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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In Switzerland, the country’s burqa ban has come into effect on January 1st, 2025, meanwhile in Germany, anti-Muslim attacks are on the rise, and in the United States, the Pentagon announced Monday that the government has repatriated Guantánamo detainee, Ridah Bin Saleh al-Yazidi to Tunisia after more than two decades in detention without charge or trial. Our recommended read of the day is by Shada Islam for the Guardian on how the “new allegation in Islamophobic discourse is that even Muslims who appear ‘well-integrated’ hate the west.” This and more below:
International
Integrate? Europe’s Muslims are damned if we do and damned if we don’t | Recommended Read
Reporting on the rise of anti-Muslim hostility across Europe means repeatedly hearing generalisations about Europe’s 25 million Muslims. We are – all of us – too religious, easily drawn to extremism and terrorism, we live in parallel societies and Muslim women, especially those who wear the hijab, are victims of fanatical patriarchal oppression or foot soldiers in a drive to replace indigenous white Europeans. Again and again, European governments instruct us to integrate: come in, step out of the shadows and join the sunny European mainstream. We should be less “foreign”, more European, adopt “European values” (just which ones is left unclear, but drinking beer and eating pork seem to be among them), get an education and then – and only then – actively participate in the political, economic and social life of our “host societies” which, according to Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, are purely Christian. It is getting worse. The EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency recently released grim findings on the steep rise in anti-Muslim racism across Europe, with almost half of Europe’s Muslims facing discrimination because of their religion, skin colour and ethnic or immigrant background and, for the past 14 months, also because of societal tensions linked to the Israel-Gaza war. Anti-Muslim racism has certainly gained traction since Israel unleashed what Amnesty International now calls a genocide in Gaza after the 7 October Hamas attack, and some EU governments’ insistence on equating criticism of the Israeli government with antisemitism. Yet as I discovered when researching the recent Islamophobic frenzy in the Netherlands after violence in Amsterdam between Maccabi Tel Aviv football fans and local people, there is a shriller and more insidious twist to the conventional civilisational, Eurocentric narrative. The subtext is that there is no longer a distinction between bad and good Muslims. Those who are part of the mainstream are just as much of a problem as those who are supposedly unadapted and antisocial. read the complete article
Tackling anti-Muslim hate should be a priority
One of the most disheartening trends of this century is showing no signs of diminishing. Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred courses through much of European and American society, but also elsewhere, not least India. For Muslims in these areas, hatred of them or anyone who might be perceived as Muslim has become a fact of life. The far right is flourishing, not least in Europe. In France, which has a Muslim population of nearly 6 million, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally revels in its Islamophobia. It won 33 percent of the vote in France’s first round of parliamentary elections in June. It appears that anti-Muslim messages will only be amplified by the likes of X. The social media site’s owner, Elon Musk, even wrote an opinion piece arguing that the far-right, virulently Islamophobic Alternative for Germany is the only party that can “save” Germany. The network of the right and far right is bound by a glue of hate — an ever-hardening bond of antipathy to anything to do with Islam. Yet one must not lazily assume that the leftist and centrist parties are immune to all of this. Far from it. They may be less boastful about it, but it is a common phenomenon. The Biden administration’s record in engaging American Muslim communities was lamentable, one reason among many why Kamala Harris fared so poorly among these communities in November’s election. read the complete article
United States
US military transfers Guantánamo detainee to Tunisia following extended detention
