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SearchToday in Islamophobia: Communal tensions continue to increase in Sri Lanka, as China’s oppression of Uyghurs goes unchallenged. An op-ed traces the rise of global Islamophobia, another looks at the interlocked nature of Islamophobia and other forms of hate. Our recommended read for today is by Zahra Jamal on Quebec’s proposed burqa ban. This, and more, below:
International
Quebec Is Poised to Undermine Religious Freedom | Recommended Read
With a proposed ban on public employees wearing religious symbols in Quebec to be debated by the legislature by June 14, the Canadian province is poised to potentially become the first regional government in North America to ban the veil for government staff. Like many bans on religious symbols, this one, in theory, will also target turbans and yarmulkes. In practice, it will hit Muslim women who wear the hijab hardest. Quebec may be a canary for the Americas, but its proposed law joins several recent bans on hijabs and niqabs (full face veils) across Europe. Understanding the dynamics that have given rise to Europe’s bans—the mainstreaming of bigotry, targeting of Muslim women, and impact on local Muslims—sheds light on what’s at stake in the pending Canadian legislation. read the complete article
Opinion | Aung San Suu Kyi in Hungary: A chilling sign of global Islamophobia
A statement released after the meeting noted that the two leaders had a great deal in common. In particular, they agreed on “the emergence of the issue of coexistence with continuously growing Muslim populations”. Both Orban and Aung San Suu Kyi subscribe to versions of the noxious Clash of Civilisations thesis expressed by American academic Samuel Huntington in the 1990s. For Orban, Christianity is Europe’s last hope in the face of Islamic expansion, and Hungary is the final line of defence. This has led to Orban targeting Muslim migrants, repeatedly referring to them as terrorists. For Aung San Suu Kyi, Islam represents an existential threat to the Buddhist culture of Myanmar. As early as 2013, she was criticised for denying the ethnic cleansing of Muslims in the region, blaming the violence on a “climate of fear”. read the complete article
Aung Sun Suu Kyi and Victor Orban Meet, Agree Having Too Many Muslims is an 'Issue'
The statement said: "The two leaders highlighted that one of the greatest challenges at present for both countries and their respective regions—south-east Asia and Europe—is migration. "They noted that both regions have seen the emergence of the issue of co-existence with continuously growing Muslim populations." Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said in comments reported by The Guardian: "Aung San Suu Kyi has fallen so astonishingly far from being the darling of the EU that she now counts a meeting with Orban, the pariah of Europe, as an important accomplishment. "After shamefully helping the Myanmar military cover up their genocide against Rohingya Muslims, now she's glad-handing and making friends with Europe's most xenophobic, anti-democratic leader." read the complete article
United States
Army War College under fire over historian's upcoming lecture on 'clash of civilizations' between Islam and the West
In a May 28 letter to USAWC Commandant Gen. John Kem and Provost Dr. James Breckenridge, three leaders of the Council on American-Islamic Relations — Philadelphia chapter urged the cancellation of an upcoming lecture by Raymond Ibrahim, a prolific scholar of Islamic history and currently a writing fellow at the Middle East Forum, a conservative think thank. The talk, scheduled for June 19th as part of the institution's 50th Annual Lecture Series, was named for his upcoming book Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West, which details the military history of clashes between Islam and the West stretching back to the 636 battle with the Eastern Roman Empire at Yarmuk to "[provide] the needed historical context to understand the current relationship between the West and the Islamic world--and why the Islamic State is merely the latest chapter of an old history," according to the book's description from Da Capo Press. read the complete article
China
China’s Suppression of Uyghur Muslims Goes Unacknowledged
The alibi is common to authoritarian states who create “states of exception” and “emergency resolutions” to bypass the rule of law, substituting its self-appointed notion of “right” to violate human rights doctrine conventions. In the case of the Uyghur, an entire people has been categorised as “terrorist,” and China has developed a massive and programmatic response to such “extremism” — concentration camps that extract labour at the same time as they suppress any thoughts, beliefs, cultural values, language, even food, that evinces Muslim identity. Besides bin Salman, other leaders regarded as vigorous advocates for Muslims have also signed on to what might be called the “Uyghur Exception.” read the complete article
Amid wrecked mosques, a tense Ramadan in Xinjiang
While Muslims around the world celebrated the end of Ramadan with prayers and festivities this week, the recent destruction of dozens of mosques in Xinjiang highlights the increasing pressure Uighurs and other ethnic minorities face in the heavily policed region. Satellite images reviewed by AFP and visual analysis non-profit Earthrise Alliance show that 36 mosques and religious sites have been torn down or had their domes and corner spires removed since 2017. read the complete article
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday attacks were meant for international audience, but have local consequences
The bombings appear to have been aimed at an international audience, with the targets chosen for their links to liberalism and western ideals. The victimswere Sri Lankan Christians and international and local elites staying in high-end hotels. The country’s Christian community is small, it crosses Sinhalese and Tamil ethnic divides, and generally is not particularly influential, so it does not make sense to target this community from the perspective of local politics. read the complete article
Sri Lanka responds to Islamist terrorism by terrorising Muslims
The charges sound silly but the consequences are not. One Muslim lady’s crime was to wear a shirt printed with a ship’s helm. Her accusers said it looked like the wheel of dharma, so she must be mocking Buddhism, the religion of the majority. A young Muslim man was nabbed for having three simcards in his pocket, and a broken memory card. True, he worked in a phone shop, but police insisted he must have snapped the memory card to hide nefarious contents. A rich Muslim doctor was accused of having secretly sterilised 4,000 women by pinching their Fallopian tubes. More than 700 of the supposed victims have complained, enraged by rumours of a fertility “jihad” against non-Muslims. read the complete article
Unsubstantiated claims Muslim doctor sterilised women raise tensions in Sri Lanka
On May 23 Sri Lankan newspaper Divaina, known for its nationalist stance, published a front page article alleging a Muslim doctor had secretly sterilised 4,000 Sinhala Buddhist women after caesarean deliveries. The doctor, who was not identified in the article, was also described as a member of the National Thowheed Jamath, one of two local Islamist groups blamed for bombings that killed more than 250 people in hotels and churches on Easter Sunday. Reuters has no independent evidence to support these claims. read the complete article
Denmark
'Anti-immigrant left' wins election as Danes reject far-right
The leader of the Social Democrats, Mette Frederiksen, is set to become the youngest prime minister inDenmark's history following an election victory for left-wing parties. Right-wing parties suffered major losses with the anti-immigration Danish People's Party being handed the largest defeat, losing more than half of their seats in Parliament. The extremist anti-Islam party, Hard Line, did not reach the two percent threshold needed to secure representation in Parliament. read the complete article