Today in Islamophobia

In the United States, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) documented a 183% increase in incidents targeting Islamic places of worship compared to the same three-month period last year, meanwhile Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders is visiting Israel this week as the guest of a West Bank settler leader, meeting senior leaders in Netanyahu’s government and touring several settlements, and lastly in Belgium, a shopkeeper who stepped in to defend a woman allegedly targeted with racist and Islamophobic abuse on a Brussels tram has died after succumbing to his injuries from the assault. Our recommended read of the day is by Edward Ahmed Mitchell for Common Dreams on how a recent speech made by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has been subject to extreme right-wing hostility that falsely equates his criticism of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with that of the broader Jewish community. This and more below:

United States

Attacks on Mamdani Prove Israel’s Supporters Can’t Even Tolerate Criticism of Netanyahu | Recommended Read

The United States should not roll out the red carpet for a foreign leader who has systematically starved and slaughtered thousands of people, including children. This simple principle is what led New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to declare that Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in the Big Apple and call on the federal government to honor the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister. Rather than engage honestly with the substance of Mayor Mamdani’s change in course, most Israel advocacy organizations responded to his speech by effectively claiming that criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu is somehow equivalent to criticism of Jewish people. The Anti-Defamation League and other prominent pro-Israel groups even tried to blame the mayor, without any evidence whatsoever, for an attack on an Asian man and Jewish man that occurred in the days after the speech. The argument that criticizing Israel is inherently antisemitic—which has been used to silence college students, elected officials, and other critics of the Gaza genocide—is both dishonest and dangerous. read the complete article

US Muslim group documents 183% increase in mosque incidents over same period last year

A Muslim civil rights and advocacy group in the US said Tuesday it has documented a 183% increase in incidents targeting Islamic places of worship compared to the same three-month period last year. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said it recorded 17 incidents targeting Islamic places of worship in May, June and July to date, representing 51% of the previous year’s total. It documented six incidents during the same period last year. The incidents include a terroristic attack on a mosque, threats of violence, arson, acts of intimidation and opposition to Islamic places of worship based on religion. "Islamophobia remains an acceptable form of hate in the US. American places of worship are too often seen as targets for cheap political smears and violence," said CAIR Research and Advocacy Director Corey Saylor. read the complete article

United Kingdom

A widely repeated statistic is shaping Britain’s grooming-gangs debate

Scandal is an overused term. But the decades-long sexual abuse of (mostly white) British girls by gangs of men of predominantly Pakistani heritage, often ignored by the authorities, more than deserves the label. It has also become an obsession of the international far right. On July 22nd Jordan Peterson, a popular conservative commentator, described it as a “sexual atrocity now seemingly integral to multicultural Britain”. Asked in a recent interview with The Economist whether he is anti-Muslim, Elon Musk said, “I am against rape and murder.” He has previously claimed on his social-media platform, X, that the media “hid the fact that a quarter million little girls were – still are – being systematically raped by migrant gangs in Britain”. Those on the right are particularly outraged that authorities’ fears of appearing racist or upsetting relations between groups in the affected communities were a central cause of the state’s failure to protect vulnerable children. Into this maelstrom Rupert Lowe, leader of the far-right Restore Britain party, has thrown a shocking number. A post sharing his crowdfunded “Rape Gang Inquiry Report”, published last month, has received more than 51m views on X. Its estimate that at least 250,000 British girls have been abused by “predominantly Muslim Pakistani gangs” quickly went viral and has since been repeated by influencers such as Tommy Robinson, a far-right agitator, and Ben Shapiro, a conservative commentator. Dig into the report, however, and it becomes apparent that its central claim is baseless. read the complete article

Amid Labour's 'Burnham bounce', right-wing press rummages for 'Muslim links'

With Labour climbing in the polls after more than a year trailing Nigel Farage's Reform UK, sections of Britain's right-wing press have turned their attention to Burnham's ministers and their links to Muslim organisations, reviving attacks that critics say seek to portray engagement with British Muslims as politically suspect. "The use of Muslims and links to Muslims and Islam as a smear to discredit a politician, policy, party or government has become normalised," Aaron Winter, a sociologist at Lancaster University who studies racism and the far right, told The New Arab. "Islamophobia or anti-Muslim hate have become normalised and mainstreamed - along with the far right - in British society, politics and media over the past two decades," Winter added. read the complete article

Exclusive: Does the UK's 'don't talk to the Muslim Council of Britain' policy actually exist?

