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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the United States, the prison at Guantanmo bay has entered its 25th year and 15 detainees remain imprisoned, with six having never been charged, meanwhile at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the first day of proceedings took place in the case accusing Myanmar of committing genocide against Rohingya Muslims, and lastly in Australia, the Adelaide Festival confirmed in a statement that the chairperson and three members of its board had resigned after it disinvited Australian-Palestinian author Randa Abdel-Fattah from February’s Writers Week.Our recommended read of the day is by Joe Mulhall for Hope Not Hate, which examines how recent social media activity by British far-right, anti-Muslim activist Stephen Lennon (also known as Tommy Robinson) has increasingly focused on UAE-linked conflicts, raising questions about possible Emirati funding or coordination. This and more below:
International
Why is Tommy Robinson suddenly so focused on UAE-linked conflicts?
Anyone who has followed Stephen Lennon (AKA Tommy Robinson) over the years will have noticed the vast amounts of money he has acquired through his hateful activism. Expensive clothes, large houses, flashy cars, and blingy watches have all been funded by his gullible supporters. It is also well known that he has received financial backing from wealthy benefactors such as Elon Musk, Robert Shillman, and the Middle East Forum. However, some of his recent social media activity raises questions about whether he might be receiving money from elsewhere. Or if not money, it certainly points to something strange going on. In October 2024, he released a slickly produced video that didn’t quite fit his usual pattern. Standing by the Thames, Lennon launched a furious attack on Qatar, shouting, “Fuck Qatar.” The video appeared to have been filmed by Visegrád 24, a so-called “news” outlet run by Lennon’s long-time ally Stefan Tompson. Adding in another post, “The UK government, alongside the UN, pointing the finger at UAE, they’re complicit in the cover ups and deaths of innocent people.” When these unusual posts are viewed together, a pattern emerges: the United Arab Emirates (UAE). read the complete article
Myanmar turned lives of Rohingya Muslims into ‘nightmare’, world court told on first day of genocide trial
Myanmar targeted the Rohingya for destruction and made their lives a nightmare, the top UN court heard on the first day of the proceedings in a landmark case accusing the Southeast Asian country of committing genocide. Dawda Jallow, justice minister of the Gambia, which brought the case, said no one was held accountable for the persecution of the Rohingya, a predominantly Muslim minority, and the perpetrators then felt emboldened to overthrow the elected government of Aung Sang Suu Kyi in 2021. He said there were "credible reports of the most brutal and vicious violations imaginably inflicted upon a vulnerable group". This is the first genocide case that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is hearing in full in over a decade. The case centres around the Myanmar military’s operations in 2016 and 2017 that sent over 700,000 Rohingya refugees fleeing into neighbouring Bangladesh to escape persecution. read the complete article
UAE accused of 'exploiting UK Islamophobia' to pressure 'Muslim Brotherhood ban'
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been accused by critics of exploiting Islamophobic discourse in Britain to pressure the UK government into banning the Muslim Brotherhood, after Abu Dhabi restricted state scholarships for Emirati students seeking to study at British universities. The UAE has justified the move by claiming British campuses are being radicalised by Islamist groups linked to the Brotherhood, a charge disputed by UK authorities and experts, who say there is no evidence of an organised Brotherhood presence in universities. Critics say the UAE’s framing closely mirrors rhetoric used by right-wing politicians and media figures in Britain who portray Muslim civil society and student activism as security threats. They argue that Abu Dhabi is amplifying those narratives to exert political pressure on London. read the complete article
Why Has the UAE Been Funding a Large-Scale Anti-Muslim Agenda in Europe?
