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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In France, the Senate has backed a bill to ban religious symbols including the Muslim headscarf in all sports competitions, meanwhile in the U.S., after a Jewish American man shot two Israeli men he believed to be Palestinians in Miami, national and local Muslim organizations are calling on political leaders to condemn the attack and prosecute it as a hate crime, and in Australia, the woman who allegedly attacked two Muslim women at a Melbourne shopping centre last week was out on four sets of bail and had a history of committing targeted attacks. Our recommended read of the day is by Dr. Shabna Begum for LBC who writes that the new data showing a 73% surge in Islamophobic assaults across the UK in 2024 is the “inevitable outcome of the hyper-normalization of Islamophobia” by politicians and the media. This and more below:
United Kingdom
Violence against Muslims is not just in the streets—it's built into our politics | Recommended Read
We have achieved a prevailing consensus that Muslims are the problem.Not austerity which has robbed communities of financial security, not disgraceful levels of child poverty, not increased wealth accumulation by those at the very top - but Muslims who make up 6.5% of the population and who are subject to the same economic hardships impacting others - we are the problem. We are the problem when we join hundreds of thousands of others using the right to protest to peacefully challenge the Israeli government’s unconscionable assault on Gaza, we are the problem when we turn out to vote in elections, we are the problem when we try to access routes to asylum, we are the problem when we participate in the wider life of our schools. We are a problem when we don’t participate and live in segregated communities - but we are also the problem when we engage in civic society and become a ‘threat from within’. Muslim communities in the UK have been subjected to the most horrific and unabashed onslaught of political scapegoating, and in this context it is entirely predictable that we will continue to witness such disgraceful levels of Islamophobia. New figures today show that Islamophobic assaults surged by 73% in 2024. This is the inevitable outcome of the hyper-normalisation of Islamophobia. Whether Lee Anderson or Suella Braverman claiming “Islamists” are taking control, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson referring to Muslim women as “letterboxes” and “bank robbers”, Muslim men demonised as the only men who commit sexual violence through the confection of ‘grooming gang’ moral panics, or Keir Starmer engaging in the the most heartless PMQs exchange, denying the rights of a Palestinian family seeking asylum in the UK; this normalised Islamophobia in our political conversation is absorbed by, and enables, the fists and fury that is expressed on the streets. read the complete article
Anti-Muslim hate at record level in UK, report says
Anti-Muslim hate in the UK surged to record levels last year, an organisation tracking Islamophobia has found. Almost 6,000 reports to Tell Mama were confirmed by it as anti-Muslim incidents, more than double the number two years ago, with men targeted more than women for the first time since the body was founded in 2012. In its report, external the organisation said there had been a "surge in rhetoric that falsely portrays Muslims as terrorists or terrorist sympathisers" following the Israel-Gaza conflict and Southport murders. A government spokesperson called the findings "extremely concerning" and said it would "seek to stamp out anti-Muslim hatred and racism wherever it occurs". A total of 6,313 cases of anti-Muslim hate were recorded by Tell Mama in 2024, a 43% increase on the previous year - with 5,837 of the reports verified by the group. The organisation, which describes itself as the leading agency on monitoring anti-Muslim hate crime, said it had documented a steep rise in offline incidents, with 3,680 cases reported - a 72% increase on the number two years ago. read the complete article
United States
After Miami shooting, rights groups spotlight rising anti-Palestinian racism
Following the weekend shooting in Florida in an apparent targeting of Palestinians in a case of mistaken identity in which two Israelis were hit, a victim and members of the public are speaking out. The incident took place in Miami Beach on Saturday night, when 27-year-old Mordechai Brafman, a local resident and an outspoken supporter of Israel, saw two men he said he targeted because he believed "they were Palestinian" and shot at them 17 times, wounding a father and son visiting from Israel. On Monday, the son in the pair of victims, Ari Rabi, who had been wounded in the shoulder in the attack, told local news that he was grateful to be alive and called for "peace", saying no one should be targeted for their background. "A life shouldn't just be taken away from anyone. It doesn't matter who you are, what religion you are, or where you're from. People should just live in peace," he said, according to CBS news. He appeared to have changed his tune after sharing an initial social media post saying "Death to Arabs" immediately following the attack, apparently believing he had been targeted for his identity as a Jewish Israeli. "It is deeply ironic and telling that both the alleged pro-Israel perpetrator and the pro-Israel victim in the Miami Beach shooting reportedly hold racist anti-Palestinian views," said Nihad Awad, national director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, in a public statement. "This just the latest example of the hate targeting the Palestinian-American community in this country and Palestinians in their homeland. Policymakers in our nation should stop fomenting the anti-Palestinian hate that led to the genocide in Gaza and to hate crimes in America," he added. read the complete article
