Search
SearchToday in Islamophobia: In Canada, a new report released by the country’s Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights reveals a dramatic rise in Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian hate following the events of October 7th, meanwhile in India, a 48-year-old man from Sapra village in Jharkhand has succumbed to injuries after being attacked by a violent mob earlier this month “because of his beard and skullcap” according to family members, and in the UK, according to a new watchdog report, UK police “underestimated the rising tide of violence” that culminated in anti-immigration riots earlier this year, failing to act against misinformation campaigns which preceded the events. Our recommended read of the day is by Spencer Ackerman for Zeto on what President-Elect Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim appointees mean for the future of the US’s role in Middle East affairs. This and more below:
United States
2025 Will Be the Year of Trump's Crackdown on Islam | Recommended Read
Major decisions about the Middle East and the US role in it are about to be shaped by a coterie within Donald Trump's incoming administration that views the region and its peoples in terms of a grand historical clash with Islam, the religion of most of its residents. The Trump restoration has no shortage of familiar right-wing hawks. But its senior ranks are also set to include those who see Islam as a marauding horde of invaders bent on conquest. The alliance between these two forces is about to have its biggest opportunity since 9/11. Far from the Trump campaign rhetoric about peace, as absurd as it was, the incoming hardliners are likely to feel that they have momentum – if not divine sanction – to reshape the balance of power in the Middle East. Just last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump is already considering airstrikes on Iran. read the complete article
White House plan to combat Islamophobia draws mixed reviews
A new White House strategy for combating anti-Muslim and anti-Arab hatred has received differing reactions from U.S. faith groups and left some wondering if the plan will survive the incoming Trump administration. Released Dec. 12, the 67-page blueprint outlines federal, state and local approaches to addressing the surge in prejudice, bullying and violence U.S. Muslims have faced since the Oct. 7, 2023,. Hamas terror attacks against Israel. The level of intimidation, the document said, mirrors that seen after 9-11. “This hate includes violent attacks on children and students, bullying of children in school, and workplace discrimination. Arab American leaders and others have noted a strong correlation between these incidents and public rhetoric implying that Arab Americans, and Palestinians in particular, support or sympathize with terrorists,” the report says. Interfaith Alliance welcomed the plan as “deeply necessary” for sending the message that discrimination against religious minorities and other vulnerable communities should not be tolerated. President Paul Raushenbush also expressed uncertainty about the viability of the strategy after Trump takes office next month: “As we approach the presidential transition, we can only hope, and will continue to insist, that the incoming administration upholds the vital commitments made by the Biden administration. No matter what, we will do everything in our power to ensure that Muslim Americans and Arab Americans feel safe, welcome and equal across our country. That is what upholding true religious freedom looks like.” The Council on American-Islamic Relations dismissed the plan as hypocritical due to Biden’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza and for his failure to spike a federal “watch list” that identifies some Arab Americans as possible terrorists. read the complete article
This Hanukkah and Christmas, remember it takes all of us to stand up to hate
Every day, we send our Jewish and Muslim children into the world with joy in their identities, aspirations for their successes and whispers of prayers for their safety. Recently, news of hate crimes have permeated our headlines and social media pages, including in our hometown of Chicago. Last month, masked assailants attacked two Jewish students who were showing support for Israel at DePaul University. In nearby Downers Grove, police said a woman attacked a Muslim Palestinian couple at a Panera after she asked them, “Are you Palestinian?” These are just two stories among countless incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia, both of which are on the rise in America since the horrific attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, in Israel and the continuing devastation in Gaza and across the Middle East. In the United States, threats to Jews tripled in the year after the Hamas attacks, and last year's reports of anti-Muslim bias were the highest in nearly 30 years of tracking. As leaders with 20 years of experience in interfaith work, and as mothers to young Muslim and Jewish children, we believe that these dual bigotries of antisemitism and Islamophobia are a risk to the future of our families and our nation. And we believe that there is a powerful, overarching and deeply American approach to this essential work: committing ourselves as a nation to the promise of pluralism. read the complete article
US repatriates 3 Guantanamo Bay detainees, including one held 17 years without charge
The U.S. has transferred two Malaysian detainees at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. military prison to their home country, after they pleaded guilty to charges related to deadly 2002 bombings in Bali and agreed to testify against the alleged ringleader of that and other attacks, the Pentagon said Wednesday. The transfers, and the repatriation Tuesday of a Kenyan man who’d been held at Guantanamo for 17 years without charge, come as rights groups and others push the Biden administration to end the detention of more than a dozen other men held there without charge, and amid uncertainty over the incoming Trump administration’s plans for Guantanamo. read the complete article
United Kingdom
Watchdog flags UK police failures over deadly anti-immigration riots
