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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In Canada, Surrey South B.C. Conservative MLA candidate Brent Chapman is facing widening criticism after racist comments he made on Facebook in 2015 surfaced in which he referred to Palestinians as “little inbred walking talking breathing time bombs”, meanwhile in the UK, according to recently publicized government statistics, religious hate crimes in England and Wales have soared by 25% to record levels, incidents coinciding with the Israel-Hamas conflict, and in the US, a man in the United States has pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime after breaking into and damaging the Islamic student centre at Rutgers University back in April of this year. Our recommended read of the day is by Peter Oborne for Middle East Eye on how the two remaining candidates vying for Tory party leadership indicate a far-right vision for the party’s future, a vision very much out of step with traditional Conservatism in Britain. This and more below:
United Kingdom
The Conservative Party is becoming the enemy of liberal democracy | Recommended Read
It is certainly true that the two remaining candidates, Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch, stand on the far right of the party. Both make Margaret Thatcher, a famously right-wing Conservative prime minister, look like a sopping wet liberal. But anyone who thinks that the far-right capture of the Conservative Party means that the party is now irrelevant is deluding themselves. British Conservatism has turned into a far-right movement comparable to Marine Le Pen’s National Rally in France, Narendra Modi’s BJP in India, Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud coalition in Israel, Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom in the Netherlands, the neo-Nazi AFD in Germany and Donald Trump’s Republicans in the United States. Both Badenoch and Jenrick have built their political careers, at least in part, by attacking "Islamist extremism". Badenoch has a record of Islamophobic comments dating back at least as far as Zac Goldsmith’s notorious 2016 campaign to be mayor of London. This is how you make waves in the contemporary Conservative Party. One final point especially frightens me. Jenrick and Badenoch both articulate a far-right vision which has almost nothing in common with traditional Conservatism. read the complete article
Newham Launches Islamophobia Awareness Month ‘Seeds of Change’ Programme
Newham announces the launch of Islamophobia Awareness Month with the theme "Seeds of Change" to combat prejudice and raise awareness. The month-long programme includes exhibitions, workshops, and a culminating SHAAM Nasheed concert, all aimed at fostering understanding and unity within the community. We are proud to announce the launch of our Islamophobia Awareness Month programme for November, based on the theme “Seeds of Change”. With the current growing rise in islamophobia, Newham's Seeds of Change programme seeks to raise awareness, foster understanding, and combat prejudice through a series of thought-provoking events and activities. read the complete article
Religious hate crimes at record levels in England and Wales, official figures show
Religious hate crimes in England and Wales have soared by 25% to record levels, coinciding with the Israel-Hamas conflict, government statistics show. The increase, from 8,370 to 10,484 offences reported to police forces in the year to March, was driven by a rise in offences against Jewish people and to a lesser extent Muslims, the Home Office said. The overall number of hate crimes dropped. According to the statistical bulletin, the total of 10,484 anti-religious offences was the highest annual tally of these offences since hate crime records began in the year ending March 2012. It said there had also been an increase in religious hate crimes against Muslims, up 13% to 3,866 reported offences. Almost two in five religious hate crimes (38%) were targeted against Muslims, the report said. The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said: “The appalling levels of antisemitic and Islamophobic hate crimes outlined in today’s figures are a stain on our society, and this government will work tirelessly to tackle this toxic hatred wherever it is found. We must not allow events unfolding in the Middle East to play out in increased hatred and tension here on our streets, and those who push this poison – offline or online – must face the full force of the law. read the complete article
Man who called for mosques to be burned down during riots and was 'ready for war' jailed
A 43-year-old man who called on Facebook for mosques to be burned down has been jailed for two years. Geraint Boyce, of Penrhiw-Fer, Wales, was sentenced at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court on Thursday over Facebook posts published during the riots earlier this year. Boyce pleaded guilty to publishing threatening material intended to stir up religious hatred. The father of three made and shared a series of comments on July 31 including ones that called for mosques to be burned down with “the bastards inside”. He said the comments were made on a public Facebook profile called “Boyce’s Plumbing”, which the defendant had been logged into on arrest. Other posts included him saying he was “ready for war” and “time to wake the lion to save our children’s future”. read the complete article
United States
Rights group files complaint against US university over failure to protect Muslim, Arab students
A leading Muslim-American civil rights group filed a complaint with the US Department of Education against the University of Michigan, calling on the agency to investigate whether or not the institution has failed to protect Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and South Asian students from discrimination on campus. The federal complaint, filed on Wednesday, from the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair-MI), comes after a student group leaked an audio recording, in which it is purportedly president Santa Ono saying that schools are being pressured to address reports of antisemitism on campus more urgently than Islamophobia. In the leaked recording, the speaker alludes to the notion that the government could pressure the university by withholding federal funding. "To have the government say that we will withhold your $2bn in federal funding if you don't address antisemitism," Ono purportedly said in the recording leaked by the Tahrir Coalition on 6 October. "The government could call me tomorrow and say in a very unbalanced way the university is not doing enough to combat antisemitism." The person added that he could respond by saying that "the university is not doing enough to combat Islamophobia, and that's not what they wanna hear. So the whole situation is not balanced". Further in the recording - it is unclear whether the comments were made at the same time and place as the previous comments - the speaker says there "are powerful groups" attempting to hold US universities accountable for not addressing antisemitism, adding that congressional hearings related to university campuses are "focused almost entirely on antisemitism". read the complete article
