% of total mentions on UK news channels. BBC News and Sky News accounted for 32% and 21% respectively. According to the findings, Islamophobia was referenced on GB news on 1,180 occasions, accounting for 60% of all mentions when compared with BBC News and Sky News. The researchers said the stories were overwhelmingly critical of the concept of Islamophobia. read the complete article
London’s Muslim community calls for action to combat rising Islamophobia
London’s Muslim community urged the government to tackle the escalating crisis of Islamophobia, as hate crimes rise and calls for systemic change grew louder during an awareness month. Islamophobia Awareness Month was founded in 2012 by a coalition of Muslim organisations, including the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) and Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND). The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Muslims defines Islamophobia as rooted in racism and a type of racism which targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness. CEO of The Runnymede Trust Dr Shabna Begum said: “Islamophobia has become the normalised currency of political conversation.” The Runnymede Trust is the UK’s leading race equality think tank and was established in 1968, notably the same year as the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. According to Dr Begum, there is an overt belief that Muslim communities are a threat to Britain and she believes that from the benches of parliament to mainstream headlines, this sentiment no longer lurks euphemistically. She noted that in the last year there has been a significant step-change in the normalisation of Islamophobia. Dr Begum said: “Islamophobia has reached fever pitch in the UK and it is time that we put a rational conversation back on the agenda.” read the complete article
India
Neighbours protest after Muslim couple buys home in India: ‘This is a Hindu society’
A Muslim couple in northern India were subjected to Islamophobic attacks as residents of a posh neighbourhood protested against them buying a house there. The couple, both doctors, were reportedly forced out of their newly purchased house in Moradabad city in Uttar Pradesh state after their Hindu neighbours objected to them moving in because of their religion. The Hindu residents said the previous owner, a Hindu doctor, had sold the house to the Muslim family without consulting them. "This is a Hindu society where over 400 Hindu families live. We don't want anyone from the other communities to reside here," one protester told PTI news agency. The protest, which began on Tuesday, saw the Hindu residents hold up banners asking the previous owner to take his house back. read the complete article
“One Day There Was A City, A Family, A Country & Then There Wasn’t:” Writer Of New Memoir On Gujarat Riots
Zara Chowdhary's ‘The Lucky Ones’ is a new memoir of the 2002 Gujarat riots and anti-Muslim killings, exploring how those traumatic experiences shaped Muslim lives in Ahmedabad, including her and her family. The book goes beyond a simple recounting of the violence, delving into her family’s multigenerational history and the broader social fractures in Indian society. read the complete article
United States
‘We can’t buckle from fear’: US Muslim scholar Omar Suleiman on new Trump era
With Donald Trump set for a second stint in the White House, concerns are growing among Muslim Americans about the unpredictability of his leadership and its implications for their community. His recent Cabinet appointments signal a potential shift toward more aggressive policies, featuring figures widely regarded as war hawks or neoconservatives. For many in the Muslim community, this raises fears of renewed challenges at home and abroad. During Trump’s first term, his administration implemented the infamous “Muslim ban,” barring entry to the US for nationals of several predominantly Muslim countries. Such actions, combined with his rhetoric, left lasting scars within the community. Omar Suleiman, a prominent Muslim American scholar and activist, expressed apprehension about what another Trump presidency could bring for the community. “The thing about Donald Trump is that he’s predictably unpredictable," Suleiman told Anadolu at a recent event in Istanbul, while voicing concern over Trump’s new Cabinet picks. “It is a worse Cabinet than his first. It promises only further destruction," he said, citing the team’s hawkish tendencies and the likelihood of heightened challenges for the Muslim community. Suleiman emphasized the need for vigilance, warning that these appointments could have both domestic and international repercussions. “We have to be ready for them. We can’t buckle from fear,” he urged. read the complete article
Zeteo Presents: Exclusive Film on an Islamophobic Hate Crime
In 2015, three Muslim-American students were executed while eating dinner at their home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In 36 Seconds: Portrait of a Hate Crime, filmmaker Tarek Albaba makes an impassioned case for justice for these innocents and for the Muslim-American community. The film charts the victims’ families’ agonizing overnight pivot from trauma to advocacy as they struggle to prevent their loved ones’ deaths from being dismissed as the result of a mere ‘parking dispute’. They courageously speak the truth about the hate crime that destroyed their lives, about the overt and insidious ways racism plays out in society, and about the need to reform a hate crime system that is broken. This is a project about grace and the will to fight for the truth in the worst of circumstances. read the complete article
Germany
Top German rights institute warns of rising anti-Muslim racism
Germany's leading human rights organisation has warned of increasing anti-Muslim racism amid heightened Middle East tensions, urging politicians and media to avoid harmful generalisations. The German Institute for Human Rights (DIMR) released on Monday a 32-page report examining the Gaza conflict's impact on democracy and human rights, focusing primarily on rising antisemitism but also concerns over increased anti-Muslim incidents. DIMR Director Beate Rudolf pointed out that overgeneralisations and negative stereotypes about Muslims in political discourse and media coverage following the Palestinian group Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack have had a negative impact on basic rights and freedoms. "Anyone who criticises the Israeli government is not automatically acting antisemitic. Anyone who advocates for a separate state for the Palestinians is not automatically a Hamas sympathiser. Generalisations only promote antisemitism, as well as racism against Palestinians and Muslims," she told a press conference in Berlin. The institute also cautioned authorities against making overgeneralisations and spreading negative stereotypes about Muslims, emphasising that restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly should only be implemented in exceptional situations as permitted by law. read the complete article