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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In Australia, New South Wales police are investigating an alleged Islamophobic social media comment targeting Lakemba mosque in Sydney’s west, with the state premier calling the post “truly disgusting”, meanwhile in the United Kingdom, the appointment of Sir Hamid Patel as the interim chair of the UK’s school regulator Ofsted, has been met with a staggering amount of racist and anti-Muslim abuse from French politicians, and in the United States, the San Francisco, CA chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said it received calls about an assault that happened as community members exited a mosque following evening prayers, in what police are investigating as a hate-motivated crime. Our recommended read of the day is by Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein for Politico on the arrest of ACMCU Postdoctoral Fellow Badar Khan Suri, who has been detained by federal immigration authorities amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on student activists whom the government accuses of “opposing American foreign policy”. This and more below.
United States
Trump is seeking to deport another academic who is legally in the country, lawsuit says | Recommended Read
A Georgetown University researcher, who was studying and teaching on a student visa, has been detained by federal immigration authorities amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on student activists whom the government accuses of opposing American foreign policy, according to court papers. Masked agents arrested Badar Khan Suri, an Indian national and postdoctoral fellow, outside his home in the Rosslyn neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia, on Monday night, his lawyer said in a lawsuit fighting for his immediate release. The agents identified themselves as being with the Department of Homeland Security and told him the government had revoked his visa, the lawsuit says. Suri has no criminal record and has not been charged with a crime, his petition says. His detention and petition have not been previously reported. Suri’s lawyer, Hassan Ahmad, argued in his petition that Suri is being punished because of the Palestinian heritage of his wife — who is a U.S. citizen — and because the government suspects that he and his wife oppose U.S. foreign policy toward Israel. The petition says the couple has “long been doxxed and smeared” on anonymously run, far-right websites due to their support for Palestinian rights. The petition also says that Suri’s wife, Mapheze Saleh, has been alleged to have “ties with Hamas” and once worked for Al Jazeera. read the complete article
South Bay community calls out Islamophobia after alleged assault of elderly Muslim person
An alleged hate crime targeting an elderly Muslim community member has local leaders and allies calling for an end to Islamophobia. They gathered Wednesday at the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center. "We are observing the month of Ramadan," said Zahra Billo, executive director of CAIR San Francisco Bay Area. "It is a holy month for Muslims, during which we fast from sun up to sundown, and we gather every night for congregational prayers." The local Council on American-Islamic Relations said it received calls about an assault that happened as community members ended that time of prayer. "As they exited the building, they were confronted by a man who verbally assaulted several of them and then battered an elderly member. In doing so, he expressed his hate for Muslims and Palestinians," Billo said. Afzal, a member of South Valley Islamic community said she went outside moments after seeing the victims and police gathered together and spoke with the elderly man's daughter. read the complete article
Islamophobic flyers found in Mokena parking lot | VIDEO
Village residents and leaders are reacting after Islamophobic flyers were found in a Mokena parking lot earlier this week. NBC Chicago’s Natalie Martinez reports. read the complete article
Australia
Saving Muslim identity from Islamophobes and Islamic fundamentalists
In recent years, public and political discussions of Muslim identity have become increasingly polarised, not least because those discussions often framed by two extremes: Islamophobes and Islamic fundamentalists. Both groups, despite their apparent opposition, share a fundamental misunderstanding of what it means to be Muslim. They reduce Muslim identity to a narrowly legalistic and highly textualist and politicised approach to interpretation of Islam — failing thereby to recognise the rich, expansive heritage of the cultural, spiritual and ethical dimensions that define the Muslim experience. Given these misconceptions, it is important to acknowledge that Muslim identity is not merely a construct of legalistic textualism — it is deeply rooted in a broader civilisational ethos that encompasses Islamic spirituality, ethics, aesthetics, arts and literature. Islamophobes often see Islam as a monolithic entity — as a