Andy Burnham's government has said it is sticking to a policy of refusing to engage with the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) that it has inherited from previous governments. But a Middle East Eye analysis can reveal that the "non-engagement" policy appears to be a phantom, as no written records of an actual policy appear to exist. No relevant government department has taken responsibility for it - documents seen by Middle East Eye reveal that these departments say they do not hold any information on the alleged policy. It is unclear which department is even officially responsible for the declared policy, or what the official justification for the boycott of the MCB is. Multiple sources close to the government said that the new Burnham government is keen to mend relations with British Muslims, many of whom turned away from Labour during Keir Starmer's premiership. The questions surrounding the origins of the no-contact policy with the MCB come after it was revealed last week that a mosque is attacked in the UK every five days. But the boycotted MCB is the largest umbrella body claiming to represent British Muslim organisations, with more than 500 affiliates. read the complete article

International

Israel Gives anti-Muslim Geert Wilders High-level Welcome, West Bank Settlement Tour

Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders is visiting Israel this week as the guest of a West Bank settler leader, meeting senior ministers in Benjamin Netanyahu's government and touring several settlements. On Monday, Wilders met with Likud Defense Minister Israel Katz at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, alongside Yossi Dagan – the head of the Samaria Regional Council and a prominent settler leader and Likud activist – who is accompanying the Dutch far-right Freedom Party leader throughout his trip to Israel and the West Bank. Katz said he briefed Wilders on Israel's "various fronts" and praised his "consistent support" for Israeli settlements in the West Bank, adding that Israel "appreciates its true friends," including the far-right leader. Dagan is a key West Bank settler leader with significant influence in Netanyahu's Likud. His council funds illegal outposts, and he has lobbied for Jewish settlements in Gaza while cultivating ties with far-right European parties, including some with antisemitic and Holocaust-denying views. In 2024, the Dutch parliament urged the EU to sanction him for supporting violent settlers, settlement construction and the expulsion of Palestinians. read the complete article

India

‘Future at stake’: India moves to demolish university Muslim leader founded

Barely 200km (132 miles) from the capital, New Delhi, where thousands of youths demanding education reforms just forced a minister to resign, a group of students, alumni and residents are holding an indefinite sit-in to oppose the planned demolition of 38 of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University’s 40 buildings. Named after a freedom fighter who fought against British rule, the university was founded by prominent Muslim politician Azam Khan in Rampur district of Uttar Pradesh state. Khan established the Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust in 2003, which oversaw the university’s establishment three years later. Only two structures, including a proposed medical college block, were built with valid approvals, the authorities claimed, as they ordered the university to take down the “illegal” buildings by August 5. If they failed to do so, the authorities said they will move in with bulldozers and recover the cost of the demolition from the university. Khan, the 77-year-old founder and lifelong chancellor of the university, had been one of the most stringent critics of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. Shortly after coming to power in 2017, Adityanath’s government filed nearly 100 cases against Khan, charging him with landgrab, forgery and hate speech. Dozens of those cases against him relate to Jauhar University. Khan spent more than two years in jail before the Supreme Court granted him bail in 2022. The next year, a court in Rampur convicted him, his wife Tazeen Fatima and their son Abdullah Azam Khan, also a former legislator, of using forged birth certificates. read the complete article

Belgium

Belgian man killed defending woman from alleged Islamophobic attack

A Belgian shopkeeper who stepped in to defend a woman allegedly targeted with racist and Islamophobic abuse on a Brussels tram has died after being beaten so severely that he succumbed to his injuries, in a case that has sparked outrage across the country. The incident occurred on July 23 at around 3.20 p.m. local time (1320GMT) aboard Tram 55 in the municipality of Evere. Driss Atouane, who managed a supermarket in the Schaerbeek district, intervened after a man allegedly directed racist and anti-Muslim remarks at a woman, RTBF reported. The suspect then allegedly turned on Atouane, repeatedly striking him in what local media described as an exceptionally violent assault. read the complete article

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