UK police underestimated "the rising tide of violence" that culminated in anti-immigration riots earlier this year and failed to mitigate against online misinformation which helped fuel it, a watchdog report said on Wednesday. Disorder erupted across England and Northern Ireland for more than a week in late July and early August after three girls were killed in a knife attack in Southport, northwest England. Initially sparked by false rumours spread online that the perpetrator was a Muslim asylum seeker, the disorder then morphed into widespread anti-migrant rioting, England's worst disturbances in more than a decade. More than 300 officers were injured during the unrest, with 54 admitted to hospital. "Social media played a massive role, and unfortunately, the intelligence processes that were in place prior to this didn't pick up sufficiently some of the warning signals that had occurred over the previous 24 months," Chief Inspector of Constabu lary Andy Cooke told BBC Radio. "No one understood or could counter the emerging cause and effect of that misinformation and disinformation," the head of His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) added in the assessment. "So the police failed adequately to denounce it or mitigate against it in real time to deter or curtail the disorder." read the complete article
France
We must stand up to hijab bans in all sports in France
“Laicite”, or “secularism”, which is theoretically embedded in the French constitution to protect everyone’s religious freedom, has often been used as a pretext to block Muslim women’s access to public spaces in France. Over several years, the French authorities have enacted laws and policies to regulate Muslim women’s and girls’ clothing. Sport federations have followed suit, imposing hijab bans in several sports, including football, basketball and volleyball, at both the professional and amateur levels. Motivated by prejudice, racism and gendered Islamophobia, such rules in effect police Muslim women’s choices and bodies. In schools, beaches, swimming pools and other public spaces, we are not allowed to dress in ways in which we feel comfortable. I know from personal experience how devastating the consequences of these exclusionary and discriminatory bans can be. They can cause a feeling of deep humiliation and trauma and result in women and girls dropping out of sport or other activities they love, being subjected to harmful discriminatory treatment and experiencing devastating impacts on their mental and physical health. As a result of the hijab ban, I have been forced to take a break from volleyball. I have felt deeply rejected, treated like a being without a soul, without a heart, without rights. For me sport is such an intimate physical activity and it is so closely tied to my physical and mental wellbeing. I miss it every day. read the complete article
India
Jharkhand: Muslim man beaten to death by mob, family alleges Islamophobia
Sheikh Tajuddin, a 48-year-old Muslim man, succumbed to his injuries six days after being brutally beaten with sticks and rods by a mob on December 8 in Sapra village, located in Jharkhand’s Saraikela-Kharsawan district. The family alleged that he was attacked solely because of his beard and skullcap. Tajuddin, a resident of the Baghdadiya Masjid area in Kapali, Gausnagar, and a livestock and vegetable trader, was undergoing treatment at RIMS Ranchi after the mob lynching. An FIR has been lodged at Adityapur Police Station by Tajuddin’s family. So far, suspects Mannu Yadav, Chela Yadav, Sanjay Yadav, and Gautham Mandal have been arrested. The accused mob in custody claimed the attack was due to the suspected cattle theft, a claim the family refuted. read the complete article
Netherlands
Dutch Moroccan artist Sarah Amrani wants to reframe the hijab
What makes a face perfect? Symmetry and proportionality, the digital voice of a beautified hologram tells visitors to Sarah Amrani’s debut solo show Terror of Beauty. The exhibition, which is on at Foam in Amsterdam until 26 February, explores the Muslim experience of online algorithms that favour western beauty standards. The hologram’s face, projected onto a mannequin head, appears perfect when standing directly in front of it, but from any other angle, the image fragments to reveal a beautifying filter on top of the face. A hijab that should frame the face remains constant and unchanged in a separate corner; a reminder that while facial features can adapt to the western gaze, the hijab cannot. “By placing the hijab within the context of AI-driven beauty filters and virtual identities, I open a dialogue about how various cultural traditions relate to the challenges and opportunities of the digital age,” Amrani said. The show’s title, Terror of Beauty, is not a reference to state terror, she explains, but a critique of society’s pursuit of beauty at any cost, establishing the face as a “battleground”. The hijab here is not only a religious or political symbol but a visual frame in which Amrani explores the particular ways that the appearance of Muslim women is scrutinised. read the complete article
Canada
Report highlights surge in Islamophobia, racism against Palestinians in Canada
A report released Wednesday revealed a dramatic rise in Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism in Canada amid Israel's genocide in Gaza. Titled "Islamophobia on the rise: Taking action, confronting hate and protecting civil liberties together," it was published by Canada's Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. The report said the number of hate incidents targeting Muslims or Palestinians reported to the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) increased by 1,300% in the final quarter of 2023, encompassing harassment, vandalism, defamation and threats of violence. Noting the alarming scale of hate incidents, including doxing and intimidation of Palestinian activists and their allies, the report revealed that university campuses have become hotspots for such hostility, where students advocating for Palestinian rights have faced verbal assaults, threats and even physical violence. Testimonies from affected communities revealing how this wave of hate is creating a climate of fear and vulnerability was also included in the 78-page report. The report also cited remarks by Amira Elghawaby, Canada’s special representative on combatting Islamophobia, from a meeting of the committee. "Between October 7, 2023, and March 2024, over 1,000 incidents of Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism were reported. The overwhelming majority of these cases involve harassment, discrimination and violations of civil liberties," she said. read the complete article