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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the UK, a government-funded monitoring group recorded nearly 5,000 incidents of anti-Muslim hate from 7 October 2023 through to 30 September 2024, an average of nearly 14 every single day, meanwhile in France, pro-Palestinian associations, unions and French leftist parties are campaigning against plans for a gala in Paris on Wednesday that will include attendees with openly anti-Arab views, and lastly, incumbent President Donald J. Trump plans to nominate notorious Islamophobe and Fox News host Pete Hegseth as Secretary of the Department of Defense. Our recommended read of the day is by Mira Oklobdzija for Foreign Policy in Focus on the coverage and conflicting reports surrounding the violence that erupted last week following a Maccabi Tel Aviv football match in Amsterdam. This and more below:
Netherlands
Debunking the Amsterdam “Pogrom” | Recommended Read
In early November, according to many news reports, a group of anti-Semitic boys with a “North African appearance” brutally attacked Israeli citizens who came to Amsterdam to support their football team, Maccabi Tel Aviv, during a game with the Dutch team Ajax. But that’s not the whole story of what happened last week in Amsterdam. On November 4, the international action group Week4Palestine asked Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema to ban the upcoming match on the grounds that among the Maccabi fans are (ex-)soldiers of the Israeli army “who are trained in (extreme) violence.” Two days later, the unrest started in the center of the Dutch capital. Maccabi supporters, recognizable by their yellow club colors, chanted on the escalators of the metro: “The IDF will win, fuck the Arabs.” Another slogan they used was ‘There are no schools in Gaza because there are no children left.” They pulled down a Palestinian flag from a facade and burned another. They assaulted taxi drivers. The unrest continued the next day as Maccabi supporters clashed with a group of men in dark clothing, some on scooters. Police Commissioner Peter Holla reported that there were “fights on both sides, hit & run actions.” At the end of the afternoon, groups of boys with “a North African appearance,” almost all dressed in black, gathered around the stadium. One group said that they came there to stand up to hypocrisy: “Where were the police yesterday when the Maccabi supporters were beating our taxi drivers?” Before the match, there was a moment of silence for those who died in the recent Spanish floods. The stadium remains nearly silent, except for a small section where Maccabi supporters were seated. After the match—which Ajax won 5-0—fights broke out as Maccabi supporters walked through the city center. Rioters attacked and abused these supporters. Around midnight, Maccabi supporters were escorted to their hotels, while a few injured were treated in hospitals for minor injuries and released. Some 62 rioters were arrested—with only four of them still in jail this week—and the town started to calm down. Party for Freedom leader Geert Wilders wrote on X that “a pogrom in the streets of Amsterdam” has taken place with “Muslims with Palestinian flags hunting down Jews.” He demanded that Amsterdam’s mayor resign. From here, the rhetoric escalated. Israeli President Isaac Herzog adopted Wilders’ term “pogrom” on X (Mairav Zonszein, an analyst at the Crisis Group, an independent NGO, calls it “absurd” to compare the violence in Amsterdam to pogroms). Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, stressed that he was shocked by the anti-Semitic attacks on Israel citizens, and Israeli Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir spoke of “lynching incidents.” In Amsterdam, the Maccabi supporters were not innocent victims. By provoking a situation that turned violent, they gave state actors a political opportunity to politicize the divisions and mistrust, first and foremost Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders. Attributing “the growing hatred of Jews” to “Islamization,” he urged Minister of Justice David van Weel to take more action: “Why don’t you send this scum out of the country? Where are the proposals to denaturalize criminal Muslims?” read the complete article
EXCLUSIVE: Dutch Photographer Reveals How the Media ‘Changed the Whole Narrative’ On Israeli Hooligans
When chaos erupted in Amsterdam between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax fans, photographer Annet de Graaf watched the violence unfold across the city first-hand. Her footage of Maccabi fans attacking a Dutch resident went viral, and was picked up by several media outlets, who then spun a different narrative that it was the Israelis being attacked. Headlines poured in about antisemitic attacks in Amsterdam. But these stories largely overlooked on-camera, blatant, anti-Arab racism from Maccabi supporters. In an exclusive interview, de Graaf tells Mehdi that outlets like CNN, BBC World News, and the New York Times “told the opposite of what happened in that footage.” She adds that they erased the responsibility of the Maccabi fans behind the attacks because “the truth is inconvenient.” read the complete article
India
‘Saving’ Muslim Women: How Hindutva Exploits Feminism To Propagate Islamophobia
