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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the US, CNN has banned a conservative commentator from appearing on the network after he told a Muslim journalist “I hope your beeper doesn’t go off,” in a not-so-subtle reference to Israel’s alleged attack involving exploding pagers in Lebanon, meanwhile, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan has said that three Muslim men cannot sue FBI agents after being placed on the “No Fly List” for refusing to become government informants, and in the UK, the Football Association has apologized to a Muslim footballer after she was barred from playing in a match for refusing to wear shorts due to her religious beliefs. Our recommended read of the day is by Kourosh Ziabari for Hyphen on how Former President and GOP Presidential nominee Donald Trump is planning on imposing harsher sanctions against those seeking to travel to the US from Muslim-majority countries if re-elected. This and more below:
United States
Why isn’t America talking about Trump’s planned Muslim ban 2.0? | Recommended Read
In 2017, Samira Asgari spent seven days trying to fly from Europe to the United States, where she was supposed to begin a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University. Day after day, the Iranian-born computational biologist was turned away from departure gates owing to airlines’ fears of violating President Donald Trump’s newly declared “Muslim ban”. While Asgari was still based in Switzerland, Trump had imposed Executive Order 13769, which included a 90-day blanket travel restriction on citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Asgari became a case study of the far-reaching effects of the law on an estimated 60,000 families and workers who had waited months or years for travel permits — among them scholars at major US academic institutions. Now an assistant professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, Asgari is fearful about a new Muslim ban being put in place, should Trump win re-election. “The US is a nation built on immigration, its capability to attract talent from across the world and the promise that if you are a good citizen, work hard and pay your dues, you have room to grow up,” she said. “A Muslim ban, or basically any discriminatory policy against a given set of people, goes against that image that has made this country what it is today.” At a September event in Washington DC, Trump vowed to reinstate a tougher version of the Muslim ban if elected. “Remember the famous travel ban?” he asked the audience. “We didn’t take people from certain areas of the world because I didn’t want to have people ripping down and burning our shopping centres and killing people.” “We will get them out of our country. I will ban refugee resettlement from terror-infested areas like the Gaza Strip,” he added, explaining that the countries he had targeted represented “very vicious, violent parts of the world”. read the complete article
CNN bans conservative guest for telling Muslim journalist 'I hope your beeper doesn't go off'
CNN has banned a conservative commentator from appearing on the network again after he told a Muslim journalist "I hope your beeper doesn't go off," an apparent reference to the spate of exploding pagers in Lebanon that killed members of the Hezbollah militant group last month. Ryan Girdusky made the comment during a heated debate with Mehdi Hasan, a prominent British American broadcaster and an outspoken critic of Israel's war in Gaza, on "CNN Newsnight" with host Abby Phillip. The guests were discussing the racist jokes made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, which overshadowed former President Donald Trump's rally at New York's Madison Square Garden on Sunday and continued to make headlines two days later. As the debate turned fractious, Girdusky and Hasan sparred over whether the latter had been labeled an antisemite. "I'm a supporter of the Palestinians. I'm used to it," Hasan said. Girdusky replied: "Well I hope your beeper doesn't go off." Hasan responded: "Did you just say I should die? You just said I should be killed." read the complete article
Tlaib tears into CNN for ‘normalizing’ ‘anti-Arab hate’ rhetoric on network
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) is blasting CNN over a segment that aired on the network Monday during which a panelist made an offensive comment Monday toward Muslim journalist Mehdi Hasan. “CNN has played a central role in normalizing this kind of open anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, and anti-Palestinian hate, and it’s sadly totally unsurprising to see such disgusting statements aired so casually on its network now,” Tlaib wrote on X, attaching a clip of the segment. The segment, which came during host Abby Phillip’s prime time program, divulged into shouting as panelist Ryan Girdusky got into a heated exchange with Hasan over remarks made at former President Trump’s recent rally in New York City. read the complete article
Muslim men on No Fly List lose US appeal over treatment by FBI agents
A U.S. appeals court said three Muslim men cannot sue FBI agents after being placed on the "No Fly List" for refusing to become government informants. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said the 16 agents were protected by qualified immunity, despite their "improper behavior" and the three men's belief that Muslims in the United States had been unfairly targeted. Circuit Judge Gerard Lynch wrote for a three-judge panel that the agents had no reason to believe they were violating the men's religious beliefs, because none of the men had told them so during their interactions. Qualified immunity shields federal officials from liability for violating constitutional rights that were not clearly established at the time of the violation. Muhammad Tanvir, Jameel Algibhah and Naveed Shinwari sued in 2013 after being put on the No Fly List for refusing to spy on U.S. Muslim communities, despite no evidence the men threatened airline or passenger safety. The men, all U.S. citizens or permanent residents who were born abroad, said inclusion on the list violated their religious beliefs, cost them jobs, harmed their reputations, and kept them from seeing family in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen. read the complete article
