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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the United Kingdom, Pep Guardiola has called on football supporters to “respect religion and diversity” after fans booed a brief stoppage in play at Elland Road to allow Muslim players to break their Ramadan fast, meanwhile in Australia, the Senate censured far-right lawmaker Pauline Hanson over “inflammatory and divisive” comments she made about Muslims, and lastly, authorities foiled a potential mass casualty terrorist attack allegedly planned to be carried out in Perth and motivated by white supremacy. Our recommended read of the day is by Steve Rukavina for CBC News on how Quebec’s top court will hear arguments from the province’s Attorney General, teachers, and civil rights organizations against Bill 21 starting later this month. This and more below:
Canada
Quebecers banned over religious symbols hope court challenge changes secularism laws | Recommended Read
“As a public school board, we are required to comply with Law 29 (Bill 94), which reinforces the principle of secularism in Quebec, namely when it comes to the display of religious symbols,” the email said. It meant Khan, who wears a hijab, would no longer be welcome at the school library, or be allowed to drive students to basketball tournaments as she has been doing, or to volunteer in any other way at the school. “After years of doing that, I'm being told not to come in. That was very, very hurtful. I felt really bad,” she said. “Insisting on the removal of religious attire, it violates my rights, my right to practise my faith, which is considered an essential part of my identity.” Bill 94 is an offshoot of Quebec’s original secularism law, Bill 21, which is being challenged before the Supreme Court of Canada next month. Bill 21 prevents some civil servants, most notably teachers, from wearing religious symbols at work. Bill 94, adopted last fall, introduced a whole new swath of measures targeting schools: the religious symbols ban is now extended to cover all school employees, students are prohibited from wearing face coverings, and the ban on religious symbols now also applies to parent volunteers at schools. read the complete article
United Kingdom
'Acts of kindness are key during Ramadan'
Millions of Muslims are marking Ramadan, a period of abstinence, reflection and charitable acts. Until 19 March, observers will fast from dawn until Iftar, the day's main meal at sunset. We asked Muslims in the south of England for their thoughts on the holy month. read the complete article
Naz Shah MP on Gorton and Denton Claims: ‘How Do Supposedly “Sectarian Muslims” End Up Voting for a Radically Progressive Party with a Gay Jewish Leader?’
Labour MP Naz Shah has criticised claims by Reform UK that the legitimacy of the Gorton and Denton by-election – won by the Greens’ Hannah Spencer – was undermined by “family voting” and “Muslim sectarianism” in the Manchester constituency. Shah, the MP for Bradford West – whose party’s candidate came third in a seat Labour won with a 13,400 majority in 2024 – told Byline Times that the claims by Reform’s candidate Matt Goodwin and his party leader Nigel Farage “demean” voters. Reform has reported its allegations of ‘family voting’ – whereby a family member is seen to be influencing another person’s vote, such as by accompanying them in a polling booth – to Greater Manchester Police and the elections watchdog, the Electoral Commission. But Shah told Byline Times that what unfolded electorally in Gorton and Denton “was not sectarian voting”. “This was people angry with mainstream parties on a range of issues, but also a deep feeling of not mattering and being taken for granted,” she said. “Those throwing around the sectarian label are not only factually wrong, they are normalising a narrative that demeans voters who made their voices heard democratically. read the complete article
Pep Guardiola condemns fans who booed as Muslim players broke Ramadan fast at Leeds
Pep Guardiola has called on football supporters to “respect religion and diversity” after fans booed a brief stoppage in play at Elland Road to allow Muslim players to break their Ramadan fast. Play was halted in the 13th minute of Manchester City’s 1-0 win against Leeds after the sun had set to allow the Muslim players to eat. At this point, despite a clear message on the big screen, fans audibly jeered the situation. Kick it Out, the anti-discrimination charity, said in a statement: “It is massively disappointing that some Leeds United fans jeered when Manchester City’s players broke their fast during the first half of the match at Elland Road. This was compounded by the fact that an explanation was displayed on a big screen inside the stadium. read the complete article
This man was abused for appearing on a Welcome to Heathrow poster. Then he met his trolls
A single social media post turned what had been one of Syed Usman Shah's "proudest moments" into one of the most overwhelming and upsetting. It started when Shah, 35, was approached by Heathrow Airport to be part of their "Welcome" campaign. The airport selected 38 successful Londoners whose smiling, waving images would be used on large posters at Heathrow to welcome visitors to the city. "For me, it was a pinch-me moment," says Shah. "I just saw the glitter in my Mum's eyes, and my Dad turns around and said to me, 'Son, I'm extremely proud of you.' "The two of them said it was the happiest day of their life." But then at 04:00 one morning Shah started receiving messages and phone calls. "Usman, have you seen you're going viral? You're going viral for the wrong reasons." A photo of Shah's poster had been posted online - and the replies were flooded with racial abuse. "It was someone basically saying, 'What is the image of a brown person doing on Heathrow Airport?'" Shah explains, "and what followed was vile racial abuse - we're talking in the thousands of comments." read the complete article
