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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the United States, a report released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Tuesday said that the 8,658 complaints regarding anti-Muslim and anti-Arab incidents last year – representing a 7.4 percent rise year on year – was the highest number since the group began compiling data in 1996, while Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student who helped organize on-campus protests against Israel’s war on Gaza, has been seized by ICE for “espousing pro-Hamas views” according to the Trump Administration, and in Canada, the University of Toronto’s Muslim Law Students’ Association (MLSA) released a statement expressing concerns over an online Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) training course assigned to first-year law students that contained Islamophobic content. Our recommended read of the day is by Soumaya Ghannoushi for Middle East Eye on how, in his desperation for diplomatic support, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has aligned with far-right movements steeped in xenophobia and anti-Muslim hatred, who beneath their pro-Israel rhetoric still carry the same historical antisemitism. This and more below:
International
How Netanyahu's alliance with the far right could be Israel's undoing | Recommended Read
Israel recently lifted its diplomatic ban on three far-right European political parties: France’s National Rally, the Sweden Democrats, and Spain’s Vox. This marks a significant shift in Israel’s foreign policy, as it engages with parties previously shunned due to concerns over antisemitic and extremist ideologies. This policy change aligns with Israel’s broader strategy of forging alliances with European far-right movements, many of which have rebranded themselves as pro-Israel while maintaining xenophobic and anti-Muslim stances. These alliances are often based on shared opposition to Islam and immigration, reflecting a convergence of interests that raises ethical and strategic questions. The tides of history are unforgiving, yet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sails them with reckless abandon. Across Europe and the US, he has forged a treacherous alliance with those who, not long ago, would have found common cause with history’s worst enemies of the Jewish people. In his desperation for diplomatic support, Netanyahu has aligned with movements steeped in xenophobia, anti-Muslim hatred, and - beneath their polished pro-Israel rhetoric - the same insidious antisemitism that has haunted Jews in Europe for centuries. It is an embrace that echoes past betrayals; a chilling reminder that political convenience often trumps moral clarity. read the complete article
Fifth Committee Delegates Urge Swift Funding Approval to Launch Special Envoy Mandate to Combat Islamophobia
Noting the approach of the International Day to Combat Islamophobia on 15 March, Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) delegates today began reviewing the proposed 2025 budget of $870,000 to support the mandate of a Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia, including the creation of professional posts within the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) to assist its High Representative, who is recommended to double as the Special Envoy. While disappointed that the Secretariat’s revised estimates report was not delivered as expected during the main part of the General Assembly’s seventy-ninth session, delegates encouraged each other to act promptly on the matter and provide the Envoy’s office with adequate financial resources. In its report, the Secretariat estimates that the new Special Envoy mandate would cost about $870,000 in 2025, including for funding the UNAOC High Representative post, at the Under-Secretary-General level, through the UN regular budget. “We believe that the appointment of the High Representative for the UNAOC as the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia will create synergies and ensure effective and efficient use of the existing capacities between the two tasks, serving similar goals and principles, while avoiding duplications,” said Türkiye’s delegate. “This dual role will underpin the complementary nature of the tasks at hand.” read the complete article
United States
Anti-Muslim hate hits new high in US: Advocacy group
Discrimination and attacks against Muslims and Arabs in the United States hit a new record in 2024 amid the Israel-Gaza war, an advocacy group has reported. A report released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Tuesday said that the 8,658 complaints regarding anti-Muslim and anti-Arab incidents last year – representing a 7.4 percent rise year on year – was the highest number since the group began compiling data in 1996. Complaints regarding employment discrimination were the most common at 15.4 percent of the total. Complaints regarding immigration and asylum constituted 14.8 percent, education 9.8 percent and hate crimes 7.5 percent. Rights advocates have highlighted an increase in Islamophobia, anti-Arab bias and anti-Semitism since the Hamas attack in October 2023 saw Israel launch a devastating onslaught on Gaza. “For the second year in a row, the US-backed Gaza genocide drove a wave of Islamophobia in the United States,” CAIR said. read the complete article
Trump administration targets foreign student who protested against Israel’s war in Gaza
A former student at Columbia University in New York was arrested by immigration authorities despite having a green card. Mahmoud Khalil, who helped organize on-campus protests against Israel’s war on Gaza, was seized, according to President Trump, for espousing pro-Hamas views. William Brangham discussed more with Abed Ayoub of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. read the complete article
Black-Palestinian solidarity: We need to talk about what happened
More than a month into his second term, President Donald Trump has already made good on many of his dreadful campaign promises. He has ordered mass deportation of migrants and asylum seekers; cancelled federal Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) programmes; cut funding to underprivileged Black and Latino communities; and pledged to expel foreigners with legal residency who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests. It is clear that if we are to survive the next four years, minorities and oppressed people of all stripes must build solidarity networks to stand together and resist. To do so effectively, we must address any outstanding issues that could undermine cross-community solidarity. One cannot say they care about women’s rights, public health, racial equality, education or any number of things that liberals claim to care about and then allow a genocide to go on. In particular, the Democrats sought to break up Black-Palestinian solidarity. One way they hoped to do so was to frame pro-Palestinian protesters as single-issue voters. They claimed that the Palestinian and Arab communities and their allies were invested only in the Palestinian struggle for freedom and did not care about the struggles of minority groups here in the US. Democrats emphasised that what was happening in Gaza was an external issue that concerned only that specific group of voters. The idea was to convince Black people – as well as women, LGBTQ and other disadvantaged groups – that their solidarity with Palestine was pointless and that their interests lay with the Democratic Party, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. read the complete article