The Pentagon announced Monday that the US has repatriated Guantánamo detainee Ridah Bin Saleh al-Yazidi to Tunisia after more than two decades in detention. Al-Yazidi, identified as ISN 038, was transferred to Tunisia after Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin informed Congress on January 31, 2024, 11 months prior, about the agreement reached for his repatriation. His transfer followed a thorough interagency review process mandated by Executive Order 13492, issued in 2009. Al-Yazidi, a 59-year-old Tunisian, is believed to be the last remaining Tunisian detainee at Guantánamo Bay. Of the 12 Tunisians who were detained at Guantánamo over the years, he is the only one still held there, with the others having been transferred to Tunisia or to third countries. After being captured near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border following the September 11, 2001 attacks, al-Yazidi was assigned internment serial number 38 and became one of the first detainees held at Guantánamo when the facility opened in 2002 under then-president George W. Bush. Under former president Barack Obama’s administration, al-Yazidi was placed on a list of detainees who could not be prosecuted for war crimes, making him eligible for release. However, his repatriation to Tunisia remained unresolved for years, as the security situation there was deemed unsuitable for his return. Despite this, al-Yazidi consistently refused to be transferred to any other country. read the complete article
How visas for skilled foreign workers are splitting MAGA in two
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and other tech titans are warring with some of US President-elect Donald Trump’s staunchest supporters over immigration visas. Trump has backed Musk and praised the use of H-1B visas to bring skilled foreign workers to the United States, but the issue has become a flashpoint that is ruffling the feathers of his electoral base. Trump chose to side with Musk in a December 28 New York Post interview in which he expressed support for immigration visas for highly skilled workers after a fierce debate that had been roiling his MAGA supporters. But online, the claws came out. Hardline, anti-immigrant MAGA supporters came after Trump’s wealthy tech supporters over the future of H-1B visas and the foreigners who benefit from them. Some prominent Trump supporters, like conspiracy theorist and anti-Muslim activist Laura Loomer, said these visas were an open door to mass immigration. Others, like Musk, defended the visa program as a way to attract the “top 0.1% of engineering talent”. read the complete article
Halal tech: how Muslim-friendly websites and apps blossomed in 2024
Amany Killawi made a breakup playlist every time she was dumped, three in all. The playlists, which feature songs such as Gotye’s Somebody That I Used to Know and Apologize by OneRepublic, would make good soundtracks to romantic splits, but that’s not what they were. The playlists came together after Killawi was told by three different banks and payment processors they would no longer work with LaunchGood, the crowdfunding platform for the Muslim community she co-founded. Stripe said it was restricting its work in the crowdfunding space after five years of working with LaunchGood. Stripe also told the company it didn’t want to do any more international humanitarian work – a prerequisite for a crowdfunding platform that caters to the Muslim community. Another bank told the company there were too many Muslim and Arabic names and figuring out if those names belonged to sanctioned individuals was difficult. “People don’t realize Muhammad is the most sanctioned name,” Killawi, who was the chief operating officer at LaunchGood, said. With each dismissal, it felt like LaunchGood was on the brink of collapse. “If you can’t accept payments, you can’t exist as a company,” she said. There were few existing options that gave Killawi and her co-founders the stability and reliability they sought. So they did what a growing number of Muslim founders have done since: create their own solution. To mitigate the impact on the business if and when another bank decided to stop working with LaunchGood, Killawi and her co-founders Chris Blauvelt and Omar Hamid made the decision to establish a network of payment providers and banks to work with. Their hope was that there would no longer be one point of failure that could tank their business. When they were dumped by a bank, which continued to happen over the years, they had several backups. Now, more than 10 years since its founding, LaunchGood has become a household name and has enabled its largely Muslim user base to raise nearly $700m. The site’s rise and the challenges it has faced are not an anomaly. The “halal” consumer market, which includes halal food, financial services and other goods and services that cater to Muslims, has grown to an estimated $2tn globally, according to research and advisory firm Dinar Standard. Yet a 2022 study conducted by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) found that Muslims were more likely than other faith groups to have their accounts at banks and other US financial institutions closed, investigated or otherwise challenged, with businesses effectively denying themselves access to Muslim customers. read the complete article
Germany
Anti-Muslim racism in Germany on the rise
Anti-Muslim racism is on the rise in Germany, especially since the Hamas October 7 terror attack, according to a report. What has been done by authorities to tackle the issue and how are affected people feeling about it? read the complete article
German migrant rights group warns of mounting racist attacks after Magdeburg attack
