Search
SearchToday in Islamophobia: Four men are accused of plotting attack on Muslim community in the U.S, as Delaware settles with youth group after forcing Muslim students out from a local pool. In the U.K, the government’s counter-terrorism program, ‘Prevent’, comes under fire. Elsewhere, Rohingya refugees continue to be driven out of India, and some remain stranded and stateless. This, and more, below:
United States
Four Accused of Plotting to Attack Muslim Community | Recommended Read
Four men were charged with three counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of conspiracy to attack a Muslim enclave in upstate New York. According to court paperwork, the suspects are accused of having multiple IEDs in the shape of medium to large-sized cylinders and mason jars wrapped in duct tape. Investigators say they have recovered 23 rifles and shotguns, all legal weapons, from multiple homes, and found three IEDs in the home of one of the suspects. Each suspect is charged with the intent to use the IEDs in a plot against the hamlet of Islamberg, a small enclave of Muslim families living on shared land, located about 150 miles northwest of New York City. The enclave has been targeted in the past. read the complete article
Opinion | Exploring Why Many Muslim Converts Are Coming From The Latino Community
A documentary series called Minority Reports on "Vice" explores communities of underrepresented individuals in unexpected places. The second episode of the new season explores why the largest number of Muslim converts are coming from the Latino community. Host Lee Adams recently traveled to Houston, which is home to America’s first Islamic Spanish center — the organization IslamInSpanish — in order to examine why this is the case. In the audio above, Adams talks with host Craig Cohen about the series and what he discovered during his time in Houston. read the complete article
First look at ‘Wondrous Worlds: Art & Islam in Time & Place’ at Phoenix Art Museum
Spanning six continents and a thousand years of history, a new exhibit titled "Art & Islam" features more than 100 diverse works: ceramics, textiles, calligraphy, jewelry and portraits. The exhibit is drawn from the permanent collection of the Newark Museum, which hosted the show in 2016 before sending it on the road to its current location in Phoenix, Arizona. read the complete article
Delaware Settles With Youth Center After Forcing Out Muslim Students From Local Pool
The city of Wilmington, Delaware, has agreed to revise its dress code policy and explicitly allow religious clothing at its aquatic facilities, according to a settlement reached Tuesday. The civil rights lawsuit, which was initially filed in August 2018, alleged that city employees denied Muslim students from a local youth group, Darul Amaanah, access to the pool because of their dress and subjected them to discriminatory behavior. read the complete article
India
Indian police arrest Rohingya Muslim group stuck on Bangladesh border
Indian police on Tuesday arrested 31 Rohingya Muslims stranded on the border after they were denied entry into Bangladesh and border officials failed to agree on what to do with members of the community fleeing a crackdown in India. India’s government regards the Rohingya as illegal aliens and a security risk, and has ordered that tens of thousands of them who live in scattered settlements and slums around the country be identified and repatriated. read the complete article
They threatened to kill us if we didn't leave India: Rohingya
An estimated 40,000 Rohingya live in India, according to the government. The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, says about 18,000 of them are registered as refugees and asylum seekers. "Since April last year, Indian police started to visit our camp regularly, asking us to fill forms and give our biometric data. News spread across the camp that we would be deported back to Myanmar". read the complete article
United Kingdom
Countering violent extremism: a left-realist critique of ‘Prevent’
The government’s ‘Prevent’ is a blanket measure that omits a nuanced approach to the social, cultural, economic and political characteristics of those who are radicalized, writes Tahir Abbas. As a result, the policy conflates legitimate political resistance among young British Muslims as indications of violent extremism and so can unintentionally add to structural and cultural Islamophobia – amplifiers of both Islamist as well as far right radicalization. One of the primary criticisms is that Prevent is an attempt to introduce and activate a ‘pre-crime’ agenda. The policy maintains that if individuals could be redirected away from turning their anger into violence, this would somehow ‘prevent’ political violence and terrorism. Individuals processed by the ‘Prevent’ Channel ‘de-radicalization’ program are subsequently diverted away from the paths of extremism, radicalization, and ultimately terrorism through re-programming their ideological convictions. read the complete article
Farage ally said black men are violent due to high testosterone
A former Ukip activist who is partnering with Nigel Farage in launching a new pro-Brexit political party has argued crime and fatherlessness among black men are due to high testosterone levels, and suggested their lower academic achievement could have a biological basis. Catherine Blaiklock has also expressed concern about “Muslim enclaves” and said food banks should be abolished as they create a “dependent, obese population”. The former parliamentary candidate and economics spokeswoman for Ukip, who has also argued too many women train as doctors, confirmed at the weekend she had applied to register Farage’s new party last month. Farage, a former Ukip leader, has vowed to contest any general, local or European elections with the new party if he believes Brexit is being thwarted. read the complete article