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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In Denmark, a trial is about to begin where two men are being accused of publicly burning a copy of the Quran, a violation of a new law meant to protect religious texts from biblioclasm, meanwhile in the United States, the Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MA) today released its 2024 Civil Rights Report, documenting a dramatic rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes, school violence, failures in police response, and workplace harassment, and in in the United Kingdom, Hyphen recounts the valor and sacrifice of Indian Muslim soldiers who came to the aid of the UK during Hitler’s conquest of Europe. Our recommended read of the day is by Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff for The Washington Post on the story of detained ACMCU scholar Dr. Badar Khan Suri and how, before his imprisonment, several organizations known for making anti-Muslim statements published material smearing Dr. Suri. This and more below:
United States
How a Georgetown scholar went from ‘quiet’ researcher to detainee | Recommended Read
For more than two years, Badar Khan Suri was a little-known postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University trying to land a book project, colleagues and family say. The 41-year-old Indian national, who was on a J-1 visa for academic and exchange visitors, spent much of his time researching minority rights in his home country, visiting the campus mosque with his wife and three young children, and teaching a class on his research, they say. But earlier this year, two groups that oppose campus antisemitism published articles about Suri and his wife’s support for Palestinians and their family ties to Hamas: His father-in-law was an adviser to the group’s former political leader, Ismail Haniyeh. The Department of Homeland Security detained Suri soon after, alleging that his presence in the United States could have “adverse foreign policy consequences.” Veena Dubal, the general counsel at the American Association of University Professors and a law professor at the University of California at Irvine, said the administration’s focus on Suri sends a chilling effect across the country. “The guilt by association here is extremely unlawful and an extraordinary act of government that points to authoritarianism,” said Dubal, who is not involved in Suri’s case. “The feeling is that everyone could potentially be targeted.” Legal experts and historians say his case represents the rising influence of advocacy groups such as the Middle East Forum and the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA), both of which wrote about Suri and his wife earlier this year. These groups have long published articles about people and media organizations they argue are anti-Israel or antisemitic, with the aim of rooting out what they see as bias. While U.S. authorities declined to answer questions about Suri’s case and what influence the organizations have had, the groups have praised the Trump administration for taking action that other administrations haven’t. read the complete article
CAIR-MA Releases New Civil Rights Report Showing Escalation of Hate Crimes and School Violence Against Muslims in Massachusetts
The Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MA) today released its 2024 Civil Rights Report, documenting a dramatic rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes, school violence, failures in police response, and workplace harassment. Titled “Demanding Justice: Nearing a Decade of Legal Advocacy,” the report is based on 209 requests for legal help received by CAIR-MA in 2024. 28 hate-related incidents were reported to CAIR-MA, a 65% increase from 2023, marking the highest number in CAIR-MA’s 10-year history. Yet, none were charged as hate crimes by law enforcement. The level of violence was also the greatest ever reported, as victims were physically attacked, spat on, stalked, threatened, and had their property vandalized. Violence in public schools also increased, including a student who was poisoned and another who needed surgery for injuries, as well as multiple instances of teacher misconduct and neglect. Muslim women wearing hijab were disproportionately harassed and assaulted. “This report paints a harrowing picture of rising Islamophobia in Massachusetts,” said Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, Esq., Executive Director of CAIR-MA. “When Muslim families face violence at school, on the job, and in the streets—and when the system fails to respond—our basic right to safety is in jeopardy, and we are in crisis.” read the complete article
United Kingdom
Islamophobia in the UK: a threat that’s only deepening
The 9/11 attacks and the ensuing War on Terror led to a sharp rise in anti-Muslim sentiment and profiling across the Western world—an issue that continues to deepen in British society amid Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza against Hamas. Islamophobia in the United Kingdom has always been a looming threat for its vibrant Muslim community of approximately 4 million Brits, who make up 6% of the country’s population. However, incidents of Islamophobia in the UK have worsened to record levels over the last 14 years, due to the Israel-Gaza War between Hamas and the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), according to Tell Mama UK, a monitoring group that records anti-Muslim incidents in the UK. On February 7th, 16 months after Hamas’s October 7th attack, Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, deemed ‘genocidal’ by the UN and Amnesty International, continues. This raises concerns over the war’s impact on UK media, politics, and rising Islamophobia. It has been roughly half a year since the summer riots of 2024, in which false claims about a Muslim asylum seeker sparked national far-right riots, targeting Muslims and areas thought to be associated with them. Furthermore, these riots targeted asylum seekers, claiming the lives of three children. The 2024 riots and far-right rhetoric show that Islamophobia in the UK is not just lingering prejudice against Muslims but a crisis of British democratic principles. read the complete article
