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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the Netherlands, users are sharing a video claiming that it shows ‘Middle Eastern migrants hunting Jews’ on the streets of Amsterdam, a claim debunked by the video’s creator, meanwhile in Germany, a recent study from Leipzig University has uncovered a surge in xenophobic and anti-Muslim sentiment across the country, raising alarms about the state’s social cohesion and democratic stability, and in the UK, a new documentary on Prevent, the government’s counterterrorism strategy, reveals how the program disproportionately targets British Muslims. Our recommended read of the day is by Josh Marcus for The Independent on how recent information requests, court cases, and lawsuits could shed further light on what the CIA was doing at Guantanamo’s mysterious Camp 7. This and more below:
United States
We still don’t know everything that happened at Guantánamo Bay. The 9/11 trial could tell us | Recommended Read
In September 2006, a US military C-17 cargo plane arrived at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba and deposited 14 new prisoners. The men had previously been held in CIA “black site” prisons around the world, where many were tortured outside the protections of US law. One of them was Ammar al-Baluchi, one of the five men facing a military tribunal at Gitmo for allegedly aiding the 9/11 hijackers. Prior to arriving at the island prison, Baluchi was subject to isolation, forced shavings, beatings, dousings with ice water, stress positions including being shackled to a ceiling, and food denial. In one particularly disturbing incident, trainee interrogators formed a line and repeatedly slammed his head against a wall for practice in a technique known as “walling,” leaving him with brain damage, according to a CIA report declassified in 2022. When he arrived at the island US naval base alongside the 13 others, they were spirited to an equally shadowy lock-up: Camp 7. Camp 7, before it closed in 2021, was the most clandestine part of Gitmo, so closely guarded its exact location, design, and costs were secret. It held some of America’s most high-value detainees, including Baluchi and his uncle, 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. Nearly two decades after those prisoners arrived at Guantánamo, a new lawsuit could reveal more about what went on inside, and whether it was under the full “operational control” of the CIA. On Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union asked the Supreme Court to take up Connell v CIA, which argues that the intelligence agency was wrongly able to dodge a records request about its ties to Camp 7. What might seem like an arcane legal fight about records policy has the potential to shed new light on one of the ongoing secrets of the War on Terror. read the complete article
US bill with bipartisan support targets charities and pro-Palestine groups
The US House of Representatives on Tuesday is set to vote on a bill that would grant the treasury department the power to revoke the tax-exempt status of any non-profit it deems to be a "terrorist supporting organisation", which could put many pro-Palestinian groups critical of Israel's war on Gaza in danger. The bipartisan Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act will be voted on Tuesday evening local time under a House procedure that requires a two-thirds majority to pass. This is a sign that the bill could receive broad support across both political parties. The legislation has two parts. The first would provide tax-exempt status and relief for American hostages being held abroad. The second part would give the US Treasury Secretary the authority to issue notices to organisations, with the intent being to label them "terrorist" supporting groups. Any group that has received this notice could file an appeal. However, the law would not require the US Treasury Department to explain its reasons for the intent to designate it as a "terrorist supporting" group. Civil liberties groups and rights organisations have opposed the bill, saying it could be used to go after pro-Palestinian groups in the US as well as any groups working to facilitate aid into Gaza, where Israeli forces have been overseeing a devastating war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians since October 2023. read the complete article
United Kingdom
Britain's double standards for British Muslims: Sayeeda Warsi tackles Tory Islamophobia, hypocrisy and identity in Muslims Don't Matter
Muslims Don’t Matter is a refrain that is repeated throughout Baroness Sayeeda Warsi’s new book of the same name. It is impossible to finish the short but punchy polemic without feeling a bubbling sense of injustice for the manifold ways Muslims are maligned, overlooked and criminalised in Britain. Yet, I was left wondering how radical a book by a former member of a party, like the Conservatives, can ever really be and whether its arguments do more harm than good. In the book published by Bridge Street, the former Conservative minister, the first Muslim woman in cabinet and life peer — who formally resigned from the party in September in protest against the increasingly far-right politics that has come to define the Tories of late — details exactly how Muslims “don’t matter” to the system, the state, the media and the wider British public. From support for Palestine to voting for independent electoral candidates, the Prevent policy to the Trojan Horse scandal, the sacrifices of Muslims during Covid to the travesty of Shamima Begum being made stateless, Warsi outlines how every facet of our lives as British Muslims is subject to attack and ridicule, suspicion and double-standards. It is clear that in many ways this book is a work of personal catharsis for Warsi who has been an outspoken critic of her own party’s hypocrisies for decades and has, finally, had enough. read the complete article
