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SearchToday in Islamophobia: U.S visa applications ask applicants for social media history, as British Muslims call for increased security for mosques. Thirty years after Tiananmen, Uyghurs face state sanctioned persecution in China, and potential DHS director praises known anti- Muslim leader, Brigitte Gabriel. Our recommended read of the day is by David Palumbo-Liu titled “The Ongoing Persecution of China’s Uyghurs”. This, and more, below:
China
The Ongoing Persecution of China’s Uyghurs | Recommended Read
The alibi is common to authoritarian states who create “states of exception” and “emergency resolutions” to bypass the rule of law, substituting its own self-appointed notion of “right” to violate human rights doctrine conventions. In the case of the Uyghur, an entire people has been categorized as “terrorist,” and China has developed a massive and programmatic response to such “extremism” — concentration camps that extract labor at the same time as they suppress any thoughts, beliefs, cultural values, language, even food, that evinces Muslim identity. read the complete article
Opinion | After Tiananmen, the U.S. Protected Chinese Students in America. 30 Years Later, Uighurs Say It’s Time to Do the Same for Them
Jian Tang, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin, described to the New York Times in January 1990 what he believed his fate would be if he was forced to go back to China: “A labor camp, perhaps. Or imprisonment. Or execution.” At least one, protest leader Shen Tong, was arrested and spent two months in prison after moving back to Beijing from Boston University. Arfat Erkin, a Chinese student who came to the U.S. to study economics in 2015, has a similar response today when asked what would happen to him if he went back home. “If I’m lucky, I will be sentenced to prison or sent to the camp –– if I’m lucky. If I’m not lucky, I think I will just disappear without any information,” he tells TIME. read the complete article
United States
Potential DHS immigration director Ken Cuccinelli praised diatribe from anti-Muslim leader Brigitte Gabriel
Ken Cuccinelli, whom President Donald Trump is set to appoint to a senior position with the Department of Homeland Security, previously praised and promoted an “important and powerful” diatribe against Muslims from Brigitte Gabriel, one of the most prominent anti-Muslim leaders in the country. Cuccinelli has a history of anti-LGBTQ and anti-immigrant rhetoric and positions. The Heritage Foundation hosted a June 16, 2014, panel event about the 2012 Benghazi attacks featuring Gabriel and fellow anti-Muslim commentators Frank Gaffney and Clare Lopez. During that event, Gabriel attacked a Muslim questioner for noting that there are many peaceful Muslims, stating that while the “majority of them are peaceful people,” the “peaceful majority” is irrelevant because “radicals are estimated to be between 15 to 25%” and “it is the radicals that kill. ... When you look throughout history, when you look at all the lessons of history, most Germans were peaceful. Yet the Nazis drove the agenda and as a result, 60 million people died.” read the complete article
‘Extreme vetting’: US visa applicants now required to submit their social media history
The United States Department of State has begun requiring temporary visitors and those seeking permanent residence to submit five years’ worth of their social media history, warning those who attempt to hide or withhold their accounts of “serious immigration consequences”. After forking over five years’ worth of social media accounts, applicants must provide five years of telephone numbers, email addresses, and travel history. They are also asked if family members have been involved in “terrorist activities,” though it’s unclear why anyone would answer such a question in the affirmative. read the complete article
Rep. Duncan Hunter: Iraq unit 'killed probably hundreds of civilians'
During a Barstool Sports interview for a podcast that was released on Monday, Hunter defended his support of Eddie Gallagher, a Navy SEAL facing a premeditated murder charge in the stabbing death of an injured person in Iraq. President Donald Trump is considering pardoning Gallagher. "I was an artillery officer, and we fired hundreds of rounds into Fallujah, killed probably hundreds of civilians, if not scores, if not hundreds of civilians," Hunter said. "Probably killed women and children, if there were any left in the city when we invaded. So do I get judged, too?" read the complete article
Opinion | Muslims have more visibility than ever. But can we praise it?