The forgotten faces of freedom: Why telling the whole story of Britain’s war efforts matters
This week, as we commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day, our nation pauses once more to honour the generation who fought for freedom – often at great personal cost. It is a moment for remembrance, reflection and renewal. And yet, for many years, I’ve felt there is something incomplete about the way we tell this story. My work has focused on social mobility and social integration in Britain. I’ve spent much of my life trying to build bridges between communities, across differences and disciplines, and towards a deeper shared sense of belonging. That work, though often hard and always necessary, has taught me something fundamental: we cannot build a truly prosperous, cohesive future without a full and inclusive understanding of our past. That is why I put together “Great Faith: Stories of Sacrifice and Contribution” – a portrait series and storytelling project that seeks to shine a light on Muslim servicemen and women who served in the Allied and British Armed Forces during the world wars, and those who continue to serve today. Unveiled this week and created in collaboration with the remarkable British war artist and portrait painter Arabella Dorman, this collection features 80 portraits that humanise and honour those whose bravery has too often gone unseen. These are not abstract tributes; they are deeply personal, evocative portraits – each one a window into a life lived in service to this country. This project is not about setting one group above another. On the contrary; it is about completing the picture – about reminding ourselves that Britain’s war effort was not homogenous but richly diverse. Muslims, alongside Christians, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs and others, stood shoulder to shoulder to defend the freedoms we all now enjoy. The armies of 1914 and 1940 looked far more like the Britain of 2025 than we often imagine. During the Second World War alone, more than 2.5 million soldiers from pre-partition India joined the Allied forces – hundreds of thousands of them were Muslim and many were decorated for valour. Their names are etched in dusty archives but absent from too many classrooms, Remembrance Day services and national narratives. read the complete article
Muslim families could be treated with suspicion under schools bill, Lords told
A member of the House of Lords has warned that Muslim families who home school their children could face increased surveillance and be “treated with suspicion” under the government’s children’s wellbeing and schools bill. Speaking during the second reading of the bill, chaired by Labour skills minister Jacqui Smith, Conservative peer Nathanael Ming-Yan Wei said that the introduction of mandatory registers for children who are not in school full-time is an “unprecedented intrusion into family life” that will grant local authorities “sweeping powers” to monitor and inspect families who home school their children. Labour says the bill, announced last year and applying to England only, is necessary for safeguarding children, and that registers of those being home schooled — which will be maintained by councils and may “also contain any other information the local authority considers appropriate” — will ensure that fewer children slip under the radar. But Lord Wei warned that Muslim families in particular could be affected by the new home schooling registration measures. Addressing the upper chamber, Wei told peers he had been informed by a “reliable source” that the team in charge of home-education policy at the Department for Education (DfE) had overseen Prevent — the government’s counter-extremism programme. The department has been approached for comment. read the complete article
Muslim soldiers played a vital role in liberating Europe from the Nazis
In Britain’s hour of need, standing alone against Nazi Germany in 1940, it was not the US that immediately came to the nation’s aid, but the fighting men of the Indian subcontinent. They came in their millions, from every corner of British India — a vast territory that comprised modern-day India and Pakistan, which between them provided the majority of the troops, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. On 3 Sept 1939, Lord Linlithgow, the Viceroy of India, addressed the people of British India in a national radio broadcast: “We find ourselves at war with Germany today.” As a colony, British India had no say in the matter, but Linlithgow’s decision drew a varied response from the country’s main political groups. The Indian Congress Party, led by Mahatma Gandhi, urged Britain to use restraint and non-violent methods to counter Adolf Hitler’s brutal expansionism. The Muslim League — albeit cautiously — supported Britain’s call for help. The Punjabi Unionist Party, led by Sikander Hayat Khan, meanwhile, offered the manpower and resources of pre-partition Punjab. At that time, the province was 55% Muslim. It became the main recruitment area for the British Indian Army, Britain’s largest overseas military force. Between 1939 and 1945, troop numbers expanded from 189,000 to 2,500,000. Over a period of five years, more than 600,000 Muslims enlisted. Punjabi Muslim soldiers formed the largest single ethnic group within the army’s ranks.” read the complete article
India
Meta blocks major Muslim Instagram page in India amid rising conflict
