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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the United Kingdom, Shaista Gohir who was among five independent experts tasked with producing a non-statutory definition of Islamophobia has urged ministers to adopt the proposal or risk sending a message that “Muslims don’t matter”, elsewhere in the UK, British anti-Islam activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson), went on trial on Monday accused of refusing to give police his phone PIN when stopped under counter-terrorism laws, and claimed billionaire Elon Musk was funding his defense, and in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hired a firm (Bridges Partners LLC) to manage a paid social media influencer network to try and counter waning public support amidst the two year genocide in Gaza. Our recommended read of the day is by Mohammad Aaquib for Scroll.In, on how Hindutva networks have used Israel’s genocide in Gaza to fuel identity politics in India, spreading anti-Palestinian disinformation and equating Indian Muslims with Hamas—propaganda that coincided with a 62% rise in anti-Muslim hate speech, especially in BJP-ruled states. This and more below:
India
For India’s Muslims, the Hindutva applause for Israel’s war on Gaza is especially chilling | Recommended Read
Earlier in October, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh held an event to celebrate the centenary of its founding. Around the same time, Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza completed its second year. Though separated by geography, early Hindutva ideologues were admirers of the principles of Zionism on which Israel would later be founded. VD Savarkar and MS Golwalkar expressed appreciation not only for Zionism as a nationalist project but as a model of ethno-religious supremacy. Since October 2023, the Hindutva ecosystem has transformed Gaza into a battlefield of identity politics in India. Pro-Israel hashtags such as #IndiaStandsWithIsrael and #HindusWithIsrael flooded social media, often accompanied by dehumanising portrayals of Palestinians and inflammatory messages equating Indian Muslims with Hamas.|Hindutva social media networks have emerged as major sources spreading and amplifying anti-Palestinian disinformation and fake news. Twitter (now X), Facebook and WhatsApp became echo chambers where videos of bombed hospitals and refugee camps in Gaza were claimed to be “terrorist hideouts”, while any sympathy for Palestinians was treated as a betrayal of India. The consequences of this digital propaganda were not abstract. They shaped real-world attitudes and deepened everyday precarity for India’s Muslims. In the second half 2023, incidents of anti-Muslim hate speech rose by over 62% across India, with the majority recorded in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states, according to India Hate Lab. Much of this surge coincided with Israel’s invasion of Gaza and became a reference point for anti-Muslim hate. read the complete article
Why is India prosecuting Muslims who said ‘I love Muhammad’?
For the last month, Indian police have raided multiple markets and homes, arresting Muslim men in states governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party. Some of their homes have been bulldozed. The genesis of their alleged crime is common: writing, “I Love Muhammad”, a reference to Prophet Muhammad, on posters, t-shirts, or in social media posts. The authorities say the expression is threatening “public order”. So far, at least 22 cases have been registered against more than 2,500 Muslims. At least 40 people have been arrested across multiple states governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), according to the nonprofit Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR). So, what is happening? How and where did this start? And is it illegal to say ‘I Love Muhammad’ in India? read the complete article
United Kingdom
Peer urges ministers to adopt working group’s Islamophobia definition in full
A crossbench peer who was among five independent experts tasked with producing a non-statutory definition of Islamophobia has urged ministers to adopt the proposal, which was submitted last week, or risk sending a message that “Muslims don’t matter”. Shaista Gohir urged the government to do the “right thing” and “not be bullied” into ignoring the recommendations despite attacks by politicians and in the media on the group and its work. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government did not immediately respond to questions about when it would decide on whether to adopt the definition. Then-deputy PM and communities secretary Angela Rayner convened the group in February. The government said at the time that anti-Muslim hate had surged to record levels in 2024. Baroness Gohir said members had been “attacked and demonised” by those opposed to its work — and believes some of these efforts were intended “to scare the government into not adopting a definition”. read the complete article
UK anti-Islam activist 'Tommy Robinson' says Musk has paid for defence in phone trial
British anti-Islam activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, went on trial on Monday accused of refusing to give police his phone PIN when stopped under counter-terrorism laws, and claimed billionaire Elon Musk was funding his defence. Yaxley-Lennon, better known by his pseudonym Tommy Robinson, has become a flag-bearer for the British far-right and one of Britain's most high-profile anti-migration campaigners, recently organising a large rally in London attended by about 150,000 people. He said in a video posted on social media before his trial at London's Westminster Magistrates' Court that Musk, who often reposts his messages on X and appeared at the rally by videolink, had "picked up the legal bill for this absolute state persecution". Yaxley-Lennon is the subject of many controversies and racist incidents, and has been denounced by critics as a far-right rabble-rouser with a string of criminal convictions. He denies willfully failing to comply with a duty imposed by the Terrorism Act. The two-day trial is due to finish on Tuesday. read the complete article
