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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the United States, Democrats are condemning two Republican members of Congress who said, in the wake of the mass shooting in Australia, that the US should ban Muslims from the country and kick out those who already live here, meanwhile in Germany, according to a recent report by ARD’s Fact Check Team, scores of misleading videos and posts – some viewed millions of times – may be part of a coordinated campaign to spread false claims and stoke anti-Muslim prejudice, and in the United Kingdom, the government is considering a draft definition of anti-Muslim hatred which does not include the term “Islamophobia”. Our recommended read of the day is by Yan Zhuang for The New York Times on the story of Ahmed el Ahmed, the heroic Muslim Australian from Syria who disarmed one of the suspected gunmen in this past weekend’s deadly shooting at Bondi Beach. This and more below:
Australia
Heroic Bondi Bystander’s Immigrant Background Is a Balm for Some Australians | Recommended Read
The patient’s status was affirmed by the high-profile visitors on Tuesday. The prime minister of Australia, the Australian representative of King Charles III and a high-ranking Syrian diplomat. They were all there to see Ahmed el Ahmed, the bystander who tackled one of the gunmen in Sunday’s massacre at Bondi Beach. Mr. el Ahmed was injured during the shooting and is being treated at St. George Hospital in Sydney, where he was waiting on Tuesday to undergo another round of surgery. Mr. el Ahmed’s actions have rippled across the country and the world, giving Australians something to rally behind in a moment of grief and darkness. On Tuesday, Australian officials said that the two suspects had been motivated by the Islamic State. That prompted fears that attack could spur a surge in Islamophobia. But some in the Muslim community said they hoped Mr. el Ahmed’s heroics would provide a beacon of hope and unity in Australia, where nearly one-third of the population was born overseas. Some community leaders said they were concerned that the shooting could put a target on Muslims in Australia. “From the moment the attack happened, every Muslim person, man or woman, started to worry that now Islamophobia will start again, that they will judge us as terrorists again,” said Lubaba Alhmidi Kahil, the spokeswoman for the Australians for Syria Association, who visited Mr. el Ahmed on Tuesday. No community should be judged by the actions of individuals, she said, adding that the suspected gunmen did not represent all Muslims. read the complete article
‘We are all human beings first’: Jews and Muslims embrace at vigils for those killed in Bondi beach terror attack
About 24 hours after terror was unleashed on Sydney’s Bondi beach, Rabbi Jeffrey Kamins stood in the city’s Hyde Park and delivered a message of unity. “So many in our Jewish community have received messages of love from leaders in different faith communities, from Palestinian friends and friends around this country, and in so doing, we are now learning we are all just flesh and blood, and we are all also the light,” he said. The vigil, on Monday evening, was to commemorate the 15 killed and dozens injured and traumatised in Sunday’s antisemitic terror attack on Bondi beach. After Kamins’s speech, Bilal Rauf, special adviser at the Australian National Imams Council, offered “deep heartbreak and condolences”, noting the pain reminded him of his own community after the 2019 Christchurch massacre. Afterwards, the pair embraced in a hug as the crowd broke into applause. read the complete article
United States
Democrats condemn Republicans calling for Muslim ban on the heels of Australia shooting
Democrats are condemning two Republican members of Congress who said, in the wake of the mass shooting in Australia, that the US should ban Muslims from the country and kick out those who already live here. Congressman Randy Fine, a Florida Republican, said he not only wants deportations of legal immigrants who are Muslim, but “citizenship revocations wherever possible” of Muslims. “This has to stop. Diversity is not our strength. Diversity has become suicidal,” Fine wrote on X on Monday. “It is time for a Muslim travel ban, radical deportations of all mainstream Muslim legal and illegal immigrants, and citizenship revocations wherever possible. Mainstream Muslims have declared war on us. The least we can do is kick them the hell out of America.” Senator Tommy Tuberville, a Republican from Alabama, said Islam is a “cult”, Muslims are “here to conquer” and that people needed to “stop worrying about offending the pearl clutchers”. read the complete article
US Muslim group sues Florida’s DeSantis over ‘terrorism’ designation
