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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the US, a group of Jewish US Congress members have issued a statement of support for Representative Rashida Tlaib following a cartoon last week in the National Review depicting her as a “hidden terrorist”, while the Lino Lakes City Council passed a vote Monday night to censure Chris Lyden, a councilmember who applauded an anti-Muslim email campaign sent to councilmembers concerning the construction of a regional Mosque and Islamic Centre, and lastly, the Travis County Sheriff’s Office changed its “religious articles” policy earlier this month to finally allow female Muslim detainees to keep their hijabs and require jail staff to fulfill requests for modest clothing during the booking process. Our recommended read of the day is by Katie S. Phang for MSNBC on how the modern Republican Party in the United States is using racist and xenophobic rhetoric as a tool and a scare tactic to convince people to back their candidates in the upcoming election this November. This and more below:
United States
Republicans have shown us who they are. It's time to believe them. | Recommended Read
When people — and political parties — show you who they are, believe them … each and every time. Last week, during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on antisemitism and Islamophobia, Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana accused Maya Berry, the executive director of the Arab American Institute, of supporting Hamas and Hezbollah. After Berry, the only Muslim witness in the hearing, repeatedly denied Kennedy’s accusations — and pointed out how insulting they were — the senator went on a tirade that ended with him telling Berry to “hide [her] head in a bag.” It was a disgusting scene and it was the latest example of something that has become part of the DNA of the GOP: what I now call Republican rage rhetoric. We saw a similar display last week from the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, who vowed to restore his anti-Muslim travel ban, during an event in Washington, D.C.. The old saying is true, “The fish rots from the head.” But the incredible thing is that this racist and xenophobic rhetoric is used as a tool and a scare tactic to convince people to vote. read the complete article
Muslim Mayor Backs Renowned Islamophobe for U.S. President
Well, this one probably wasn’t on your election bingo card. Amer Ghalib—the Muslim mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan, which since 2021 has also been governed by a city council made up of exclusively Muslim officials—on Sunday announced his endorsement of Donald Trump. “President Trump and I may not agree on everything, but I know he is a man of principles. Though it’s looking good, he may or may not win the election and be the 47th president of the United States, but I believe he is the right choice for this critical time,” Ghalib wrote in a Facebook post. “I’ll not regret my decision no matter what the outcome would be, and I’m ready to face the consequences.” Trump has since reposted Ghalib’s endorsement on his Truth Social platform, incidentally just hours after another post in which he thanked the emir and prime minister of Qatar for attending a meeting at Mar-a-Lago. Neither the Qatari officials nor the mayor of Hamtramck appear to have been deterred by the Republican candidate’s long history of Islamophobic remarks and actions. read the complete article
Chaplain’s Office to hold panel on Anti-Arab racism, antisemitism and Islamophobia at Yale
On Tuesday, the Advisory Committees for Arab and Muslim Student Life and Jewish Student Life will host an inaugural event focusing on engaging with members of the Yale community from various backgrounds and beliefs. University Chaplain Maytal Saltiel noted that after a year that has felt very polarized because of the Israel-Hamas war, the Arab and Muslim Student Life Committee and Jewish Student Life Committee wanted to host a panel that would reflect the many perspectives of faculty experiences from the past year. “We wanted to show that even in times of disagreement we can still be in conversation and build community together,” Saltiel wrote to the News. read the complete article
Lino Lakes City Council censures member accused of anti-Muslim conduct
The Lino Lakes City Council passed a vote Monday night to censure one of its members accused of anti-Islamic conduct. Chris Lyden came under fire for seeming to applaud an anti-Muslim email. The email in question contained "very significant negative and derogatory commentary related to the Koran and the Muslim faith," according to the council's resolution. It was allegedly sent in response to a New York Times article on the development of the Madinah Lakes Project, which aims to convert 156 acres of a sod farm in the city into a community that includes a mosque, businesses and housing. Tuesday night's censure resolution, which said Lyden's reply to the email was "inappropriate and reflects poorly on the City," passed three to one. read the complete article
Push to codify guidelines for how NJ police investigate bias incidents
Amid a surge in hate crimes, New Jersey lawmakers last week moved a bill to codify the state’s guidelines for police investigating those incidents. The state’s current guidelines are directives from the attorney general’s office and not formalized as state law. A change in administration could rewrite the guidelines or rescind them altogether. In New Jersey and nationwide, bias incidents have been trending higher since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic because of a rise in anti-Asian hate, homophobic and transphobic ideology, Islamophobia and antisemitism. “By codifying these standards, we are ensuring that law enforcement agencies across the state handle bias incidents with the seriousness they deserve, reducing the potential for escalation and improving public safety,” said bill sponsor Assemblywoman Ellen Park (D-Bergen). read the complete article