Muslim women sue the NYPD, allege excessive force at anti-war protest
The NYPD assaulted two Muslim women and forcibly removed their hijabs during an August protest calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, according to a federal lawsuit filed Monday against the city alleging excessive force and civil rights violations. The lawsuit, brought by Zarmeen Azam, Shajnin Howlader and the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, claims the incidents were part of a larger pattern of wrongful behavior by the NYPD. “These incidents are not an aberration,” the lawsuit states. “They are examples of what appears to be a growing police practice of forcibly and publicly removing women’s hijabs at protests as a form of brutal crowd control through intimidation and religiously targeted violence.” The plaintiffs seek monetary compensation and a prohibition against the removal of head coverings at protests. read the complete article
How Ibtihaj Muhammad made Olympic history
“It was an opportunity to show Muslim women and girls globally what we could achieve in sport.” Ibtihaj Muhammad made history as the first American-Muslim woman to compete in the Olympics while wearing a hijab. This achievement holds immense significance, especially given the ongoing controversy surrounding the hijab in sports. This week on Now You Know, we chat with Ibtihaj about staying true to her identity, pushing back against discrimination, and competing at the highest level. read the complete article
What We Know About the Month-Old Migrant Mission at Guantánamo Bay
In little over a month, the Trump administration has moved fewer than 300 men from an immigration holding site in Texas to the U.S. military base at Guantánamo Bay. As of this past weekend, 40 migrants were at the base in Cuba. In some instances they have spent just days there, before being sent back to the United States without explanation. On Jan. 29, President Trump said the base would receive as many as 30,000 migrants awaiting deportation. The Defense and Homeland Security Departments began putting up tents for the expected arrivals, but the encampments are not yet open. Here are some of the things we have learned about the migrant mission so far. read the complete article
United Kingdom
International Women’s Day: spotlight on Nadine Asbali’s Veiled Threat
The rights, lives, and freedom of Muslim women have been constantly debated topics throughout mainstream media, especially more recently in regards to the hijab. Western societies seem to have a collective concern regarding the extent to which they allow Muslim women to wield agency over their own lives, choices, and expression of belief. Nadine Asbali draws upon the struggles Muslim women face daily as a result of them wearing hijab and practicing their religion, with the discourse regarding the rights, lives, and alleged ‘limited’ freedom of Muslim women becoming a global topic across news, podcasts, and books. With everyone eager to contribute their opinion on the matter, the faith and belief of Muslim women has become a perpetual topic of discussion. “Either we are submissive and subjugated, victims of our own patriarchal cultures and faith – or we are a perverse danger, a veiled threat, wrapping our heads and bodies in our outright rejection of western culture and holding tight to religious views which are at odds with superior, enlightened European values.” Asbali is a British Libyan Muslim author whose debut memoir, Veiled Threat, draws on her experiences as a hijabi growing up in a predominantly white area – bringing to light the challenges Muslim women encounter daily. Asbali’s mixed-race heritage, childhood, and lived experiences as a visible Muslim woman in the Western world establish the foundation of her memoir, as she navigates a society full of Islamophobia, misogyny, and racism. Veiled Threat emphasises the multi-faceted nature of the discrimination Muslim women face, not only due to their gender but also as a result of their religion and ethnicity. read the complete article
Canada
U of T’s Muslim Law Students’ Association flags Islamophobic content in EDI course
On January 30, U of T’s Muslim Law Students’ Association (MLSA) released a statement expressing concerns over an online Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) training course assigned to first-year law students that contained Islamophobic content. The issue has since been raised to the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), which started a campaign to demand a public apology from U of T’s Faculty of Law. Titled “Antisemitism: From Its Origins to the Present,” the course is available through the open online course provider Coursera. The course contains six modules, with the first module titled “What is Antisemitism? Definitions and Origins” assigned to first-year students to complete by January 31. The module was part of the Faculty of Law’s mandatory “EDI and Professionalism” program for first years. The online course was created and is taught by two instructors who are part of Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to Holocaust victims, established by the Israeli Parliament in 1953. Students would also later receive emails from Coursera with content summaries of other modules in the course. Module five’s summary, titled “The Islamic and Arab World” stated, “The historical context of Allah’s anger towards the Jews significantly shaped the Muslim community’s attitudes and interactions with Jewish populations,” and that “The emergence of Islamism has profoundly influenced modern extremist movements, with roots in ideological foundations established by groups like the Muslim Brotherhood.” In the MLSA’s statement on Instagram, it wrote that “Amongst other claims, the modules propagandize Islamic history, using the Holy Quran and Hadith to make empirically false and dangerous claims that Muslims are antisemitic […] [They] make blatantly Islamophobic and prejudicial assertions that Muslim societies are unaware of notions of equality and paint Muslims as terrorists.” read the complete article
Despite challenging first two years, Canada’s special rep on Islamophobia is undaunted
A lot has changed—globally and domestically—in the two years since Amira Elghawaby stepped into the role of special representative on combatting Islamophobia, and despite the rising challenge she’s faced, she says she remains “very hopeful” about the effect her office is having. Elghawaby’s team recently released the Canadian Guide to Understanding and Combatting Islamophobia: For a more inclusive Canada, which defines Islamophobia, explores its impacts, wades through myths and facts about Islam, and, among other things, offers strategies to prevent and combat such hate. Speaking to The Hill Times in her office in Gatineau, Que., on March 6, Elghawaby said she’s particularly proud of its section on solidarity and the reminder it offers Canadians that “there’s so much more that we have in common than that divides us.” Growing up in Orleans, Ont., Elghawaby said her experience with “faith and identity” as a child was “very positive … even in high school.” But around when she finished university in 2001—shortly before the 9/11 attacks—Elghawaby made the decision to start wearing a hijab. “That’s when I first discovered a word called ‘Islamophobia,’ really, and started to experience it myself,” she recalled. “Where I had been asked curious questions [about wearing a hijab], all of a sudden I was being treated a little bit differently.” read the complete article