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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the Netherlands, far-right Dutch political leader Geert Wilders blamed “Moroccans and Muslims” for attacks on Israeli football fans in Amsterdam last week, asking for the state to deport people convicted of involvement if they have dual nationality, while many Muslims living in Amsterdam believe the Dutch government’s rhetoric surrounding the violence instigated by Israeli football hooligans could encourage discrimination, and in the US, a federal jury in Virginia found defense contractor CACI Premier Technology, Inc. legally responsible for conspiring to torture three Iraqi men during their detention at Abu Ghraib prison two decades ago. Our recommended read of the day is by Missy Ryan and Evan Hill for The Washington Post on Donald Trump’s pick for Defense Secretary, Fox News host Pete Hegseth, and Hegseth’s published history of anti-LGBTQ, anti-Muslim, and Christian Nationalist rhetoric. This and more below:
United States
Trump Pentagon pick dismissed military diversity drive, demonized Islam | Recommended Read
President-elect Donald Trump’s selection to lead the Pentagon, Army veteran and Fox News host Pete Hegseth, has forcefully argued that steps to incorporate women and transgender personnel across the military are eroding U.S. security and that Islam is a violent force threatening to overtake America and should be countered by a new “crusade,” his past writings and commentary reveal. Some of Hegseth’s writing also appears to echo the virulent rhetoric of white nationalists and Great Replacement theorists, taking particular aim at Islam. In his 2020 book “American Crusade,” Hegseth fulminates against Muslim birth rates and what he characterizes as the infiltration of American communities by refugees and migrants whom he accuses of leeching off government support. He writes that Islam “is not a religion of peace, and it never has been” and claims that “all modern Muslim countries are either formal or de facto no-go zones for practicing Christians and Jews.” Islam, he writes, has been “almost entirely captured and leveraged by Islamists.” The book also makes the unsubstantiated claim that Islamists account for 25 percent of the global Muslim population with a mission to force the rest of the world to submit or be killed. Supported by open-borders leftists and “squish” Republicans, he says, Islamists plan to “conquer” Europe and America demographically, culturally and politically, allying with secularism to tear down “our nation’s Judeo-Christian institutions.” They will “seed the West with as many Muslims as possible” and then, “thanks to their very high birth rates relative to native populations and their strategically insular culture — the sons and daughters of those migrants and refugees multiply in greater numbers than do native citizens.” read the complete article
US Jury Awards $42 Million to 3 Iraqis Abused at Abu Ghraib Prison
A federal jury in the US state of Virginia found defense contractor CACI Premier Technology, Inc. legally responsible for conspiring to torture and otherwise ill-treat three Iraqi men during their detention at Abu Ghraib prison two decades ago. The case, Al Shimari et al. v. CACI, was the first time a US jury heard claims brought by survivors of post-9/11 torture committed by US military forces and security contractors. The ruling comes after 15 years of legal wrangling, including 20 attempts by CACI to have the case dismissed and multiple appeals. The first trial in April ended in a mistrial after a different jury couldn’t agree on whether CACI or the US Army should be liable for the torture committed. CACI lawyers argued that the company shouldn't be liable for any misdeeds by its employees because they were under the control and direction of the US Army, and so redress for misconduct should be the military’s responsibility. The jury disagreed, awarding the three plaintiffs $3 million each in compensatory damages and $11 million each in punitive damages. The landmark ruling puts private military contractors on notice that criminal acts outside the United States can have consequences in US courts. read the complete article
Netherlands
Dutch authorities investigate alleged police violence after pro-Palestinian protest
Dutch authorities have said they are investigating reports of police violence against pro-Palestinian protesters after a banned rally on Wednesday evening had been broken up. Amsterdam police said on X that they were aware of online footage, which seemed to show police officers beating protesters who had already been released after being taken away from the site of the protest. A total of 281 protesters were detained as they rallied in central Amsterdam on Wednesday in defiance of a ban imposed after violence stemming from a football match between Ajax and the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv last week. Detained protesters were put on buses and driven to a location on the outskirts of the city, where they were released. A video circulating online, seen by Reuters, showed people being hit with batons by police in riot gear, seemingly while walking away after they had been released in the port area west of Amsterdam. The images could not be verified by Reuters. “Images of police acting with force are always disturbing to see and will be weighed and judged. Also in this case,” Amsterdam police said in a post on X. read the complete article