The hidden toll of Britain’s flag fever
A nine-year-old girl shot three times with an airgun in Bristol, in what police called a racially aggravated attack. A Sikh woman in Oldbury raped as her attackers shouted: ‘You don’t belong in this country.’ A 15-year-old Muslim schoolgirl beaten on her way home from school in East Renfrewshire. These are not headlines from the 1970s, when the far-right National Front would terrorize Black and brown communities on Britain’s streets. They are stories from September this year. Across the United Kingdom, racist graffiti has scarred walls from Essex to Easington. Multiple mosques have been attacked. And many Black and Asian communities are on edge. ‘Nearly every time I’ve opened my local Muslim group chat in Southampton during the last year, there’s always someone warning us not to go to a certain neighbourhood or area because a woman has been attacked or threatened,’ says Maryam*, a young Muslim woman who was born and raised in the port city in southern England and now feels increasingly unsafe. ‘And these incidents often aren’t in dark alleyways at night time, they’re in busy streets in broad daylight that would typically be seen as “safe”.’ The lesson from history is clear: there are no heroes in Westminster coming to save us. Instead, it is ordinary people who will need to push back against both the violent racists and the narratives that fuel them. read the complete article
United States
EPIC alleges texts by head of Texas funeral agency prove religious discrimination in investigation
The East Plano Islamic Center is including the head of the state’s funeral regulatory agency in its lawsuit alleging the agency’s investigation into EPIC is unlawful and involves religious discrimination, according to recent court filings. The mosque lists Kristin Tips, the presiding officer of the Texas Funeral Service Commission, or TFSC, as a defendant in an amended Oct. 3 version of its lawsuit against the commission. It alleges Tips’ text messages sharing anti-Muslim content with the commission’s former executive director show discriminatory conduct during TFSC’s investigation into EPIC’s funeral practices. “Defendant Tips’s hostility toward EPIC’s faith and her approval of disparaging comments about Islam demonstrate that the Commission’s actions were motivated by religious animus rather than any legitimate regulatory concern,” the suit states. The suit also accused state officials of discriminating against the mosque based solely on religion. But in court records, TFSC alleged its investigation was motivated only by evidence showing EPIC was performing unlicensed funeral operations, and prayers or religious observances aren't at issue. read the complete article
When I Look at Zohran Mamdani, Here’s What I See
A few days before Zohran Mamdani’s decisive victory in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York, a friend and I were speculating about his chances of winning. We indulged in a moment of giddy optimism at the prospect that a Muslim man might actually become the mayor of the city we live in. With the polling available then, it seemed plausible. “If he does,” my friend, Arman Dzidzovic, said, “it’s about to get so much worse.” Arman was referring to the wave of anti-Muslim vitriol already swelling toward Mr. Mamdani and his campaign, including suggestions that he was a terrorist sympathizer — or even a terrorist himself. Arman, a Muslim like me, felt that the higher Mr. Mamdani’s star rose, the worse the anti-Muslim racism would get. I didn’t disagree. Then we both fell silent. The shared understanding of what it means to be Muslim in America hung in the air between us. It’s a confounding time to be Muslim in this country. A degree of Muslim culture I would have never thought possible when I was a kid is now imbued in the everyday lexicon of Americans. And yet with every inch of progress, we’ve come to expect bigoted outbursts against people who share our faith and take up places of prominence. More than two decades after Sept. 11, 2001, we’ve learned to anticipate the patterns of anti-Islamic hate — after a terrorist attack, the bombing of another Muslim-majority country or simply when a high-profile Muslim enters the public consciousness. We can count on crude, anti-Muslim prejudice to bleed into our social media feeds, with the dogmatic good-versus-evil narratives peddled by politicians coming quickly in their wake. read the complete article
Israel
Narrative warfare: Inside Israel's battle for influence on social media
What was supposed to be a quiet meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a cohort of pro-Israel influencers last month has had a loud impact, revealing what has been described as a desperate attempt by the government to polish Tel Aviv’s perception globally, amid mounting criticism for war crimes in Gaza. The influencers are estimated to have been paid around $7,000 per post across various platforms, all on Israel’s behalf, according to media reports. Records filed with the Department of Justice show that the Israeli government hired a firm called Bridges Partners LLC to manage the influencer network, which has been code-named “Esther Project”. Bridges states its work was to “assist with promoting cultural interchange between the United States and Israel,” while contracts show up to $900,000 in payments to be divided up over several months to cover upfront payments, concept development, influencer fees, production and agency costs. In the New York meeting with influencers, Netanyahu stressed that social media is a new tool to counter waning public support for Israel and its growing pariah status amid the two-year war on Gaza. read the complete article