Today in Islamophobia

A daily list of headlines about Islamophobia
compiled by the Bridge Initiative

Each day, the Bridge Initiative aims to bring you the news you need to know about Islamophobia. This resource will be updated every weekday at approximately 11:00 AM EST.

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07 May 2025

Today in Islamophobia: In the United States, Rep. Ayanna Pressley describes the ‘harrowing’ details behind Tufts Doctoral Student Rümeysa Öztürk’s detention, who was kidnapped by masked ICE agents in late March, meanwhile in Germany, the designation last Friday of the AfD as an “extremist” entity by the German domestic intelligence agency has revived a debate about whether lawmakers should seek a ban on the anti-Muslim, nationalist party outright, and in Australia, despite the Labor Party’s landslide electoral victory, Australian Muslim voters have hope that the mobilization leading up to the elections will lead to broader community action across the country. Our recommended read of the day is by Ambreen Agha for TRT Global on how the Pahalgam attack has exposed how quickly suspicion falls on Indian Muslims, transforming them from fellow citizens into suspects, and how such responses turn national tragedies into tools of marginalization. This and more below:


India

Why must Indian Muslims always prove their loyalty after a terrorist attack? | Recommended Read

Regrettably, the Pahalgam terror attack in April has, once again, exposed the fragility of Indianness and the contested sense of belonging. Public anger across India surged after 26 people, all except one of them Hindu tourists, were killed in the massacre of civilians. However, instead of uniting in mourning, the country has once again fractured along communal lines. Within hours, Muslim citizens, especially those from Kashmir, were subjected to suspicion, threats, and even violence. Muslims of India were compelled to prove their loyalty to the Indian state and the Hindu majoritarian public, who were clamoring for revenge and retribution. The state’s recurring impulse to place Muslims under suspicion following terrorist attacks is not something new. For instance, in the aftermath of the 2006 Mumbai train bombing, a suspect named Wahid Sheikh was arrested on charges of being a terror operative along with five others, but was acquitted of all charges after a decade of trial and trauma. Cases like his highlight how suspicion can become systemic, with long-lasting personal and political consequences. This atmosphere of mistrust towards Indian Muslims, especially driven by some right-wing groups, reveals more than just prejudice. Beneath this pattern lies a deeper intent to erode their sense of belonging and diminish their confidence in being constitutionally guaranteed equal citizens of the country. read the complete article


United States

Trump administration shutting down Office of Palestinian Affairs

The US is “merging” its Office of Palestinian Affairs with its embassy to Israel, the State Department said on Tuesday, in a step that signals a much-anticipated downgrade in US relations with the Palestinians. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had decided to end the Office of Palestinian Affairs, known as OPA, in its independent status and make it an office within the embassy. The decision is "not a reflection on any outreach, or commitment to outreach, to the people of the West Bank or to Gaza", Bruce said. Rumours about the OPA’s abolition by the Trump administration have been swirling among diplomats for months. The Trump administration is already moving to eliminate the position of US security coordinator for the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. The US security coordinator’s office is a little-known post, but it is the most public centrepiece of the US’s defence engagement with the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) security services. Absorbing the OPA into the US embassy to Israel signals a further downgrade in the US’s recognition of the Palestinian Authority and the Trump administration’s limited interest in the creation of an independent Palestinian state. read the complete article

Anti-Muslim hate group leader attacks migrant aid contractors as ‘treasonous’

Brigitte Gabriel, the leader of ACT for America, one of the most active anti-Muslim groups in the nation, praised the Trump administration’s defunding of an international relief agency, effectively cutting money from nongovernmental contractors aiding migrants and refugees — groups she described as “treasonous organizations” helping “criminals break into our country.” In the subhead to the article, ACT for America states: “Taxpayer Funded US Contractors Organizing Illegal Migrant Invasion!” read the complete article

CAIR Welcomes Dismissal of Tennessee Assistant Prosecutor Over Alleged Racist, Anti-Immigrant, Anti-Muslim Posts

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed the dismissal of an assistant prosecutor in Knox County, Tennessee, over social media posts allegedly expressing racist, anti-immigrant, sexist, neo-Nazi, and anti-Muslim views. The Knox County District Attorney’s Office fired an assistant prosecutor May 5 hours after Knox News made the office aware of his active X account full of post that local media reported “praised Nazism and consistently belittled and disparaged Black people and immigrants.” read the complete article

