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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In Canada, Amira Elghawaby, former special representative on combating Islamophobia, speaks with CTV News about the increase of online hate against Muslims, meanwhile, the Secretary General of the United Nations António Guterres marks the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, warning that “for far too many Muslims living as minorities, their daily lives face being shaped by exclusion, institutional discrimination, socioeconomic marginalisation, unwarranted surveillance and profiling,” and lastly, in the United Kingdom, new data shows that hate crimes targeting Muslims accounted for almost half (44%) of all hate crimes. Our recommended read of the day is by Robert Draper for The New York Times on an alarming campaign against the expansion of an Islamic school in Birmingham Alabama, that politicians and far-right influencers are using as a means of spreading hate against American Muslims. This and more below:
United States
‘It Doesn’t Need to Be Here’: The Right Vilifies a Muslim School in Alabama | Recommended Read
The Islamic Academy of Alabama, has occupied the same small cinder block building in the Birmingham suburb of Homewood for the past three decades. It is considered one of the state’s highest-performing K-12 institutions, with graduation and college acceptance rates close to 100 percent. Located on the same campus where a school for Black children was burned down twice in the 1930s by the Ku Klux Klan, it had long gone without attracting controversy. Until last summer, that is, when school officials found a larger building to house its 270 students, in an office park in the nearby community of Hoover. “The response was, ‘I didn’t even know these people are here, and now they need a bigger building?’” said Bryan Dawson, a Birmingham right-wing podcast host and chief executive of the Alabama outlet 1819 News. “That’s the alarm that went off in Hoover.” Mr. Dawson helped lead a grass roots campaign against the building, and late last year Hoover city officials voted against the school’s relocation. “The only place this ‘Islamic Academy’ should be moving is OUT OF ALABAMA,” Alabama’s senior U.S. senator, Tommy Tuberville, a Republican, chimed in on social media at the time. “Islamic Indoctrination Centers have NO PLACE in our state.” The pushback against the Birmingham school plan reflects anti-Muslim sentiment and growing Islamophobia in conservative enclaves in America as well as among G.O.P. officials in Washington. Although the recent spasm of Islamophobia on the right is hardly new, it comes as President Trump has revived his anti-Muslim rhetoric from his first term. read the complete article
Anti-Islamic rhetoric from GOP politicians sparks concerns over religious hatred
More than two weeks into the war with Iran, Muslim Americans are confronting a new surge of hateful rhetoric amplified online and echoed by some of the country’s most prominent Republican officials. Civil rights advocates and Democratic lawmakers have condemned the remarks as dangerous and openly bigoted. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Maya Berry of the Arab American Institute. read the complete article
International
Guterres urges action against ‘rising tide of anti-Muslim hatred’
As conflict and instability rage, “millions of Muslims around the world carry that pain with them,” said António Guterres marking the International Day to Combat Islamophobia: “Let us recommit to equality, human rights and dignity of every person, everywhere.” The Secretary-General warned that for far too many Muslims living as minorities, their daily lives face being shaped by exclusion, institutional discrimination, socioeconomic marginalisation, unwarranted surveillance and profiling. As the world’s two billion Muslims approach the end of the holy month of Ramadan, Mr. Guterres called on governments to take responsibility and introduce measures that “safeguard equality, not entrench prejudice.” Mr. Guterres warned against the “subtle biases” that rarely make headlines but nonetheless “shape lives, erode trust, and send a clear message about who is seen as belonging and who is not.” read the complete article
Access denied: why Muslims worldwide are being ‘debanked’ – podcast
Innocent people are being frozen out of basic banking services – and it all traces back to reforms rushed through after 9/11. read the complete article
United Kingdom
Anti-Muslim hate crime has hit record levels - see the religious hate crimes near you
As anti-Muslim hate - and thus hate crimes - has hit record levels, the government have published a new definition of anti-Muslim hostility. This is prompted by 4,478 hate crimes targeting Muslims, or those perceived to be of the Muslim faith. This figure represents almost half (44%) of over 10,000 hate crimes triggered by the victim's actual or perceived religion last year. While the government admits there has been "significant underreporting", Home Office data also shows that religiously-motivated hate crime has soared by 522% since these figures were first published in the year ending March 2012. While hate crime targeting the victim's religion fell by 9% in 2025, the government has said that hate crimes targeting Muslims has increased by around 20%. read the complete article
Canada
Concerns facing Muslims on International Day of Combat Islamophobia
Amira Elghawaby, former special representative on combating Islamophobia, speaks about the increase of online hate against Muslims. read the complete article