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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the UK, a recent poll conducted by the Women’s Muslim Network revealed that more than 80% of victims of hate crimes since the summer riots that spread across the UK have not reported them, meanwhile in Germany, the Head of the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency Ferda Ataman has said that the number of complaints explicitly related to anti-Muslim discrimination have increased substantially, especially in the case of Muslim women wearing headscarves in the labor market, and in Australia, the Albanese government has “stepped back” from pursuing a bill that would create new laws concerning hate speech, deciding instead to only deem conduct as criminal when it involves threats of violence. Our recommended read of the day is by Maha Hilal for the Middle East Eye on how Muslims targeted in the War on Terror have found no mechanism to address crimes perpetrated against them, much less any frame that acknowledges their victimization. This and more below:
United States
Twenty-three years after 9/11, Muslim victims of US violence deserve justice | Recommended Read
Twenty-three years after 9/11 and nearly 22 years after the opening of Guantanamo, the discourse on "justice" that solely pertains to victims of the attack continues to serve as a critical linguistic frame that has privileged one group of people over another. Indeed, what Muslims have learned over the last two decades of the "war on terror" is that there is no mechanism of justice to address the violence inflicted on them, much less any narrative or rhetorical frame that meaningfully acknowledges their victimisation and suffering. Nine days after the 9/11 attacks in 2001, then-President George W Bush gave a speech to a joint session of Congress, announcing the launch of the war on terror. He emphatically delivered his speech, asserting that "whether we bring our enemies to justice, or justice to our enemies, justice will be done". Careful to convey a narrative of the US as a blameless victim, Bush left the notion of "justice" undefined. Despite the ambiguity and nonsensical declaration of a war on terror, legal scholar Frederic Megret notes that the concept has "provided a consistent discursive anchor for a range of violent practices across time and space". And instead of marking a specific period in history, it became "a way of understanding the world". The world that Muslims have come to understand under the guise of the war on terror is one marked by unabated and unaccountable state violence propelled by entrenched and rampant Islamophobia. The actions that the US took in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks to "combat terrorism" - from legislating unfettered warfare across the globe through the Authorisation of the Use of Military Force joint resolution and passing the Patriot Act to giving broad surveillance powers to the government, launching a war on Afghanistan, and signing a military order that authorised military commissions with different standards of rules for those detained in brutal prisons from Guantanamo to Abu Ghraib and CIA black sites. read the complete article
Lawsuit filed against UGA over alleged anti-Muslim discrimination
The University of Georgia is facing a federal lawsuit over alleged anti-Muslim discrimination on its campus following Hamas’ attack on Israel in October. The lawsuit was filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) by the Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Georgia) and attorneys Sarah Gerwig and Samantha Hamilton on behalf of individual UGA students and the organization Georgia Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), CAIR-Georgia announced Tuesday. The lawsuit alleges UGA violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin by institutions receiving federal financial assistance – “through discriminatory enforcement of its policies.” The plaintiffs are “demanding an immediate investigation into UGA’s extreme differential treatment of Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students, students perceived to be Palestinian, and students associated with or advocating for Palestinians,” according to CAIR. read the complete article
United Kingdom
Labour’s Review into Extremism Presents No New Changes
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s announcement of yet another review into the UK's extremism strategy ‘as not enough is being done’ signals a continuation of the same damaging rationale that has built an infrastructure of authoritarian powers over the last two decades. Successive governments have pursued counter-extremism policies that have criminalised dissent, curtailed free speech, and fostered a climate of fear and suspicion. Despite Cooper’s criticisms of the previous administration’s strategy, her focus is on doing more, not less of that has failed. Another review, no matter how framed, will do little to address these injustices and will instead perpetuate the very issues it claims to resolve. What is needed is a fundamental shift away from oppressive counter extremism strategies to appease right wing think tanks and media, and an acknowledgement that whilst existing criminal law offences provide ample powers, damaging the fabric of basic rights has , and will further undermine social cohesion and civil liberties. It is precisely because of this danger that former Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, Max Hill KC, called for the abolition of counter-terrorism powers, recognising the dangers they pose. read the complete article
