Today in Islamophobia

Today in Islamophobia: In  the United Kingdom, London Deputy Mayor Debbie Weekes-Bernard called out instances of Islamophobia on display at the recent Unite the Kingdom rally, adding they do not “reflect London at all”, while she celebrated Eid in Trafalgar Square, meanwhile across the Middle East, Muslims in the region marked Eid al-Adha under the “shadow of war” and instability, and in the United States, almost two weeks after the terror attack on the Clairemont mosque, thousands still morn the loss of three cherished community members while searching for ways to move forward. Our recommended read of the day is by Shaheen Kattiparambil for Middle East Eye on the subjectivity of free speech, noting that “what is repeatedly defended in the name of free expression is not speech in the abstract, but racialized speech directed at Muslims.” This and more below:

United Kingdom

Why 'freedom of speech' has never applied to Muslims | Recommended Read

As thousands of people gathered in London under the banner of "Unite the Kingdom" last month, much of the public defence of the march rested not on denying its Islamophobic or anti-immigrant rhetoric, but on invoking the language of free speech. Supporters and commentators framed the march as an expression of patriotic concern, democratic dissent and the right to speak openly about immigration, Islam and national identity. Criticism, meanwhile, was frequently dismissed as an attempt to silence ordinary people or suppress uncomfortable truths. This pattern has become increasingly familiar in Britain and across Europe. The language of free speech is no longer invoked to protect abstract democratic freedoms; it is increasingly used to legitimise racialised political formations, while casting anti-racist critiques as authoritarian. Free speech becomes less of a neutral principle, and more of what author Gavan Titley describes in his book Is Free Speech Racist? as a racial script: a framework through which certain forms of racial hostility are reframed as courageous truth-telling, while the speech of racialised minorities is rendered excessive, dangerous or threatening. The contrast becomes especially visible when one considers how differently Muslim political expression is treated. Far-right mobilisations targeting Muslims are routinely defended under the banner of free expression and national concern, whereas Muslim activism - whether through anti-racist organising, criticisms of Islamophobia, or Palestinian solidarity - is often securitised or framed as socially divisive. The issue, then, is not simply whether speech is free - but whose speech is protected, whose speech is feared, and whose speech is understood as a threat to the nation itself. read the complete article

Are we witnessing a 21st century homeland crusade?

A stream of speakers crossed the stage. “Islam is our real enemy.” We must “remove Islam from every single place of authority”. “This is a religious war. It’s Jesus Christ versus Satan.” British men must “get fight ready, because a fight is coming to this country”. Each address was met with cheers. Some in the crowd carried large wooden crosses. Others wore shirts bearing the face of Christ or slogans such as “Jesus is Lord” and “Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life”. Some chanted “Christ is King”. Several attendees even arrived dressed as medieval crusaders: mock chainmail, red-cross tunics, and imitation armour. This was the scene at the Unite the Kingdom rally in London on 16 May, organised by the far-right agitator Tommy Robinson. His real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon. The relationship between these two events has largely escaped political commentary - not simply because the far-right rally was deliberately organised on a day of mourning and remembrance for Palestinians, but because the juxtaposition exposes something many would rather leave unspoken: the connection between the struggle to remove Muslims from the holy land, and the struggle to remove Muslims from Europe itself. The politics on display at the Unite the Kingdom rally was not merely Christian nationalism or culture-war theatre clothed in religious symbolism. It reflected the persistence of a homeland crusade unfolding alongside the decades-long campaigns waged against Muslim populations abroad. The "war on terror", launched by the United States and its allies after the attacks of 11 September 2001, is usually understood as a global military and security campaign against terrorism. Yet from its inception, it also carried a civilisational logic: one that framed conflict through the categories of Islam and Christendom. read the complete article

London deputy mayor calls out Unite the Kingdom rally for Islamophobia

A London deputy mayor has called out instances of Islamophobia she said were on display at the recent Unite the Kingdom rally, adding they do not “reflect London at all”, while she celebrated Eid in Trafalgar Square. The 20th annual Eid In The Square festival in central London on Saturday marked the end of Ramadan – Islam’s holy month of fasting. Two weeks ago, the same square was home to activist Tommy Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom march, where speakers called for Islam to be “removed” from Parliament, and insisted it was “time” for Muslims to leave the country. The deputy mayor pointed out that Eid In The Square was a way for people to “come together” and celebrate the Muslim communities in London. read the complete article

International

Anti-Muslim hate and antisemitism are twin crises. We must confront them together