‘Hate crime’: Muslim groups call for probe into Miami Beach shooting targeting ‘Palestinians’
After two men targeted as ‘Palestinians’ were shot on Miami Beach, national and local Muslim organizations are calling on political leaders to condemn the attack and prosecute it as a hate crime. They point to the weekend incident as the latest example in a surge of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim incidents, including in South Florida. “There is no place for hate in this community, and we definitely are looking for some kind of investigation from the federal, state and local law enforcement to consider this a hate crime. It is a hate crime,” said Shabbir Motorwala, who is a founding member of the Coalition Of South Florida Muslim Organizations or COSMOS. “It is not an isolated incident, because our children in the schools are being called Hamas,” Motorwala told the Miami Herald on Wednesday. Aside from the hate crime designation — which may not come until mid-March when Brafman’s arraignment is — some Muslim advocacy groups are looking for public statements from elected officials. They say they want the incident to be condemned by leaders and to hear support for protecting the safety of Arab Americans. read the complete article
Punishing pro-Palestine protests
Free-speech advocates are warning that, with attention on the protests waning and national politics in the United States swinging rightward, university punishments against pro-Palestinian protesters have grown harsher — something Jabateh knows firsthand. "It’s a really extreme reaction," says Megan Porter, a lawyer who is supporting Jabateh during the disciplinary process on a pro bono basis. "But it seems to be a tactic that a lot of universities are starting to take." Since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, thousands of students flooded onto campus lawns and other common areas to denounce Israel's actions and US support for them. At the height of the protests, in April and May, tent encampments cropped up at many universities across the country, including the University of Chicago. Amid political pressure and accusations of anti-Semitism, many university leaders responded by calling in the police. Campus protesters were arrested en masse, sometimes more than 100 at a time. As many as 3,100 had been arrested by July. But as the demonstrations have shrunk in number and size this academic year, advocates say universities have instead switched to targeting individual students with severe disciplinary actions, including months or in some cases years of suspension. read the complete article
Revealed: US firm running Guantánamo migrant jail accused over rights abuses
A corporate conglomerate now running the US government’s immigration detention center at the Guantánamo Bay naval base on a lucrative contract has been the subject of critical audits and a civil rights complaint over conditions at three other migrant lockups it has run within the US, documents reviewed by the Guardian show. In one example, a federal audit report on a migrant facility run by the company in Miami found multiple incidents of alleged “inappropriate use of force” – including guards pepper-spraying a man in solitary confinement even though he posed no threat to them, the report said. Akima, the Virginia-headquartered company running the Guantánamo Bay migrant lockup, has over 40 subsidiaries and more than 2,000 contracts with the US government. From IT maintenance to armed security, with work stretching from Saudi Arabia to Arizona, Akima provides government contracting services to dozens of federal agencies. In August of 2024, Akima Infrastructure Protection was given a $163.4m contract by the Biden administration to run the migrant detention facility at Guantánamo through June of 2029. Now, as Trump expands migrant detention there, Akima’s role is drawing attention. read the complete article
What We Know About the Secretive Migrant Mission at Guantánamo Bay
The Trump administration has moved more than 175 men from an immigration holding site in Texas to the U.S. military base at Guantánamo Bay. All have been described as Venezuelans who have been issued final deportation orders. But it is not known why these men in particular were sent there. Waves of migrants, including thousands of Haitians and Cubans, have been housed at the base over the years. But it is better known as a prison for wartime detainees captured after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Because of that legacy, Guantánamo Bay sometimes evokes the idea of indefinite detention without charge, a legal black hole with no way out. Here are some of the things we have learned about the migrant mission so far. read the complete article
France
France's interior minister promises progress for Muslims
