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SearchToday in Islamophobia: As the UN Human Rights Council opens today, western countries face a dilemma: “confront China over human rights violations in its Xinjiang region and risk failing or miss the biggest opportunity to bring accountability in years,” meanwhile in the United States, a Hindu nationalist accused of hate speech against religious minorities spoke at a fundraiser in NJ, despite protests and calls to cancel the event, and in the United Kingdom, a new report from the Institute of Race Relations finds that “British Muslims have had their citizenship reduced to ‘second-class’ status as a result of recently extended powers to strip people of their nationality.” Our recommended read of the day is by Sal Rodriguez for The Orange County Register on how the generalized Islamophobia following 9/11 “made it easy for America to get itself into brutal wars and conflicts around the world,” and gave rise to a “surveillance state” at home and resulted in “vast powers given to the government to violate the civil liberties of Americans.” This and more below:
United States
Perpetual war, Islamophobia, the erosion of liberty: the lasting legacy of 9/11 | Recommended Read
I still have strong memories of the sense of American unity after the Sept. 11 attacks. Little did I know that this intense period of national unity would be so ephemeral and that the decades to follow would consist of now only destructive responses to the attacks but also intensified polarization and disunity among the American people. One of the early clues to me that the post 9/11 world would be an ugly place was when, within days of the attacks, there began a surge of hate crimes against Muslims or people thought to “look” Muslim or from the Middle East, including attacks on Sikhs. Little did I realize at the time that two decades of often intense and irrational Islamophobia would follow. This would take the form of grand narratives about an existential conflict between the West and Islam, as well as a “war on terror” which resulted in a “by-any-means-necessary” approach which resulted in many horrific outcomes. Then there are all the other injustices against Muslims done in the post-9/11 world not because they had anything to do with the 9/11 attacks, but because of false and hateful ideas spread about them. In the name of fighting terrorism, Americans cheered the establishment of a national surveillance state and vast powers given to the government to violate the civil liberties of Americans. From torture to “black sites” to mass surveillance, civil liberties were a major victim of America’s response to 9/11. None of these responses to 9/11 were healthy. The generalized Islamophobia made it easy for America to get itself into brutal wars and conflicts around the world, resulting in not only widespread human suffering but downstream effects (including the rise of ISIS and the refugee crises). read the complete article
Encore: How bias against Muslims is changing in America, 20 years after 9/11
Once it was clear that the 9/11 hijackers were Muslim, American Muslims became targets 21 years ago. The pain and anger of the tragedy drove anti-American sentiment as well as ongoing suspicion and misconception of Islam. Has public perception towards Muslims shifted, as the 21-year marker of 9/11 approaches? In an edition for the 20th anniversary last year, Under The Radar examined the systemic and structural racism against Muslims that has long been embedded in the United States. read the complete article
It’s Been 21 Years and Politicians Still Say the Same Things About 9/11
The series of events, which killed 2,977 people, shocked a nation that had not experienced such mass carnage on its mainland since the Civil War. The period after the attacks witnessed a brief period of comity in the nation and an outpouring of sympathy and support for the United States from the rest of the world. All of that soon evaporated as the US government launched the War on Terror, an effort marked by officially sanctioned torture and mass surveillance. And so today, given that history, how should we remember 9/11? In a speech at the Pentagon today, flanked by military brass, President Joe Biden showcased what has emerged as the conventional way to think about the history-changing cataclysm: An attack on American resolve, which the nation absorbed with dignity, and responded to with successful and justified aggression. Meanwhile, right-wing pols chose to lionize the War on Terror without such restraint. Rudy Giuliani—who commanded the spotlight as “America’s Mayor” during 9/11 and its aftermath—took a break from his crusade to overturn the 2020 election to claim that the wars “preserved our spirit and saved our nation,” while having a poke at “Islamic Extremist Terrorists.” In his 2021 book Reign of Terror, veteran journalist Spencer Ackerman delivered a different way of thinking about the violence unleashed in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Ackerman argues that the forever wars neither “protect[ed] the American people” (as Biden claimed) nor “saved” the nation (as per Giuliani). Instead, buoyed by a tangle of lies about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the wars torched trillions of dollars of federal money only to fan racist anti-immigrant furor; justify torture and the rise of mass digital surveillance; breed an atmosphere of paranoia and conspiracy-mongering that eroded faith in American institutions; and committed the nation to foreign adventures that could never end in victory. The chaos wrought at home ultimately opened the door to the presidency of Donald Trump, Ackerman argues. read the complete article