Meta has banned a prominent Muslim news page on Instagram in India at the government’s request, the account’s founder said on Wednesday, denouncing the move as “censorship” as hostilities escalate between India and Pakistan. Instagram users in India trying to access posts from the handle @Muslim – a page with 6.7 million followers – were met with a message stating: “Account not available in India. This is because we complied with a legal request to restrict this content.” There was no immediate reaction from the Indian government on the ban, which comes after access was blocked to the social media accounts of Pakistani actors and cricketers. Meta declined to comment. A spokesperson for the tech giant directed Agence France-Presse to a company webpage outlining its policy for restricting content when governments believe material on its platforms goes “against local law”. read the complete article
The Symbolism Behind India’s ‘Operation Sindoor’
The Indian government’s choice of the name Operation Sindoor signaled its intention to avenge the widowed women. On social media, the Indian Army announced the strikes with a stark image that included a jar of spilled sindoor, which resembled spattered blood. “Operation Sindoor” also signals to right-wing Hindu groups — many of which favor more traditionally defined gender roles — that the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is listening to their demands for vengeance. But some feminists have criticized the use of the word sindoor. Hindu nationalism is predominantly driven by a male view of the world, said V. Geetha, a feminist historian who writes about gender, caste and class. “Women figure in it as objects to be protected or as mother figures goading their men to prove their heroism,” Ms. Geetha said. Nine days later, as Ms. Narwal was still grieving the loss of her husband, Vinay Narwal, the naval officer she had been married to for less than a week, she said she wanted “peace, and only peace.” The perpetrators should be brought to justice, she told reporters at a blood donation camp on the birthday of her husband. But she said that she did not want to see “people going against Muslims or Kashmiris.” Right-wing Hindu trolls pounced on that comment, vilifying her online and calling for revenge against Muslims for the terrorist attack. Ms. Geetha, the historian, said that Ms. Narwal stopped becoming a symbol the moment she expressed her thoughts. read the complete article
Australia
The Muslim Vote-endorsed candidates who scored numbers at the polls say they're just getting started
While the federal election was fought on many fronts including the housing crisis, cost of living and migration, the issue of Gaza loomed large in the two seats, where the highest concentration of Australian Muslims live. Independents endorsed by The Muslim Vote campaign secured enough of the primary vote to edge out the Liberal candidates and come second in the two-party preferred vote behind Labor frontbenchers Tony Burke and Jason Clare. The Muslim Vote formed less than two years ago with a mission to unify Australian Muslims as a voting bloc to back independent candidates sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. The Muslim Vote has consistently accused the Labor government of complicity in the destruction of Gaza and attacks on its people. Political scientist and the Centre for Western Sydney executive director Andy Marks said there was "no question" that Gaza and geopolitics played an outsized role in Western Sydney and the vote overall. read the complete article
Denmark
Denmark: Trial for Quran burning kicks off in Bornholm
This Friday, many eyes will be on the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea, for a historic trial: Two men are accused of "improper treatment of a religious scripture." They are accused of having burned a copy of the Quran, the central religious text of Islam, in front of an audience at a folk festival in June 2024, as well as livestreaming this on the social platform Facebook. The Danish public prosecutors have so far not released any details about the identity of the two defendants, nor the exact course of events. They have, however, said that a verdict is expected on the same day. The trial, which will take place in Bornholm's largest town Ronne, is the first of its kind since a new law that criminalizes the "inappropriate treatment" of religious scripture, including the Bible, the Quran, and the Torah among others, came into force on December 7, 2023. The law was introduced amid international tension caused by a series of Quran burnings in Denmark. In July 2023, in Copenhagen, several members of the nationalist and right-wing populist group called "Danish Patriots" set fire to the holy book outside the embassies of countries with Muslim majorities, such as Iraq. There were many other cases of individuals burning Qurans to be provocative. Between July and October 2023 alone, the Danish police counted more than 480 cases in which religious books or national flags, such as the Iraqi flag, were burned. The provocative acts triggered outrage amid many in the Muslim world and led to diplomatic incidents. read the complete article
Germany
German spy agency pauses 'extremist' classification for AfD party
Germany's domestic spy agency BfV has paused its classification of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) as an extremist organisation in what the AfD on Thursday called a partial victory for its challenge against the decision. The agency would not publicly refer to the AfD as a "confirmed right-wing extremist movement" until an administrative court in the western city of Cologne has ruled on an AfD bid for an injunction, a court statement said. The BfV's move last week to classify the far-right AfD as extremist produced sharp reactions along the fault lines of German politics, with some lawmakers calling for the AfD to be banned and the AfD casting it as an attack on democracy. It also sparked strong criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling on the German authorities to reverse their decision. The extremist classification allows the Cologne-based spy agency to step up monitoring of the AfD, for example by recruiting informants and intercepting party communications. read the complete article