In 2023, a report published on the European Parliament’s website documented the UAE’s enlistment of the Swiss firm Alp Services. Alp Services is known for spreading disinformation and creating fake social media accounts. The objective went beyond surveillance. It aimed to pressure European governments into banning Muslim individuals and portraying them negatively in the media. Through such methods, the UAE helped advance an anti-Islamic narrative that aligned with far-right agendas and intensified the growing wave of Islamophobia across Europe. The UAE’s actions were not confined to smear campaigns. They also included funding anti-Muslim figures, such as “activist” Amjad Taha, who is widely known for his persistent attacks on Muslim communities in Western countries. Several other social media influencers were similarly engaged in promoting this narrative. However, efforts by the UAE to silence Muslim voices in Europe are not new. In 2021, the UAE had reportedly given Marie La Pen 8 million dollars to fund a rampant and vile Islamophobic campaign. On Friday, we learnt how the UAE had cut funding for their citizens to study in British universities over the UK’s refusal to ban the Muslim Brotherhood. read the complete article
United States
Guantánamo Prison Enters 25th Year
The Guantánamo prison, made infamous by its opening-day photo of men in orange uniforms and on their knees, entered its 25th year on Sunday, holding the last 15 detainees from the war against terrorism. Over the years, the U.S. military has held about 780 men and boys there, with the Bush administration repatriating about 500 of them. The remaining 15 wartime prisoners at Guantánamo, ages 46 to 64, have been held in a single building since last year and are rarely seen by anybody but their guards and lawyers. read the complete article
US senator condemns Islamophobia, anti-Arab hate
US Sen. Mark Warner said Monday that the US was facing a rise in religious discrimination and hate-fueled extremism, accusing the Trump administration of contributing to growing Islamophobia and anti-Arab sentiment. Warner said he took the Senate floor to condemn "the heartbreaking and anti-American rise in religious discrimination and hate fueled extremism, and to call particular attention to the ways this administration has fueled the flames of Islamophobia and anti-Arab hate." "I rise today to specifically condemn the discrimination our Muslim and Arab American communities are facing because, unfortunately, this president and his administration have openly stoked and institutionalized Islamophobic discrimination," he said. As an example, Warner pointed to comments President Donald Trump made at a Cabinet meeting last month about people with Somali roots, saying he referred to the community as “garbage” and said, “We don’t want them in our country.” Warner said called Trump's remarks "disgusting, dehumanizing, and un-American," arguing that they should be "roundly and loudly" condemned by all public officials. read the complete article
As a veteran of the ‘War on Terror,’ I have no idea what a terrorist is anymore
I enlisted in the Marines partly because I felt we needed to protect our country from this ever happening again. I told myself that Islamic terrorism wasn’t just a threat to the U.S., but to the Islamic world as well. I enlisted with the notion that we were going to defeat terrorism and keep the world safe. Then I got deployed to Iraq. It turns out the U.S. “war on terror” created many more terrorists in the world than existed before 9/11. And as we engaged in nation building a nation that was already built, we had to deal with some nefarious characters. Although many bought into the idea of global jihad, I had a suspicion that a lot of Iraqis became “terrorists” because they simply didn’t want us in their country. Coming home, I struggled to make sense of what exactly we had done over there and whether it was truly going to make us safe. I watched as we sent more Americans like me in wave after wave of deployments. When we killed Osama Bin Laden, I was thrilled. I also figured that the job was done and we could bring people home. But that was in 2011. As we know now, we kept fighting terrorists in Afghanistan until we withdrew in 2021. We have since bombed terrorists in Syria, Somalia, Libya, Yemen, Pakistan, Nigeria, Iraq, Iran, and many other places. Then the word “terrorist” started to be used as a catch all for anyone President Trump didn’t like. We have seen the U.S. government use the word “terrorist” to go from avenging 9/11 and transforming it into a profitable money-making machine. read the complete article
Australia
Media “actively fuelling” attacks on Muslims: Top body
Political rhetoric and “irresponsible media commentary” are actively fuelling violence against Muslims, one of the nation’s top Islamic bodies has warned, following an alleged attack on an imam and his wife. The Australian National Imams Council said falsely tying peaceful pro-Palestinian advocacy to the Bondi terror attacks had “contributed directly” to a “surge in Islamophobic abuse, threats and physical assaults”. Three people have been arrested after Imam Dr Ismet Purdic, 47, and his wife were allegedly racially abused and driven off the road in Melbourne’s south-east Saturday night. The couple were allegedly abused by the occupants of a small black hatch on South Gippsland Highway, in Dandenong South, before being forced off the road into a service station, Victorian Police said. The three occupants exited their vehicle, “continued to racially abuse the victims”, and “damage their vehicle”, before Dr Purdic was allegedly assaulted. read the complete article
Australia festival faces mass boycott after dropping Palestinian author