‘Who benefits from this?’ Soul-searching after the Amsterdam violence
Days after Amsterdam was gripped by what officials described as “a toxic cocktail” of hooliganism, antisemitism and anger over the war in Palestine and Israel, the handful of imams and rabbis from European organisations had travelled to the city in an attempt to calm tensions. “The roses are for every Amsterdammer, Muslim, Jew or of other faiths and origins, and also for the rioters in Amsterdam-West,” Eliezer Wolff, a rabbi from Amsterdam, told reporters. “The violent battle must be fought with love.” It was a small act, one aimed at starting to heal the wounds left across the Dutch capital by last week’s events. One week on, the city’s Jewish and Muslim communities have spoken of grappling with fear, as questions linger about the events arising around the football match between local team Ajax and Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv. Local people and visitors appeared to have been involved in the unrest. The first reports of disturbances emerged on Wednesday, as police said Maccabi fans tore down a Palestinian flag from the facade of a building and burned it, shouted “fuck you, Palestine”, attacked one taxi with their belts, and vandalised others. The next day there were clashes on the central Dam Square, where a large crowd of Maccabi supporters had gathered. The fans were filmed chanting racist, anti-Arab slogans on their way to the Johan Cruyff Arena. Police escorted the 2,600 fans to the game and dispersed protesters who had defied a ban on a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside the stadium. read the complete article
How a toxic mix of antisemitism, racism and xenophobia culminated in Amsterdam violence
“It’s not only antisemitism, it’s also about anti-Muslim racism. It’s also about xenophobia. We’re seeing a rise of all these types of discrimination and racism,” city councilor Sheher Khan, the leader of a local party that aims to address institutional racism and Islamophobia, told CNN. “And I don’t even think, I’m sorry to say, that we have reached our boiling point, because the root causes of the tensions going on have not been addressed.” Khan said the biggest underlying issue for his constituents is the Dutch government’s complicity in funneling weapons and money to Israel’s war in Gaza. The Netherlands’ Muslim community is roughly 1 million people strong, and many have been vocal in their support of Palestinians. “Next to that, we have a far-right government, which is hell-bent on blaming societal problems on minorities, especially Muslims,” Khan added. But the timeline of how tensions ignited in Amsterdam is different depending on which community you ask. Some residents argue the spark was just last week, when Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans pulled down Palestinian flags, vandalized taxis and paraded through the streets yelling racist slogans, including “f**k the Arabs,” and celebrating Israeli military attacks in Gaza. What followed were violent attacks on the Israeli fans, with several people injured and five receiving hospital treatment. The city’s mayor said last week that rioters moved in small groups in “hit-and-run” antisemitic attacks, searching the city and targeting Maccabi supporters. read the complete article
Amsterdam football violence exposes first cracks in Dutch government
When locals, reportedly of a migrant background, attacked supporters of Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv after a Europa League match against Dutch team Ajax last Thursday night, the leaders of all four of the Netherlands’ governing parties swiftly condemned the violence. Tensions had risen earlier in the day when some Maccabi fans tore down Palestinian flags in the Dutch capital’s city center and chanted anti-Arab slogans, Amsterdam’s acting police chief said last week. Ten Israeli fans were also arrested the day before the game. Wilders, who leads the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) but isn’t a member of the Dutch cabinet, labeled the violence against the Israeli fans a “pogrom,” while Dilan Yesilgöz, leader of the center-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), denounced it as a “Jew hunt.” Caroline van der Plas of the Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB), meanwhile, called the violence a “deep disgrace,” with acting chief of the centrist New Social Contract (NSC) Nicolien van Vroonhoven deploring what she called “disgusting scenes.” All vowed to take action to punish the perpetrators, combat anti-Semitism and restore order in the Dutch capital. But it didn’t take long for the first cracks to appear in the coalition’s unity, as the Netherlands’ most right-wing government ever faces its first big test since assuming power in July. read the complete article
Anti-Islam Wilders wants to deport Muslims for Amsterdam violence
