Today in Islamophobia

Today in Islamophobia: In South Africa, a new wave of online hostility is reportedly targeting the Muslim community, meanwhile in the United States, in the last two weeks alone, there have been several reported security incidents at US mosques across several states, and in India, analysts have observed that under the BJP-led government, there are few policies in place to protect Indian Muslims. Our recommended read of the day is by Hugh Wilkinson for Byline Times on how the anti-Muslim Edinburgh attacks received seven times less coverage than a comparable antisemitic attack in London two months earlier. This and more below:

United Kingdom

Edinburgh Attacks Expose ‘Two-Tier’ Coverage of Racism in UK, New Data Shows | Recommended Read

British television gave the Edinburgh terror attack on five Muslim men just 160 minutes of coverage. A comparable antisemitic attack in London two months earlier received 1,107 minutes, according to new data from the Centre for Media Monitoring (CfMM), an independent media monitoring project based in London. The disparity emerges against a backdrop of rising tension this year. Riots broke out in Southampton, triggered by the sentencing of Henry Nowak’s killer, and in Belfast, following the stabbing of Stephen Ogilvie. Both cases drew inflammatory comment from senior political figures, including Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and US Vice-President JD Vance. However the Edinburgh attack on 19 June, in which five men were injured, with three requiring hospital treatment, received much less of a political and media response. The assailant, Lewis Hawkes, 36, has been charged with five counts of attempted murder linked to terrorism. Police have withheld the names of the victims. In video footage showing Hawkes being arrested by police officers, he is recorded saying, “I’m protecting the country from these f*cking Muslim b*stards raping our young daughters.” read the complete article

Grooming gangs report: How Rupert Lowe turned child abuse into anti-Muslim propaganda

Rupert Lowe's "rape gang inquiry" report is anti-Muslim propaganda. It is not commentary that went too far or an inquiry that lost its way. It is propaganda produced with a predetermined conclusion, designed to fix in the public mind the image of Muslims as so morally deviant, so irredeemably alien and so dangerous to the social fabric that their removal becomes not merely justifiable but necessary. It cites as authoritative sources a self-published book, a lobbying organisation whose founder reportedly believes Islam is "the work of the devil", and a figure it describes as a whistleblower, Tommy Robinson. It opens by tracing the root cause of child sexual exploitation to the British Nationality Act 1948 and the observation that "oil and water do not mix." It is not a child protection document. It is an expulsion document that uses child protection as its cover. The late Andrew Norfolk, the Times journalist whose award-winning investigation first exposed the discernible pattern of predominantly Pakistani men being tried for the grooming and rape of predominantly young white girls, understood this trajectory a decade ago. When I worked as a reporter at the Times, I had the opportunity to sit with him. Norfolk was candid about something important: that his legitimate reporting was now being used by the far right for their anti-Muslim agenda. He worried about it. The journalism that exposed a real pattern of real crimes was being torn from its context, stripped of its caveats and fed into a machine that had no interest in child protection and every interest in constructing Muslims as a collective threat. What Norfolk hinted at as a corruption of his work has become the work itself. read the complete article

Could the UK act against 'anti-Muslim' film Citizen Vigilante?

The UK's media regulator is facing growing pressure to investigate Elon Musk's promotion of the controversial film Citizen Vigilante, with Muslim organisations arguing that its mass distribution on X raises serious questions over whether UK law can be used to curb content that allegedly incites anti-Muslim hatred. The film, directed by German filmmaker Uwe Boll and starring Armie Hammer, was uploaded in full by Musk to his X account on 25 June, making it freely available for around 48 hours to his more than 240 million followers. It has since continued to circulate through reposts, including by UK-based accounts, prompting complaints that the platform amplified violent anti-Muslim content to a mass audience without age restrictions or classification. While neither organisation is calling for the film itself to be banned, they argue that Musk's decision to distribute it raises broader questions about whether X's content moderation systems are operating effectively, particularly when controversial material is posted by the platform's owner. Critics have accused the film of perpetuating anti-immigrant and specifically anti-Muslim stereotypes. Released this year, Citizen Vigilante follows a wealthy American landlord in Europe who embarks on a campaign of vigilante killings against Muslim immigrants portrayed as criminals, rapists and welfare cheats, while public officials are depicted as protecting them. Critics have accused the film of perpetuating anti-immigrant and specifically anti-Muslim stereotypes. read the complete article

United States

She Labeled a Swim Party ‘Muslims Only.’ The Response Ravaged Her Life.

