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SearchToday in Islamophobia: Speaker Nancy Pelosi says House will vote to repeal Muslim ban, as Delta is fined $50,000 for discriminating against Muslim passengers. Chinese Uighurs in Saudi Arabia face persecution, as India’s Republic Day is marked by protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Our recommended read today is on Jewish-Muslim solidarity in New York. This, and more, below:
United States
The Jewish New Yorkers standing in solidarity with their Muslim neighbours | Recommended Read
Disturbed by the rhetoric of the new US president, who promised to ban Muslims from the country, four members of the Congregation Beit Simchat Torah (CBST), a Jewish organisation for the LGBTQ community in New York City, assembled outside New York University’s Islamic Centre with a simple message of friendship and solidarity. They came to support a community vilified by the commander-in-chief. Three years on, you can find them in the same place, doing the same thing. read the complete article
Barred By The Muslim Ban, Targeted In The U.S.: Iranian Americans Feel Trapped
There are family members Mana Kharrazi has never met. The 35-year-old Iranian American who currently resides in New York has six uncles and aunts on her mother’s side and five on her father’s side ― some of whom are still in Iran. Kharrazi, a community activist, is the lead plaintiff in one of several lawsuits challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order banning travel to the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, which was signed three years ago Monday. On Tuesday, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, will hear arguments from three different lawsuits to decide whether or not to dismiss the case entirely out of the lower courts. read the complete article
Pelosi says House will vote on bill to repeal travel ban
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Monday that the House will consider legislation in the coming weeks to repeal the Trump administration's travel ban on several predominantly Muslim countries. Pelosi's announcement came on the third anniversary of Trump signing orders to suspend immigration from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia in his first week in office. read the complete article
Delta Fined for Discriminating Against Muslim Passengers
Delta has been fined $50,000 after the federal Transportation Department found that it discriminated against three Muslim passengers who had been cleared by the airline’s security but were barred from flights, according to a consent order. The airline was also mandated to make some flight crews and customer service representatives attend civil rights training as part of the department’s order, which was issued on Friday. The passengers had filed complaints against Delta with the agency. read the complete article
The Joe Rogan controversy revealed something important about the American left
Rogan is known for his stints on the NBC shows NewsRadio and Fear Factor but more recently for The Joe Rogan Experience, an astonishingly popular podcast featuring hours-long interviews with comedians, politicians, journalists, and others — including an interview with Sanders that has racked up 11 million views on YouTube alone. But Rogan’s popularity is owed in part for his vocal rejection of “political correctness,” which can take the form of transphobia (he once called trans woman mixed martial artist Fallon Fox “a fucking man”), Islamophobia (hosting guests like the far-right Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes, who used his appearance to argue that Muslims are too inbred for the US to accept as immigrants), and racism (he once compared a black neighborhood to Planet of the Apes). read the complete article
Political Islamophobia may look differently online than in person
In a study, the researchers found that the majority of anti-Muslim tweets related to the 2018 midterm elections were sent by either a select few thought leaders with large followings on social media, or by bots—software that autonomously tweets or retweets content. Additionally, Muslim candidates' face-to-face experiences with constituents were generally more positive than what they experienced online. read the complete article
Guantánamo Testimony Exposes Role of Doctors in C.I.A. Interrogations
When the C.I.A. strapped down Khalid Shaikh Mohammed at a secret site in Poland in 2003, those inside the cell included a three-man waterboarding team, black-masked guards — and a doctor. The doctor’s stated role was to monitor the health of the detainee. He also kept count of each near drowning. “Literally, the physician had a little silver thing,” James E. Mitchell, one of the architects of the interrogation program, testified last week to the military tribunal at Guantánamo Bay. The doctor, he said, “would click how many times the water was poured” as a guard kept time with a stopwatch. read the complete article
India
'Fight for India's soul': Protests mark Republic Day celebrations
Thousands of protesters have gathered in a predominantly-Muslim neighbourhood in India's capital as the country celebrated Republic Day to commemorate the day its constitution came into effect. About 15 kilometres (nine miles) away in the heart of the capital, Indian President Ram Nath Kovind hosted his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro, the Republic Day chief guest this year, as they watched the annual parade aimed at showcasing India's military might and cultural diversity. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who the protesters accuse of pursuing a Hindu supremacist agenda, also attended the government event. read the complete article
United Kingdom
Ofsted 'draconian' as school rating based on Islamic leaflet find
Birchfield Independent Girls' School was inspected in November and the leaflet from a 1994 event at Wembley Stadium was found in the library. Ofsted said the leaflet encouraged radicalisation and it deemed pupils at the Birmingham school were not safe. The school said it would take legal action over the "unacceptable" ruling. read the complete article
International
Chinese Uighurs in Saudi face impossible choice
The Chinese mission in Saudi Arabia stopped renewing passports for the ethnic Muslim minority more than two years ago, in what campaigners call a pressure tactic exercised in many countries to force the Uighur diaspora to return home. Half a dozen Uighur families in Saudi Arabia who showed AFP their passports -- a few already expired and some approaching the date -- said they dread going back to China, where over a million Uighurs are believed to be held in internment camps. read the complete article