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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In Canada, The Muslim Advisory Council of Canada (MACC) released its annual report, highlighting persistent systemic Islamophobia affecting Muslim patients and health care professionals, and calling for comprehensive reforms in the sector, meanwhile in Australia, a 16-year-old’s recent arrest over alleged threats to perpetrate a mass shooting at a Sydney mosque is just part of the 580% rise in Islamophobic incidents across the nation – one which has largely been ignored by state, and in France, an organization for Muslim women’s rights states that a French bill banning headscarves in sports is an attempt to erase Muslim women from public spaces. Our recommended read of the day is by Rachael Pells for The New Statesman, who writes that discrimination and harassment of Muslims and Arabs in Argentina has escalated dramatically, according to the Centro Islámico de la República Argentina (CIRA), which cites a shift in public attitudes being fuelled by far-right politics. This and more below:
Argentina
Javier Milei’s anti-Arab culture war | Recommended Read
In November 2024, Hassan El Bacha received a call he had been dreading. After 13 years of broadcasting, the weekly Islamic culture programme El Cálamo was to be pulled from Argentina’s public television channels with immediate effect. It was a directive from the government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship. While the news was met with “a lot of indignation” from the Muslim and Arab communities in Argentina, “unfortunately it wasn’t a surprise,” said El Bacha, who is secretary-general for the Centro Islámico de la República Argentina (CIRA), the NGO that produces the show. “We were given no answers as to why El Cálamo was cancelled, and no indication that it would return. But we believe it was an Islamophobic act,” he told me – something his community has become increasingly accustomed to. In recent months, discrimination and harassment of Muslims and Arabs in Argentina have escalated, according to the CIRA, citing a shift in public attitudes that has been fuelled by far-right talking points. “Women are being verbally attacked in the street for wearing the hijab and we’re seeing an increase in hate speech and harassment online,” El Bacha told me. He noted that an escalation of physical attacks hadn’t been recorded, “but we are deeply concerned”. Argentina’s Muslim population, estimated by CIRA to number between 800,000 and a million, makes up the largest Muslim community in South America. While the viewership of El Cálamo was relatively modest (around 100,000 each week), religious leaders say its cancellation is the latest in a series of state-sanctioned Islamophobic attacks under the far-right administration of President Javier Milei, who took office in December 2023. “The decision to remove the programme without any reason for such a measure constitutes an act of discrimination, censorship and Islamophobia that harms and undermines inter-religious dialogue and coexistence,” CIRA said in a statement at the time. read the complete article
United States
Trump administration rethinking Guantánamo immigrant detention plan amid cost issues and power struggles
President Donald Trump’s plan to use the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to detain 30,000 immigrants has been hitting major legal, logistical and financial hurdles ever since he surprised many in his own administration by announcing it. Now, as agencies spar over responsibility for operations there and over blame for what has gone wrong, there is a growing recognition within the administration that it was a political decision that is just not working. Among the major issues, especially as the Trump administration works to slash spending throughout the government, is the cost. Taking detained immigrants to Guantánamo means flying them there, and the administration has sometimes chosen to use military planes that are expensive to operate. On Tuesday of last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was on hand at Guantánamo when a military C-130 carrying nine immigrants landed at the base. The Defense Department calculates the cost per flight hour to operate a C-130 at $20,756, so for a trip of five to six hours, it cost the Pentagon $207,000 to $249,000 round trip, or $23,000 to $27,000 per detainee. read the complete article
Violence Against Guantánamo Detainees, Again
Just weeks after the Trump administration began sending immigration detainees to Guantánamo, the detainees report windowless solitary confinement for up to 23-hours-a-day; denial of drinking water as a form of punishment or retaliation; verbal and psychological abuse, including guards "threatening to shoot detainees"; and "never [being] permitted to contact family members." These allegations are from a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on March 1 to prevent new transfers to the offshore prison. The mistreatment is not surprising. In 1991, U.S. military personnel dressed in riot gear and carrying "rifles with fixed bayonets" attacked Haitian asylum-seekers at Guantánamo—while the Haitians were sleeping. That's according to an official military history of the detention of thousands of Haitians at the U.S. Naval Station in Cuba. Today, as the U.S. military collaborates with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at Guantánamo, "degrading conditions and extreme isolation have led to several suicide attempts," according to the ACLU. Remember that these "administrative detainees" are being held for alleged civil violations, and their past crimes are either exaggerated or non-existent. read the complete article
United Kingdom
Stop blaming Islamophobia and start looking outwards, new British Muslim Network is told
