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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In Naples, Italy, Muslim families struggle to bury coronavirus victims. An opinion piece by Murad Awawdeh warns that the “deportation industrial complex” did not disappear with the reversal of the Muslim Ban. Our recommended read today is by Azad Essa on Uighur activists, and how they are “stuck between Chinese persecution and U.S imperialism.” This, and more, below:
International
Opinion | Uighur activists: Stuck between Chinese persecution and US imperialism
"The state has operationalised 'Islam' as a signifier of potential state disruption and treated Muslims with force, dominance and discipline," Kristian Petersen, whose research focuses on the development of Islam in China, recently wrote. This has involved banning beards for men and face veils for women or reportedly forcing Muslims to eat pork or drink alcohol. According to testimony uncovered by the BBC, Uighur inmates have recalled incidents of systematic rape, sexual abuse and torture in internment camps said to house more than a million people; claims the Chinese have repeatedly dismissed as "lies and absurd allegations". Despite the denials, China itself is finding it increasingly difficult to explain wholesale changes in the region. read the complete article
Opinion | Biden Must Not Waver on Recognizing the Uyghur Genocide
The Biden administration is reportedly waffling on whether or not to continue labeling China's campaign against millions of Chinese Uyghurs a "genocide." Setting aside the hypocrisy of abandoning months of pledges to "get tough" on China and place human rights "at the core of U.S. foreign policy," a decision to repudiate the Trump administration's designation of this horror would also be a major strategic misstep. read the complete article
United Kingdom
BBC under fire over 'strikingly hostile' interview of Muslim Council of Britain head
The letter notes: “Despite Mohammed’s repeated claims that religious adjudication was not within the parameters of her role leading a civil society organisation, Barnett asked the question about female imams four times, each time interrupting Mohammed’s answer. “The framing of the interview and clipping up of the ‘female imam’ segment for social media mirrored the style and tone of an accountability interview with a politician, rather than authentically recognising and engaging in what this represented for British Muslim women. Moreover, the false equivalence between imams with rabbis and priests in a religion that has no clergy reflected a basic lack of religious literacy needed for authentic engagement with British Muslim communities.” read the complete article
Half London councils found using Chinese surveillance tech linked to Uyghur abuses
At least 28 councils owned technology made by Hikvision, the world’s largest purveyor of video surveillance systems and vendor to Xinjiang police agencies, revealed data obtained by digital rights researcher Samuel Woodhams and seen exclusively by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Seven councils had technology made by Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co Ltd, China’s second-largest surveillance equipment maker. In total, 16 London councils had technology made by Hikvision or Dahua – both of which face strict trade restrictions in the United States. read the complete article
United States
‘They want to cancel you’: Marjorie Taylor Greene praises unhinged Muslim-basher in town hall rant about ‘corporate communism’
"Laura Loomer is one of the most canceled people I've ever met in my life. Do you want to know why? She started out as an investigative journalist, she's conservative, she's a Republican. She started reporting stories on Ilhan Omar and her ties to radical Islam, the fact that she married her brother. Twitter didn't like that very much, so they kicked her off of Twitter. She also got kicked off of Facebook, but Laura does not stop." read the complete article
Myanmar
Rohingya Human Rights Activist Speaks On Situation In Myanmar
SHAPIRO: And yet, is their hope? Because so many people are marching in the streets against the military, is there a sense that the people of Myanmar might support this cause? NU: So yes, there are so many people - many of our colleagues and friends and civil society leaders, activists - are joining the protests. However, it doesn't necessarily mean we are building solidarity for the Rohingya or the root causes will be addressed immediately because we have to be mindful that there are so much more than the military coup or the fight between the military leadership and then the Aung San Suu Kyi leadership. There are many other fundamental problems that we are facing as a country, which include the deep ethnic divisions and prejudice against the minority ethnic groups. The coup is just one deep problem of the country. read the complete article
Is the Myanmar coup a turning point for the Rohingya? [Video]
Many people say they are only now realising the extent of the army’s crackdown on ethnic minorities including the Rohingya. Some Rohingya have joined the protests in solidarity. But will this outpouring of sympathy lead to justice for some of the world’s most persecuted people? read the complete article
Where Do the Rohingya Go After the Coup in Myanmar?
Protests against the coup have spread across Myanmar, and I have been scanning news reports and social media posts about the gatherings — which have continued for days, some bringing together thousands of people — to find out whether the coup was making my countrymen rethink their indifference. I have been hoping to hear a few words about our predicament, about our future, as they speak about democracy and democratic rights. I found a few reports of a very small number of people in Myanmar expressing their regrets over supporting or defending the violence against the Rohingya. But I couldn’t find any leaders from Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy saying a word about the place of the Rohingya in the democratic system they are demanding. read the complete article
Burma Task Force congratulates Nobel nominee: Abubacarr Tambadou
Betraying the expectations placed in her as a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, Aung San Suu Kyi denied the Rohingya genocide at the same ICJ trial. It would be therefore a meaningful corrective to award the Nobel prize to the man who has brought the case to the court. Moreover, Mr. Tambadou obtained provisional measures to compel Burma (Myanmar) to protect the Rohingya while the case continues, and to preserve any evidence connected to allegations of genocide. This protection would not have happened if not for this courageous and principled man. For the first time, the Court recognized the Rohingya as a group meriting protection under the Genocide Convention. read the complete article
Myanmar's internet shutdown: What you need to know
The blockade fuelled more public anger at the coup that has sparked global outrage, and access was restored a day later. However a night-time shutdown has been imposed again this week. The information blackouts at night have heightened fears, after hundreds of people were detained by the army since Feb. 1 , many in night-time raids. "There is chaos and confusion, and the people of Myanmar - and the world - have a right to document events, access information, and communicate with each other," said Felicia Anthonio, a campaigner with the non-profit Access Now, in a statement. read the complete article
Italy
In Naples, Muslim families struggle to bury coronavirus victims
The lack of a Muslim cemetery in Naples, Italy’s third-largest city, and one with a fast-growing Muslim community, has been a challenge for many families for several years. But the coronavirus pandemic has made things even harder. Since 1990, Italian law has allowed for separate spaces in cemeteries for non-Catholics. But these spaces often do not cater to Muslim burial rules, so members of the faith petition for separate land. read the complete article