Today in Islamophobia

A daily list of headlines about Islamophobia
compiled by the Bridge Initiative

Each day, the Bridge Initiative aims to bring you the news you need to know about Islamophobia. This resource will be updated every weekday at approximately 11:00 AM EST.

Today in Islamophobia Newsletter

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13 Jan 2021

Today in Islamophobia: As the UK tightens rules on using Uighur-picked cotton, Human Rights Watch says China is in its darkest period for human rights since Tiananmen Square.  According to reports, man arrested in D.C. with explosives on January 6 had threatening note mentioning Rep. André Carson. Our recommended read today is by Owen Jones on Trump’s “British cheerleaders.” “As Trump falls,” Owen writes, “rightwing figures such as Fraser Nelson and Douglas Murray have suddenly discovered their consciences.” This, and more, below:


International

13 Jan 2021

Trump's British cheerleaders are rushing to denounce him. It's too little, too late | Recommended Read

Those who made that choice in Britain are now attempting to walk away whistling from the crime scene, but apologism for the figurehead of the international far right – including the self-confessed Nazis who stormed the US legislature – should come with accountability. Fraser Nelson is editor of the Spectator, which presents itself as a respectable centre-right publication – its summer party is attended by senior Tory and Labour figures and BBC journalists alike – even as it publishes columns bemoaning there is “not nearly enough Islamophobia within the Tory party”. Last week, Nelson joined the ranks of British conservatives abandoning their fallen hero, writing a column entitled “Trump’s final act was a betrayal of the people who voted for him” – itself a questionable claim, given one YouGov poll showed more Republican voters backed the storming of the Capitol than opposed it. It stands in stark contrast to another of his columns from three years ago, headlined “A new, more reasonable Donald Trump presidency might just be on the way”, endorsing suggestions the president would “gravitate to the middle”. read the complete article

Our recommended read of the day
13 Jan 2021

UK tightens rules on using Uighur-picked cotton

UK firms above a certain size must show they are trying to avoid using slavery in their supply chains. But there is currently no penalty if they fail to do so. There will also be new guidance for firms and public sector organisations about the risks of trading with Xinjiang where, Mr Raab said, there is growing evidence of more than a million Uighurs and other minorities being held in forced labour camps. read the complete article


China

13 Jan 2021

China in darkest period for human rights since Tiananmen, says rights group

China is in the midst of its darkest period for human rights since the Tiananmen Square massacre, Human Rights Watch has said in its annual report. Worsening persecutions of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Tibet, targeting of whistleblowers, the crackdown on Hong Kong and attempts to cover up the coronavirus outbreak were all part of the deteriorating situation under President Xi Jinping, the organisation said. read the complete article


United States

13 Jan 2021

Twitter keeps pro-Trump extremist’s false ‘stolen election’ claim up

A week after false claims of a stolen U.S. presidential election drove a deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Twitter is allowing a far-right supporter of President Donald Trump to claim the election was stolen. Anti-Muslim activist Pamela Geller, in a tweet Monday about banks freezing political donations after a pro-Trump mob stormed the seat of the U.S. government, said the banks’ decision was, “Further proof the election was stolen.” read the complete article

13 Jan 2021

‘The Squad’ Didn’t Need a Riot to Know MAGA Fanatics Are Lethal

In the aftermath of Wednesday’s domestic terrorist attack, aides and allies say that is why she instinctively knew, even as rioters were still inside the Capitol, that accountability measures needed to be delivered swiftly as the situation became increasingly dire. For Omar, that took the form of a new impeachment plan. “When you’re the target of really ugly personal attacks based on your race or religion ... and then those same group of people do a broad-based attack on everyone, you may come to the conclusion quicker than others that action needs to be taken,” said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison in an interview with The Daily Beast. “They basically assaulted the Capitol in opposition to multi-racial democracy. They don’t want it. They don’t believe in it, which explains perfectly why they were waving their Confederate flags.” read the complete article


United Kingdom

13 Jan 2021

In the U.K., a Muslim Student Was Sent Home Repeatedly for Her Skirt Being ‘Too Long’

Hamud, a student at Uxbridge High School, told The Telegraph, “It feels like bullying because of what I believe.” She had been able to wear an ankle-length skirt to school for years before it became a disciplinary issue in December. The school’s uniform code, which was enacted two years ago, requires female students to wear pleated, school-issue skirts or trousers. Siham was first approached by teachers about the issue on December 1, and was sent home each day for the rest of term. Now, she is attending school online due to COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, but her family expects the issue to continue when they are allowed to return to in-person classes. read the complete article

13 Jan 2021

LBC Radio Host Maajid Nawaz Bankrolled by US Republican Dark Money

But, while many have expressed surprise at how a former counter-extremism advisor to David Cameron could end up falling for the increasingly deranged ramblings of the alt-right, Nawaz’s embrace of its ethos was entirely predictable given that, for most of the past decade, the Quilliam Foundation has been supported by pro-Trump Republican donors through whom it has received some $3 million of ‘dark money’. read the complete article


India

13 Jan 2021

Former CEC Quraishi seeks to bust population myth in new book

Former chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi will come out with a book next month which evaluates India's demographics from a religious perspective and seeks to bust the myth that Islam is against family planning. "The Population Myth: Islam, Family Planning and Politics in India" is a detailed analysis of the 'Muslim rate of growth' in the light of population data and national and international reports, says publishers HarperCollins India. It discusses how these myths have been often used to stoke majoritarian fears of a demographic skew. The author uses facts to demolish these and demonstrates how a planned population is in the interest of all communities. The book, which will hit the bookshelves on February 15, delves into the Quran and the Hadith to show how Islam might have been one of the first religions in the world to actually advocate smaller families, which is why several Islamic nations today have population policies in place. read the complete article

13 Jan 2021

When Love is Seditious: How Love Jihad is Also Anti-Women

It would be a folly to see this growing agenda in isolation. The ruling regime’s populist political narrative of the Muslim as the other is not new. In fact, Islamophobia is tied to the ideological force of the Sangh Parivar—the umbrella term used for the collective of Hindutva outfits that are offshoots of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) including the religious outfit Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the extremist one Bajrang Dal. Operating along the same dynamics, Bhartiya Janata Party’s affiliation to its parent organisation RSS in all its ideological tenets is well-known. If cow vigilantism, the recent discriminatory CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) passage (On December 12, 2019) and the February 2020 Delhi riots are anything to go by, its hate politics is notorious. read the complete article

Today in Islamophobia, 13 Jan 2021 Edition

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