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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In Israel, there’s a surge in racist violence targeting Arab bus drivers, meanwhile in the United States, several prominent universities have become hostile environments for Muslim students and those expressing anti-genocide views, according to new reporting by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and lastly in Australia, Muslim communities across the country are demanding an apology from the New South Wales Premier, Chris Minns, alleging that police used undue force to disrupt people in prayer at Monday’s night’s protest. Our recommended read of the day is by Geneva Abdul and Chris Osuh for The Guardian on how Muslim organizations in the UK state that failing to adopt a definition of anti-Muslim hostility could send a signal to British Muslims that their safety “does not matter”. This and more below:
United States
Rejecting Muslim hostility definition sends message ‘your safety doesn’t matter’, peer says | Recommended Read
Failing to adopt a definition of anti-Muslim hostility would signal to British Muslims that their safety does not matter, a charity’s head has warned, as critics argue that adopting a definition risks breaking the law. Shaista Gohir, a cross-bench peer and head of the Muslim Women’s Network, was part of a working group on anti-Muslim hatred and Islamophobia launched by the government in 2025 to define what would constitute unacceptable treatment, prejudice and discrimination against Muslims. It is understood that a proposal submitted to the government for consideration in October put forward a definition for anti-Muslim hostility, as opposed to anti-Muslim hatred or Islamophobia. The non-statutory definition was intended to protect people in line with existing law and legislation, said Lady Gohir, who criticised Downing Street for its handling of the issue after government figures showed hate crimes against Muslims rose by nearly a fifth in 2025. “Every group has the right to be protected. The only reason why we’re asking for it is because of the high levels of abuse,” said Gohir, who spoke of increased personal attacks. “We’ve got an election in about three years’ time and it’s just going to get worse,” she added. “And personally, if I’m going to blame anybody, I’m blaming No 10.” read the complete article
US campuses increasingly hostile for Muslim students: Report
Several prominent U.S. universities have become among the most hostile environments for Muslim students and those expressing anti-genocide views, with no campus earning a positive rating, a new report by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said Thursday. The latest findings from CAIR’s Unhostile Campus Campaign ranked Columbia University and the City University of New York (CUNY) as the least welcoming campuses, each scoring just 2%. Institutions such as the University of Michigan, University of Chicago and Case Western Reserve University were also cited among those with the most adverse conditions. CAIR noted that none of the 51 universities assessed earned an “Unhostile” rating. Six campuses, led by the University of Alabama at 87%, were placed “Under Watch,” while the overall average across all institutions stood at 37.92%. Nearly three-quarters scored below 50%, and more than half did not explicitly define Islamophobia or anti-Muslim bias in their discrimination policies. The report also found that 12 campuses have adopted the contentious IHRA antisemitism definition, which critics argue suppresses legitimate criticism of Israel. Roughly half of the institutions faced Title VI complaints, and more than 75% reportedly called police on Gaza-related demonstrations following October 2023. CAIR added that 90% adopted major policy changes without input from students or faculty. read the complete article
Texas Republicans revive anti-Muslim messaging in races across the state
The campaign to re-elect John Cornyn recently published an attack ad aimed at Ken Paxton. “Crooked Ken Paxton is soft on radical Islam,” the ad claims. The ad goes on to argue that Paxton helped the Biden Administration resettle refugees during the withdrawal from Afghanistan – and this is not the only political race in Texas that has made Islam a talking point. All across the state, Republicans are taking hard lines on Islam. Forrest Wilder, senior writer at Texas Monthly, has been following has been following the story. He joined Texas Standard for a discussion. Listen to the interview in the player above or read the transcript below. read the complete article
CAIR Commends Bipartisan Defense of Religious Freedom During Failed ‘Sharia Hoax’ Hearing
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today commended the bipartisan defense of religious liberty mounted during the House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing‘s anti-Muslim hearing meant to hype the “sharia hoax” that anti-Muslim politicians have been pushing in recent months. During the hearing, witnesses with a history of expressing anti-Muslim bigotry and conspiracy theories called for an unconstitutional ban on the practice of Islam in America. CAIR notes that the hearing room itself was nearly empty, with only a small number of attendees present, many of whom were members of the Muslim and Jewish communities who came to oppose the hearing’s premise. During the hearing, Ranking Subcommittee Member Representatives Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), Ranking Judiciary Committee Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD), and Tom McClintock (R-CA), among others, underscored that the U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land, protects religious freedom for all Americans, and prevents any community from imposing their faith on others. read the complete article
Australia
NSW police commissioner urged to apologise to ‘entire Muslim community’ after officers disrupted prayer at Sydney protest
