Today in Islamophobia: A second anti-Muslim group plans a gala at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, even as a Muslim family is barred from boarding a NYC ferry. Our recommended read today is by David Stavrou writing about Sayragul Sauytbay’s escape from China’s concentration camps in Xinjiang. This, and more, below:
China
CW: Torture | A Million People Are Jailed at China's Gulags. I Managed to Escape. Here's What Really Goes on Inside | Recommended Read
Twenty prisoners live in one small room. They are handcuffed, their heads shaved, every move is monitored by ceiling cameras. A bucket in the corner of the room is their toilet. The daily routine begins at 6 A.M. They are learning Chinese, memorizing propaganda songs and confessing to invented sins. They range in age from teenagers to elderly. Their meals are meager: cloudy soup and a slice of bread. Torture – metal nails, fingernails pulled out, electric shocks – takes place in the “black room.” Punishment is a constant. The prisoners are forced to take pills and get injections. It’s for disease prevention, the staff tell them, but in reality they are the human subjects of medical experiments. Many of the inmates suffer from cognitive decline. Some of the men become sterile. Women are routinely raped. read the complete article
United States
2020 Candidates Want to Fund a Program Used to Surveil Muslims on Social Media
Despite CVE's record as a civil rights disaster, top presidential candidates are proposing that we continue to fund and expand the program. 2020 presidential hopefuls Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg have publicly expressed support for the CVE program. Harris’ domestic terrorism plan promises $2 billion over the course of 10 years, while Buttigieg pledged $1 billion. Although both Harris and Buttigieg promote the idea that CVE will be used to counter white supremacist violence, the program has historically focused on the entrapment and surveillance of Muslims. The internet and social media have led to an evolution in surveillance, Nicole Nguyen, an assistant professor and researcher at the University of Illinois, told Motherboard. “The security industry views social media, and the internet more generally, as a key tool in how so-called terrorists recruit and radicalize. "Intended to promote a community policing strategy to "prevent violent extremism," CVE’s pilot programming launched in three cities in 2014: Los Angeles, Boston, and Minneapolis. Those targeted for surveillance were overwhelmingly Black Muslims, including Somali youth in both Minneapolis and Boston. The Department of Homeland Security awarded the first CVE grants, totaling $10 million per year, in 2016. read the complete article
Another anti-Muslim group wants to hold event at Trump’s Palm Beach resort, Mar-a-Lago
The Center for Security Policy, a Washington-based think tank whose founder erroneously called former President Barack Obama a Muslim, received a permit from the City of Palm Beach on Oct. 4, city officials said. The group wants to hold its event on Nov. 23, the Saturday before Thanksgiving. It received the permit two days before the Trump Organization said the anti-Muslim group ACT for America would “absolutely not” be allowed to hold its annual gala at the Palm Beach club. The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated ACT as a “hate group.” read the complete article
Muslim families not allowed to board NYC Ferry after being labeled a 'security issue,' complaint says
NYC Ferry employees refused to allow three Muslim families to board a ferry because of a "security issue," according to a discrimination complaint filed with the New York City Commission on Human Rights on Tuesday. The complaint, filed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the families took a NYC Ferry without incident from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, to the Wall Street stop on Sept. 21. They then decided to take another ferry to Brooklyn's Pier 6. read the complete article
Banned By Twitter, Others For Islamophobia, Laura Loomer’s Running For Office
Conservative provocateur Laura Loomer has raised more than $154,000 towards her congressional campaign in South Florida - more than $50,000 more than her opponent, incumbent Rep. Lois Frankel, The Palm Beach Post reported Thursday. Loomer, who has been banned from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Medium, Paypal, Venmo, GoFundMe, Uber and Lyft for Islamophobia or otherwise violating their terms of service, said that she was “humbled” by the support she had received. read the complete article
Muslim rights group lobbies House Democrats to back 'No Ban' bill
Since mid-September, at least 40 Democrats in the US House of Representatives have signed on to cosponsor a piece of legislation seeking to overturn US President Donald Trump's Muslim ban, bringing the total number of signatories to 189. With that influx, only 49 House Democrats have yet to sign the legislation, but Muslim Advocates, a rights organisation based in Washington, wants to bring that number to zero. read the complete article
France
'It's not secularism, it's racism': Muslim mum at centre of French hijab row to sue politicians
The CCIF said the woman would file a complaint with prosecutors in the city of Dijon on Thursday over "violence of a racial nature committed... by persons with public authority." And a second complaint would be filed in Paris on Friday for "incitement of racial hatred," CCIF said in a statement. The woman's lawyer, Sana Ben Hadj, said her client had felt "humiliated" by the incident because images of her had been shared widely. "It's not just a question of secularism, but of racism, trying to exclude Muslims from the Republic," the lawyer said. "Without her, this school trip could not have taken place. There were no other parents who could make themselves available." read the complete article