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SearchToday in Islamophobia: As India cracks down on suspected illegal Muslim immigrants, almost half of the Indian police report viewing Muslims as a threat. Steve King jokes about China forcing Uighur Muslims to eat pork. Our recommended read of the day is by Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian titled “The World Bank Was Warned about funding Repression in Xinjiang.” This, and more, below:
China
The World Bank Was Warned About Funding Repression in Xinjiang | Recommended Read
A World Bank loan program to a supposed educational project in Xinjiang, China, that has now come under congressional scrutiny previously faced internal concerns, Foreign Policy has learned. Documents also show that at least $30,000 was used by the schools not for educational purposes but to purchase high-end security gear, including barbed wire, tear gas, and body armor. On Aug. 23, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, a U.S. government agency that tracks human rights issues in China, issued a letter to World Bank President David Malpass expressing concern about the bank’s $50 million loan program for the “Xinjiang Technical and Vocational Education and Training Project” given to the Department of Education in China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang. That region is home to about 10 million Uighurs, a mostly Muslim ethnic minority, over a million of whom are now forcibly interned in camps that the Chinese government claims are intended to teach vocational skills. read the complete article
China’s missing million: the search for disappeared Uyghurs
Ainiwa is one of around 11 million Turkic speaking Uyghurs, a Muslim ethnic group living in the troubled Xinjiang province of Western China. Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members are encouraged to forgo their religious beliefs, and although Ainiwa was born a Muslim, “he never practiced... never prayed,” Aiziheer says. “He never said anything against the government, he was always very loyal”. By the time Ainiwa went missing, he’d been a member of the party for 30 years But loyalty wasn’t enough to spare Ainiwa from China’s crackdown on Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. Human rights groups estimate that between one and three million people are being detained right now in a dystopian network of “re-education” camps. In April 2018, Ainiwa became one of them. read the complete article
India
A crackdown in India on suspected illegal immigrants could leave millions stateless
Over the past four years, a state in northeastern India has subjected its 31 million residents to an exacting citizenship test aimed at identifying immigrants in the country illegally, primarily from neighboring Bangladesh. People had to produce ancestral documents dating back decades and prove links to their parents. No one knows what will happen to the millions who are left off the final list, known as the National Register of Citizens, which is expected to be published on Saturday. It is known that authorities are setting up detention centers and tribunals, sparking fears of arrest, incarceration or deportation. Families worry about being separated or becoming disenfranchised, unable to vote or access public services. read the complete article
Islamophobia in police: 50% police officials feel Muslims are naturally prone to crimes, says report
The 2019 status of Policing in India report has revealed that one in every two police personnel surveyed feels that Muslims are likely to be naturally prone of committing crimes. According to the report, it found that 35% of police personnel surveyed think it is very natural for a mob to punish the guilty in incidents of cow slaughter. 43% think it is natural for a mob to punish the culprit accused of rape. read the complete article
International
Berkeley Professor Connects Islamophobia in the U.S, India and Israel
In late July, the Muslim Public Affairs Council issued a white paper that described in detail the rise in white supremacist violence and the sometimes tepid enforcement response to it. MPAC’s White Paper presented evidence of international coordination among a diverse group of white supremacist and white nationalist actors. In Milwaukee on Saturday night, Dr. Bazian’s talk completed the picture with evidence that the international coordination begins at the very top.From Donald Trump to wealthy Republican donors who support the war on Palestine, to the Israeli weapons industry and the administration’s backing of autocratic leaders in Europe, South Asia, and the Middle East, “the structural backbone of Islamophobia is organized in the United States,” Bazian said. read the complete article
United States
Muslim officers sue over beard suspensions, are reinstated
Two Muslim correctional officers in New York were reinstated Tuesday after being suspended for refusing to shave their beards because of religious reasons, the state prisons agency said. It came a day after Brian Sughrim and David Feliciano, correctional officers at Fishkill prison in Dutchess County, filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. The lawsuit, which argued the agency discriminated against the two men, is the "sole reason that they're getting their jobs back," said their attorney, Joshua Moskovitz. read the complete article
Alabama GOP Adopts Resolution Urging Congress To Kick Out Rep. Ilhan Omar
State Rep. Tommy Hanes (R) introduced a resolution during the party’s summer meeting on Saturday that asked the Alabama GOP’s U.S. representatives to introduce legislation that would expel Omar from Congress. The resolution accused the Minnesota Democrat of engaging in rhetoric that “explicitly runs counter to American values and patriotism,” dismissing the 9/11 terror attacks, sympathizing with a “convicted terrorist” and having a “disturbing record of using anti-Semitic language.” read the complete article
Joe Walsh Says Trump Is ‘Unfit’ to Be President. Some Say the Same About Him.
In quick succession, Mr. Walsh has acknowledged his history of making racist comments and using slurs, defended his disparaging description of Haiti and learned that his radio show would soon be pulled from the national airwaves. Mr. Walsh hasn’t hurt for media coverage. But as he introduces himself to voters, his long trail of racist and anti-Muslim statements, voiced for years on his conservative radio show and on Twitter, have revealed more similarities with Mr. Trump than stark differences in views and temperament. read the complete article
Steve King jokes about China forcing Muslims to eat pork
King was speaking in Iowa about China forcing Muslim women to be sterilized, taking away their children and forcing them to eat pork, which is forbidden in the Islamic religion, according to the Washington Examiner. “They want them to put on Chinese clothing and eat Chinese diet, which includes trying to force the Muslims to eat pork,” King said. “That’s actually the only part of that that I agree with. Everybody ought to eat pork. If you have a shortage of bacon, you can’t be happy.” read the complete article