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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the UK, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has hit back at controversial comments made by Elon Musk about British Muslims and sexual abuse, culminating in the X chief calling for the Labour leader to be jailed, meanwhile in Austria, the President of the Islamic Religious Community in Austria (IGGO), Umit Vural, demanded a clarification from Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner for anti-Islam remarks made during a recently aired interview, and in the US, the Department of Defense has transferred 11 Yemeni detainees from the Guantanamo prison to Oman after holding them for more than two decades without charge. Our recommended read of the day is by Imran Mulla for Middle East Eye on how UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has accused Conservative MPs of boosting a “far-right” narrative on sexual abuse after Robert Jenrick, the Shadow Justice Secretary, said “grooming gangs” were a result of “alien cultures” with “medieval attitudes towards women”. This and more below:
United Kingdom
The Muslims killed and attacked over the far-right grooming gang narrative | Recommended Read
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has accused Conservative MPs of boosting a "far-right" narrative on sexual abuse after Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, said "grooming gangs" were a result of "alien cultures" with "medieval attitudes towards women". Innocent Muslims have been attacked and even killed over the last several years over a popular far-right narrative blaming Islam and Pakistani culture for child sexual abuse scandals in Britain. In his comments on Monday, Starmer hit back at billionaire X-owner Elon Musk in an escalating spat. Last week Musk accused Starmer of being "complicit in the rape of Britain" during his tenure as director of public prosecutions (DPP) for supposedly failing to tackle child sexual abuse perpetrated by Pakistani-origin and Muslim men, often called "grooming gangs". But Starmer said on Monday that online discourse had "crossed a line". He further accused opposition Conservative MPs of "amplifying what the far-right is saying" on child sexual abuse after failing to act "for 14 long years". read the complete article
Right-wing think tank goes after Muslim Council of Britain leadership candidates
A right-wing think tank accused of promoting Islamophobia has attacked two candidates standing to become the next secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), suggesting the Labour government should not engage with the organisation. The "likely frontrunner", Dr Mohammed Wajid Akhter, has hit back in comments to Middle East Eye, slamming the report as having "misrepresented" and distorted his views. Insisting his vision "is to foster unity among all Britons", Akhter, a medical doctor and lecturer, told MEE he believed Policy Exchange's report was "part of a wider effort to vilify active Muslims who contribute positively to society". The Policy Exchange report, authored by senior fellow Andrew Gilligan, inaccurately claims that "Governments of all stripes have refused to deal with [the MCB] since 2009". The current policy of disengagement with the MCB, adopted by Labour in government, came into force in 2021 when the Conservative government ordered civil servants to stop engaging with the group. The Policy Exchange report accuses Akhter, a candidate for the role of secretary-general who the report describes as the "likely frontrunner", of having "expressed views which appear ominous for the integration of Muslims into Britain". read the complete article
Starmer warns Musk that he's 'crossed a line' in 'Islamophobia row'
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has hit back at controversial comments made by Elon Musk about British Muslims and sexual abuse, culminating in the X chief calling for the Labour leader to be jailed. Musk fired a series of tweets aimed at the Labour government and Starmer regarding historic rape scandals over the weekend, as well as the right-wing Reform Party leader Nigel Farage over his refusal to back anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson. In one of the most provocative posts, Musk described Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips as a "rape genocide apologist" and called for Robinson, jailed for contempt of court last year, to be freed, insinuating he is a 'political prisoner'. On Monday, Starmer fired back after days of provocations by Musk, in particular the targeting of individual members of his government. "Those that are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible are not interested in victims, they are interested in themselves," Starmer said. read the complete article
Musk ‘upset’ Farage didn’t endorse his support for Tommy Robinson
