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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In Germany, hundreds of right-wing extremists are wanted for arrest, meanwhile the country’s domestic intelligence chief warned that the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is drifting too far to the right, and lastly a recent report by U.K.-based researchers finds that the problem of forced labor in Xinjiang extends deep into the supply chains of virtually every major automobile manufacturer. Our recommended read of the day is by Devin E. Naar for The Washington Post on how “Jews from the Ottoman Empire pioneered the Christmas-lights market a century ago — but nativism, antisemitism and Islamophobia obscured this history.” This and more below:
International
Christmas lights — brought to you by a Jew from the Muslim world | Recommended Read
Americans spend more than half a billion dollars annually on 150 million units of imported Christmas lights. U.S. News & World Report ranks the best Christmas light displays. And ABC’s reality TV show “The Great Christmas Light Fight” recently premiered its 10th season. Christmas lights, in short, are not only ubiquitous but also central to American culture. But that has not always been the case. The man credited with popularizing Christmas lights in the early 20th century, Albert Sadacca, had never celebrated Christmas. In fact, he was a Jew from the Muslim world. How Sadacca (1901-1980), his brothers and other Jews from the Ottoman Empire pioneered the Christmas-lights market a century ago reveals a dark side of their story — one shaped by nativism, antisemitism, Islamophobia and labor exploitation. Those forces have scrubbed Sadacca’s Ottoman Jewish background from our understanding of the holiday and the twinkly lights that illuminate it. read the complete article
Forced Uyghur Labor Probably Helped Build Your Car
The grave human rights conditions in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where Uyghur Muslims and other religious and ethnic minorities are subjected to internment and forced labor, among other abuses, demand international response. So far, the centerpiece of the U.S. response has been the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), signed into law by President Joe Biden in December 2021. The law is intended to prevent U.S. consumers from being complicit in these abuses through the purchase of Chinese goods made with forced labor. In doing so, it encourages global firms to take Xinjiang out of their supply chains in order to maintain access to U.S. markets. A recent report by U.K.-based researchers finds that the problems extend deep into the supply chains of virtually every major automobile manufacturer. To the extent the findings are credible, they massively complicate both practical and political challenges to proper enforcement. More fundamentally, they provide a test of just how willing the United States and other entities—including the European Union—are willing to go to respond to what the United States has called a genocide. read the complete article
U.N. council demands end to Myanmar violence in first resolution in decades
The U.N. Security Council adopted its first resolution on Myanmar in 74 years on Wednesday to demand an end to violence and urge the military junta to release all political prisoners, including ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Myanmar has been in crisis since the army took power from Suu Kyi's elected government on Feb. 1, 2021, detaining her and other officials and responding to pro-democracy protests and dissent with lethal force. Until now the council had only agreed formal statements on Myanmar, where the army also led a 2017 crackdown on Rohingya Muslims that was described by the United States as genocide. Myanmar denies genocide and said it was waging a legitimate campaign against insurgents who attacked police posts. read the complete article
Germany
Germany: Hundreds of far-right extremists wanted for arrest
Hundreds of right-wing extremists are wanted for arrest in Germany, the Berlin-based Taz newspaper has reported. According to Wednesday's report, there were open arrest warrants for 674 people from the far-right spectrum as of September 30. The information was provided by the interior ministry in response to a parliamentary inquiry made by the radical leftist opposition party The Left. According to the information, 33 of the arrest warrants were related to a "politically motivated violent offence" and 151 to "crimes with right-wing motivation" such as the display of unconstitutional symbols or incitement to hatred. read the complete article
Germany’s AfD party drifting to extreme right, intelligence chief warns
The right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is drifting too far to the right, the country’s domestic intelligence chief warned on Wednesday. Thomas Haldenwang told local media that radical figures like Bjorn Hocke, who is known for his anti-immigration and anti-Muslim rhetoric, have gained more influence within the right-wing party this year. "We hardly notice any more figures that are trying to force extremist tendencies out of the party,” Haldenwang told the German press agency DPA, pointing out that a lot of moderate politicians resigned from the party in recent months. He said while the AfD’s party headquarters had been careful about its public image by refraining from using far-right rhetoric, the radicalization was evident in its local branches. “At the national level, they refrain from making far-right statements. But xenophobic, antisemitic and inhumane statements become more visible, as one takes a closer look into the party structures,” he said. The country’s domestic intelligence agency, the BfV, placed the right-wing AfD under observation last year, after authorities concluded that there were “sufficient indications” of anti-constitutional goals within the party. Critics accuse the AfD of fueling xenophobia and anti-Muslim racism in Germany, which led to a rise in extremist violence in recent years. read the complete article
Denmark
Veiled fashion: This designer is clearly opposed to the Danish burqa ban
Everything is open to us: We can be offensive feminists in T-shirts printed with breasts, act serious and busy in pants suits, and then take away all seriousness again with Adilettes. Fashion can do everything, but doesn’t have to do anything. And sometimes she can also make political statements. Designer Reza Etamadi, who was born in Iran and grew up in Denmark, has now demonstrated this as well. He let his models walk down the catwalk in headscarves and veils at Copenhagen Fashion Week. However, his action would only be half as original and meaningful if Denmark had not passed a law on August 1 banning Muslim women from wearing niqabs and burqas. In the show, the designer presented the new streetwear trends of his brand MUF10 with models dressed in traditional Muslim style. "I have a duty to support freedom of expression and thought for all women," Etamadi said AP news agency. His principle: "No man should decide what a woman should wear." The catwalk became the stage on which models dressed as police officers threw flowers to a veiled woman to show their support. read the complete article