Hindutva and feminism are political ideologies that are irreconcilably at odds. While feminists have steadfastly critiqued the far-right ideology, Hindutva has just as fervently rejected feminism, often as a Western concept or a corrupting influence on Indian women. However, the same proponents of Hindutva are now co-opting feminism and expressing deep concern for women’s rights, following the protest by an Iranian woman against her country’s moral policing of women’s attire. Hindutva is inextricably tied to the patriarchy. The far-right ideology might have prominent women at the helm of its politics and dedicated women’s organisations, yet it is steeped in patriarchal norms, gendered roles and expectations, and misogyny. But the sudden favour feminism has gained among Hindutva ideologues is no surprise when viewed for what it truly is: an effort to piggyback their Islamophobia utilising feminism. It is confounding that the same forces that fail Indian women and deny them their autonomy are advocating for women in Iran. Hindutva also uses women to further alarmist Islamophobic propaganda about Muslim men posing a threat to Hindu women by subjecting them to violence or exploiting their naivety for their political and ideological benefit. This idea of the naïve, vulnerable woman being exploited by the demonised other, goes a long way in a deeply patriarchal society that views women as less than others and places great value on women performing respectability and upholding the family honour. read the complete article
India: Supreme Court calls 'arbitrary' demolitions illegal
India's Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that the government cannot order the demolition of property belonging to people accused of crimes without allowing for due judicial process. In its judgement, the court said such demolitions "would strike at the basic principle of rule of law and is not permissible." The court ruled that a notice must be issued with at least 15 days for the owner to respond and must provide an opportunity for personal hearing, among other guidelines. The judgement emphasized that only the judiciary has the authority to determine guilt and any action without proper legal procedures, violates the principles of justice and the rule of law. Incidentally, these demolitions are colloquially termed "bulldozer justice." read the complete article
United Kingdom
Islamophobia Has Surged in the UK — Here’s How You Can Help Fight It
Islamophobia is sadly nothing new in the UK, but the last 12 months have seen a surge in violent and threatening behaviour towards the country’s nearly 4 million Muslims. The escalation of the Israel-Palestine conflict, and the riots that shook the nation over summer, emboldened the far-right and saw them spurred to often violent action by fake news and hateful rhetoric circulated on social media. In response, Islamophobia Awareness Month (IAM) has been launched this November with a campaign called Seeds of Change, which hopes that small, collective efforts can lead to large, systemic changes. “Islamophobia is not an abstract concept but a pervasive reality affecting countless lives daily”, IAM says. The statistics are shocking — a Government-funded monitoring group recorded 4,971 incidents of anti-Muslim hate from 7 October 2023, through to 30 September 2024. That’s an average of nearly 14 every single day, and is the highest total recorded since the group was founded in 2012. Of these cases, 63% were abusive in nature, and the remaining 27% involved threatening behaviour. read the complete article
United States
Pete Hegseth's book includes complaints about “Muslims’ birth rates,” praise for “crusaders who pushed back the Muslim hordes”
In light of former President Donald Trump’s statement that he plans to nominate Fox News host Pete Hegseth to be his Department of Defense secretary, Media Matters is republishing reporting and research from 2020 on Hegseth’s anti-Muslim history. Pete Hegseth is an anti-Muslim bigot who has warned followers about the Muslim birth rate in states like Michigan; criticized the election of Muslims to public office; and praised President Donald Trump’s call for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” Hegseth is a co-host of Fox & Friends’ weekend edition. He is an influential pro-Trump voice who has lobbied Trump to pardon people convicted of war crimes. Hegseth himself has endorsed committing war crimes. Hegseth has pushed anti-Muslim rhetoric on Fox News. read the complete article
Germany
Germany’s Muddle on Antisemitism
A resolution adopted by the German Bundestag last week on curbing antisemitism and protecting Jewish life could negatively impact civil society and free expression in the country. Germany’s concern about antisemitism is justified and, given its history, understandable. It is a pressing issue emanating from both the far right and the left and needs to be taken seriously. But Germany has found itself in a muddle on the issue because it treats defending Israel—a foundational issue for the modern German state—as identical to the protection of Jews from hate in Germany. While there is no doubt that some use criticism of Israel as a proxy for antisemitism, Germany’s approach is so broad that it encompasses people and organizations whose criticism has no antisemitic intent. As a result, Germany has cracked down on legitimate criticism of the actions of the Israeli government, including on Jews and Israelis, academics, civil society and artists, who face restrictions on their rights to expression and protest, alongside funding cuts and bans on organizations. The resolution calls for funding cuts and bans for organizations, including in the arts, where projects question Israel’s right to exist, call for boycotts against Israel or support the BDS movement, among other things. It seeks to ensure the effectiveness of relevant criminal and immigration law. While the resolution acknowledges far right antisemitism, it attributes the recent rise in antisemitism to increased immigration from North Africa and the Middle East. read the complete article
France
Controversy erupts over lavish Paris gala for Israel's far right
Pro-Palestinian associations, unions and French leftist parties are campaigning against plans for a gala in Paris on Wednesday that will include attendees with openly anti-Arab views. The event, sponsored by the Israel is Forever association, will take place on the eve of a France-Israel football match that has raised fears of violence like that seen in Amsterdam last week, when five people were hospitalised after Israeli football fans were attacked by a mob. read the complete article