We spoke to Marc Owen Jones, who’s an Associate Professor of Media Analytics at Northwestern University in Qatar and an expert on disinformation. We asked him, with Musk turning his fire on Nigel Farage after days of attacking Keir Starmer, what’s going on? Marc Owen Jones: You might argue it’s the snake eating its tail. I think Elon Musk is slightly upset, perhaps, that Farage didn’t completely endorse Musk’s support for Tommy Robinson, who as everyone knows is a far-right, anti-Islam activist. Elon Musk seems to support Tommy Robinson quite a lot, and Farage has been sort of more reluctant to embrace Tommy Robinson. It seems that Musk really wants to sort of encourage the kind of far-right politics in Europe that is very potently not just anti-migrant and anti-immigrant, but anti-Muslim, and I think Tommy Robinson embodies that. And so while Farage is probably seething deep down, I’m sure he knows that if he engages in a feud with Musk, that might sort of burn bridges with Musk, might prevent the possibility of getting a lot of money to Reform and ultimately burn an important bridge with Donald Trump. Let’s not forget that Farage is trying to position himself as a link between the UK and the US and talking about how he can perhaps facilitate a trade deal. read the complete article
Taxi driver who stoked Southport riots jailed
A taxi driver whose social media posts were a "catalyst" for riots that broke out after three girls were stabbed to death in Southport has been jailed seven and a half years. Andrew McIntyre, 39, set up a Telegram channel called "Southport Wake Up" in the immediate aftermath of the knife attack at a children's dance class in the Merseyside town on 29 July. Liverpool Crown Court heard the case involved a "sinister aspect" of violence which took place in parts of the UK last summer. McIntyre, of Rufford, near Ormskirk, Lancashire, had admitted encouraging violent disorder and possession of a knife in an earlier hearing. The Telegram channel was identified by the group Hope Not Hate as a "catalyst for and origin of a series of posts" concerning incidents of violence, prosecutor Arthur Gibson said. He also posted a map after adding: "Mosque at the top of Hart St." In a later post he wrote: "Rise Up English Lads. 8pm tomorrow St Luke's Rd Southport." Hours before violence broke out in Southport on 30 July he posted a "clear threat to police", writing: "Message to All...Stand in our way, even if you're just doing your job...prepare to fall." The day after the disorder, McIntyre posted: "Well done last night lads, to all you heavy hitters. "Are you ready for Round 2???... Liverpool Mosque, West Derby Road, Friday 8pm." read the complete article
Global Islamophobia frontman Elon Musk's war against Britain
Last week, the metamorphosis of Elon Musk from the poster boy of the Green Revolution to the frontman of the far-right politics of a particularly Islamophobic strain was finalized. His staunch support for Tommy Robinson, who co-founded the English Defence League (EDL) with Paul Ray – an equally unpleasant man who reportedly worked for Israeli intelligence against the Palestinian resistance – has been incredibly resolute. As a result, he had to break his newly founded alliance with Reform U.K.’s leader Nigel Farage over that petty provocateur, stating that the party needed a new leader because Farage did not have “what it takes.” In fact, Musk went so far as to recommend Rupert Lowe for the post, presumably hoping that this would create the necessary division within the party to oust the “gutless” Farage. However, if we take a step back and look at the broader picture, we can see that Musk’s agenda is much more perverse. His role is much more vital for the interests of a certain sector of the U.S. elite, namely to promote the negative perception of Muslims in the Western world for manufacturing consent for Israel’s destructive wars in the Middle East. This is evidenced by Musk’s fierce defense of H1B visas based on a presumed demand for “high-skilled” foreign workers to contribute to the economy and development of the technology industry in the U.S. Of course, a large portion of those foreign workers come from places like India where the prime minister, Narendra Modi, has done commendable work in the eyes of the likes of Musk, perhaps chiefly in terms of stirring up Islamophobia in that country. read the complete article
United States
From Afghanistan to Virginia – the Muslims who fought in the American Civil War
The short documentary series ‘American Muslims: A History Revealed’ features six films that explore the often overlooked ways in which of Muslims and Islam have helped to shape the United States. In this instalment, the US presenter Malika Bilal investigates the stories of two Muslim men who fought for the Union in the American Civil War. Speaking with historians, archivists and other interested citizens, Bilal introduces Mohammed Kahn, who emigrated to the US from Afghanistan in 1861, volunteered for the Union Army under the influence of alcohol and, rather surprisingly, fought in an ‘all-white’ regimen. Investigating Kahn, she also stumbles on the story of Nicholas Said who, born in the Borno region of modern Nigeria, emigrated to the US in 1860 and used his language talents to become a Union Army clerk. In doing so, Bilal highlights how Muslims and the tenets of Islam intersected with the internal American conflict – and especially its reckoning with slavery – as well as the many ways in which the war was an international fight. read the complete article
US transfers 11 Yemeni detainees from Guantanamo Bay prison to Oman
