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SearchToday in Islamophobia: A New Zealand television channel receives a letter from a jailed white supremacist. Rep. Ilhan Omar responds to Israel’s decision to ban her entry as an extension of ‘Trump’s Muslim ban’. Our recommended read of the day is by Andrew Brown on the myth of Eurbaia, an Islamophobic conspiracy theory flooding mainstream politics. This, and more, below:
International
The myth of Eurabia: how a far-right conspiracy theory went mainstream | Recommended Read
Gates of Vienna was, and still is, run by Edward “Ned” May, an American computer programmer from Washington DC. It was among the first in a wave of blogs that urged the US to war after the shock of 9/11, and almost certainly the most fanatically anti-Muslim. On these varied online forums, the narrative was always the same: a liberal cabal was conspiring with hostile Muslim powers to hand over the decent working people to Islam. This was the animating myth of the bloggers, calling themselves the “counter-jihad”, who congregated at Gates of Vienna and other like-minded sites – and inspired both the violence of Breivik and the message of the racist far-right parties that have transformed European politics in the past decade. read the complete article
Omar: Netanyahu implementing 'Trump's Muslim ban' by denying entry to Israel
“It is an affront that Israeli Prime Minster Netanyahu, under pressure from President Trump, would deny entry to representatives of the U.S. government," Omar, who has been critical of the Israeli government, said in a statement. “Trump’s Muslim ban is what Israel is implementing, this time against two duly elected Members of Congress. Denying entry into Israel not only limits our ability to learn from Israelis, but also to enter the Palestinian territories,” she added. read the complete article
Op-ed | From Shul-hopping to anti-Muslim Nationalism: Why India Feels Like Being Home in Israel
After running the gauntlet of eyeless and baby-toting beggars in a Delhi rickshaw and reaching the Taj Mahal, he asked, "Why does everyone here love Bibi Netanyahu?" At least this last question I could try and answer with some authority. We had arrived in India a few days after Likud headquarters in Tel Aviv had been festooned with massive billboards of the prime minister shaking hands with Modi (as well as with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin). And while Bibi’s display of statesmanship was aimed at Israeli voters in next month’s election, it was not lost on Indians either. read the complete article
Myanmar and Bangladesh to start sending back thousands of Rohingya
Myanmar and Bangladesh are to make a fresh attempt to begin repatriating the Rohingya Muslims who fled ethnic cleansing in Rahkine state in 2017, though the community say they have not been consulted. Bangladesh have insisted that this will be a small-scale repatriation and no-one will be forced to return against their will. read the complete article
Trump, Israel and a global right-wing project
In private and public, the president urged Israel to bar Tlaib and Omar. He has repeatedly focused the brunt of his political attacks on the two freshman congresswomen — the only two female Muslim lawmakers in Congress. Republicans “conflate love of Israel with love of America because they see Israel as a model for what they want America to be: An ethnic democracy,” Peter Beinart wrote in the Forward. “Israel is a Jewish state. Trump and many of his allies want America to be a white, Judeo-Christian state. Israel, despite its free elections and parliamentary institutions, structurally privileges one ethnic and religious group over others. That’s what many Republicans want here.” read the complete article
United States
A Simple Traffic Violation By A Black Muslim Woman Resulted In A Neck Fracture At The Hands Of The NYPD
An African American Muslim woman has accused the NYPD of using excessive force during an arrest and violating her religious freedom when officers ignored her repeated requests to be searched by a female officer. On the night of July 12th, Rayhanah Alhanafi, 20, was driving her car on 145th Street in Upper Manhattan with her mother, when police officers pulled her over for a traffic violation. By her own account, detailed in a complaint to the Civilian Complaint Review Board, she complied with their requests to provide her driver’s license as well as proof of purchase for her license plates, which an Officer Khan claimed were fake. read the complete article
Judge won’t dismiss embattled prosecutor from political case
A Tennessee judge ruled on Thursday that a special prosecutor who has come under fire for making anti-gay and anti-Islam remarks will continue to handle a young black activist’s court case. The decision comes among a long series of developments involving Coffee County District Attorney Craig Northcott, who has faced increased scrutiny and calls to be investigated as he oversees a high-profile legal case involving student activist Justin Jones. read the complete article
Op-ed | GOP can't shake off the awful taint of Steve King's racism and misogyny
A straight line links this fascist rhetoric and the racist pronouncements regularly made by Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, who is back in the news for asking: "What if we went back through all the family trees and just pulled those people out that were products of rape and incest? Would there be any population of the world left if we did that?" He made this staggering statement matter-of-factly, as part of a defense for not allowing exceptions for abortion in cases of rape or incest (the gist of the anti-abortion legislation he unsuccessfully tried to have passed in Congress). read the complete article
Minor league owner refuses to meet with Muslim rights group
The Connecticut chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations sought a meeting with E. Miles Prentice, owner of the Single-A Connecticut Tigers and co-owner of the Double-A Midland (Texas) RockHounds. CAIR is concerned that Prentice is chairman of the Center for Security Policy, an organization identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-Muslim hate group. Prentice said Thursday he is not a racist. He said he considers the SPLC “radical leftists” and has no plans to meet with CAIR. read the complete article
New Zealand
TVNZ receives jailhouse letter from white supremacist Philip Arps praising Christchurch gunman
Television New Zealand has also received jailhouse correspondence from white supremacist Philip Arps which holds strong racist views and praises the alleged Christchurch gunman, 1 NEWS can reveal. The letter, which made it past corrections’ vetting process, is part of a formal Broadcasting Standards complaint and contains anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic hate. It is the second letter Arps has sent to a major media outlet. read the complete article
India
Op-ed | An Unholy Alliance: Statecraft and Islamophobia in South Asia
The recently instituted National Registry for Citizens (NRC) in Assam excludes almost 4 million from citizenship – effectively creating one of the largest groups of stateless people anywhere in the world. A majority of them are Muslims, and while those of other faiths can apply for reconsideration, Muslims cannot. Reports indicate plans to implement NRCs in other borderlands. read the complete article
Modi clamps down on Kashmir, and India loves him for it
The prime minister of the world’s largest democracy had clamped down on Kashmir to near-totalitarian levels. And Narendra Modi’s country reacted with roaring approval: As he had Kashmir stripped of statehood and its special constitutional status, even some of his political opponents were calling out support. Modi, a Hindu nationalist by the time he was 10 years old, had upended life in India’s only Muslim-majority state, flexing those nationalist muscles for his millions of followers. read the complete article
Op-ed | India’s illegal power grab is turning Kashmir into a colony
India’s treatment of Kashmiris is the clearest glimpse yet of the path that Modi, a Hindu nationalist leader, wants to tread. His vision is for a majoritarian, Hindu-first nation where all debate, difference and dissent will be crushed. The rebellious others on the margins, especially if Muslim, are to be subjugated and subjected to a medieval siege to force them to bend to the will of the mega-state. For some, this comes complete with references to spoils of war. Two lawmakers from the ruling party, including a chief minister, have made jokes about “bringing in girls” from Kashmir. read the complete article
Op-ed | Red tape is being weaponised in India to declare millions stateless
Anti-immigrant hysteria is sweeping the world: it has powered Trump, enabled the Brexit vote and is roiling the politics of continental Europe. And while the damage done by this politics has been well documented in the west, one country rarely discussed in this regard is India. Yet millions are about to be declared stateless in the country on the grounds that either they or their ancestors came over as undocumented migrants from India’s eastern neighbour, Bangladesh. read the complete article