A Muslim American group has sued Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for designating it a “foreign terrorist organisation”, accusing the right-wing politician of violating its free speech rights over its Palestine advocacy. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and its Florida chapter filed the lawsuit in federal court on Tuesday to revoke the state decree that blacklisted the organisation. “The Executive Order [EO] identifies no criminal charges or convictions, relies on no federal designation, and inaccurately invokes statutory authority,” the lawsuit said. “It rests on political rhetoric and imposes sweeping legal consequences on a domestic civil rights organisation because of its viewpoints and advocacy.” DeSantis issued the order last week, labelling the group a “terror” organisation along with the Muslim Brotherhood. The lawsuit was filed amid a spike in Islamophobia and right-wing calls for targeting Muslim groups in the United States, a push that CAIR said aims to suppress speech in support of Palestinian human rights. read the complete article
‘They attacked my religion, my faith’: Muslim photojournalist detained by ICE speaks out
Ya’akub Vijandre, a Muslim photojournalist, martial arts teacher and first responder who ICE detained in October for posting on social media, told the Guardian that the government is “attacking my faith” and that he was “concerned about the safety” of his family and friends. Speaking in his first interview from Georgia’s Folkston detention center, the 38-year-old said guards treat detainees “like animals”, yelling at them when they don’t understand English. His detention and loss of lawful permission to remain in the US are based on social media posts the federal government links to terrorism. Vijandre and his legal defense team assert his posts were constitutionally protected speech that is being targeted due to Vijandre’s Muslim faith. Vijandre’s case highlights the Trump administration’s intensifying approach to characterizing threats to national security and what appears to be a growing number of Daca recipients caught up in its mass deportation plans. read the complete article
International
The Muslim Brotherhood Still Isn’t a Terrorist Organization
The push to get the United States to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization is a bad idea with a long history dating back to at least 9/11. It has been repeatedly pushed by right-wing groups in the United States and by anti-brotherhood allies in the Middle East, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, and Israel. And it has been repeatedly rejected. As former President George W. Bush among others understood, this designation would not only be inaccurate, it would undermine human rights and democracy across the Middle East. The Trump administration, however, doesn’t care about either truth or democracy and has purged many of the professionals in the civil service who might offer informed analysis. As a result, it is now preparing to take this step at a time when it will be both ever more irrelevant in the region and ever more damaging at home. In the Middle East, America’s allies have spent more than a decade unleashing the full fury of unrestrained security apparatuses on the Brotherhood (and all other civil society or oppositional forces). As a result, the Muslim Brotherhood has been largely decimated as a popular force, and key regional backers such as Qatar and Turkey no longer care as much to defend it. In America, however, there is every reason to fear that the Trump administration will use the Muslim Brotherhood’s terrorist designation as a tool to target its own political enemies. The result will be to intensify an already dangerous crackdown on migrants, left-leaning civil society, and domestic political opposition. read the complete article
Shabana Mahmood dismisses White House’s ‘civilisational erasure’ claims
The US government’s claims that Europe faces “civilisational erasure” because of mass migration are an attempt to score political points against Muslims, the home secretary has suggested. Shabana Mahmood dismissed the idea that European civilisation and national identities were under threat because of migration and said the UK had managed the challenges of multiculturalism “very well”. Her comments are the strongest response from a government minister so far to Donald Trump’s national security strategy. Published this month, it triggered alarm with its wide-ranging attack on European governments and suggestion that the US should promote “patriotic” political parties. Trump’s security strategy calls for the restoration of “western identity” and claims that Europe will be “unrecognisable in 20 years or less” and faces the “stark prospect of civilisational erasure”. It says the US wants “Europe to remain European” and “regain its civilisational self-confidence”. It celebrates the influence of “patriotic European parties” and says “America encourages its political allies in Europe to promote this revival of spirit”. The strategy appears to endorse attempts to influence politics on the continent, saying that US policy should prioritise “resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations”. read the complete article