ADL Under Fire for Silence on Trump’s Alleged Hitler Praise
The Anti-Defamation League is facing backlash for its silence regarding allegations that former President Donald Trump has spoken favorably about Adolf Hitler. Those allegations came from multiple sources in recent days. On Tuesday, a report from The Atlantic quoted Ret. Gen. John Kelly — Trump’s former chief of staff — saying on the record that the former president was envious of “Hitler’s generals.” He also praised the generals of the infamous German dictator for being “totally loyal to him.” Hours later, The New York Times released audio of John Kelly in which he accused Trump of repeatedly praising Hitler in private. According to Kelly, Trump “commented more than once that Hitler did some good things.” On Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris condemned the alleged comments. Harris said they revealed “who Donald Trump really is.” Notably missing from the list of people and organizations that have condemned Trump is the ADL — an organization founded to combat anti-Semitism. The ADL did not respond to Mediaite’s request for comment. read the complete article
United Kingdom
“Muslims Don’t Matter”: Baroness Sayeeda Warsi on Racism, Islamophobia, Riots and More
Muslims don’t matter. That’s not just the reality for a lot of Muslims living in Western countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, where Islamophobia has gone mainstream in both politics and the media. It’s also the name of a new book from Sayeeda Warsi, the British baroness and former Conservative cabinet minister, which examines her fear and heartbreak when it comes to the way in which even the perception of being a 'Muslim’ results in dehumanization and bigotry. Mehdi recently traveled to London and sat down for a wide-ranging conversation with Baroness Warsi on the growth of Islamophobia in the US and the UK and how Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza, in the wake of the Oct 7th attacks, has resulted in further hatred directed at Muslims across the globe. The two also discuss the state of the UK’s Conservative Party with Warsi, who served as the country’s first Muslim cabinet member, recently resigning the Conservative whip, saying her party has moved too far to the Islamophobic right. read the complete article
FA apologises to female Muslim footballer over tracksuit bottoms ban
The Football Association has apologized to a Muslim footballer after she was barred from playing in a match for refusing to wear shorts due to her religious beliefs. Iqra Ismail was meant to come on as a half-time substitute for United Dragons in a Greater London Women’s Football League fixture against Tower Hamlets on Sunday, but she was prevented from entering the field of play by the referee. The FA has now assured Ismail that she will be able to wear tracksuit bottoms in future matches. In a video posted on social media, Ismail said: “The Greater London Women’s Football League have stopped me from playing because of my religious beliefs, because I refused to wear shorts with my playing kit. “I have been playing in this league for almost five years now, wearing tracksuit bottoms, and every year they have made it more and more difficult for women like me to play. “This year they have drawn the line and banned me from playing until I compromise my beliefs. “The Middlesex FA referee for yesterday’s [Sunday’s] game said that the league had told him strictly not to allow women like me to wear tracksuit bottoms, regardless of the colour or whether it was matching our kit or not.” A spokesperson for the FA told Sky Sports News: “We are aware of this matter and we are in contact with Middlesex FA to ensure that it is quickly resolved. read the complete article
Canada
Manitoba Government Announces Anti-Islamophobia Working Group
The Manitoba government is taking steps to address Islamophobia by forming a working group to tackle the issue in the province’s kindergarten to Grade 12 education system, Premier Wab Kinew announced today. “Hate has no place in our province,” said Kinew. “It is important that we come together as Manitobans and stand united against all acts of hatred. We have a role as a government to keep things together here in Manitoba and we want Manitobans from all walks of life to know that your government is going to show up for you.” The working group will focus on building awareness of Islamophobia and its impacts on all students and staff, developing training and professional opportunities and resources for educators, and providing input to Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning regarding K-12 anti-racism and anti-oppression policy initiatives. “Over the last year, incidents of Islamophobia have increased in our classrooms and schools,” said Sadaf Ahmed, advocacy officer, National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM). “This is why an anti-Islamophobia strategy is imperative and NCCM welcomes the government of Manitoba‘s leadership to promote inclusivity in our education system.” read the complete article
Australia
Islamophobia Register Australia: Celebrating a decade of dedication
Islamophobia Register Australia marked its 10th anniversary on Sunday 27 October 2024 at Waterview, Sydney Olympic Park to commemorate the organisation’s decade-long commitment to addressing Islamophobia and supporting affected individuals across Australia. Founded as a Facebook page by the inspirational Ms Mariam Veiszadeh, the Register has grown into Australia’s leading organisation for recording, tracking and tackling Islamophobia. With the invaluable contributions of Dr Derya Iner, who joined Mariam to lead and produce the highly-regarded four published academic reports, The Register continues to make significant contributions to the community at large. The Register represents the diversity of the Australian Muslim community in its Board of Directors and staff, including Muslims from a wide variety of cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The event, filled with diverse voices, poignant stories, and artistic expressions, underscored the collective dedication needed to combat Islamophobia and the broader context of discrimination that many communities face. read the complete article