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SearchToday in Islamophobia: Rohingya refugees allege sexual assault on Bangladeshi island. Serbia’s Muslims fear new ethnic violence after Montenegro post-election attacks. Our recommended read today is on late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who issued a brutal critique in her dissenting opinion of the Muslim Ban ruling, and called out Trump’s history of Islamophobia. This, and more, below:
United States
Muslim Ban Dissent Is A Part Of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Legacy | Recommended Read
Ginsburg, who died Friday at age 87, was remembered over the weekend by a broad spectrum of politicians and left-leaning advocacy groups for her staunch defense of social justice issues while serving on the nation’s highest court since 1993. Among her opinions was a scathing 2018 dissent of the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold President Donald Trump’s executive order banning travel to the U.S. from mostly Muslim-majority countries. read the complete article
How the Trump Administration Has Harmed Faith Communities
While the Trump administration purports to help this narrow band of religious Americans, the reality is that many of its policies have harmed all religious communities—particularly religious minorities. To understand the needs and concerns of all American faith communities, it is important to first understand the religious diversity of the nation. While 3 in 4 Americans identify with a religious tradition, only 15 percent identify as white evangelicals, according to the 2019 American Values Atlas Survey.1 Yet this small proportion of the population tends to garner a disproportionate share of attention concerning religion in the public discourse on national politics. Their concerns certainly dominate how the Trump administration’s impact on faith communities is perceived at large. read the complete article
Volleyball association accused of 'horrible discrimination' for banning Muslim girl for wearing a hijab
Najah Aqeel, who attends Valor College Prep in Nashville, was prevented from playing in a match by a referee who claimed her hijab broke “uniform rules”. According to Cameron Hill, Valor College’s athletic director, the referee refused to let Aqeel participate, saying her hijab broke National Federation of State High School Associations rules and she would have to request permission to compete from the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association. Neither Aqeel nor her Valor College coaches were aware of the rule, nor had it been invoked to stop her playing in matches before. read the complete article
International
Rohingya refugees allege sexual assault on Bangladeshi island
Rohingya refugees allege they are being held against their will in jail-like conditions and subjected to rape and sexual assault on a Bangladeshi island in the Bay of the Bengal. A group of more than 300 refugees were taken to the uninhabited, silt island of Bhasan Char in April, when a boat they were travelling on was intercepted by Bangladeshi authorities. The refugees were attempting to sail from the sprawling camps of Cox’s Bazar on the Bangladeshi mainland to Malaysia. Like hundreds of thousands of others, they originally fled to Bangladesh from neighbouring Myanmar, where they faced violence and ethnic cleansing. Khairu said the refugees were being held in jail-like conditions, with up to five people per 50-square ft room. She alleged that refugees were given dirty water to drink, which was often filled with insects. Many women were covered in rashes, she said. read the complete article
Serbia’s Muslims fear new ethnic violence after Montenegro post-election attacks
The Muslim-majority Serbian region of Sandzak, known as Rashka to Serbs, is a good example. Bordering Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, when there are political earthquakes in other parts of the Balkans, more often than not they are felt here. The latest quake to hit the troubled region was on 1 September, when Montenegro’s small Muslim community was targetted by ethnic and religious attacks following the elections on 30 August. Vandals smashed the windows of the local office of the Islamic community in Pljevlja, while graffiti that praised the 1995 Srebrenica massacre appeared on walls of the city and surrounding towns. This is really frightening,” said Mevlud Dudic, president of the Islamic Community in Serbia. read the complete article
The Trump administration sanctioned China for detaining 1 million Uighurs. Here’s what Americans think.
Our research found that while Americans are broadly concerned about China’s behavior, they just as strongly support building a constructive relationship with China. On an issue such as China’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang, the province where the Uighurs have been confined, the U.S. public supports sanctions but opposes more costly actions such as withdrawing the U.S. ambassador or going to war with China. We looked at public views of China’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang. About 11 million ethnic Uighurs, most of whom are Muslim, live in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. Since 2017, China has imprisoned at least 1 million of them in internment camps along with other ethnic minorities, calling them a security threat to ethnic Hans, who make up the nation’s majority. read the complete article