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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the US, Delta Airlines apologized after its X account sympathized with a post that incorrectly said two flight attendants with Palestinian flag pins were wearing “Hamas badges”, meanwhile in France, a court in the town of Saverne has convicted a man for shooting at the vehicle of a Muslim family who lived in the neighborhood, sentencing him to six months in jail and subjecting him to five-year firearms ban, and in India, two journalists in Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli district are being charged by the government with causing “hatred and anger” after reporting on an alleged lynching of a Muslim man. Our recommended read of the day is by Peter Yeung for Hyphen on how French Muslims are facing the reality of living in a country where 10 million people voted for a party, (Marine Le Pen’s National Rally), that was openly and unapologetically Islamophobic. This and more below:
France
What now for France’s Muslims? | Recommended Read
In the final vote, a shock result saw the broad left-wing coalition the New Popular Front (NFP) take 182 seats out of a total 577, ahead of president Emmanuel Macron’s centrist coalition Ensemble on 168 seats, and the RN pushed back to third place on 143 seats. “It was a great relief,” Kamel Kabtane, the rector of the Grand Mosque in Lyon, told Hyphen. “I was very happy to see that the French people had understood the danger the RN represents to our society. We mobilised together against them.” However, as the dust settles on the electoral earthquake, Muslims in France are facing the reality of living in a country where more than 10 million people voted for a political party that has been openly Islamophobic. “We avoided the worst,” said Rayan Freschi, a France-based researcher for advocacy group CAGE International, which aims to empower communities affected by the war on terror. “But I’m rather pessimistic. The problem hasn’t just disappeared.” France is home to 5.7 million Muslims, the largest community in Europe. Over the past few years they have seen Islamophobia becoming increasingly accepted in mainstream politics. According to Haoues Seniguer, a researcher at Sciences Po University in Lyon and author of The Authoritarian Republic: Islam in France and the Republican Illusion, increased “religious persecution” has been a feature of the Macron presidency. “Since his accession, Macron has led a normalisation or banalisation more or less of racism and Islamophobia,” Seniguer said. “Macron has facilitated the rise of the far right by taking on their policies [in an attempt to fend them off].” read the complete article
Uproar Over Detention of Prominent French Scholar for Gaza Solidarity Posts
Academic freedom defenders around the world are rallying around a renowned French political scientist and Arabist who was detained by police Tuesday after voicing "respect and appreciation" for the militant Palestinian resistance group Hamas. François Burgat, the 75-year-old research director emeritus at the French National Center for Scientific Research, was taken into custody Tuesday morning in the southern city of Aix-en-Provence as part of an investigation into "apology for terrorism," his lawyer Rafik Chekkat said on social media. Burgat was released after attending a hearing, during which he "responded honestly and referred to his researcher status and the books he has written" and the times "that he has spoken in the National Assembly, the Senate, and the Anti-Terrorism Court," Chekkat told the Turkish news agency Anadolu. A petition circulating among academics and Palestine defenders asserts that "François Burgat is the latest target in a political campaign that aims at silencing pro-Palestinian voices in France and at equating explanation with justification, and analysis with incitement." read the complete article
Frenchman Jailed For Racially Assaulting Muslim Family
A man was jailed for six months Thursday by a court in northeastern France for shooting at the car of a Muslim family who he racially abused, Alsatian prosecutors said. The court in Saverne northwest of Strasbourg charged the man -- who the victims allege had expressed support for the far right -- with aggravated violence, prosecutor Aline Clerot told AFP. The court had ruled that the July 6 attack was motivated by the family's ethnicity, nationality or religion, she added. It also banned the man in his 60s from owning a firearm for five years. The victims' statement quoted in Alsatian media alleged the man used a racial slur for North Africans while urging them to "get out of the way and go back to your neighbourhoods". The attacker also told the family he supported Marine le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) party, the victims added. A small-calibre bullet impact was found on one of the car doors after the shooting. read the complete article
United States
Delta apologizes after official X account says ‘I’d be terrified’ of employees with Palestinian flag pins
Delta Airlines apologized Thursday after its X account sympathized with a post that incorrectly said two flight attendants with Palestinian flag pins were wearing "Hamas badges." An X user by the handle “ilikeTeslas” had tweeted Tuesday: “Since 2001 we take our shoes off in every airport because a terrorist attack in US soil. Now imagine getting into a @Delta flight and seeing workers with Hamas badges in the air. What do you do?” The Delta Air Lines X account replied Wednesday: “I hear you as I’d be terrified as well, personally. Our employees reflect our culture and we do not take it lightly when our policy is not being followed.” That response was deleted later. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, the country’s largest Muslim advocacy organization, slammed the airline for the “racist anti-Palestinian tweet” and demanded an apology and better education of staffers. read the complete article
Delta airline under fire after linking staff wearing Palestine badges with Hamas