US: Muslim woman sues sheriff’s office over forced removal of hijab
A Muslim woman has filed a federal lawsuit against the Knox County Sheriff’s Office in Tennessee, alleging that her religious rights were violated when she was forced to remove her hijab for a booking photo that was later published online. Layla Soliz of Knoxville, Tennesee, filed the lawsuit on Monday following her arrested on 15 May 2024 during a pro-Palestinian demonstration at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. After being detained for several hours, she was taken to the Knox County detention facility where officers photographed her without her hijab despite her objections. They took a second photo with her hijab, which Soliz wears daily as part of her Muslim faith. According to the lawsuit, an intake officer had promised that the mugshot without her headscarf would not be made public, but a sergeant later uploaded the image to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office website, where hundreds of people viewed it. The complaint alleges the photo was downloaded and shared on a third-party mugshot database, violating Soliz’s privacy and religious beliefs. read the complete article
US man pleads guilty to trashing Islamic centre at New Jersey university
A man in the United States has pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime after breaking into an Islamic student centre at a university in the state of New Jersey. Jacob Beacher, 24, broke into the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University during the Eid al-Fitr holiday in April and damaged property at the scene, including several religious artefacts, the US Department of Justice said on Thursday. Beacher also stole a Palestinian flag and a charity box at the centre, the DOJ said. Video surveillance footage showed Beacher approaching the centre shortly after 2:30am on April 10, before an intruder later determined to be Beacher forcibly entered the centre through its back door, according to court documents. Beacher was arrested on April 22 and charged with one count of intentional or attempted obstruction of religious practice and one count of making false statements to federal authorities. read the complete article
Canada
B.C. Conservative candidate faces storm over Islamophobic comments
Surrey South B.C. Conservative MLA candidate Brent Chapman is facing a storm of criticism for offensive anti-Palestinian and anti-Islam posts he made on Facebook almost a decade ago. Although Chapman was quick to issue an apology after his statements were made public by media on Wednesday night, the storm had not abated by Thursday, with B.C. NDP leader David Eby calling Chapman out during a media conference for what he termed "hate speech." In 2015, Chapman – who is married to Kerry-Lynne Findlay, federal Conservative MP for South Surrey-White Rock – made several Facebook posts attacking Palestinians and those of Islamic faith in general, in one of which he referred to Palestinians as "little inbred walking talking breathing time bombs ... figuratively and quite literally." Statements also made multiple references to "Muslim inbreeding" and a suggestion that Canadians cannot "live with them, Islam." In a statement Wednesday, Chapman said: "The language I used and the sentiments I expressed at that time towards Palestinians and members of the Islamic faith were completely unacceptable." read the complete article
India
17 Muslims arrested for protesting against Yati Narsinghanand, while the hatemonger himself remains free
Uttar Pradesh police arrested 13 Muslims in Saharanpur for allegedly throwing stones at the Sheikhpura Qadeem police post during a protest on Sunday. Additionally, four others were detained for violent actions on Friday outside the Dasna Devi temple in Ghaziabad, which is headed by Yati Narsinghanand. The arrests were made in connection with an October 4 demonstration, where a crowd of nearly 150 people gathered to protest Narsinghanand’s comments. The protest turned tense, with reports of stone-throwing directed at police officers during the event. The protests were reportedly sparked by Yati Narsinghanand’s blasphemous remarks, including his call for Hindus to “burn the effigy of Mohammad” during a public gathering. His comments deeply offended the Muslim community, triggering the spontaneous gathering. Those arrested told police that the protest erupted after their religious sentiments were hurt by the priest’s inflammatory language. “We got angry and gathered together and started shouting slogans,” the accused reportedly claimed, according to police sources. read the complete article
International
How Justice Is Denied From Palestine to the Uyghur Homeland
As a Uyghur human rights lawyer forced to live in exile, I see Xinjiang everywhere. But nowhere more starkly than in places like Gaza. The Palestinian mother watching a bulldozer tear through her house reminds me of every Uyghur mother whose home was invaded by Chinese forces. The rubble of schools and mosques destroyed in Gaza takes me back to my homeland, where the oldest shrines have been leveled, and our teachers handed life sentences. The surveillance system China tested against the Uyghurs has been exported to the streets of occupied Hebron. As Israeli settlers flood the West Bank with the full support of Israel's government, I'm reminded of the millions of Han people that China brought into my homeland, where they receive special privileges in an apartheid system the world has ignored for decades. Over the years, I've been heartened to see the plight of my Uyghur community championed fiercely by people from all walks of life. But I have been equally dismayed by the deafening silence from so many quarters. For nearly a decade, my people have languished in China's internment camps, enduring unimaginable suffering. Like so many other Uyghurs, I have tirelessly sought ways to keep the flame of our cause alive in public discourse, engaging with diverse communities for help. The suffering of Palestinians reverberates with a familiar pain, too. The dehumanization of the Palestinian people and the collective punishment they endure from Israel's war have shattered the very fabric of their society, much like what China has inflicted upon my people. The parallels are stark, and they underscore the universal cruelty of oppression wherever it takes root. In both Gaza and Xinjiang, the oppressors hide behind the excuse of combating extremism to justify their decades-long pursuit of domination. read the complete article