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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the UK, anti-Islam activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (a.k.a. Tommy Robinson) has been released from prison four months early from what would have been an 18 month sentence, meanwhile in France, Prime Minister François Bayrou delivered a scathing critique of his predecessor and centrist ally Gabriel Attal’s proposal to ban Muslim headscarves for minors under 15, and in occupied East Jerusalem, groups of young Israeli Jews made their way through the Muslim quarter chanting “Death to Arabs” and singing “May your village burn.” Our recommended read of the day is by Imran Mulla for Middle East Eye, who writes about how the UK has sent its Israel trade envoy, Lord Ian Austin who has a history of making anti-Muslim statements, to Israel to “promote trade” – less than a week after suspending free trade agreement talks with Israel over its attacks on Gaza. This and more below:
International
'Shameless hypocrisy': MP Ayoub Khan slams UK for sending envoy to Israel to 'promote trade' | Recommended Read
The UK has sent its Israel trade envoy, Lord Ian Austin, to Israel to "promote trade" - less than a week after suspending free trade agreement talks with Israel over its attacks on Gaza. On Monday Austin was in Haifa, where he visited the customs scanning centre, Haifa Bayport and the Haifa-Nazareth Light Rail project. "Greetings from Israel!" the envoy said in a post on X on Monday. "I’m here to meet businesses & officials to promote trade with the UK." Independent MP Ayoub Khan told Middle East Eye that he was "appalled by our government's shameless hypocrisy". "Just days after suspending trade agreement talks with Israel over its brutal assault on Gaza," he said, "the government has now sent Lord Ian Austin to promote business with the very regime that is responsible for mass murder and devastation." Austin faced allegations of Islamophobia in 2021 after tweeting a photo of a fake Ben and Jerry’s ice cream flavour called “Hamas Terror Misu” - in response to the company deciding to stop selling its ice cream in illegal Israeli settlements. In 2012, Austin had to publicly apologise after he falsely claimed that Friends of Al-Aqsa, a pro-Palestine campaign group, were Holocaust deniers. And last year, he was suspended as chair of Midland Heart housing association after posting on social media platform X: “Everyone, better safe than sorry: before you go to bed, nip down and check you haven’t inadvertently got a death cult of Islamist murderers and rapists running their operations downstairs. It’s easily done.” He has since deleted the post. read the complete article
Global diplomacy head sounds alarm on state-endorsed Islamophobia, urges youth engagement
Martine Miller, President and CEO of the International Centre for Religion and Diplomacy (ICRD), has cautioned that Islamophobia has evolved into an official element of state policy in multiple countries, underscoring the urgent need for young people to actively engage in combating this pervasive prejudice. Miller delivered the remarks while addressed the international conference titled “Islamophobia in Focus: Unveiling Bias, Shattering Stigmas,” held in Baku, Caliber.Az reports via local media. She highlighted that Islamophobia manifests in various insidious forms, ranging from outright discrimination and violent attacks to widespread stigmatization perpetuated through traditional and social media channels. She warned that these attitudes distort the worldview of younger generations and hinder Muslims from feeling fully integrated and equal within society. “These attitudes affect the worldview of young people and prevent Muslims from feeling like an equal part of society,” Miller stressed. The ICRD president further noted that Islamophobia is not only a societal issue but has been institutionalized in certain nations, particularly those with colonial legacies. read the complete article
Thousands of Israeli nationalists chant ‘death to Arabs’ during annual procession through Jerusalem
Chanting “Death to Arabs” and singing “May your village burn,” groups of young Israeli Jews made their way through Muslim neighborhoods of Jerusalem’s Old City on Monday during an annual march marking Israel ‘s conquest of the eastern part of the city. Palestinian shopkeepers closed early and police lined the alleys ahead of the march that often becomes a rowdy and sometimes violent procession of ultranationalist Jews. A police officer raised his arms in celebration at one point, hugging a marcher. Hours earlier, a small group of protesters, including an Israeli member of parliament, stormed a compound in east Jerusalem belonging to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA. The march commemorates Jerusalem Day, which marks Israel’s capture of east Jerusalem, including the Old City and its holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 Mideast war. The event threatened to inflame tensions that are rife in the city after nearly 600 days of war in Gaza. Jerusalem lies at the heart of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Each sees the city as a key part of their national and religious identity. It is one of the most intractable issues of the conflict and is often a flashpoint. read the complete article
