Today in Islamophobia

In Australia, the Albanese government’s long-awaited response to its special envoy’s report on Islamophobia has rejected calls for an overhaul of counter-terror laws, focusing instead on a new education task force and expanded community liaison teams for police, meanwhile in the United Kingdom, the Elstree and Borehamwood Islamic Community (EBIC) has said it “strongly condemns” divisive social media posts about plans for a borough’s first purpose-built mosque, and lastly in the United States, a new law in Connecticut directing the development of optional Islamic and Arabic studies resources for public schools has sparked backlash from MAGA activists and right-wing commentators. Our recommended read of the day is by ACMCU Director Nader Hashemi for Al Jazeera, on the life and legacy of the late Professor John L. Esposito, a pioneering scholar of international affairs and religious history who tragically passed away last week. This and more below:

United States

John Esposito transformed how the West understood Islam | Recommended Read

Telling stories was one of Professor Esposito’s many passions. Reflecting on his career, he frequently joked that he owed his livelihood to two famous “radical” Muslims, one Shia and the other Sunni: Ayatollah Khomeini and Osama bin Laden. After the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, interest in the relationship between Islam and politics skyrocketed in the West. The same happened after 9/11. John’s expertise was suddenly in high demand. He responded by publishing several groundbreaking books on the relationship between Islam and politics, Islam’s normative ideals, Islam-West relations, and the diverse political and social structures of Muslim societies. He was frequently quoted in the media, and governments now sought his counsel. The Western interest in Islam and Muslims emerged due to threats to United States national security. This meant the ability to understand this topic in a free, unbiased and independent way was absent for most Westerners. The enveloping context that shaped the policy and public debate on Islam and Muslims was themes of political revolution, mass violence and perceived threats to global order. John was an early and courageous scholar who challenged Orientalist misrepresentations of Islam and Muslims in an era of deep polarisation. His scholarship created room for understanding in lieu of prejudice, and his intellectual insights allowed a younger generation of scholars to build on and expand upon his pioneering research. read the complete article

'Landmark' Connecticut Islamic studies law sparks MAGA backlash

A new Connecticut law directing the development of optional Islamic and Arabic studies resources for public schools has sparked backlash from MAGA activists and right-wing commentators, who have accused Democrats of promoting "Islamisation" in schools, while advocates insist the measure is intended to improve historical understanding and combat prejudice. The legislation, which came into force earlier this month as part of a wider education bill, requires the Connecticut State Department of Education to develop optional curriculum resources on Islamic and Arab studies for local school districts. Schools will not be required to adopt the materials. But on X, right-wing users described the law as "teaching Islam" in schools, while others claimed it was part of an effort to "Islamise" public education. Some posts warned, without any evidence, that the legislation would eventually lead to pressure on girls to wear the hijab or burqa, while others urged US Education Secretary Linda McMahon to intervene. read the complete article

The Islamic Studies Scholar John Esposito Cast a Long Shadow

One way of thinking about John Esposito is as the anti-Bernard Lewis. Although each had produced substantial and influential bodies of scholarship before 2001, they both shot to public prominence in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. But while Lewis claimed to explain “the roots of Muslim rage” and “what went wrong” in the Islamic world — and became a guru to and frequent dinner guest of Vice President Dick Cheney — Esposito made it his mission to sympathetically explain Islam and the Islamic world to his fellow Americans, and to challenge rampant Islamophobia in the Western world. Esposito believed that Western representations of the Islamic world were distorted not only by Orientalism and Islamophobia but by a pervasive secularism that trivialized the role of religion more generally. Esposito “astutely drew attention to a ‘secular bias’ that informed mainstream intellectual debates in the West on the relationship between religion and politics,” Nader Hashemi, who succeeded Esposito as the director of Georgetown’s Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, recently wrote in a tribute to his predecessor. “ read the complete article

United Kingdom

I was at the Islamic festival shut down by an alleged terror plot – a week later I still don’t feel safe

As daylight broke, WhatsApp text messages quickly spread panic throughout our tents with rumours of security concerns. “There are more police in the area, something is happening” and "Are we safe?” pinged from screen to screen. Then the official announcement came that broke the tension: the event was ending early on police advice due to a “potential serious threat”. The planned duaa (supplication) and prayers on Sunday morning came to a sudden halt, the closing ceremony was cancelled and thousands of guests were evacuated en masse within two hours, packing bags as quickly as possible and preparing for long journeys home. As WhatsApp groups exploded with rumour, many wondered if we would meet danger on our way out. The armed police presence – rifles at the ready – at nearby roads was reassuring, but also upsetting. At the bottom of our hearts, we knew it shouldn’t be like this. We’ve been here before, yet nothing seems to change. On Friday, the Conservative peer Baroness Warsi, Britain's first Muslim cabinet minister, listed the number of disturbing incidents in this rising tide of suspected anti-Muslim attacks and hate incidents in just the last few months. What bothered her most was the silence surrounding them. “In June, in Bolton; in June, in Belfast; in June, in Edinburgh; in July, in Leyton; in July, again in County Tyrone; in July, in Suffolk; just this week, in Birmingham, where 450 Muslim children were evacuated because of a bomb threat at their school,” she said on the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “Only yesterday, a 14-year-old boy was charged with terrorism after police discovered an alleged plot to target two London mosques. It goes on and on and on. And most of your listeners will not have heard about any of these incidents.” read the complete article