As Eid approached, Ms. Knight prepared for a third installment of what was becoming an annual tradition for Dallas-area Muslims. What she did not comprehend — until it was too late — was just how fraught Texas had become for Muslims over the last year. Ms. Knight, a 43-year-old mother of six who runs a preschool and day care outside Fort Worth, had heard about rising anti-Muslim sentiment in Texas. But she had not been paying close attention to the politics. She didn’t realize that politicians — including the governor, attorney general and Republican state legislators — as well as members of the conservative media rarely missed an opportunity to present Muslims as different and potentially dangerous. In a letter, Mr. Abbott’s public safety office told the mayor of Grand Prairie that Ms. Knight’s party was “discriminatory,” and warned that the city would lose $530,000 from the state, if the event were allowed to go on. By then Ms. Knight had posted that the event was open to all, but in the letter the governor’s office pointed to a “frequently asked questions” portion of the event website where it still said the park had been “exclusively reserved for Muslims.” The angry calls and text messages sometimes came as early as 6:30 a.m., continuing for days after. Racial slurs. Attacks on Islam. Often both in the same call. “Aminah Knight will die tonight!” one caller shouted on a message left on voice mail, attacking Islam with epithets, saying that it was “not going to last in my America.” For several days, Mr. Abdullah sat in his car outside the day care to provide a measure of security. read the complete article

Oakland County prosecutor charges man in threats against Madison Heights Islamic center

On Thursday, Oakland County prosecutors charged a homeless man accused of making death threats against leaders and worshipers at the American Islamic Community Center (AICC) in Madison Heights after allegedly leaving two profanity-filled voicemail messages threatening to kill members of the mosque. According to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office, Christopher Andrew Lord, 35, was charged with making a false threat of terrorism and using a computer to commit a hate crime. Lord appeared Thursday morning at the 43rd District Court in Madison Heights, where a judge set his bond at $500,000 cash pending his next court appearance on July 15. read the complete article

At 250, America’s Muslims are proud of our country but in a debate with ourselves

Today, on America’s 250th birthday, the country is once again asking what kind of nation it wants to be. For Muslim Americans, the question is especially urgent. Are we a community apart, defined by grievance and foreign conflict? Or are we part of the American story, with a stake in its promise and a responsibility for its future? A new national survey of Muslim American registered voters, conducted by the Muslim American Leadership Alliance in partnership with the Rainey Center, suggests the answer is more complicated — and more hopeful — than our politics usually allows. The poll finds a community that is overwhelmingly patriotic. Ninety-five percent of respondents say they are proud to be American. Eighty-five percent believe in the American dream. Seventy-six percent say the U.S. is one of the greatest countries in the world. Sixty-seven percent say Muslims enjoy more freedom in America than anywhere else. Muslim Americans are not simply drifting leftward into grievance politics. Many are moving in a more independent, pragmatic direction. Forty-one percent say Muslims have conservative values and should not be automatically grouped with the progressive left. Forty-four percent say Muslim civic organizations are too focused on Palestine at the expense of other issues. Strong majorities support school choice, parental notification on gender pronouns, stronger border vetting, tougher responses to welfare fraud, and prioritizing public safety over reducing incarceration. Rather than speaking with one voice, this is a community in argument with itself. That argument is healthy. read the complete article

Continuous threats and attacks of mosques across US leave Muslim Americans on edge

