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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In France, Emmanuel Macron’s centrist political party has suggested banning girls under 15 from wearing the Muslim headscarf in all public places, as the president chaired a high-level government meeting to discuss what it called “political Islamism”, meanwhile in the UK, Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has been charged with harassment causing fear of violence against two men in August last year, and lastly in Germany, Gaza’s ongoing conflict has coincided with a surge in far-right violence in Germany, where authorities have arrested five teenage boys yesterday afternoon for allegedly forming a far-right terrorist group. Our recommended read of the day is by Fiona Andre for The Independent, who writes about Asad Dandia, a Museum educator, and his company, New York Narratives, which provides walking tours that highlight the city’s Muslim history. This and more below:
United States
New York Narratives tour centers Muslim experiences, history in the city | Recommended Read
Participants are often surprised when Asad Dandia’s Muslim Harlem tour stops at JC Barbershop in Spanish Harlem — only until he explains it was the headquarters of the country’s first Puerto Rican Muslim organization, the AlianzaIslámica (the Islamic Alliance). A photo of the 1990s storefront in hand, Dandia lectures a tour group on a Saturday in April about the history of Latino Muslims in New York City. “I’ve stopped there so many times, I know clients and barbers probably wonder what I’m doing,” he said. Dandia founded his walking-tour company, New York Narratives, in 2023 to help tourists discover the city’s Muslim history. He highlights traces of the earliest Muslim New Yorkers and locations important to the approximately 750,000 Muslims who currently call the city home. The tours have since expanded to show experiences of other religious minorities and cultural histories, such as a tour through the “Jewish Lower East Side,” and others focused on social movements and working-class New Yorkers. A museum educator for the Museum of the City of New York with a background in Islamic studies, Dandia draws from both his professional interests and personal experience as a Pakistani American who grew up in southern Brooklyn. He shows a side of New York many aren’t familiar with, referring to it as “my New York.” “I try to demonstrate how Muslims are deeply interconnected and intertwined with the histories of New York City,” Dandia said in an interview before the tour. read the complete article
I’ve Visited Guantánamo 28 Times as a Reporter. It Still Defies Belief
This is my twenty-eighth trip over the span of nineteen years. I started coming in 2006 to report on Omar Khadr. A Canadian citizen, Khadr was just fifteen when he was captured in Afghanistan in 2002, after a firefight where he was accused of throwing a grenade that killed a US soldier. He was detained under harsh conditions for a decade, much of it without trial, and it included interrogation sessions by Canadian intelligence agents. He was repatriated in 2012 and released nearly three years later. Ottawa eventually apologized and awarded him $10.5 million—a concession of its own complicity in his torture. Over the years, I’ve been at Guantánamo during two presidential inaugurations, a few hurricane warnings, and a couple of my birthdays, and I was among four journalists banned by the Pentagon in 2010, then allowed back after an outcry that the Barack Obama administration was muzzling the media. I’ve gone to spinning classes with marines, on patrol with the coast guard, and fought with public affairs officers until the wee hours against their censorship of photos I took of a protest by Uyghur detainees. I’ve always struggled to make sense of the place. It’s hard to reconcile the tropical splendour and summer-camp vibe with its dark history. The gulag of our times shouldn’t have a McDonald’s. Past administrations tried to disguise its horror with euphemisms or cover-ups even as they took advantage of the offshore location. After 9/11, 780 detainees from forty-eight countries were held in Guantánamo. Former US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld coyly described the base as “the least worst place.” read the complete article
United Kingdom
City council adopts Islamophobia statement
A city council has agreed to adopt an Islamophobia statement in a bid to support Muslim communities in the area. Officers at Peterborough City Council were asked to draft the statement following a motion at full council in June 2022. The statement, external includes a definition of Islamophobia and sets out some of the ways Muslims are impacted by it. Councillor Samantha Hemraj, who introduced the item at full council on Monday, said: "The council has been working closely with the joint mosque committee, local schools, the police and health providers." She said Islamophobia could have a "serious" impact in Muslim communities. "The Islamophobia statement demonstrates a council commitment to supporting Muslim communities and fits alongside broader anti-racism policies and statements," she said. The authority said it would encourage organisations and businesses it works with to adopt the statement and commit to "tackling the prejudice and disadvantage that Muslims can face". read the complete article
Tommy Robinson charged with harassment causing fear of violence against two men
Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has been charged with harassment causing fear of violence against two men in August last year, the Crown Prosecution Service said. It is alleged that the offences took place between August 5 and 7 2024. He will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on June 5 2025. A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson said: “We have authorised the Metropolitan Police to charge Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, 42, with harassment causing fear of violence against two men. Earlier this week judges ruled that Robinson could be released from prison early after his 18-month sentence for the civil offence of contempt of court was reduced by four months at the High Court. He was jailed in October after admitting multiple breaches of an injunction made in 2021, which barred him from repeating false allegations against a Syrian refugee who successfully sued him for libel. read the complete article