The newly launched British Muslim Network (BNM) aims to nurture a more formal relationship with the UK government, enabling Muslims to present common concerns drawn from wide consultation. The first discussion took place during the launch event, when more than 60 people took part in round-table discussions on topics affecting communities. The sessions were largely closed to the public, and the Religion Media Centre was invited to observe discussions. Conflicting opinions were often shared, with many members returning to the issue of accountability alongside the importance of “looking inward”. Discussing social mobility, participants spoke of the need for mentorship, and the issue of lower-paid work. Others added that the community “can’t keep blaming Islamophobia”. “It’s often people within your own community that will bring you down,” one said on the importance of collaboration. Meanwhile, discussions on philanthropy unpacked the challenges of drawing private investment to initiatives such as think tanks and social causes without a return on profit. One participant mentioned that the long-term impact of such organisations needed to be marketed better to investors. A lack of resources meant that a solution must be found on “how to convince business people”. “There needs to be a better partnership between the private, public, and charity sector,” said another. read the complete article
Germany
German government distances itself from anti-Semitism envoy’s remarks on Gaza
The German government distanced itself on Wednesday from controversial comments made by its anti-Semitism envoy, who had expressed support for US President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, Anadolu has reported. At a press briefing in Berlin, the Interior Ministry spokesman clarified that Felix Klein, the commissioner for combating anti-Semitism, made these remarks in his personal capacity rather than as a government representative. Klein made the remarks in an interview with Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung on Tuesday, prompting widespread criticism from human rights activists and organisations. He said that he viewed Trump’s Gaza plan as “fundamentally positive,” adding, “I don’t think it’s wrong to think radically and in a completely new way.” Last month, Trump proposed a plan for the US to “take over” Gaza and forcibly relocate Palestinians, claiming that he could transform the enclave into the “Riviera of the Middle East”. The proposal faced immediate and widespread condemnation from Palestinians, Arab nations and countries worldwide, with human rights organisations warning that such a plan would constitute ethnic cleansing and a grave violation of international law. read the complete article
Canada
Report finds systemic Islamophobia in Canada’s health care system
The Muslim Advisory Council of Canada (MACC) released its annual report, highlighting persistent systemic Islamophobia affecting Muslim patients and health care professionals, and calling for comprehensive reforms in the sector. The report documented at least 180 cases of discrimination, ranging from biased medical treatment to workplace harassment, underscoring the need for structural changes. "In 2024, Muslim patients and health care professionals continued to face systemic Islamophobia, from biased treatment to workplace discrimination. One such case involved a medical director in Hamilton, Ontario, who made public Islamophobic remarks," the report said, noting that MACC took action to ensure accountability. The organization also stated that it engaged directly with Health Minister Mark Holland and other policymakers to push for reforms aimed at eradicating discrimination in health care settings. Beyond health care, MACC highlighted systemic discrimination in education. The report found that in the Halton District School Board in Ontario, students and families experienced suppression and a lack of support when raising concerns about Islamophobia, anti-Arab racism, and anti-Palestinian racism. read the complete article
Australia
‘I’m Going to Christ Church 2.0 This Joint”: Islamophobia Alive and Well in Australia
A 16-year old’s recent arrest over alleged threats to perpetrate a mass shooting at a Sydney mosque is just part of the 580% rise in Islamophobic incidents across the nation – one which has largely been ignored by state, territory and federal governments in favour of focusing on antisemitic incidents and passing antisemitic specific initiatives, including criminal offences that only capture antisemitic conduct. The incident has led to calls for similar attention to Islamophobic conduct – which have for many years been prevalent across our nation, and which many believe mainstream politicians and media organisations have normalised by failing to expressly rebuke them, or even sympathetically reporting on them, and thereby emboldening far-right extremists to come out of the woodwork and publicly incite racist attacks with little or no consequences. Perhaps there is no better example of this than the 2005 ‘Cronulla Riots’, whereby broadcaster Alan Jones publicly encouraged ‘white Australians’ to gather and engage in a ‘wog bashing’ against Muslim people in general, and Lebanese people in particular, who he described at the time as ‘scum’ and ‘vermin’. Mr Jones was not charged with the offence of inciting violence, or the offence of urging violence, or any offence for that matter, despite the carnage that followed, with many innocent civilians being assaulted and hospitalised after his followers did exactly what he stirred them up to do. read the complete article
France
French headscarf bans aim to erase Muslim women from public spaces, group says
A French bill banning headscarves in sports is an attempt to erase Muslim women from public spaces, an organization for Muslim women's rights told Anadolu. “In sports but more generally … in all spaces where visibly Muslim women can be seen, there is an attempt to make them disappear,” said Rani Belkhy, founder of Khlass Les Cliches. Belkhy said that banning headscarves at all levels of sports restricts individual freedom while discouraging already underrepresented young Muslim women from participating. “It’s no longer just about athletes representing the nation, which was the argument used, right? The idea was that they represent France, so they must be neutral. But now, it's even affecting amateurs,” she explained. Belkhy said that France “ridiculed itself on the international stage” during the 2024 Olympics as the only country that banned Muslim women from wearing headscarves. “What we have seen since the implementation of this law is that it has essentially been a witch hunt against female students who wish to wear a headscarf,” she said, underlining that they do not see people being excluded for wearing Christian crosses or Jewish yarmulkes (kippahs) either. “It’s been a series of laws, one after another, each time making Muslim women’s bodies a subject of debate and restriction,” Belkhy said. read the complete article