Delta Air Lines has come under fierce criticism and boycott calls after appearing to link two of its flight attendants wearing badges of the Palestine flag with Hamas. During a flight that reportedly took place on Friday between Boston and West Palm Beach in Florida, a member of the cabin crew was pictured with the pin. The campaign group StopAntisemitism first posted an image of a flight attendant on X, formerly Twitter, writing: “Hey @Delta - did you add Palestine as a new summer route?,” as well as a screengrab of what appeared to be the flight attendant’s Instagram account. It posted a picture of a second Delta staff member with a Palestine flag pin a few days later, telling the airline that she was "causing a stir". “Nothing to worry, this is being investigated already, particularly the involved parties,” it added in another reply. Both posts have since been deleted. Several commentators and campaigners have called for the airline to be boycotted over its handling of the matter. “These airlines won’t learn until you stop giving them business,” wrote Muslim scholar Omar Suleiman, with the hashtag “BoycottDelta”. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called on Delta to apologise for the post on X appearing to link the badges with Hamas, calling it a “racist anti-Palestinian tweet”. read the complete article
Lawsuits target alleged anti-Arab hate groups accused of bullying pro-Palestine student protesters
Two college students who participated in campus protests against Israel’s actions during its war on the Gaza Strip plan to file lawsuits against organizations they accuse of engaging in “illegal harassment” and “bullying” that provoked “death threats” against them. The Civil Liability for Doxxing Act, an Illinois law that came into effect in January this year, gives residents of the state the right to raise a civil action against individuals or organizations that intentionally publish their personal information without consent to cause harm or economic injury. It gives courts the power to issue protection orders to ensure the safety of victims, lawyers for the students said. Laila Ali and Kinza Khan, who participated in pro-Palestine protests during the spring, said they “suffered greatly,” personally and professionally, after their personal information was posted on social media, an act known as “doxxing,” by two organizations that target Palestinian students. The organizations — StopAntisemitism, which is accused of harassing students on Twitter, and Canary Mission — are considered by critics to be among the most virulent anti-Arab hate groups in the US. read the complete article
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bosnian Muslims commemorate anniversary of Srebrenica massacre
Thousands of solemn mourners gathered in the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia on Thursday to remember the 1995 massacre of Bosnian Muslims, less than two months after the United Nations established a memorial day to mark the genocide. On July 11, 1995, Bosnian Serb forces captured the eastern Bosnian town -- which was then a UN-protected enclave -- and killed 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the following days. It was the worst massacre in Europe since World War II and two international courts ruled it was genocide. "It's hard when July comes. They ended up like this only because they had a (Muslim) name," said Mevlida Hasanovic as she prayed at the tomb of her cousin, who was 18 when he was killed. Hasanovic lost a dozen male relatives in the massacre including her father and husband, whose grave is next to her cousin's. His remains were buried twice as they were found in two different mass graves. In May, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring July 11 the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica. The resolution was fiercely opposed by Serbia and Bosnian Serbs, who continue to play down the crime. Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik has repeatedly denied a genocide occurred and says his administration will not recognise the resolution. read the complete article
India
Police in India book journalists after posts on alleged Muslim lynching
Media watchdogs in India have accused the police in Uttar Pradesh state of “grave overreach” for filing cases against journalists after they wrote about the alleged lynching of a Muslim man last week in social media posts. Police in the northern state’s Shamli district charged two journalists – Wasim Akram Tyagi and his cousin Zakir Ali Tyagi – for commenting on the killing of Firoz Qureshi in the district’s Jalalabad town. The journalists were charged with causing “hatred and anger” in society. Three other Muslims who shared their social media posts were also named in the first information report (FIR) filed by the police. None of them have been arrested so far. Wasim, a reporter with Hind News newspaper in Dehli, told Al Jazeera on Thursday he was “shocked” when he heard that charges had been filed against him over the alleged lynching. “Now, as journalists, if we can’t call murder a murder, what should we call it, then? If a journalist is not going to raise questions, who will? … If we are going to be charged for this, it raises questions on press freedom,” the 36-year-old told Al Jazeera. read the complete article
China
China is using archaeology as a weapon
In the desert outside Kashgar, an oasis city in the far-western region of Xinjiang, an ancient Buddhist stupa rises out of the sand. Because of its conical shape, it is known as Mo’er, the word for “chimney” in the language of the native Uyghurs. The stupa and a temple next to it were probably built some 1,700 years ago and abandoned a few centuries later. Chinese archaeologists started excavating the site in 2019. They have dug up stone tools, copper coins and fragments of a Buddha statue. They also claim to have found clear proof that Xinjiang has been part of China since ancient times. These claims may sound academic, but China’s government is using them to justify its brutal rule over Xinjiang. At the peak of a security campaign in 2018-19, perhaps a million Uyghurs and other Muslim residents of Xinjiang passed through camps where they were forcibly assimilated into Han Chinese culture. Critics accuse China of cultural genocide. Officials say they are trying to stamp out religious extremism. Moreover, if the inhabitants of Xinjiang have always been Chinese, then accusations of forced assimilation make no sense. read the complete article