Far-right Dutch political leader Geert Wilders blamed “Moroccans and Muslims” for attacks on Israeli football fans in Amsterdam last week, asserting that they “want to destroy Jews” and recommending the deportation of people convicted of involvement if they have dual nationality. While lawmakers condemned anti-semitism and agreed that perpetrators of the violence should be prosecuted and handed harsh punishments, opposition legislators accused Wilders of “pouring oil on the fire”. Violence erupted in the Dutch capital before and after last week's football match between Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli hooligans chanted racist anti-Arab slogans, tore down Palestinian flags and ignored a minute of silence for the Spanish flood victims. After the match, a large group of Maccabi supporters armed with sticks ran around “destroying things,” a 12-page report on the violence issued by Amsterdam authorities said. There were also “rioters, moving in small groups, by foot, scooter or car, quickly attacking Maccabi fans before disappearing,” it said. Wilders, whose anti-immigration Party for Freedom won elections last year and now is part of a four-party ruling coalition government, said Wednesday that on the night Amsterdam commemorated Kristallnacht, the 1938 anti-Jewish pogrom in Nazi Germany, “we saw Muslims hunting Jews on the streets of Amsterdam,” and blamed ”Moroccans who want to destroy Jews". He gave no evidence. Police and prosecutors have not disclosed the identities of any of the suspects that were detained, in line with Dutch privacy rules. Wilders advocated canceling the Dutch passports of people convicted of involvement in the violence — if they have a double passport — and deporting them. read the complete article
Muslims in Amsterdam reject far-right government's rhetoric after violence
Arranging fruit crates in a market on the western edge of Amsterdam on Thursday, Mohamed Errakil said the Dutch government's rhetoric a week after the city was shaken by violence instigated by Israeli football hooligans could encourage discrimination. "We're called foreigners, you're a Moroccan, you're a Turk. Discrimination is going to build up" said Errakil, a 51-year-old of Moroccan origin who says he "feels Dutch" and has spent most of his life running a fruit stall in Nieuw West, a neighbourhood with a sizable Muslim population. In the Dutch parliament a day earlier, far-right MP Geert Wilders claimed that all the violence surrounding last week's football match between Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel-Aviv was perpetrated by Muslims and "for the most part Moroccans". Anti-Islam Wilders, who is leader of the largest party in the government coalition, also called for those involved to be prosecuted "for terrorism, lose their passports and be kicked out of the country". Errakil said that those involved in the violence "should be dealt with harshly". However, "every Muslim is seen as a foreigner, a terrorist, but they're not", he added. Like other locals AFP spoke to at the market in the Plein '40-'45 square, scene of isolated rioting on Monday night, Errakil urged the government and media to look at "both sides" of the issue. read the complete article
India
India's Supreme Court bans 'bulldozer justice' often used against Muslims
India’s Supreme Court on Wednesday strongly criticized states that have demolished properties of suspected criminals, a practice critics say mostly targets minority Muslims, and issued guidelines to authorities. The verdict came in response to many petitions filed after demolitions in recent years in states ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). BJP governments in the states have torn down what they say are illegal houses or shops of people accused of crimes, many of them Muslims, in what has come to be popularly known as “instant, bulldozer justice.” Rights groups and opposition parties have denounced the practice, saying it mostly targets poor Muslims while circumventing the judicial process. BJP governments have rejected the accusations and said such properties were in violation of local laws and the owners had been served notices. read the complete article
'Bulldozer Raj': Indian Muslims hail top court's ruling on home demolitions
India's top court declared on Wednesday that it would be "totally unconstitutional" to demolish a citizen's home simply because he is an accused or even a convicted person, especially without following the legal due process. The court also imposed a nationwide prohibition on "bulldozer justice." On Thursday, most opposition parties in India welcomed the top court's verdict. They linked the bulldozer action to the oppression perpetrated by the ruling BJP on Muslims, saying that "now the oppression of minorities will stop." The main opposition party, the Indian National Congress said the verdict would end the “jungle raj” — Jungle rule. Speaking to Press Trust of India, a spokesperson of the party said: "We welcome the apex court's decision. Hopefully, this decision will end the jungle raj (Jungle rule) in Uttar Pradesh.” The parties also demanded compensation of at least $30,000 for the victims of the bulldozer action. "The homes and properties of Muslims have been the primary targets of bulldozer action. The bulldozers were used to target Muslims. There are numerous instances of areas with a majority of Muslims being destroyed," the National Spokesperson of the Samajwadi Party, an important ally in the opposition alliance told ETV Bharat. read the complete article