Hate crimes against Muslims go unreported despite surge in cases after UK riots
More than 80 per cent of victims of hate crimes since the summer riots that spread across the UK have not reported them, a survey has found. In polls conducted by the Women’s Muslim Network charity, almost one fifth of the 200 people interviewed said they had encountered hostility since the riots, which were marked by violence against migrants and Muslim communities in towns across the country and have led to scores of people being jailed. The charity’s chief executive, Shaista Gohir, has presented the report, titled Anti-Muslim hate: Concerns and Experiences, to Prime Minister Keir Starmer and asked the government to respond to its findings. Annual police data for regions across England and Wales shows that where the perceived religion of the victim is recorded, Muslims are the most targeted faith group and make up between 42 per cent and 50 per cent of religious hate crime offences. “As hate incidents are underreported, the actual number of offences are likely to be much higher,” Baroness Gohir said. read the complete article
Germany
Anti-Muslim discrimination on rise in Germany, top official warns
Anti-Muslim discrimination is increasing in Germany, a top anti-discrimination official has warned. "The group identified the slain member as Hani Hussein Ezzedine, without providing details about the circumstances of his death, saying only he was killed on the 'road to Jerusalem,' in reference to their professed support for the Palestinian resistance facing a devastating Israeli onslaught in Gaza." Ferda Ataman, the head of the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency, said on Tuesday that the number of complaints “explicitly relate to discrimination based on anti-Muslim racism has increased.” During a press briefing in Berlin, Ataman presented the report on the state of discrimination in Germany. "What we certainly observe is that Muslims experience strong discrimination. We know this from other studies and the cases we have, especially women with headscarves in the labour market…," she added. Ataman pointed out that many Muslims "experience also discrimination in public spaces." read the complete article
Australia
Does the Albanese government’s proposed ‘hate speech’ law give us what we need?
Back in May, the Albanese government told us to expect strict new hate speech laws. In its bill introduced to parliament this week, though, the government has stepped back from the plan to criminalise racist hate speech. Instead, conduct will be criminalised only where it involves “threats of force or violence”. This will be disappointing to some, particularly those who were looking for stronger protections against racism – including antisemitism and Islamophobia – in the wake of the ructions caused in Australia by the events in Israel and Palestine. But when this latest development is placed in the longer history of the development of hate speech laws in Australia, we see it continues a consistent pattern of preferring civil remedies over criminal penalties to address most forms of group vilification. read the complete article
International
Far-right Israeli protesters getting donations from US, Canadian organizations: American media
Zionist groups protesting the detention of Israeli soldiers accused of raping a Palestinian at the Sde Teiman detention center are being funded by organizations in the US and Canada, according to American media. MintPress News, an independent media outlet based in the US, reported last week that footage of far-right groups protesting the detention shows some protesters wearing t-shirts from the Zionist groups Im Tirtzu and Torat Lechima. Israeli media also noted that the far-right Lehava movement participated in the protests, and the Zionist legal aid organization Honenu is providing legal defense for the accused soldiers. All four of these groups are receiving support from "organizations outside Israel." Im Tirtzu and Honenu receive donations from the New York-based Central Fund of Israel. Additionally, these two groups, along with Torat Lechima, accept financial support from the US, UK, and Canada through the Israeli fundraising platform JGive. Im Tirtzu, which also has financial ties with the Zionist group "Mizrachi Canada," lists the "Kingjay Foundation Trust" and The Snider Foundation among its key donors. The Lehava movement, which has been sanctioned by the US, EU, and UK due to violence against Palestinians, is reportedly supported by the US-based organization Tomchei Tzedaka, which collects donations for Israeli groups. read the complete article