United Kingdom
Police Quickly Gave Details on Liverpool Car Ramming, Aiming to Prevent Rumors
The English city of Liverpool awoke on Tuesday to a blizzard of questions about a vehicle that rammed a crowd of people in a sports parade the previous evening, injuring dozens, two seriously. But amid all of the horror and confusion, one fact emerged: The car’s driver was a 53-year-old white British man, and he had been arrested at the scene. The local Merseyside Police released that information less than two hours after the episode occurred, as posts on social media were already erupting with alternative theories about what might have happened, and why. The decision to disclose the driver’s race and nationality so quickly appeared calculated to defuse the rumors and misinformation that have spread after other recent violent episodes in Britain. Last summer, after a British-born man with parents from Rwanda fatally stabbed three young girls at a dance studio in Southport, a town north of Liverpool, false reports that the assailant was an undocumented Muslim migrant spread rapidly online. The next day, a riot broke out in Southport, the first of several in cities and towns across England. By the time the police announced that the assailant, Axel Rudakubana, had been born in Britain, the erroneous reports had reached millions of people. A false name, “Ali Al-Shakati,” circulated online for a day before the clarification from the authorities. That did not stop people from posting the images, and a smaller number from circulating unsubstantiated theories. “You cannot hate them enough,” Laurence Fox, an actor and far-right political agitator, posted on X soon after the reports of the episode broke. In a follow-up post, he wrote, “what is coming next is inevitable.” Other right-wing political figures were more cautious. Nigel Farage, the leader of the populist anti-immigrant Reform U.K. party, posted that he was “horrified to see the scenes in Liverpool,” though he described it as a “disturbing attack.” read the complete article
Far-right figure Tommy Robinson released early from UK prison
British far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson has been freed from prison after winning his plea for early release. The anti-Islam campaigner, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, walked out of HMP Woodhill in Buckinghamshire on Tuesday after a high court cut his 18-month sentence by four months. Following his release, he addressed followers for 20 minutes via his X account, sporting a scraggly beard, long hair and a rosary. He thanked X owner Elon Musk and slammed the British government in a video titled “Tommy freed from prison” posted on his social media. Robinson remains a polarising figure in the UK, known for his anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric, and repeated legal confrontations tied to his political activism. He has been blamed for helping prompt the country’s worst riots in years in 2024, which he denies. He has also found backing from American billionaire Musk, who earlier this year campaigned to free the far-right activist from prison. read the complete article
France
French PM blasts predecessor’s proposal to ban headscarves for most children
French Prime Minister François Bayrou on Tuesday delivered a scathing critique of his predecessor and centrist ally Gabriel Attal’s proposal to ban Muslim headscarves for minors under 15. Attal, the leader of President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance political party, publicly floated the proposal following a report on alleged attempts by groups supposedly tied to the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood to “infiltrate” French society and promote a fundamentalist agenda. The report — described by some experts as “alarmist” — cited instances of particularly young girls wearing headscarves. While Bayrou acknowledged that the document contained useful elements, he said in an interview with RMC that the “scale” of the issue still needs to be assessed and the government must tread carefully out of respect for France’s law-abiding Muslim community. “I don’t want to make Islam a subject of fixation for French society,” Bayrou said. Attal, a former socialist and early Macron ally, and other centrists have increasingly seemed to inch rightward on the political spectrum as France and the rest of Europe has drifted toward a more conservative tilt. As education minister, Attal was responsible for overseeing the ban on abayas — long, flowing robes worn by some Muslim women — in school. But Bayrou hinted that Attal’s new proposal could alienate many French Muslims and would be nearly impossible to enforce. read the complete article