Germany
Anti-Muslim misinformation campaign targets Germany's Christmas markets
In recent weeks, social media platforms in Germany have seen a surge of misleading videos and posts, many of which seem designed to stoke fears about Muslims and migration. According to a recent report by ARD’s Fact Check Team, these videos – some viewed millions of times – may be part of a coordinated campaign to spread false claims and stoke anti-Muslim prejudice. The ARD investigation highlights several examples. One widely shared video shows people waving Syrian flags and singing near a Christmas tree, with captions claiming, “Muslims stormed the Mainz Christmas market, shouting ‘Allah’ and ‘Islamic jihad’.” Similar claims have circulated about events in Berlin and Essen, but these demonstrations were not attacks on Christmas markets. Instead, they were peaceful, registered protests marking the anniversary of the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, and notably, they didn't take place at Christmas markets. As The Local reported, numerous misleading social media posts were spread earlier this year which alleged that Christmas markets would be cancelled in 2025 due to security issues. Subsequently, viral images of heavily guarded markets, including one with barbed wire, were found to be AI-generated or misrepresented. Communication scientist Christine Horz-Isak from the Technical University of Cologne told ARD that such false claims spread rapidly online due to deep-seated stereotypes and “strategic communication” by those distributing the videos. read the complete article
Canada
Muslim council sounds alarm after alleged Islamophobic attack on Montreal Uber driver
Montreal police say their hate crimes unit is investigating after an Uber driver reported being threatened by a passenger with an edged weapon during a ride earlier this month, an incident the National Council of Canadian Muslims says has raised concerns about increasing Islamophobic violence. Police say the incident happened Dec. 6 around 11:45 p.m. ET near Rue du Square-Victoria and Rue Saint-Antoine in the Ville-Marie borough. A 39-year-old driver reported being verbally confronted by one of two passengers and at one point an edged weapon was shown. After an exchange, the driver stopped the vehicle and the two passengers got out, police said. The driver later went to a police station to report the incident. Montreal police say the file was transferred to the hate crimes unit due to threats that targeted the driver’s name. No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing. read the complete article
United Kingdom
Ministers finalising definition of anti-Muslim hatred
The government is considering a draft definition of anti-Muslim hatred which does not include the term "Islamophobia". The BBC has seen the form of words from the Islamophobia/Anti-Muslim hatred working group, which the government has taken to stakeholders for consultation. Free speech campaigners have expressed concerns that protections for "Islamophobia" would mean it would not be possible to criticise the religion itself. Members of the working group argue the definition protects individuals while avoiding overreach. The definition will be non-statutory, meaning it is not set in law or legally binding, but will provide a form of words public bodies can adopt. It provides guidance to the government and other bodies on what constitutes unacceptable treatment of Muslims, aiming to help them better understand and quantify prejudice and hate crimes against this group. The draft definition is: "Anti-Muslim hostility is engaging in or encouraging criminal acts, including acts of violence, vandalism of property, and harassment and intimidation whether physical, verbal, written or electronically communicated, which is directed at Muslims or those perceived to be Muslims because of their religion, ethnicity or appearance. read the complete article
India
India’s electoral roll revision threatens democracy and Muslims, say critics
India’s political opposition has warned that democracy is under threat amid a controversial exercise to revise the voter register across the country, which critics say will disenfranchise minority voters and entrench the power of the ruling Narendra Modi government. An debate erupted in India’s parliament last week over the special intensive revision (SIR) process, which is taking place in nine states and three union territories, in one of the biggest revisions of the country’s electoral roll in decades. Ostensibly a bureaucratic exercise to update the lists of citizens eligible to vote, India’s opposition leaders have instead alleged the SIR is being used by the ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) as an underhand “citizenship survey”. State leaders have claimed it is being used to disenfranchise poor and minority voters – particularly Muslims – as “illegal immigrants” and manipulate the electoral roll to benefit the Modi government. read the complete article