They arrived early and discreetly on the morning of Tuesday, February 18, at the French Interior Ministry. The dozens of members and representatives of the Forum de l'Islam de France ("French Islam Forum," FORIF), which President Emmanuel Macron created in 2022, were invited to address the issues related to the country's second-largest religion. They were there to conclude the forum's second working session and present what had been done, debated or initiated over the past year. Unlike previous meetings, this one was held behind closed doors, without cameras or journalists, as some members wished to remain anonymous. The issue, initially handled by the previous interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, before reaching the current one, Bruno Retailleau, is both complex and thorny. The government, accustomed to structured, hierarchical religions like Catholicism and Judaism, seeks to establish a clear dialogue with Muslims and their representatives. read the complete article
France's Senate backs bill to ban Muslim headscarf in sport competitions
France's right-dominated Senate has backed a bill to ban religious symbols including the Muslim headscarf in all sport competitions, professional and amateur, sparking accusations of discrimination from the left and rights advocates. The bill still needs a majority of votes from the lower-house National Assembly to become law, but the right-leaning government has thrown its weight behind the measure. Critics see the headscarf worn by some Muslim women as a symbol of creeping Islamisation after deadly jihadist attacks in France, while others say they are just practising their religion and should wear what they want. Under France's brand of secularism, civil servants, teachers and pupils cannot wear any obvious religious symbols such as a Christian cross, Jewish kippa, Sikh turban or Muslim headscarf, also known as a hijab. While such a sweeping ban does not yet exist across all sports in France, several federations have already prohibited religious clothing including in football and basketball. read the complete article
Australia
Australian woman charged with assaulting two Muslims
Australian police have charged a 31-year-old woman for assaulting two Muslim women at a shopping centre in Melbourne last week. The woman from Pascoe Vale suburb is due in court on Wednesday, where it will be alleged that she targeted the two victims on 13 February because of their head coverings, local media report. She allegedly grabbed and choked a 30-year-old pregnant woman using the latter's hijab at Epping shopping centre before pushing and slapping another 26-year-old woman in a separate assault 10 minutes later. This comes two weeks after the country passed tough new laws against hate crimes following a recent string of high-profile antisemitic attacks. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday condemned the incident as "reprehensible". He rejected criticism that his government was taking Islamophobic attacks less seriously compared to antisemitic attacks. read the complete article
Australia’s PM denies double standard after alleged attacks on Muslim women
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected suggestions that his government has been too slow to denounce Islamophobia following the alleged assault of two Muslim women at a shopping centre in Melbourne. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Albanese said any attack on a person on the basis of their religion was “reprehensible”. “I take all attacks on people on the basis of their faith seriously, and they should all face the full force of the law,” he said. “We’ve appointed a special envoy on Islamophobia. That’s an important step forward. And I’m someone who celebrates our diversity and who respects people, regardless of their faith.” Albanese made the comments after some Muslim Australians, including international cricket player Usman Khawaja, accused the government of not doing enough to combat Islamophobia. On Tuesday, Khawaja, who was the first Muslim to play Test cricket for Australia, said the alleged attacks would go unmentioned by Albanese and opposition leader Peter Dutton, and be “swept under the rug like all attacks against the Islamic community”. Khawaja on Wednesday said he appreciated Albanese and Dutton, who this week branded the alleged assaults a “disgrace,” for “speaking up”. read the complete article
Woman accused of assaulting Muslim women had history of previous attacks, court hears
A woman who allegedly attacked two Muslim women at a Melbourne shopping centre last week was out on four sets of bail and had a history of committing targeted attacks, police say. Suzan Gonulalan, 31, was freed on a fifth set of bail on Thursday evening, despite the opposition of police and the alleged victims in the case. Ms Gonulalan's defence lawyer Alex McClure argued her client was a vulnerable person who suffered from a psychotic disorder and should be released to receive treatment. Magistrate Foster agreed. Ms Gonulalan was arrested on Wednesday, after police accused her of attacking Ealaf Al-Esawie and Kawthar Ali in separate incidents at Epping Plaza on February 13. Detective Acting Sergeant Leanne Parfett told the Melbourne Magistrates' Court the women were assaulted because they were wearing hijabs, a Muslim headscarf that covers the top of the head and shoulders. Ms Ali, who is pregnant and was with her daughter, was allegedly approached from behind and dragged to the ground by the hijab. read the complete article