Met chief visits mosque in alleged terror plot

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has said the force is "doubling down" on efforts to protect communities from hate crimes, as he visited a south London mosque at the centre of an alleged terror plot. Earlier this week, a 14-year-old boy was charged with preparing acts of terrorism aimed at two mosques in Sutton. Sir Mark met representatives of the Sutton Central Mosque following Friday prayers to reassure worshippers and show "determination in fighting hate crime". He told the BBC this was among a number of similar plots the Met Police had recently foiled and that the force had its "work cut out" amid current terror threats against "many different communities". The boy accused of plotting an attack was allegedly planning to target the two mosques on 28 August. The child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is also charged with racially aggravated damage to property. read the complete article

Council 'strongly condemns' divisive mosque posts

A council has said it "strongly condemns" divisive social media posts about plans for a borough's first purpose-built mosque. Some online responses to the proposals in Hertsmere, Hertfordshire have been described as "openly racist" by one councillor. The Elstree and Borehamwood Islamic Community (EBIC) wants to redevelop the site of a former Girl Guide hall in Maxwell Park. Hertsmere Borough Council said it would "continue to reject any attempt to use these matters to stoke division or spread misleading commentary". read the complete article

Why did a bomb threat at a Muslim school in Birmingham get so little coverage?

Hundreds of students and staff, mainly Muslim, were left in fear on Tuesday after a bomb threat at their school in the UK city of Birmingham forced them to evacuate their school. 450 pupils, including children as young as 11, had to evacuate after a threatening email was sent to the Hamd House School in Birmingham and to school regulators Ofsted. Police swept through the institution, with sniffer dogs searching the grounds, before the students and staff were given the all-clear to return. While it has not been confirmed the attack was an Islamophobic one, West Midlands Police told The New Arab that officers were satisfied there was not a credible threat. Despite the seriousness of the incident, it failed to make the headlines in mainstream publications or prompt a government response, with local paper Birmingham Live being the only outlet to report it initially. "I think the message this sends is really quite a scary one because it shows that this is not worth covering," Nima Akram, founder of NewsCord, told The New Arab. "In some ways, it greenlights future attacks or puts no pressure on the government or anyone to act against this." read the complete article

Australia

Anthony Albanese releases government's response to Islamophobia report

The Albanese government's long-awaited response to its special envoy's report on Islamophobia has rejected calls for an overhaul of counter-terror laws, focusing instead on a new education task force and expanded community liaison teams for police. The government has committed to a package of new measures across education and awareness, protection and support, social cohesion, and accountability. The response includes a review of the education curriculum to strengthen racial and religious tolerance, new multicultural grant programs and additional mental health support, especially for Muslim women. The government's response comes 10 months after special envoy to combat Islamophobia, Aftab Malik, released his report with 54 recommendations. read the complete article

Muslim leader welcomes govt's Islamophobia envoy response despite 'one glaring omission'

Prominent Muslim groups have welcomed the Australian government's response to key recommendations to tackle Islamophobia ten months after a key report was handed down. "While this response is welcome, much more remains to be done," The Alliance of Australian Muslims and the Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) have said. However, a senior figure from ANIC said there was "one glaring omission" in the government's response. "What we've done is respond to all of the recommendations — some of them we have adopted in full and are acting on already," Albanese told reporters on Saturday. "Others we'll give further consideration to" The announcement comes 10 months after Malik put forward his report. "For Muslim Australians, who continue to experience Islamophobia in their daily lives, this has been a long wait," Malik said on Saturday. "These measures matter. They are important. They demonstrate the government recognises Islamophobia as a real and serious problem that warrants a national response, but this is just the start of the journey." read the complete article

Tony Abbott isn't helping the Liberals with their Pauline Hanson problem

As Pauline Hanson was travelling around Europe railing against Muslims, Labor chose Saturday, the quietest day of the news cycle, to announce its response to the Islamophobia envoy's report. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appointed Jillian Segal as antisemitism envoy in July 2024 and Aftab Malik as Islamophobia envoy three months later. Segal handed her report to the government in July last year and Malik his in September — both before the Bondi terror attack. That may explain why it took the government 10 months to respond to the Islamophobia report, rejecting key recommendations it deemed too contentious. It is clear that scores of innocent law-abiding Muslims have faced discrimination. But then there's the broader mood in the country, and Labor insiders say that while Australians are worried about Hanson's attacks on multiculturalism, her criticism of Islam does resonate in broader parts of the community. One Labor MP said he believed that Australians probably agreed with some of Hanson's views on Islam and conceded this was a political tightrope for Labor because some voters saw Muslims as the exception to the nation's multicultural story. read the complete article

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