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SearchToday in Islamophobia: As Twitter is accused of allowing ‘rabid anti-Muslim hate speech’ on its platforms, refugees seek safety in Minnesota’s heartlands. Our recommended read today is on the arbitrary blacklisting of Muslims by World-Check. This, and more, below:
International
Blacklist: Many Muslims listed by World-Check without evidence | Recommended Read
World-Check is a database used by banks globally to help identify and manage financial, regulatory and reputational risk to large companies. Investigators from Al Jazeera Arabic's Ma Khafia Aazam (Tip of the Iceberg) programme were able to obtain the database, which contains more than three million names, as well as the sources it uses for its designations, most importantly of financial crimes and "terrorism". read the complete article
United States
An American Muslim imam’s letter to the American Sikh community
In fact the Sikhs, though they are the fifth largest faith group in the world, number only a few hundred thousand members in the entire U.S., most of whom live around New York City and in California. But in this rising climate of xenophobia, especially Islamophobia, they have become easy targets. Bigots often mistake Sikhs for Muslims due to their highly visible turbans, beards and scarves. Despite the real harm this has caused Sikhs, they have consistently refused to throw the Muslim community under the bus by simply distancing themselves from Islam. You may have seen the video of Canadian New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh, a candidate for prime minister, being heckled by a protester in 2017 for trying to “push Shariah” and being in “bed with the Muslim Brotherhood.” His brother, Gurratan Singh, also a member of Parliament, went viral last month for how he handled an Islamophobic heckler outside a Muslim convention. Gurratan tweeted afterward, “I will never respond to an Islamophobe by stating, ‘I am not a Muslim.’” read the complete article
Hope & Fear in Minnesota’s Heartland: Refugees search for safety, some don't find it
When her family came to the United States in 2001, Farhiya remembers her mother speaking about the promise of good education, well-paying jobs and ample opportunity. Years later, she had come to live out her mother’s aspirations in St. Cloud. But now Farhiya is once again looking to flee, this time away from Central Minnesota. She’s considering moving out of St. Cloud, fearful for her children’s futures in a city where refugees, particularly those from East Africa, have faced a stark backlash. “I hate the feeling that people don’t want me here, and it sucks. I think about this all the time,” she said. “That’s what I don’t want that for my kids." read the complete article
Muslim employee files discrimination complaint against NY DMV for not accommodating his schedule for Friday prayers
The part-time employee was hired at the DMV in January and asked for an accommodation allowing him to attend Friday prayers for an hour by taking his lunch and office breaks at the same time. He received approval for that adjustment in February, allowing him to leave work for prayer, but it expired after three months, according to the complaint. The man sent two requests in May asking for an extension of his accommodation and for the time to be pushed back an hour because Muslims use a lunar calendar for prayers. Meaning, the prayer times are altered throughout the year, according to the complaint. The DMV rejected both requests, saying it could not accommodate “your request to leave during the day Friday’s for your religious observance.” read the complete article
United Kingdom
Niqab-wearing Muslim woman says she fears being 'killed on the street like Jo Cox' because of 'angry working- class white men' who abuse her
Sahar, who is from Wales and wears a niqab, spoke about the racist slurs she's endured, and said she was terrified of being murdered like the late Labour MP. Speaking in Channel 5's Hate Crime: Uncensored, which aired last night, Sahar said she feels that 'angry white working class men' are taking their hatred out on Muslim women. Sahar explained she was called a 'letter box' by a white man in a suit after Boris Johnson used the term in a Daily Telegraph column to describe women wearing the burqa. Sahar added that being a Muslim woman now was 'not easy.' read the complete article
India
Twitter Sleeping Through Rabid Anti-Muslim Hate Is Frankly Infuriating
On Monday morning, a communal hashtag demanding a complete boycott of Muslims in India appeared on Twitter and remained one of the top trends throughout the day. The hashtag was shared by around 15,000 people by the evening—some supported it, but many others also used the hashtag to condemn it, asking why Twitter allowed such hate speech to spread. The social platform eventually removed the hashtag from its trending list a day later, although when asked if it had blocked any users for spreading hate speech, a spokesperson only replied that “if an account or Tweet is reported and found to be in violation of Twitter Rules, we will take action”. read the complete article
China
How Reddit Users Caught ‘League of Legends’ Censoring Words Like ‘Uyghur,’ ‘Genocide,’ and ‘Tiananmen’
The “Great Firewall” allows the Chinese government to censor the internet domestically but a new discovery found that even users outside the mainland are affected by the intense policing. "League of Legends" gamers recently found that the word “Uyghur,” referring to the persecuted Chinese minority (aka Uighur), was censored from the popular video game. "League of Legends" features a multiplayer battle arena where users from all over the world compete. It is developed by Los Angeles-based Riot Games, which has been acquired by the Chinese company Tencent. read the complete article