Labour anxiety and accusations after big shift in Muslim vote to Greens
The Green party’s success at winning Muslim votes in Gorton and Denton has sent tremors through Westminster, prompting recriminations and accusations from opposition parties, who sense another major realignment in British politics. Experts say Hannah Spencer’s unexpectedly wide margin of victory was delivered in part by a significant shift of Muslim voters from Labour to the Greens. Labour and Reform UK have accused the Greens of playing sectarian politics, highlighting the party’s use of the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, in campaign materials, its endorsement by George Galloway and accusations of voter manipulation. But senior figures within Labour admit that the Greens’ ability to turn out the Muslim vote shows the leftwing party is starting to build the kind of finely tuned political machine on which they themselves have relied for years. “The Greens were doing a lot of stuff with the mosques, persuading people there they were best placed to defeat Reform,” said one Labour source. “When progressive voters were looking for a party to coalesce around, persuading the networks in the Muslim community that you were the party best placed to win made a huge difference.” read the complete article
Australia
Australian far-right senator censured over 'inflammatory' Muslim comments
Australia's Senate on Monday censured far-right lawmaker Pauline Hanson over "inflammatory and divisive" comments she made about Muslim people during a discussion about the possible return of Australian relatives of Islamic State militants from Syria. "They hate Westerners, and that's what it's all about. You say there's great Muslims out there, well I'm sorry, how can you tell me there are good Muslims?" Hanson said in an interview with Sky News in February. Penny Wong, leader of Australia's centre-left Labor government in the Senate, moved the censure motion against Hanson, who leads the anti-immigration One Nation party. The motion called on the Senate to censure Hanson for her "inflammatory and divisive comments seeking to vilify Muslim Australians, which do not reflect the opinions of the Australian Senate or the Australian people". It passed with the support of the minor Greens party and two senators from the conservative Liberal party who crossed the floor. read the complete article
How a 20yo living with his parents in regional WA allegedly plotted a terror attack
A mass casualty terrorist attack allegedly planned to be carried out in Perth and motivated by white supremacy has been foiled with the arrest of a 20-year-old man, police say. Jayson Joseph Michaels yesterday became the first person in WA's history to be arrested and charged with preparing a terrorist attack. Police say they received intelligence that racially motivated hate speech — specifically, involving white supremacist ideology — was being spouted on an encrypted communications platform over the past two months. Anti-Muslim ideology, antisemitism, and "quite frankly, abhorrent conversations" is how WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch put it. Inside the home, they said they found seven firearms, imitation firearms, a ballistic vest, face shields, lock-picking equipment and a large collection of knives. But of most concern, the police commissioner said, was a notebook. Inside that book, it's alleged, were plans to attack the WA Police headquarters in East Perth, Parliament House and undisclosed Muslim places of worship in the Perth metropolitan area. The Australian Federal Police allege Mr Michaels had created "a manifesto-style document outlining plans for an ideologically motivated attack of violent extremism involving mass casualties". read the complete article
United States
I love Texas and America. Attacks on my Islamic faith tell me I don't belong.
I came to the United States legally in 2007. I built a good life here by doing what I believed America would ask of me: growing, caring and serving my immediate community and the broader one. I attended graduate school at the University of Texas in Austin. I volunteered extensively, especially during the pandemic and the historic Winter Storm Uri. I remember standing in the icy parking lot of my mosque, distributing food, diapers and essential supplies — serving anyone who needed help: Americans of every religion, race and gender. No questions were asked. No litmus tests. I was not trying to “assimilate” or prove my worth. It came naturally to me. I felt like I belonged here. I loved my neighbors. I cared about those who were struggling. These were not strategies; they were values. This is what America taught me and it aligned perfectly with my values as a Muslim. And yet here I am, watching the state I love describe my work as criminal, foreign and dangerous and use this rhetoric to silence me and discriminate against my whole Muslim community. This moment is painful not only because it targets me, the organization I work for and the community I belong to, but because it sends a chilling message: There may no longer be a path to be “American.” Not if your faith or your advocacy makes those in power uncomfortable. Let me be clear: This is not about terrorism or criminality. What we are witnessing is our government turning its back on righteous citizens who have demonstrated, time and again, that they belong and they care. I cannot understand how that makes our state safer or our country greater. read the complete article