Faces of Islam exhibit highlights diversity of Texas Muslims
When you think of a Muslim, what comes to mind? Perhaps not someone of Latino or African American descent, but a new art exhibit in San Antonio looked to challenge the standard notions of who is a Muslim and what the faith means to them. Faces of Islam, which features portrait photos highlighting the diversity of Muslims in Texas, made its public debut Saturday in San Antonio at the Dock Space Gallery on Lone Star Blvd. The man behind the camera, Ramin Samandari, told FOX 26 in an email interview the project first began during a time of heightened islamophobia and resulted in a series of similar works preceding it. "The idea for this project came about in 2016 after the Presidential election and all the anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric coming from the former president," he explained. "First I did the series on immigration which was funded and housed permanently at the Institute of Texan Culture. Next, I started the Faces of Islam project." By photographing and interviewing local Muslims, Samandari looked to demonstrate the complexity of the city's Muslim population. In other words, he aimed to showcase the lives of ordinary Texans, who just so happen to be Muslim. "I wanted to show the Muslim community in its all diversity and demystify what it means to be a Muslim," he explained. read the complete article
Decades after 9/11, Muslims battle Islamophobia in US
For Muslim Americans, the post-September 11 ramifications of Islamophobia continue as the 21st anniversary of the attacks is solemnly marked on Sunday. According to FBI statistics, hate crimes against Muslims in the United States skyrocketed immediately after September 11, 2001, and are still on an upward trend. “Muslims continue to be the target of hate, bullying, and discrimination as a result of the stereotypes that were perpetuated by Islamophobes and the media in the years following the 9/11 attacks,” said Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “Twenty-one years after the attacks, Muslims continue to face the threat of targeted violence.” After September 11, Ayloush said, there was “a perfect storm of the American people and its government needing a common ‘enemy’”. “The unfortunate reality is there are people and organisations that benefit from perpetuating Islamophobia, bigotry, and war,” he said. Zahra Jamal, associate director of Rice University’s Boniuk Institute for Religious Tolerance in Houston, said 62 percent of Muslims report feeling religion-based hostility and 65 percent felt disrespected by others. “That’s almost three times the percentage among Christians,” said Jamal. “Internalised Islamophobia is more prevalent among younger Muslims who have faced anti-Muslim tropes in popular culture, news, social media, political rhetoric, and in policy. This negatively impacts their self-image and mental health.” She said the numbers related to discrimination against Muslims are alarming and show just how much Islamophobia has increased in the US over the past 20 years. read the complete article
Muslim Americans see their political clout grow 20 years after 9/11
The political and cultural power of Muslim Americans has grown in the past 20 years as a result of an expanding voter base and record numbers of candidates running for office at both at the local and national level. But the rise in political power has come with its difficulties. Since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks carried out by Al Qaeda on American soil, Muslims living in the U.S. have experienced political and cultural firsts along with an exponential rise in hate crimes, bullying, harassment and racial profiling. In the years following 9/11, anti-Muslim sentiment grew in the United States. Wa’el Alzayat, CEO of Emgage, a Muslim American civic group, explained to Changing America that Muslim Americans could have stayed silent in the aftermath of 9/11 as a “way to defend their interests and their freedoms” because of hostile rhetoric. But eventually, Alzayat said, the community warmed to a more affirmative agenda, engaging in political discourse and becoming an active voter block in U.S. elections. By 2020, a record number of Muslim Americans voted and were running for elected office. Emgage found there were 1.5 million registered Muslim American voters in 2020 and that well over half — 71 percent — cast a ballot. The figure was four percentage points higher than the national average of about 67 percent. The country has also seen an increase in the number of Muslim candidates and elected officials. read the complete article
Compassion and understanding still lacking in classroom lessons about 9/11