Prevent: Counterterrorism strategy that surveils British Muslims
TRT World's exclusive documentary reveals how the UK's counterterrorism strategy “Prevent” disproportionately targets British Muslims. Prevent requires public sector workers to refer individuals seen as at risk of being "drawn into terrorism" to local authorities, encouraging them to monitor for "signs of radicalisation." Often, this has meant relying on stereotypes regarding Muslims. While the UN recently has called on the UK government to suspend the strategy and compensate its victims, Prevent Watch reports a surge in Prevent referrals since October 7, as pro-Palestinian activism is increasingly flagged as a potential "sign of extremism". read the complete article
Netherlands
Was the official response to Amsterdam riots biased and Islamophobic? | Inside Story
Amsterdam is struggling to shake off the unease following the violence provoked by fans of the Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv. The visiting supporters burned Palestinian flags and abused people of Arab descent, in the lead-up to their club's match against local giants Ajax. The angry backlash that followed, and the official response to it, is raising questions. Could the rioting have been foreseen and prevented? Does the official response reveal deep-rooted racism and Islamophobia? read the complete article
Viral video falsely captioned as ‘Muslims hunting Jews in Amsterdam’
Users are sharing a video claiming that it shows ‘Middle Eastern migrants hunting Jews’ on the streets of Amsterdam. The original creator of this video debunked these claims, affirming that the video actually shows Maccabi Tel-Aviv supporters started a fight with a Dutch man. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake. read the complete article
Germany
Germany faces storm as xenophobic, anti-Muslim sentiments surge
A recent study from Leipzig University has uncovered a surge in xenophobic and anti-Muslim sentiment across Germany, raising alarms about the country’s social cohesion and democratic stability. The study conducted by Professors Oliver Decker and Ayline Heller reveals a notable 4.8 percentage point rise in support for xenophobic views since 2022, now representing 21.8% of the population. Particularly alarming is the sharp increase in western Germany, traditionally seen as more welcoming, where support for xenophobia spiked by 6.7 points to 19.3%. In contrast, eastern Germany, where xenophobia has been historically higher, showed even more significant support at 31.5%. The study also highlights an alarming rise in anti-Muslim sentiment. Support for banning Muslim immigration in the western states surged from 23.6% in 2022 to 32.8%, while a staggering 48% of respondents reported feeling like "strangers in their own country" due to the Muslim presence – up from 36.6% just two years ago. read the complete article
International
Despite the obstacles, Muslim women play an active role in peacebuilding
In Muslim societies, culture and religion tend to be essentialised as the reason for women’s oppression, discrimination, and marginalisation. This is more evident in conflict areas where religion is instrumentalised by extremist groups to exert their power and control on all of society, not just on women. However, Muslim women play various roles during conflicts, and to understand the obstacles they face we need to contextualise culture within political, economic, and security factors. For Muslim societies, there are unique aspects that influence the political dynamics and power relations between men and women, such as tribal hierarchy, sectarianism, militancy, insecurity, and foreign intervention. However, for women all around the world, gender roles and stereotypes about their knowledge, skills, and social status become major obstacles to their participation in conflict resolution and post-conflict peacebuilding. In addition, local political structures, economic conditions, and social development affect the status and role women have in any given society, and therefore their ability to be involved. Therefore, cultural/religious factors should not be considered the main explanation for Muslim women’s lack of participation in peacemaking. Instead, culture/religion could be a supporting factor for women’s inclusion. For example, the experiences of women in Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Sudan show how women’s agency can be utilised to ensure peace through local culture and religion, especially in the context of terrorism and extremism. read the complete article