CAIR Urges Congress to Condemn Rep. Randy Fine’s Violently Anti-Muslim, Anti-American and Anti-Palestinian Rhetoric

Florida Republican calls fellow member of Congress a ‘Muslim terrorist,’ responds to a photo of starving Palestinian civilians with the hashtag #StarveAway. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today sent a message to every member of the U.S. House of Representatives urging them to publicly condemn Florida Congressman Randy Fine’s (R-FL) violently anti-Muslim, anti-American, and anti-Palestinian rhetoric. This urgent request follows Rep. Fine’s May 2 statement on X.com, in which he referred to a fellow member of Congress as a “Muslim terrorist” and responded to a photo of starving Palestinian civilians with the hashtag #StarveAway. CAIR’s message was sent to more than 1,600 congressional staffers, including all House chiefs of staff, legislative directors, communications directors, and staffers assigned to civil rights, civil liberties, and minority affairs. To emphasize the threat posed by Congressman Fine’s rhetoric, CAIR included a list of ten past examples of Fine spreading hatred, dehumanizing Palestinians and Muslims, and promoting violence. read the complete article

‘Hijab Was Removed Without Her Consent’: Congresswoman Tells Mehdi About Visit With Detained Student

It’s been over a month since shocking footage emerged of masked ICE agents arresting Tufts Doctoral Student Rümeysa Öztürk, after her visa was terminated simply for co-authoring an op-ed in the student newspaper calling for the university to divest in Israel. Since then, Rümeysa has been confined to an ICE detention center in Louisiana, where her US Representative, Ayanna Pressley, met with her late last month. In this powerful interview for ‘Mehdi Unfiltered,’ Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley tells Mehdi about the “harrowing” conditions Rümeysa has been facing in her detention center – which Pressley says, “has a long documented history of human rights violations and abuses.” “She suffered several very severe asthma attacks while there, received inadequate medical care. There has been no religious accommodation, in fact, not only on a dietary aspect, but when it comes to a space to pray, a Quran. Her hijab was removed without her consent by one of the nurses,” Pressley tells Mehdi. read the complete article

Detained Georgetown scholar must have his case heard in Virginia, judge rules

A Georgetown University researcher who says he has been illegally targeted for deportation amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on campus activism must have his case heard in Virginia as he fights to stay in the United States, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles is likely to order immigration officials to return Badar Khan Suri from Texas as she continues to consider the legal merits of his case. The researcher was arrested March 17 as he arrived at his Arlington County home and was sent to an immigration facility southwest of Dallas, where he has been held for more than a month. The ruling is a victory for Suri, a father of three who arrived from India in late 2022 for a fellowship at Georgetown’s Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, though it could also end up being temporary. He made an initial appearance Tuesday morning before an immigration judge in Texas, where his legal team denied the charge that he posed a threat. “Badar has said many times that he does not support Hamas,” his wife, Mapheze Saleh, said in an email. “I do not support the use of violence against civilians perpetrated by any group or government. Neither does Badar. He is deeply committed to peace and to the human dignity of each and every person in this world.” She added that her family had been subjected to racist attacks online: “My love and support for the Palestinian people and my outrage about the atrocities and genocide being committed against Palestinians in Gaza are being weaponized against me and reduced to a blanket tagline of ‘support for Hamas.’” read the complete article

Meet the Jewish students speaking to US lawmakers about Columbia’s protests

Jewish students involved in protests at Columbia University say their pro-Palestinian activism is driven by their faith – not in spite of it. On Tuesday, a group of Jewish student activists met with members of the United States Congress in Washington, DC, to tell their stories, which they say have been left out of mainstream narratives about anti-Semitism on college campuses. Al Jazeera spoke to several students who participated in the lobbying day, which was organised by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Action, an advocacy organisation. Here are some of their stories. “Jewish students are being used as pawns in Trump’s political agenda,” she said. “And the weaponisation of anti-Semitism to dismantle this movement is not just a threat to Jewish students; it’s a threat to all of us. That’s why it is so important for us as Jewish students to directly correct this false narrative.” read the complete article