Muslim students are grateful that this 21st anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks falls on a Sunday, when there’s no school. It’s because we still teach about the events of that day in a way that makes these students feel unsafe, unwelcome or uncomfortable in their classrooms. It’s a heavy price to pay, considering they weren’t even born when the attacks occurred. Lallia Allali believes our school systems must do better. Allali is a Ph.D. student in the department of leadership studies at the University of San Diego. She also serves as chair of the District English Learners Advisory Committee in the San Diego Unified School District. At school sites, Allali — who wears a hijab — was often approached by Muslim students. She heard a consistent theme in their 9/11 stories: that classroom discussions made them feel cornered, attacked and sometimes drawn to tears. The frank and heart-wrenching conversations inspired Allali’s research project at the University of San Diego, exploring the experiences of Muslim students, grades 8-12, in three San Diego area school districts. The students reported that teachers placed heavy reliance on stereotypes and generalizations to describe the 9/11 attacks: Since the perpetrators were Muslim, the entire faith must be suspect (a sentiment that was only reinforced by teachers’ use of the term “Islamic terrorists”). The students also spoke about inadequacies in textbooks and classroom conversations. There was no mention of the Muslims who worked in the World Trade Center, acted as first responders, or died on the ill-fated planes. Nor was there discussion about related but controversial topics, like the subsequent treatment of Muslim prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. The students’ own views and perspectives were not solicited. In her analysis and interpretation of the focus group transcripts, Allali noted a direct linkage between the classroom experience and the bullying of Muslim students. Sadly, it’s more than a once-a-year occurrence. read the complete article
5 Guantánamo prisoners accused in 9/11 attacks could get plea deals
"The families are outraged," she said of the possibility of plea deals. "They don't want closure, they want justice." Another group, 9/11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, has said that a guilty plea and agreement not to appeal the sentence "would be partly in recognition of the torture each of the defendants experienced" and bring "some measure of judicial finality." "All five defendants and the government are all engaged in good faith negotiations, with the idea of bringing this trial which has become a forever trial to an end," said James Connell, a defense attorney for al-Baluchi. "Mr. al-Baluchi's number one priority is obtaining medical care for his torture," Connell continued. "In order to get that medical care, he is willing to plead guilty to a substantial sentence at Guantanamo in exchange for a guarantee of medical care and dropping the death penalty. Before their transfer to Guantanamo Bay in 2006, the five 9/11 defendants were held by the CIA and interrogated. Critics call the extreme interrogation tactics torture. "The one that has had perhaps the most lasting physical impact was what they called 'walling,'" Alka Pradhan told CBS News. Pradhan is a human rights attorney on the al-Baluchi legal team. "He had told us that his head was bashed against a wall repeatedly until he saw sparks and fainted," Pradhan said. " The result of that is, as we've had several medical experts examine him, is lasting brain damage ." When asked by CBS News if declining to pursue the death penalty was fair, Pradhan responded, "The United States government failed all of us after Sept. 11 in their decisions to use illegal techniques and illegal programs … In doing so, it rather corrupted all the legal processes." read the complete article
International
African People Bear the Weight of US’s Deadly “War on Terror” on the Continent
On the evening of September 20, 2001, then-President George W. Bush addressed the American public and laid the political, military and ideological groundwork for the “war on terror,” a global campaign of allied security forces to end domestic and international terrorism, a term so loosely defined that it soon became a container for anyone from al-Qaeda militants to teenage school shooters to January 6 rioters to leftists and human rights activists. In the same way that the world eventually realized the catastrophic failure of the “war on drugs,” more and more people are realizing that the war on terror is also an unwinnable war against a constantly shifting enemy. In this address, Bush promised what followed would not be an age of terror, but “an age of liberty, here and across the world.” Twenty-one years after September 11, this “age of liberty” has ushered in an expanded surveillance apparatus, bloated defense budgets, military invasions and occupations, and the death and displacement of millions of people from Iraq to Somalia. While the Middle East is seen as the locus of the war on terror, one of the most ruthlessly pummeled frontiers of this war is the African continent. In 2007, in a post-9/11 political and psychological landscape, President Bush and Donald Rumsfeld, then secretary of defense, launched U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), which oversees all Department of Defense military operations on the continent in order to “monitor and disrupt violent extremist organizations and protect U.S. interests” because of the continent’s growing strategic importance. AFRICOM has not created the “safety and stability” invoked by U.S. leaders, but it has expanded the U.S. military’s footprint. Despite the fact that the U.S. is not at war with any African country, there are 46 U.S. military bases and outposts spanning the continent, with the greatest concentration in the Horn of Africa. read the complete article
Muslims are 25% of the world population. But in 200 shows researchers studied, they were just 1% of speaking characters