Travis County changes policy to allow Muslim detainees to keep hijabs on during booking
The Travis County Sheriff’s Office changed its “religious articles” policy earlier this month to allow female Muslim detainees to keep their hijabs and require jail staff to fulfill requests for modest clothing during the booking process. After pro-Palestine demonstrations on campus in April, multiple female Muslim UT students reported to the Council on American-Islamic Relations that law enforcement removed their hijabs during their arrests and bookings. The policy change follows legal “intervention” from CAIR after the protests. CAIR-Austin Operations Manager Shaimaa Zayan said in a press release that the group has been working with the sheriff’s office since May to “enhance understanding of Islam and build mutual respect.” The new policy requires officers to seek guidance from a chaplain for any religious covering requests. read the complete article
Group of Jewish US Congress members stand by Rashida Tlaib over racist pager cartoon
A group of Jewish US Congress members have issued a statement of support for Representative Rashida Tlaib following a cartoon last week in the National Review depicting her as having a pager exploding at her desk, appearing to depict her as a terrorist. The cartoon was published in the conservative publication in reference to recent explosions of pagers used by the Lebanese party and militia Hezbollah, a group designated as a "terrorist organisation" by the US government. As the only Palestinian Muslim in Congress, the magazine's targeting of Tlaib appears to be depicting her for her background, which she spoke out about immediately following the publication of the cartoon. At least seven Jewish members of Congress are now joining her in their condemnation. "As Jewish Members of Congress, we condemn this appalling and hateful cartoon depicting our colleague, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, as a terrorist and making a dangerous joke about a pager exploding at her desk," their statement reads. "While none of us always agrees with Representative Tlaib (just as she surely does not always agree with any of us), that is no reason to excuse this toxically Islamophobic and anti-Arab affront," the statement continues. read the complete article
United Kingdom
Labour's anti-Islamophobia expert says she has little faith in complaints process
LABOUR’S anti-Islamophobia expert has raised concerns about the party’s complaints process, following delays to an investigation into an alleged joke about Palestinian deaths. Samayya Afzal said her complaint about an MP and their staff member joking about Palestinian deaths at last year’s party conference remains under investigation nearly a year on. The co-founder of the Labour Muslim Network said: “During last year’s conference I was in the vicinity of a really horrifying conversation. “Two people — an MP and their staff — were watching a video of a delegate speaking on the conference floor about the death toll of Palestinians in the first few days after Israel’s offensive in Gaza. “The staff member was laughing very loudly as they were watching that delegate’s words, it was so loud that he got my attention.” Speaking at a Palestinian Solidarity Campaign fringe at this year’s conference, she added: “The person in the video was talking about the lack of attention and sympathy for Palestinian victims in the media, and he commented there was a reason why their lives were not deserving of sympathy. “That staff member laughed again and said ‘if you’re talking about these abstract things, these hypothetical ideas about racism,’ he then started recommending that the MP needs to start saying that even mentioning Palestinian lives is diminishing Israeli lives and that Palestinian death is only invoked to diminish Israeli death. “This is the conference we had last year, where a Muslim MP had to flee for her own security where I, as a visibly Muslim woman, was treated to the inner Islamophobic workings of an elected member’s office.” read the complete article
Canada
Report from Edmonton researchers shows stark student accounts of anti-Palestinian racism
A report from Edmonton researchers has found stark student experiences of anti-Palestinian racism in Alberta schools. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) published Our Schools/Our Selves - Palestine and the Canadian education system in its Aug 27 issue. The issue is focused on looking at what anti-Palestinian racism is and how it shows up in the classroom. Muna Saleh, an associate professor with Concordia University in Edmonton, looked at the experiences of Palestinian Muslim students in K-12 schools in Alberta. Based on this research, Saleh along with research assistant Nada Awwad contributed to their chapter 'It's like we're not even allowed to be Palestinian: Anti-Palestinian racism in schools.' "We identified two main narrative threads that reverberated across participants' stories: All participants experience(d) systemic anti-Palestinian racism in schools; yet all participants engage(d) in teaching and learning about Palestine in their homes and communities," the chapter states. read the complete article