The violence in San Diego came out of the demonization of Islam and the dehumanization of Muslims that has been around for decades – by politicians, in the media, in popular culture and across social media. Islam is now widely, and even casually, described as a backward or inherently violent religion that represents a civilizational threat. Meanwhile, Muslims are portrayed as people whose customs and values are irreconcilable with western ones. They are cast as a threat to the majority’s identity, culture, security and demography. Sometimes, anti-Muslim conspiracy theories fuse with antisemitic ones. The clearest case is with the white nationalist “great replacement theory”, conjured up by the French polemicist Renaud Camus, who falsely claims that a conspiratorial elite is replacing white majority populations with non-whites, mostly from Muslim backgrounds. The term “replacist elites” is used as a code for Jews. In 2017, white nationalists marched through Charlottesville, Virginia, chanting “Jews will not replace us.” Nigel Farage accused Soros of encouraging people to “flood Europe” and claimed Soros didn’t want the continent “to be based on Christianity”. It’s a single conspiracy theory that requires two elements at once: a Muslim population to fear, and a Jewish elite to blame. Today, the two communities are frequently pitted against each other. When Zohran Mamdani was campaigning to become New York City’s first Muslim mayor, there was a torrent of hate directed at his identity, sometimes framed as concern for Jewish safety. In Germany, the chancellor has claimed that antisemitism has been “imported” by migrants, ignoring his own country’s history. And in France, Marine Le Pen – whose party has antisemitic roots – says her National Rally is a shield to protect Jewish people from “Islamist ideology”. In each case, the message was the same: for one community to be safe, the other must be feared. read the complete article

Across the Middle East, Muslims Mark Eid Amid War and Crisis

For many Muslims in the Middle East, another Eid arrived this week with little joy, under the shadow of war. Eid al-Adha, which marks the sacred Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, began on Wednesday. In a region battered by conflict, the festive holiday — known to some as the “Big Eid,” compared with Eid al-Fitr, which celebrates the end of Ramadan — has been defined less by family celebrations than by mourning, displacement and uncertainty. Many people have been anxiously following the news, watching for signs of a cease-fire agreement that could end the fighting between Iran and the United States. And reminders of the conflict, or of the war in Gaza that preceded it, seem to be everywhere. read the complete article

United States

Former congressman: Shariah threat is based on fear, not fact

“Keep them scared and angry” has become a reliable formula in modern American politics. Find a cultural wedge issue, amplify public anxieties and portray opponents as dangerous accomplices to some looming catastrophe. In Texas politics today, few subjects are more useful for that purpose than Islam and the specter of Shariah. Listening to some candidates in the Republican primaries for U.S. Senate and Texas attorney general, one might have concluded that extremist Muslim hordes are at the gates and Texas is one election away from installing its own ayatollah. America has traveled this road before. Fear-mongering aimed at ethnic and religious minorities has a long and regrettable history in this country. Texas has become an epicenter of Christian nationalism, so it is not surprising that some prominent religious leaders have joined the chorus. Recently, the mayoral election in Frisco has attracted anti-Islamic sentiment as that city grows increasingly diverse. Keith Craft, pastor of Elevate Life Church, described the contest as a “spiritual battle for the soul of the city.” The facts are straightforward: Shariah poses no credible threat to the American legal system. The Constitution’s supremacy clause and the establishment clause of the First Amendment make it impossible for any religious code — Islamic, Christian, Jewish or otherwise — to supersede U.S. law. American courts have repeatedly upheld this principle. read the complete article

San Diego’s Muslim community looks to healing in wake of mosque attack. ‘We must find a greater love.’

Almost two weeks after the terror attack on the Clairemont mosque that killed Awad, Abdullah and Mansour Kaziha, thousands are mourning the loss of three cherished community members and searching for ways to move forward. Last weekend the center hosted a day of healing, with activities for children and support from mental health professionals and religious leaders. People have been organizing meal trains and donating money to help the families of the dead. The center canceled its summer camp, but the mosque has reopened and continues to draw crowds to prayers. They are reviewing security protocols and reaching out to elected officials. “Hate speech has been the very bullet murdering innocent people,” he said. “Your actions and silence have normalized racism and bigotry against my community. And you make it easy for people with ignorance and hatred in their hearts to attack and assault us. At this moment, being in your thoughts and prayers is not enough. “We need action and laws that promote safety and security” for Muslim communities, he said. read the complete article

India

India’s Hindu Right Has a New Hero: A 17th-Century Warrior King

On the morning of March 20, 2022, passers-by in the South Indian town of Bodhan were taken aback to find that an almost 10-foot statue of a 17th-century Hindu warrior king had been erected without authorization at a busy intersection. By the time the police arrived, a few dozen men, both Hindus and Muslims, were pelting stones at each other. The local authorities, worried about a full-blown riot, swiftly imposed a ban on public gatherings. It didn’t take long to find who was responsible. Gopi Kishan, a member of an extreme Hindu right-wing group, had pulled off the brazen act — involving weeks of planning and a motorcycle convoy — out of frustration. The authorities had informally blessed his petition to erect a statue, Mr. Kishan said, but dithered in giving him the necessary papers, citing the potential for what he called a “law-and-order problem” in a city with a large Muslim population. India is in the throes of Shivaji fever. Across the country, hundreds of statues of the king — usually on horseback, brandishing a sword — have begun studding the broader landscape, popping up in the country’s port cities and along its disputed borders with China and Pakistan. Such tributes to the king, a staple of school history textbooks, had previously been mostly found in Maharashtra, the Indian state dominated by the Maratha community — a broad grouping of Hindus that Shivaji was born into, and that includes farmers and warriors, some of whom are considered lower caste. These efforts are often backed by Hindu nationalists who promote Shivaji as a self-made, pan-Indian martial hero. They try to fit his story into a seamless narrative in which his defense of his land was also a defense of Hinduism against invaders — the Mughals from the east and western colonialists from the sea. read the complete article

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