Despite making up one quarter of the world's population, Muslims are severely underrepresented on television -- and when they are represented, they're depicted as shallow stereotypes, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism analyzed over 200 TV series that aired between 2018 and 2019, hoping to understand how Muslims were portrayed on popular shows. They found that only 1% of speaking characters were Muslim -- whereas 25% of the world's population is Muslim. And across the 200 TV series, only 12 series regulars were Muslim, the study found. Seven of those Muslim series regulars were perpetrators or targets of physical violence -- part of the pervasive stereotyping of Muslim characters, according to the researchers. The research focused on scripted, episodic series from the US, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. A total of 87% of the shows studied didn't include even one Muslim speaking character, says the study. The Muslims that were portrayed tended to follow stereotypes -- and they lacked the diversity that characterizes the real Muslim population, according to the study. Over half of Muslim speaking characters were men, and they were mostly Middle Eastern. Very few Muslims were identified with the LGBTQ community and none were shown with a disability, the researchers found. The researchers identified several tropes that dominated the depiction of Muslim characters on TV. Muslims tended to be depicted as "foreign," speaking accented English or not speaking English at all. Almost a third of Muslim speaking characters were violent against other characters -- and 40% were the targets of violence. read the complete article
Minnesota's Indian community raises concerns about anti-Muslim sentiment and politics in India
A group of diverse Indian community members met recently, united by their mission: to track the troubling politics of India and compel Americans to help stem a growing tide of hate against South Asian Muslims. They formed the India Coalition to promote coexistence in the Twin Cities' Indian community and to curb bigotry spreading across the United States as a result, in part, of a form of Hindu nationalism — Hindutva — that is pitting Hindus against Muslims. I see an inexorable "wave of hate, bigotry and fascism taking over India," said attendee Zafar Siddiqui, an activist and board member of several local nonprofits. "And if there is no pushback, however small that is, it's going to consume us." Siddiqui started the group by bringing together friends and acquaintances of Indian origin from a variety of faith, cultural, linguistic and professional backgrounds. The group of about 31 hopes to draw attention to political issues that have cost lives in India but have gone largely unnoticed by the general public in the United States. read the complete article
How the 'war on terror' obscures America's alliance with right-wing Islam
There’s an oft-repeated refrain by Muslim American multiculturalists: “Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim country.” You’ll hear it at conventions and panel discussions or read it in pamphlets that remind American audiences that Muslims are not just Arab or South Asian, that the global Muslim population is vast and varied. Yet, there’s a provocative tale buried here, in the history of this most-populous Muslim nation, and it gets lost in platitudes about the diversity of the Muslim world. It’s a story that indicts not only imperialist violence and capitalist expansion, but the manipulation of Muslim identity itself in enabling each of these. Though Indonesian President Sukarno was himself no communist, he recognised the strengths of various forces in Indonesia: communist, nationalist, and religious, and believed a tripartite blend of these ought to shape the nation’s political system. This was enough for the CIA to make moves to end Sukarno’s rule. At times, these efforts were cartoonish: the agency once produced a false pornographic video, featuring a Sukarno body double, in a ploy to deflate his popularity. Practising, observant Muslims populated Indonesia’s trade union, progressive, and communist movements. But their right-wing opposition was also overtly religious, and it was in them that the CIA and State Department saw key allies. These US-backed right-wing Muslim forces would use explicitly religious justifications - despite the overwhelming Muslim composition of the Indonesian left – in their assaults on the PKI and other left elements. What happened next is well-known: a bloody reign of terror under Suharto that, under the banner of anti-communism, carried out a genocidal purge in Indonesia. Hundreds of thousands, if not a million, were brutally murdered. The US hailed the outcome a great success. US News & World Report ran a headline: “Indonesia: Hope Where There Once Was None.” As recently as 2011, presidential candidate Mitt Romney assessed the US role in this devastating history, proclaiming, “We helped them move toward modernity.” Indonesia, where observant Muslim leftists were stamped out by US-backed right-wing Muslim forces, is an object lesson for how we might rethink our fundamental conceptions of Islamophobia. Perhaps the most insidious case of the security state’s relationship with Islam is in Afghanistan, where the US carefully sponsored a regressive brand of Islamic practise in order to weaken and provoke its Soviet foe. This sponsorship would come home to roost decades later in the most spectacular instance of blowback in US history, the 11 September attacks. And Islam wasn’t just a backdrop for the manoeuvrings of US policy in Afghanistan; it was its raw material. read the complete article
Hindu nationalist to speak in Ridgewood, sparking outcry