International

Palestine and the decline of the US empire

It has been 19 months now since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza. The International Court of Justice is investigating a “plausible genocide”, while the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes. Scholars of genocide, major human rights organisations, and United Nations experts have identified what is going on in Gaza as genocide. People across the world have marched to call on their governments to act to stop it. There is a single power that stands in the way of putting an end to this genocide: the United States. One administration has handed over to another, and yet there has been no change in policy. Unconditional support for Israel seems to be a doctrine that the US political establishment is unwilling to touch. Various analyses have suggested that at the root of this “special relationship” are Judeo-Christian values and a shared democratic path; others have argued that it has to do with the two-party system and the donor class dominating US politics. But the reality is far simpler. The US views Israel as a critical ally because it helps promote US global supremacy at a time when it is facing inevitable decline. Israel’s survival in its current settler-colonial form – the US elites believe – is closely tied to maintaining US supremacy. read the complete article

What the Next Pope Can Learn From Francis: A Muslim's Reflection

As a Muslim who admired Pope Francis, I join millions in mourning a towering moral voice whose leadership transcended faith boundaries. He was the first pontiff I ever quoted extensively in my speeches and writings. And for good reason. In an era of performative politics and moral ambiguity, Francis dared to speak clearly—and compassionately—about injustice, war, poverty, and dignity. Even while hospitalized, Pope Francis made daily phone calls to the only Catholic church in Gaza, checking in on displaced civilians and urging them not to lose hope. Some began calling him "the saint of Gaza." For Palestinians—and for many Muslims around the world—this pope was not just a spiritual ally. He felt like family. From day one, Pope Francis disrupted expectations with humble, radical gestures—washing the feet of a Muslim woman prisoner in 2013, shortly after becoming pope. He rejected Islamophobic narratives and condemned Qur'an burnings as "disgusting," insisting that all sacred texts must be treated with dignity. Like the king of Abyssinia, Pope Francis didn't just tolerate difference—he protected it. He embodied a leadership that was not about doctrinal supremacy, but about shared humanity. Pope Francis was not interested in symbolic interfaith diplomacy. He was interested in building real bridges. In his 2013 Apostolic Exhortation The Joy of the Gospel, he affirmed that Muslims "adore the one, merciful God," and acknowledged the shared reverence for Jesus and Mary. His collaboration with Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayyeb of Al-Azhar led to the Document on Human Fraternity, which declared that God "has created all human beings equal in rights, duties and dignity." read the complete article


Australia

Muslim voters say election delivered strong message despite Labor landslide

For the first time, Muslim Australian Hawraa didn't pick Labor as one of her top four preferences at this year's federal election. Hawraa, who only wants to be identified by her first name, said she wanted to send Labor a message: "Do not take us for granted." A voter in the Victorian electorate of Wills, Hawraa was "disappointed" at news Labor's Peter Khalil had been re-elected in the Melbourne seat, narrowly defeating a challenge from Greens candidate Samantha Ratnam. Despite the result, Hawraa said the close race and first preference vote swing towards Ms Ratnam gave her hope, and showed the Muslim community was energised. "We've learned a lot from this time, and it is only the start of the mobilisation of the community and of the Muslim community," Hawraa said. Many Australian Muslims have told the ABC they feel "betrayed" by the government's response to the war in Gaza and a surge in Islamophobia at home. "We've seen political literacy and political awareness in the Muslim community in a way that has never happened, not even close to it. read the complete article


Germany

Germany's Merz says ban on far-right AfD won't solve problem

Germany's new Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday that simply banning the far-right Alternative for Germany would not end the groundswell of support for it, noting it was key instead to fight the causes. The designation last Friday of the AfD as an "extremist" entity by the German domestic intelligence agency has revived a debate about whether lawmakers should seek a ban on the anti-Muslim, nationalist party. In one of his first interviews since being sworn in as chancellor earlier on Tuesday, Merz said the government would carefully evaluate the intelligence agency report before drawing its own conclusions. "But I would also like to add: 10 million AfD voters — you can't ban them," the conservative politician said. "You have to engage with them factually and on substance." "And I want to do everything in this federal government to help people regain trust in the political center — so that they no longer feel the need to vote for a party like the AfD." read the complete article

Today in Islamophobia, 07 May 2025 Edition

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