As we near the end of Ramadan, we live at the cusp of both unprecedented Muslim visibility and heightened anti-Muslim racism. If we are not careful, these new modes of representation may contribute to the rise of anti-Muslim racism, rather than combat it. Although raising Muslim representation in popular culture is an important and necessary step forward, it can have devastating consequences if it remains only skin-deep. Representation must also be accompanied by a rise in unapologetic Muslim voices and structural challenges to systems that create and perpetuate anti-Muslim violence. read the complete article
India
Amit Shah, India’s invisible prime minister, gets more powerful — and dangerous
Amit Shah is the second-most-powerful man in India. Many in the party call him the invisible prime minister. Shah is Modi’s shadow, loyal attack dog, spokesman and campaign strategist. He has now been named home minister, one of the most influential cabinet positions. He is one of the most divisive and hateful politicians in India. He has told audiences that a vote against the BJP will be celebrated in Pakistan. He has referred to Muslim immigrants as “termites” who need to be thrown in the Bay of Bengal. It was his idea to introduce a bill to grant citizenship to minorities from neighboring countries, except Muslims. read the complete article
Sri Lanka
Protests over Muslim politicians grip Sri Lankan city
Inside the temple, where Buddhists believe a tooth of the Buddha is enshrined, prominent monk Athuraliye Ratana was staging what he calls a "death fast" since Saturday. Also present was Galagodaaththe Gnanasara, a firebrand monk released from jail on a presidential pardon late last month who has long been accused of instigating hate crimes against Muslims. Ratana is demanding the sacking of the Muslim governors of two provinces and a Muslim minister in the government of the Buddhist-majority island nation of 21 million people. He accuses them of supporting the Islamic extremists responsible for the April 21 attacks. read the complete article
Canada
Macpherson: François Legault's toleration of intolerance
Last Saturday, outside a Quebec City mosque, a man is alleged to have directed Islamophobic and anti-immigrant remarks at people before striking one of them. That’s the very mosque where two years ago, six worshippers were killed in a mass shooting. Asked by reporters for comment, Legault condemned the alleged incident as “clearly unacceptable,” relatively mild language compared to his remark a few days later that video lottery terminals are “something I hate.” And he and some of his Coalition Avenir Québec ministers were quick to dismiss it as an isolated incident, and deny any connection with the debate over Bill 21. That’s the government’s proposed legislation, clearly aimed at Muslim women who wear the hijab, that would forbid teachers and some other government employees from wearing religious symbols while on duty. read the complete article
Europe
How will Austria’s new headscarf ban affect Muslims?
On May 16, Austria’s parliament approved a law banning headscarves in public primary schools. While the ban does not explicitly mention headscarves, it prohibits “ideologically or religiously influenced clothing which is associated with the covering of the head.” Representatives of the conservative governing coalition have even gone so far as to frame the law as “a signal against political Islam” and an effort to “free girls from submission.” read the complete article
Concern over mosque safety: British Muslims call for increase to govt security grant
In July, mosques will be able to apply for a grant from a pot of £5 million, which is available for all faiths over a three-year period, but British Muslim leaders have said this is not enough. They would like to see the government pledge £14m to an organisation in order to match the Home Office's monetary support of Jewish group Community Support Trust (CST). The call to the government comes after mosques across the UK were forced to increase security in light of heightened attacks on the places of worship after the Christchurch terror attacks in New Zealand, which saw 51 Muslims murdered by a far-right extremist. read the complete article
Dutch anti-Islam lawmaker Wilders says Twitter blocks his account
Dutch far-right politician and anti-Islam campaigner Geert Wilders said on Friday that Twitter had temporarily blocked his account following remarks he made about a political rival. The tweet that led to Wilders’ block referred to D-66, a progressive center-left party as “suckers ...who import ever more Islam and then weep crocodile tears over the consequences, such as honor killings.” read the complete article