A Hindu nationalist accused of hate speech against religious minorities is scheduled to speak at a fundraiser in Ridgewood on Saturday, sparking protests and calls to cancel the event. Sadhvi Rithambara, on tour in the U.S., will stop at the Old Paramus Reformed Church in an event hosted by the New Jersey chapter of the Param Shakti Peeth of America, a charitable organization affiliated with the leader. The event was described as a spiritual gathering. Opponents say she is a leader in a right-wing nationalist movement who has stoked discrimination and violence against Muslims in India. “To invite such a divisive person to the country where people live in harmony is kind of sad, really,” said Shaheen Khateeb, a Washington Township resident and a founder and former president of the Indian American Muslim Council, an advocacy group. To her supporters, Rithambara is a revered spiritual leader, but controversy is not new for Rithambara. She was accused of having a role in the razing of the 16th century Babri mosque in Uttar Pradesh in 1992, an event that sparked violence in which over 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed. Thirty-two leaders including Rithambara were acquitted in 2020 after a 28-year legal battle over the incident. read the complete article
West weighs contentious anti-China move as U.N. rights council opens
Western countries face a dilemma as the U.N. Human Rights Council opens on Monday: confront China over human rights violations in its Xinjiang region and risk failing or miss the biggest opportunity to bring accountability in years. A report by the U.N. rights office on Aug. 31 found that China's "arbitrary and discriminatory detention" of Uyghurs and other Muslims there may constitute crimes against humanity. China vigorously denies any abuse. Western diplomats said a group of democracies is considering a range of options including a resolution on China for the first time in the council's 16-year-history - a move that might include an investigative mechanism. For some, what is at stake is the West's moral authority on human rights that has prevailed in the decades since the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in the aftermath of millions of civilian deaths in World War Two. read the complete article
The War on Terror’s Detention and Torture Practices Have Not Gone Away
The so-called “war on terror,” initiated by the U.S. and its global allies in response to the 9/11 attacks in 2001, did not so much change the rules of warfare as throw them out of the window. In the aftermath of 9/11 and the ensuing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war was virtually abandoned when the U.S. and its allies detained hundreds of thousands of men, women and children, mainly civilians. The use of torture and indefinite arbitrary detention became defining features of the war on terror. Intelligence yielded from the use of torture was not particularly effective, and experimentation on human subjects was an element of the process. Guantánamo Bay, which currently holds 36 prisoners, is viewed by many human rights defenders as a final remnant of the policy of mass arbitrary detention. The little light shed on these practices has largely been the result of hard and persistent work by international and civil society organizations, as well as lawyers who continue to sue states and other parties involved on behalf of victims and their families, some of whom are still detained. A report presented earlier this year by Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights, following up on a 2010 U.N. report on secret detention, found that the “failure to address secret detention” has allowed similar practices to flourish in North-East Syria and Xinjiang Province in China. read the complete article
United Kingdom
A faith in fabric: can Farwa Moledina’s art change perceptions of Muslim women?
Since moving to the UK from Dubai in 2010, Birmingham-based artist Farwa Moledina has set about reclaiming the narrative around Muslim women. “I think there’s an erasure of Muslim women in contemporary art. There’s a singular narrative that you find in museum and gallery spaces. There’s never an alternative presented.” Moledina, who has exhibited work at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, the Midlands Art Centre and also as part of the Lahore Biennale, creates strong, intricate works that incorporate patterns, textiles and symbols. She is inspired by the work of the Moroccan photographer Lalla Essaydi, who is best known for her depiction of Arabic female identity, and also by the writer Edward Said’s critique of orientalism. Her forthcoming exhibition, Women of Paradise at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham, is inspired by the four women named by the prophet Muhammad as the Women of Paradise: Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, Fātima bint Muhammad, Maryam bint Imran, and Asiya bint Muzahim. “There’s something about each of their stories that are examples to us as Muslims. Their strengths, their bravery, their faith and their independence. They are role models.” Moledina believes Khadijah’s story is particularly symbolic. She was the wife of Muhammad and was instrumental in spreading Islam. “She was a merchant. Prophet Muhammad was actually employed by one of her agents to go and do the selling. And on noticing his honesty and integrity, she proposed marriage to him,” Moledina says. “She supported him both emotionally and financially. This is a story of independence and endeavour that is inspiring for Muslim women. A lot of the time, the story you get is that Muslim women sit at home. They don’t work. They’re oppressed.” read the complete article
King Charles: What are his views on Islam?