Dozens of writers, four board members, and a sponsor have withdrawn from a top Australian arts festival after it cancelled an Australian-Palestinian author’s invitation in the wake of the Bondi Beach mass shooting. The Adelaide Festival confirmed in a statement on Monday that the chairperson and three members of its board had resigned after it disinvited Randa Abdel-Fattah from February’s Writers Week. The festival’s executive director, Julian Hobba, said the arts body was “navigating a complex and unprecedented moment” after the “significant community response” to the board’s decision. In addition to the board members, about 100 of the 124 participants have also withdrawn from the festival, which runs from February 27 to March 15, leaving it in doubt, according to local media reports. The Adelaide Festival board had announced on Thursday that it would disinvite Abdel-Fattah from its February event because “it would not be culturally sensitive to continue to programme her at this unprecedented time so soon after Bondi”. Abdel-Fattah, a Macquarie University academic who researches Islamophobia and Palestine, responded saying it was “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship”. She said the board’s attempt to associate her with the Bondi killings was “despicable”. read the complete article
Hate speech bill blasted by Coalition, Muslim groups
A proposed moment of national unity in the parliament after the Bondi massacre has descended into partisanship as politicians prepare to debate sweeping laws that would jail for up to 15 years Islamic extremists or neo-Nazis who collaborate with hate groups. The new Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill, which the government drafted over summer, will introduce new anti-vilification provisions targeting Islamic preachers who spread hatred about Jews and other minorities; create offences for hate preachers and community leaders radicalising children; make it easier to cancel visas; and boost penalties for hate crimes. One key section says that it would be illegal to promote hatred of people on the basis of their race, colour or national or ethnic origin. It would not apply to conduct which consists only of directly quoting from religious texts for the purposes of teaching. Muslim groups said they had not been consulted on the laws. Australian Federation of Islamic Councils president Rateb Jneid said he was concerned that the proposed new serious vilification offence, which criminalises the promotion of hatred, only applied to race rather than religion. “In a climate where Islamophobia is rising rapidly, as evidenced as recently as yesterday by the violent attack on an imam and his wife in Victoria, it is simply not tenable for laws designed to combat hate to exclude religion,” he said. “Hatred fuelled by religious bigotry can be just as dangerous and damaging as that based on race. Any serious attempt to address hate speech must recognise that.” read the complete article
United Kingdom
Labour MP threatened over support for Islamic centre after racist attack
Police Scotland are investigating social media threats against a Labour politician who posted her disgust after two men threatened worshippers with a meat cleaver at an Islamic centre. Melanie Ward, the MP for Kirkcaldy in Fife and former chief executive of Medical Aid for Palestinians, expressed her outrage after Muslims were targeted by racists at the Kirkcaldy Islamic Centre. The town has a Muslim population of almost 1,500, about 2 per cent of the community. The two men damaged vehicles in the car park then entered the building threatening congregants “displaying clear intent to inflict further harm”, the centre said in a statement. “The level of racism, hatred and vitriol written by people on that post was so appalling that I had to switch off the comment function and delete some of the worst abuse,” she said. The MP, who had a long career working for humanitarian charities, including the International Rescue Committee, described her disgust that people “would seek to stir up hatred and division in this way”. Detectives are investigating whether some of those abusive posts met a criminal threshold, she added. read the complete article
UK court clears British activist Majid Freeman over role in Leicester riots
An English court on Friday found a pro-Palestine activist not guilty after he was charged by Leicestershire police with a public order offence related to riots that took place in Leicester in 2022. Majid Freeman was exonerated of all charges, following a retrial, after Leicester Crown Court found there was no evidence to prove the Leicester-based activist’s guilt. During a final summary, judge Robert Brown praised Freeman for his community work and described him as a “bridge-builder” between the Muslim and Hindu communities in Leicester. “We have listened with great care to the evidence provided by Mr Freeman. As a witness, he has impressed us,” said Brown. “He was measured, restrained, and showed humility when providing evidence. And it is apparent to us that he has been, on multiple occasions, a bridge-builder, working with the police, to ensure there was harmony in his community.” read the complete article
India
Report 2025: Hate Speech Events in India
The year 2025 inaugurated a profoundly disturbing phase in the trajectory of anti-minority rhetoric in India, reflecting a new baseline of permissiveness for the public expression of hate. This report documents and analyzes verified instances of in-person hate speech events across the country in 2025, including political rallies, religious processions, protest marches, and nationalist gatherings. Following the unprecedented surge in hate speech observed in 2024, the total volume of hate speech events in 2025 climbed further, indicating the deep entrenchment of sectarian rhetoric as a routine feature of India’s political and social landscape. The number of recorded hate speech incidents targeting religious minorities in 2025 surpassed the 1,165 instances documented in 2024. This increase signals a significant shift in India’s political landscape, in which inflammatory rhetoric has evolved from a campaign-specific tactic into a normalized and continuously deployed mechanism of political governance. Such rhetoric now functions as a round-the-clock instrument for Hindu far-right mobilization on the ground. read the complete article