The United States has transferred 11 Yemeni detainees from its notorious Guantanamo Bay detention centre to Oman after holding them for more than two decades without charge as part of Washington’s so-called “war on terror”. The US-based Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) said that among the 11 detainees transferred to Oman this week, was Sharqawi al-Hajj, who had undergone repeated hunger strikes and hospitalisations at Guantanamo to protest his 21 years in prison, which came after two years of detention and torture by the CIA. “Our thoughts are with Mr Al Hajj as he transitions to the free world after almost 23 years in captivity. His release is hopeful for him and for us,” said Pardiss Kebriaei, a lawyer at CCR who represents al-Hajj. Just 15 detainees now remain at Guantanamo, down from a peak of almost 800 in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks by al-Qaeda when then-US President George W Bush set up the Guantanamo prison camp to hold suspects indefinitely and without charge and disallowing legal challenges to their detention. Hundreds of mostly Muslim men were seized from dozens of countries as part of the US’s so-called “war on terror”, which also involved the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and covert military operations elsewhere around the world. read the complete article
India
Cow Vigilantism: The primary cause of persecution of Muslim minority in India
In recent years, since 2014, cow vigilantism has become the primary cause of violence against Muslims by extremist Hindutva Vadi groups. Recently, a 37 year old Muslim man named Mohammad Shahideen Qureshi, from Moradabad became a victim of the same. On the 30th of December, 2024, Qureshi and his friend Mohammad Adnan were attacked by an aggressive Hindutva mob shouting the slogans of “Jai Shree Ram” alleging that Qureshi and Adnan had slaughtered a cow. Meanwhile Adnan escaped, Qureshi, who suffered serious injuries after the attack and was admitted in the Moradabad district hospital, succumbed to those injuries. This incident brings the dire state of law-and-order enforcement into focus. According to a research conducted by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data reported by Statista, the primary cause for violence against Muslim civilians between, June 2019 to March 2024, has been cow vigilante actions by Hindus. Further, according to a Reuters report, between the year 2010 and mid-2017, a total of 63 cow vigilante attacks have occurred in India, most after Prime Minister Narendra Modi came into power in the year 2014. In these attacks, 28 individuals were killed, of which 24 were Muslims, and 124 were injured. Furthermore, the Human Rights Watch has observed that there has been a surge in cow vigilante violence in India since the year 2015 and the same is attributed to the recent rise in Hindu nationalism in India. read the complete article
How the Bulldozer Became a Symbol of Modi’s India
Bulldozers are ubiquitous on construction sites the world over. But in India, they are also something more. Bulldozers have become a symbol, a perpetrator of a divisive and violent brand of retributive justice that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has developed since Modi first came to power in 2014 and, despite growing political and judicial resistance, continues to propagate. Used to target Muslims under the guise of governance, the bulldozer reflects India’s current imbalance along religious lines. “Bulldozer justice” first gained prominence in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, under the leadership of Yogi Adityanath, a saffron-clad Hindu monk and the state’s chief minister. Since 2020, state officials under Adityanath, a member of the BJP, have regularly ordered the use of bulldozers to demolish the properties of individuals, mostly Muslims, accused of involvement in criminal activity or protests against the government. Adityanath, who is known for making inflammatory and provocative remarks against Indian Muslims, hailed the bulldozer as a tool of justice that led him to earn the sobriquet “Bulldozer Baba,” or bulldozer monk. read the complete article
Austria
Austrian Muslims' body demands clarification from state governor on anti-Islam remarks
The president of the Islamic Religious Community in Austria (IGGO), Umit Vural, on Monday, demanded a correction from Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner of northeastern Lower Austria for her anti-Islam remarks. Mikl-Leitner had spoken out against new elections in Austria in an interview with the public broadcaster ORF on Sunday evening. “People have no sympathy for new elections, and you also have to bear in mind that we are in an extremely challenging time, where it is important to take very concrete measures for economic recovery as well as in the fight against Islam,” said Mikl-Leitner. Vural, in a statement, criticized the Austrian People's Party (OVP) governor's remarks. The IGGO president said, “I wonder whether Ms. Mikl-Leitner's statement is a slip of the tongue. If this is the case, I expect a clear and unequivocal clarification on behalf of the Muslims in this country. “Otherwise, this statement represents a dangerous overstepping of boundaries that defames Muslims in Austria across the board, discriminates against them, and makes them further targets of hatred and violence. “Such rhetoric is not only unworthy, but it also divides society and promotes the very extremist narratives that we should be fighting together as a society.” read the complete article