The state network of migrant organizations in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt (LAMSA) on Tuesday warned of growing anti-foreigner attacks in the wake of this month's deadly Magdeburg attack. “There are increasing reports of racist hostility against people with a migration background. Documented incidents show the mood in parts of the population is extremely tense,” Mamad Mohamad, managing director of LAMSA, said in a statement. “People with a migration background feel insecure and hardly dare to go there (Magdeburg) on the street. We fear that the situation will especially worsen on New Year’s Eve,” he added. Mohamad urged residents of Magdeburg as well as political and civil society actors to take “a clear stance against racist agitation and violence.” A man drove on Dec. 20 a car into a Christmas market, killing five and wounding more than 200 people. The accused is a 50-year-old Saudi doctor described as being anti-Islam and a supporter of the far-right and Zionism. read the complete article
Switzerland
Switzerland’s Burqa Ban Takes Effect as of January 1
The controversial Burqa ban has officially taken effect today, January 1, in Switzerland, prohibiting the wearing of full-face coverings in public spaces. The law, which passed through a nationwide referendum in 2021, echoes an ever-growing wave of restrictions and Islamophobic attacks targeting Muslims in several countries across Europe and beyond. Switzerland's governing Federal Council said that anyone who unlawfully violates the law faces a fine of up to MAD 11,542 ($1,144). The country justified its burqa ban as a step towards “promoting integration and security.” The ban sparked online criticism from many people, who argued that it unduly targets Muslim women, encroaching on their rights and freedom of expression and religious practices. read the complete article
United Kingdom
How a 7 October video game highlighted the gaming world’s uneasy relationship with Islam
In November, amid a media spectacle, digital shopfront Steam removed the game Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque from sale in the UK. That was after the country’s Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) put pressure on Valve, the company that owns and runs the Steam service. Because Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK, it is not surprising that the counterterrorism services reached out to Valve to remove it from sale, as the game could be construed as an expression of a player’s support for the group and, therefore, illegal. The controversy surrounding the game was loud and effective in having it removed from Steam but also led to accusations of double standards. Video games have a long history of pushing the envelope, including with regard to violence considered “terroristic”. Tech news site 404 Media reached out to developer Nidal Nijm regarding Fursan al-Aqsa and the subsequent ban. “On their flawed logic, the most recent Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 should be banned as well. As you play as an American soldier and go to Iraq to kill Iraqi people. What I can say is that we see clearly the double standards,” Nijm said. Like their counterparts in Hollywood, video game creators have regularly used tropes of Arabs and Muslims in their games, as well as cannon fodder NPCs (non-playable characters). The Call of Duty series is famous for its controversies involving Muslims and Arabs. read the complete article
Netherlands
Over one month on, Jewish and Muslim communities reflect on the aftermath of Amsterdam clashes
“Amsterdam is calm again, even though we are still reeling from what happened,” says Hilla Dayan, a Dutch-Israeli activist and political sociologist, reflecting upon the violent clashes that shook her city one month ago and made headlines worldwide. The violent outburst was triggered by fans of the Israeli football team Maccabi Tel Aviv, who had travelled to the capital of the Netherlands to support the Israeli team playing Amsterdam’s team Ajax on November 7. Before the match, Amsterdam Maccabi hooligans had torn down Palestinian flags, attacked taxis, and chanted dehumanising racist chants, including phrases such as “dead to all Arabs.” As a response, the Maccabi thugs were targeted by pro-Palestinian protesters. That same evening, Hilla attended the official Kristallnacht commemoration. The ceremony commemorated the night in 1938 when mass attacks took place across Nazi Germany, where Jewish communities were targeted and even murdered. “In the background, you could hear the sirens from the protests,” she recalls. “Almost every speech focused on fighting anti-Semitism in the Netherlands. It felt like Israel and the events of October 7 had completely overshadowed the memory of the Holocaust of Dutch Jews. There was no room for reflection about what is happening in Gaza, not even a simple call for peace or the end of the war.” For Hilla Wilders, the rhetoric is deeply concerning: “The spread of misinformation and the weaponisation of anti-Semitism to suppress opposition to the war in Gaza is an attack on the rule of law in the Netherlands,” she warns. Cracking down on pro-Palestinian protests is a “slippery slope of censorship,” Hilla added while re-affirming, “Protest isn’t just a right — it’s essential for democracy.” read the complete article