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SearchToday in Islamophobia: Police blasts mosque with water canon during Hong Kong protests, as Chinese surveillance giant faces losses from U.S ban. Bangladeshi authorities say thousands of Rohingya refugees have agreed to be relocated to an island in the Bay of Bengal. Our recommended read today is Guardian’s editorial on Xinjiang, forced labor, and fashion shows. This, and more, below:
China
Opinion | The Guardian view on Xinjiang, China: forced labour and fashion shows | Recommended Read
When a million Uighurs and other Muslims have been locked up in Xinjiang’s detention camps, and as documentation of forced labour mounts, it might seem perverse to pay attention to fashion shows, beauty salons and a park. Yet these developments are not trivial. They form part of China’s efforts to erase Uighur culture. Recent research details official efforts to change Uighur women’s style, which began with 2011’s “Project Beauty” initiative, encouraging them to shun the niqab and jilbab, and has recently has seen the establishment of hair salons and beauty parlours. These, explained an official, would transform women’s body image, then their way of life, and finally their way of thinking. Meanwhile, satellite photos have revealed that dozens of cemeteries in the north-western region have been destroyed in the last two years. In Aksu, at the graveyard where a prominent Uighur poet was buried, tombs were moved and the land turned into Happiness Park, with panda models and a children’s ride. Similar evidence has already shown the demolition of Islamic religious sites. Like the attempts to coerce Uighurs into celebrating Chinese new year and to discourage the use of the Uighur language, these developments represent the hollowing out of a culture. Writers, entertainers and academics have all fallen foul of authorities. The family of Tashpolat Tiyip, president of Xinjiang University until his disappearance in 2017, believe he has been convicted of separatism and sentenced to death. The crackdown on Muslim cultural practices is also spreading to Hui Muslims in Ningxia. Beijing portrays its camps as “vocational centres” and part of a necessary campaign to root out extremism following violent attacks. But far from being a targeted response to terrorism, China’s draconian detentions, surveillance and broader repression amount to treating an entire population and its way of life as a potential threat. read the complete article
China Surveillance Giant Expects Client Losses From U.S. Ban
Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co. warned it may lose customers in overseas markets because of its U.S. blacklisting, underscoring the extent to which curbs on the sale of American technology may hurt the world’s largest video surveillance business. Executives at the Chinese camera provider, which reported profit in line with estimates, said clients may hold off on purchases while they gauge the impact of those restrictions. But the company is large enough to withstand U.S. sanctions and develop its own technology in the longer term, they said. Its own home market remains a rich vein of revenue as the U.S. business shrinks, a trend that may persist, Huang Fanghong, a Hikvision senior vice president, said on a call Saturday. Its shares gained as much as 5.4% Monday -- the most in more than a month on an intraday basis. read the complete article
United States
Opinion | Donald Trump Is Perfectly Happy to Let Allah Sort ’Em Out
On Thursday night at his rally in Texas, Donald Trump finally admitted why he greenlit the Turkish military to cross the border into northern Syria to attack the Kurds: He wanted these two groups of Muslims to slaughter each other. As Trump declared to his adoring fans, without even a hint of humanity about the suffering this would cause to civilians, “Sometimes you have to let them fight like two kids. Then you pull them apart.” read the complete article
How Democrats Can Turn Immigration Into Trump’s Kryptonite
How do most voters actually think about immigration? For starters, about two-thirds of the public does not believe in either extreme in the immigration debate, according researchers at More in Common, a nonprofit organization that works to identify and address the underlying drivers of polarization. These voters constitute an “exhausted majority”—made up of moderates, the politically disengaged, and various passive and traditional liberals who reject the excessive partisanship and don’t feel strongly allied with any ideology. read the complete article
International
Anti-Semitic and Anti-Muslim Murders Are Latest in String of Fascist Attacks