On Islam, Charles has on several occasions expressed his thoughts and has openly talked about his admiration for the Muslim religion. Writer Robert Jobson in his book Charles At Seventy: Thoughts, Hopes and Dreams noted that the monarch studies the Islamic holy book the Quran and signs letters to Muslim leaders in Arabic. During a 2006 visit to Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, Charles criticised the 2005 publication of Danish cartoons that mocked Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, calling everyone to respect others’ beliefs. “The true mark of a civilised society is the respect it pays to minorities and to strangers … The recent ghastly strife and anger over the Danish cartoons shows the danger that comes of our failure to listen and to respect what is precious and sacred to others,” he said in his remarks. The cartoons led to debate about anti-Muslim hatred and the limits of freedom of speech in the west. Charles has long advocated for bringing the Muslim world and the West closer, adding there was a lot of “misunderstanding” about Islam in the West. “If there is much misunderstanding in the West about the nature of Islam, there is also much ignorance about the debt our own culture and civilisation owe to the Islamic world. It is a failure which stems, I think, from the straightjacket of history which we have inherited,” he said in 1993 during a much-cited speech at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. Charles warned that extremism must not be seen as a “hallmark” of Islam, and said it was “no more the monopoly of Islam than it is the monopoly of other religions, including Christianity”. read the complete article
British Muslims’ citizenship reduced to ‘second-class’ status, says thinktank
British Muslims have had their citizenship reduced to “second-class” status as a result of recently extended powers to strip people of their nationality, a thinktank has claimed. The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) says the targets of such powers are almost exclusively Muslims, mostly of south Asian heritage, embedding discrimination and creating a lesser form of citizenship. The IRR’s report was published on Sunday amid renewed controversy over the case of Shamima Begum, who was smuggled into the hands of Islamic State aged 15, and in the wake of the Nationality and Borders Act – that allowed citizenship to be stripped without notifying the subject, coming on to the statute books. Frances Webber, IRR vice-chair and report author, wrote: “The message sent by the legislation on deprivation of citizenship since 2002 and its implementation largely against British Muslims of south Asian heritage is that, despite their passports, these people are not and can never be ‘true’ citizens, in the same way that ‘natives’ are. “While a ‘native’ British citizen, who has access to no other citizenship, can commit the most heinous crimes without jeopardising his right to remain British, none of the estimated 6 million British citizens with access to another citizenship can feel confident in the perpetual nature of their citizenship.” Webber said before being used against the Muslim preacher Abu Hamza in 2003, no deprivation of citizenship had been authorised for 30 years. But since then there have been at least 217, with 104 removals in 2017 after the collapse of Islamic State in Syria. read the complete article
Canada
Muslim community in B.C. calls for concrete action to address Islamophobia
At a public hearing in Vancouver this week, members of B.C.'s Muslim community called for more concrete action to address Islamophobia in the province and across the country. On Wednesday, British Columbians, including scholars and community leaders gathered at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre for a public hearing, part of a country-wide study on Islamophobia by the Senate Committee on Human Rights. As attendees and speakers testified about their personal experiences and research, the message in the room was clear: Islamophobia is growing in British Columbia and Canada, and more needs to be done. In the past five years, more Muslims have been killed in targeted hate attacks in Canada than in any other G-7 country — because of Islamophobia, according to the National Council of Canadian Muslims. "I am really troubled that Islamophobia is increasing in Canada … there's still a lot of work to do," said Sen. Mobina Jaffer, who represents B.C. in the Senate of Canada. read the complete article
Sweden
Swedish politicians exposed for wanting to 'eradicate' Muslims
Swedish far-right politicians who are set to participate in Sunday's elections have been exposed for wanting to eradicate Muslims and "blackheads". Swedish magazine Expo, along with news outlet, Expressen, on Thursday outlined many right-wing candidates who openly pay tributes to Nazis. Sweden Democrats (SD) politician Bjorn Halldin has been disseminating anti-Muslim discourse and spreading hate for years, according to the report. He wrote that Muslims do not belong to a civilised world and that he wants to kill them. Halldin shared insulting pictures of Black people using terms such as the N-word and has portrayed them as lazy. He wrote that Sweden should exterminate "blackheads," a derogatory term for Black people. Goran Nordin, who is running for SD in municipal elections, has been spreading hate speech against Muslims, and Somalis in particular. Lena Cederlid, who is running for the SD in Falun said she is a proud member of the racist Nazi group, DFS. read the complete article