A Muslim group has urged the New South Wales police commissioner to apologise to the entire Muslim community after police disrupted a group of people praying during a protest against the visit by Israel’s president in Sydney on Monday. The Australian National Imams Council (Anic) confirmed it had received an apology from Mal Lanyon about the incident, but two other major Muslim groups Guardian Australia spoke to said they had not. On Wednesday, Lanyon said he had spoken to Muslim community leaders about the incident in which police were filmed pulling praying people out of a line. The sheikh leading the prayer described the moment as “unhinged and aggressive”. read the complete article
Chris Minns called on to apologise to Muslim Australians for police behaviour
Muslim communities across Australia are demanding an apology from the New South Wales Premier, Chris Minns, alleging that police used undue force to disrupt people in prayer at Monday’s night's protest of Israeli President Isaac Herzog's visit in Sydney's CBD. While the Premier says the context of the protest is important, Australia's special envoy to combat Islamophobia, Aftab Malik says no context can justify the force that was used against the people who were conducting a peaceful prayer. read the complete article
Israel
'No one to back us': Arab bus drivers in Israel grapple with racist attacks
A chaotic spiral of events, symptomatic of a surge in racist violence targeting Arab bus drivers in Israel, led to the death of a teenager, Khatib's arrest and calls for him to be charged with aggravated murder. His case is an extreme one, but it sheds light on a trend bus drivers have been grappling with for years, with a union counting scores of assaults in Jerusalem alone and advocates lamenting what they describe as an anaemic police response. One evening in early January, Khatib found his bus surrounded as he drove near the route of a protest by Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. "People began running towards me and shouting at me, 'Arab, Arab!'" recalled Khatib, a Palestinian from east Jerusalem. "They were cursing at me and spitting on me, I became very afraid," he told AFP. Khatib said he called the police, fearing for his life after seeing soaring numbers of attacks against bus drivers in recent months. But when no police arrived after a few minutes, Khatib decided to drive off to escape the crowd, unaware that 14-year-old Yosef Eisenthal was holding onto his front bumper. The Jewish teenager was killed in the incident and Khatib arrested. The issue predominantly affects Palestinians from annexed east Jerusalem and the country's Arab minority, Palestinians who remained in what is now Israel after its creation in 1948 and who represent about 20 percent of the population. read the complete article
Israeli weapons 'evaporate' thousands of Palestinians in Gaza: Investigation
Israel used internationally prohibited thermal and thermobaric weapons, leaving thousands of Palestinian bodies "evaporated" as a result, an investigation by Al Jazeera revealed. Civil defence teams in Gaza documented over 2,800 cases of Palestinians who just vanished since the beginning of Israel's genocidal war, the Al Jazeera Arabic programme, The Rest of the Story, reported. What is left of these bodies is only pieces of flesh, specks of blood or even ash. Since the start of the war on Gaza in October 2023, Israel has obliterated most of the Gaza Strip, reducing entire neighbourhoods, including schools, businesses and medical facilities, to rubble. More than mere explosives, experts and testimonies have attributed the vaporisation of people to Israel's use of US-supplied thermal and thermobaric weapons, referred to as vacuum or aerosol bombs, capable of generating temperatures exceeding 3,500 degrees Celsius (6,332 degrees Fahrenheit). read the complete article
United Kingdom
Who is Matt Goodwin? Far-right provocateur and Reform UK candidate
Matt Goodwin was once a serious academic, who sought to understand the drivers of far-right extremism and warn about its dangers. He has since morphed into something very different. Over the past few years, Goodwin has established himself as one of the most influential radical right voices in British media. In November 2025, he was appointed honorary president of Reform UK’s student wing and, on 27 January, was announced as the party’s candidate in the Gorton and Denton parliamentary byelection. Goodwin now seeks to exploit the same far-right messaging he once critiqued and analysed. If elected, he will become one of the most extreme MPs in the House of Commons, perhaps second only to Rupert Lowe. His candidacy has been supported by activists to the right of Reform, including Tommy Robinson, and it isn’t hard to see why the prospect of Goodwin becoming an MP might excite them. read the complete article
France
French regulator fines channel $119,000 over discriminatory broadcasts against Algerians, Muslims
French news channel CNews was fined €100,000 ($119,000) on Wednesday for broadcasting discriminatory content targeting Algerians and Muslims. France's audiovisual regulator Arcom imposed several fines totalling €100,000 over two segments aired in 2025 that it said could incite discrimination against Muslims and Algerians, according to daily Ouest France. Arcom judged that the two segments from the channel’s L’heure des pros programme “encourage discriminatory behaviour, on the one hand by equating the presence of Algerian nationals in France […] with a major public safety risk” and on the other hand by associating “all Palestinians with the perpetrators” of the October 7 2023 attack. Beyond these rulings, Arcom also recalled that it had previously issued formal warnings to CNews over earlier broadcasts deemed problematic and strongly urged the channel to ensure “it does not encourage discriminatory behaviour”. read the complete article