Right now, there are two overlapping linked sequences of far-right massacres. The first is a series of misogynistic killings intended to spur an “incel rebellion.” “Incel,” or “involuntary celibate,” is a term used by male supremacists who believe they are entitled to sex and relationships with women, but are being denied those rights because women don’t want to date or have sex with them. This developed out of a much larger online subculture often called men’s rights activists. These incel-perpetrated misogynistic killings include the 10 people killed in May 2014 shootings in Isla Vista, California; 10 more in an April 2018 van attack in Toronto, Canada; and two killed in November 2018 in a Tallahassee, Florida, yoga studio. The second sequence of far-right massacres includes killings that are committed by fascists who have developed a “toolkit” — a specific way to carry out and publicize the attacks. Eighty-eight people have been killed in these six attacks alone, which have taken place in the United States, Germany and New Zealand. There is overlap between the incel and fascist subsets. They use similar social media platforms, often look to the same past massacres for inspiration, and carry out their attacks in similar ways. read the complete article
Nazi menace has returned to Europe with rise of far-right extremism The shocking behaviour
The world was sickened by images of footie thugs throwing Nazi salutes during England’s match in Sofia this week. But the horrifying gestures and vile racism from Bulgaria fans were just a hint at the terrifying grip that far-right extremism is taking across Europe. Underground groups are spewing hate on social media as more young people buy into nationalist ideology. Europol warns that neo-Nazis are trying to recruit among soldiers and police who have weapons training. It follows the rise of nationalist parties such as Italy’s Lega Nord, Alternative for Germany and the Freedom Party in Austria. All push anti-migrant or anti-Islamic propaganda. There were 44 arrests for foiled right-wing terror attacks last year, only 11 in 2015. read the complete article
Bangladesh
Bangladesh says thousands of Rohingya agree relocation to island
Bangladesh's refugee commissioner has said thousands of Rohingya living in Bangladesh refugee camps have agreed to move to an island in the Bay of Bengal despite fears the site is prone to flooding. "Approximately 6,000 to 7,000 refugees have already expressed their willingness to be relocated to Bhashan Char [the island]," the Bangladesh official Mahbub Alam told AFP news agency from Cox's Bazar, adding that "the number is rising". He did not say when the refugees would be moved, but a senior Navy officer involved in building facilities on the island said the relocation could start by December, with some 500 refugees sent daily. read the complete article
France
'Not here, not today': French politician confronts mother wearing head scarf on school trip with her crying child
Veils and headscarves are political and social lightning rods in France, touching on issues so sensitive — secularism, feminism and the integration of Muslims — that they seem to inspire anger wherever they appear. Although the mother broke no laws by wearing the garment, which does not cover the face, she enraged far-right members of the local assembly that the schoolchildren were visiting. During the visit last week, in the central city of Dijon, one of the politicians, Julien Odoul, asked that the woman uncover herself. “Madame has ample time to wear her veil at home, on the street, but not here, not today,” he said, citing France’s values of secularism, known as laicite. In a post on Twitter that included video of the incident, Mr Odoul said wearing the veil was a “provocation” that couldn’t be “tolerated” after a fatal attack on Paris police officers this month by a Muslim among their ranks. read the complete article
United Kingdom
Fury as government advisor and Labour member posts Islamophobic depictions of the prophet Mohammed on his Facebook page
A government policy advisor sparked fury after it emerged he posted Islamophobic depictions of the Prophet Mohammed online - but has not yet faced action. Labour Party member Martin Bridgman shared offensive cartoons of Jesus and Mohammed, including ones that alluded to child rape. At least four of the comic strips were posted on his Facebook page between November 2018 and March 2019, but only uncovered three months ago when a Muslim member of his local Labour party in Ilford, east London, reported them to party officials. Mr Bridgman works as a policy advisor for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. A spokesman for the Government department told MailOnline they cannot discuss individual cases but they have a zero-tolerance approach to racism or religious discrimination. Labour have placed him under investigation. read the complete article