religion that is rigid and dogmatic. Such a perspective is not only reductive but fundamentally flawed. By emphasising internecine violence, instances of terrorism and strict adherence to legalistic interpretations of the Qur’ān and Hadith, Islamophobes ignore the diversity and dynamism within the Muslim world that scholars like Shahab Ahmed have extensively documented. Furthermore, Islamophobes frequently point to extremist interpretations and actions as representative of Islam as a whole. But this fails to account for the millions of Muslims who embody values of compassion, tolerance and peace. Their jaundiced perspective also overlooks the historical contributions of Islamic civilisation to art, science and philosophy, which reflect a richer and more nuanced understanding of Muslim identity. read the complete article
Chris Minns condemns Islamophobic social media attack on Lakemba mosque as ‘truly disgusting’
New South Wales police are investigating an alleged Islamophobic social media comment targeting Lakemba mosque in Sydney’s west, with the state premier calling the post “truly disgusting”. The mosque in Sydney’s west was targeted by a comment invoking an Australian man’s terrorist attack in New Zealand in which 51 worshippers were murdered during prayers. The reference to the 2019 attack in Christchurch was posted on a video Lakemba mosque shared on TikTok showing worshippers leaving during Ramadan. “Enough is enough,” the mosque said on Thursday in a Facebook post. “This is not just online hate – we have seen where unchecked racism leads,” it said. “We will not wait for another tragedy before action is taken. “We demand protection, respect, and the right to live without fear in our own country.” Earlier this month the Australian Islamic House – Masjid Al-Bayt Al-Islami in Edmondson Park reported a similar online threat made against it on Instagram. Police confirmed they were investigating that threat. read the complete article
International
French politicians attack UK Ofsted chair with unfounded 'Islamist takeover' claims
When Sir Hamid Patel was appointed interim chair of the UK's school regulator Ofsted last week, few in the country thought it would become international news. Patel, a distinguished British school leader who was knighted in 2021 for services to education, was not an unusual choice for Ofsted chair. He is chief executive of Star Academies, a hugely successful multi-academy trust that runs 36 schools across the country, largely in deprived areas. Yet almost immediately a barrage of racist and anti-Muslim posts began attacking him on social media platform X, formerly, but still commonly, known as Twitter. Most criticism of his appointment has come from anonymous far-right accounts, focused purely on his Muslim faith and Arab-style clerical clothing. Despite online attacks, British politicians have not been among those criticising Patel. Politicians from a neighbouring country, however, have unexpectedly joined the criticism. Over the past several days, politicians and media commentators in France have expressed outrage over the British Muslim educator's appointment. Francois-Xavier Bellamy is a member of the European Parliament and vice-president of the right-wing Les Republicains party. In a post in French on X last Saturday, Bellamy promoted a false conspiracy theory that Patel is part of an "Islamist project" to take over British institutions. Major French news publications waded in. Jules Torres wrote in Le JDD, a French weekly, that Patel promotes "radical Islam" and is implementing an "Islamist project". Another paper, Le Figaro, questioned whether Patel is an Islamist. And a barrage of French social media posts hurled racist abuse at the Ofsted chair. read the complete article
India
Why 17th-century emperor Aurangzeb’s grave is India’s latest flashpoint
Datta Shirke has not left his home for two days and fears for the safety of his family. Vehicles parked in the lane where he lives have been torched in Hindu-Muslim sectarian clashes. Barely a mile (about 1.5km) away, Aslam, who asked to be identified by his first name only, is similarly terrified. He is avoiding going back home, where he lives with his wife and mother, because he fears being arrested by the police, who he says are detaining innocent Muslims. “I have done nothing. But when police come, their eyes seek our blood,” he said. They are both residents of Nagpur, a city of three million people in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, where violence erupted on Monday over the future of the tomb of the 17th-century Mughal ruler Aurangzeb. Police have imposed a curfew, and more than 50 people – mostly Muslims – have been arrested in raids in advance of a planned March 30 visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Nagpur. The city also hosts the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its Hindu majoritarian allies. So why did a city otherwise famed across India for its oranges explode into interreligious clashes? Who was Aurangzeb? And why does his legacy still divide India? read the complete article