Over the past several years, Muslim Americans across the US have seen a continuous string of attacks and threats against their mosques and community centres, amid wars in the region and domestic crackdowns on civil society. A fatal mass shooting in May at the Islamic Centre of San Diego, the city's largest mosque, by local right-wing extremists came amid an already-tense atmosphere. "There are community members concerned about being able to be in those public spaces freely," Tazheen Nizam, executive director of the San Diego chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and a longtime resident of the city, told The New Arab. "The mosque has always had an open-door policy. It still does, but after the attack, people have to check in at the door," she said. In the last two weeks alone, there have been reported security incidents at US mosques in Connecticut and Michigan, as well as at a mosque in Vancouver, Canada. This continuous flow of attacks and threats has resulted in a state of unease for many ordinary Muslims in North America trying to go about their daily lives, particularly after a major incident that could inspire copycat acts. read the complete article

India

Harsh Mander: The destruction of Muslim livelihoods by state laws and policies in India

The systematic annihilation of Muslim livelihoods has been a central marker of the Modi years. This has been caused in part by the frequently violent activism of non-government formations fraternal to the Bharatiya Janata Government and affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh. What is sometimes missed is the central role in all of this of the state. Analysts observe that “while Muslim disadvantage has been widely noted… there are few policies in place to protect them”. Such policies could include building better educational infrastructure in Muslim majority areas, training more Muslim teachers, enhancing the quantum and coverage of scholarships for Muslim children and youth, and taking strict action against discrimination. On the contrary, the effort is in the reverse direction, with many scholarship schemes for minority children either wound up or severely under-budgeted. Worse, during the Modi era, there are many state policies that target Muslim livelihoods directly. These include hardened cow protection laws. Under-budgeting and poor public provisioning of schools, medical centres and infrastructure in settlements with high density of Muslim populations is the rule, not the exception. Bulldozers have in these years deliberately targeted Muslim properties. read the complete article

South Africa

Online attacks target Muslims amid anti-immigrant sentiment in South Africa

AMIDST growing anti-immigrant tensions in South Africa, a new wave of online hostility is reportedly targeting the Muslim community, raising concerns about rising Islamophobia and its implications for social cohesion. Palestine Solidarity Campaign said it is deeply concerned by what it describes as a rise in Islamophobia on social media following efforts by members of the Muslim community to assist migrants who were allegedly displaced by xenophobic attacks, as well as the appointment of Yusuf Cassim as Deputy Minister of Higher Education. PSC coordinator Professor Usuf Chikte said the organisation believes the recent online attacks reflect a broader pattern of anti-Muslim rhetoric that has intensified in the wake of debates around migration, Palestine and South Africa's foreign policy, IOL reported. He alleged that several issues were converging to fuel hostility towards Muslims online, including anti-migrant sentiment, criticism of South Africa's case before the International Court of Justice against Israel, attacks on Muslim humanitarian organisations and criticism directed at Muslim public figures. read the complete article

International

Law, gender and the anticipation of Islamophobic violence

Law tends to treat anti-Muslim violence as an event. An attack, a threat, a hate crime, a public humiliation. A socio-legal analysis must also ask what comes before the event. What conditions, political and social, make some communities more exposed to violence, and some forms of hostility more publicly permissible? Islamophobia is often described as being associated with fear directed at Muslims, but some commentators argue that it is more than that. It is a way of organising social and political life that determines who belongs, who is suspect and whose safety matters. Rather than a matter of individual prejudice directed outward, it is a structural condition that political institutions and public rhetoric produce and sustain. A socio-legal analysis of anti-Muslim violence has to begin with the system that makes the incident possible, well before the incident itself. That analysis is not conducted from outside the conditions it describes. For Muslim women, this is an experience that is gendered and embodied. We write this as two Muslim women for whom that exposure is not abstract. It is present in the particular calculation that accompanies ordinary acts: dropping our children at an Islamic school and the effect it must have on them seeing police situated as they enter the gates; attending Friday prayer; writing and speaking in public forums about Islam, gender and law; and moving through public space while visibly Muslim. The safety of our families sits at the forefront of our minds in moments that should not require that kind of vigilance. In this sense Islamophobia is atmospheric, shaping how Muslim women speak, parent and worship, and when they judge silence to be the safer choice. read the complete article

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