France
Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups tried to influence EU: Report
A bombshell report from the French authorities alleges that organizations with links to the Muslim Brotherhood have been attempting to influence European Union institutions through “significant lobbying activities.” A version of the document seen by POLITICO before its official publication says the Islamist group’s supposed ideological allies sought to push Brussels to criminalize blasphemy and promote a “singular” vision of religious freedom that clashes with France’s strict model of a secular state that protects both freedom of religion and freedom from religion. The European Parliament and MEPs were “particularly targeted,” the report said. The French Ministry of the Interior had been expected to release a sanitized version of the document, which would not include the names of sources that could be endangered by its release and mentions of ongoing legal cases, on Wednesday after it was discussed during a national security council meeting chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron. The version of the report seen by POLITICO alleges that the Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded more than 100 years ago in Egypt with the aim of creating a state ruled by Islamic law, is pushing its agenda via several pan-European organizations that share the group’s ideology and have received money from Qatar and Kuwait, states known to fund both Muslim and Islamist causes overseas. Among the organizations listed were the Council of European Muslims (CEM) and the Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organisations (FEMYSO). The report claimed that members of the Brotherhood’s inner circle were members of CEM and that FEMYSO was used as a “training structure” for Muslim Brotherhood officials. FEMYSO in a statement strongly denied the allegations while CEM did not immediately respond to POLITICO’s request for comment. read the complete article
Macron’s party moots banning headscarves in public for under-15s
Emmanuel Macron’s centrist political party has suggested banning girls under 15 from wearing the Muslim headscarf in all public places, as the president chaired a high-level government meeting to discuss what it called “political Islamism” in France. The French president’s office said he had asked ministers to come up with proposals before June to address the “serious” findings of a report that Macron commissioned last year into the presence of the Muslim Brotherhood in France. The report found that the Muslim Brotherhood – the movement founded in Egypt more than 90 years ago that launched the modern phenomenon of political Islam – posed a “threat to national cohesion” in France and risked undermining “the fabric of society and republican institutions”. Before the meeting, Gabriel Attal, the former prime minister and now head of Macron’s party, Renaissance, proposed a ban on “minors under 15 wearing the veil in public spaces”. He said the Muslim head covering worn by young girls “seriously undermines gender equality and the protection of children”. Attal told Le Parisien he also wanted to introduce a criminal offence of coercion for parents who make their daughters aged under 18 wear the veil. read the complete article
International
Turkey busts Chinese spying ring using fake cell towers
A Chinese intelligence ring was shattered in Turkey after its operatives reportedly eavesdropped on Uyghurs and Turkish officials using fake mobile towers. Turkish intelligence announced earlier this month that it had caught seven suspects red-handed. Their vehicles were found carrying IMSI-catcher devices, which function as fake base stations to collect data, phone logs, conversations and other information from nearby phones. Intelligence sources indicated that some members of the ring had entered Turkey in March. However, a CNN Turk report on Tuesday revealed that the operation had been active for the past five years. The report stated that the suspects, all Chinese citizens, established a sophisticated operation that was self-funded by preying on regular Turkish citizens. They allegedly hacked into bank accounts to drain savings for operational expenses, while their primary aim was to collect personal information belonging to Uyghurs and Turkish officials. The ring's primary focus was on Uyghur Turks residing in Turkey, particularly those perceived by Beijing as being involved in anti-China activities. They also targeted Turkish public officials, aiming to identify which were in contact with the targeted Uyghurs or groups and potentially gather other sensitive information. read the complete article
Germany
Israel's war on Gaza fuels rise in far-right terror arrests in Germany
Gaza’s ongoing conflict has coincided with a surge in far-right violence in Germany, where authorities arrested five teenage boys on Wednesday for allegedly forming a far-right terrorist group. Charges include attempted murder and serious arson. The youths are suspected of carrying out arson attacks on a community centre and a refugee shelter, aiming to ignite chaos and undermine Germany’s democratic system. Federal prosecutors said the group called itself the “last wave of defence” to protect the “German nation” and planned violent acts mainly targeting migrants and political opponents. Two of those detained are accused of setting fire to a cultural centre in Brandenburg last October. Others previously arrested allegedly attacked a migrant shelter in Saxony earlier this year. Over 220 police officers took part in the arrests and searches across five states amid rising politically motivated crimes in Germany. The interior ministry reported a 40 percent spike in such offences last year, largely driven by far-right extremism. Experts link this escalation to increasing political polarisation, tightly contested elections, and Israel's war on Gaza. read the complete article