Islamophobia and Antisemitism On Rise in US amid Israel-Hamas War

THE GUARDIAN: Research shows increase in prejudice and hate as civil rights group condemns ‘unprecedented surge in bigotry’

Islamophobia and antisemitism are seeing sharp increases across the US after war between Israel and Hamas erupted last month.

According to a new report by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair), the Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization received a total of 1,283 requests for help and reports of bias between 7 October and 4 November.

Cair, which has called the spike “unprecedented”, revealed that the recent increase in Islamophobia and anti-Arab sentiment across the US mark a 216% increase over the previous year. In an average 29-day period in 2022, Cair received only 406 complaints. » | Maya Yang | Friday, November 10, 2023

Antisemitic and Islamophobic Incidents Surge in Australia

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Tensions between religious groups in Australia have risen since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

Posters plastered across Sydney portraying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel as Adolf Hitler in disguise. A record increase in reports of Islamophobia, including threats to Muslim community organizations. Antisemitic chants at a pro-Palestinian rally and charges that Nazi salutes were performed outside a Jewish museum.

Australia has experienced a flurry of incidents targeting Muslims and Jews, making it one of many countries reporting a rise in such cases since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.

Reports to the Islamophobia Register Australia, an independent organization that tracks anti-Muslim sentiment, have increased tenfold since the start of the war, Sharara Attai, the executive director of the group, told an Australian news service, adding that many more incidents have likely gone unreported.

Interfaith relations have become strained, with at least two Australian rabbis resigning last month from the Jewish Muslim Christian Association, a group that works to promote religious harmony, after some faith leaders failed to condemn the Hamas attacks, which killed some 1,400 people in Israel. Members of the country’s roughly 100,000-strong Jewish community have been left feeling isolated, representatives said, over a perceived absence of sympathy for the suffering caused by the attacks. » | Natasha Frost | Monday, November 6, 2023

L'ANTISÉMITISME EN FRANCE :

Refuser la banalisation de l’antisémitisme : Depuis le 7 octobre, les juifs français sont confrontés à une multiplication des agressions et des actes de haine. Mais ce phénomène n’est pas uniquement lié à une nouvelle explosion du conflit au Proche-Orient : en réalité, l’antisémitisme, sous ses différents visages, s’est installé dans notre société. »

UN Urged to Intervene after Qur’an Burnings in Sweden and Denmark

THE GUARDIAN: Organisation of Islamic Cooperation representing 57 states calls for appointment of special rapporteur on Islamophobia

People hold copies of the Qur’an during a protest outside the Swedish consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on Sunday. Photograph: Chris McGrath/Getty
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation has strongly condemned recent Qur’an burnings in Sweden and Denmark as “despicable acts of aggression” and called on intervention by the United Nations amid a growing diplomatic crisis.

A special session of the body of foreign ministers met virtually on Monday, on the same day as a further protest involving the desecration of the Muslim holy book took place outside the Swedish parliament.

In a 35-point action plan, the OIC, which represents 57 states, called on the UN secretary general to appoint a special rapporteur on combating Islamophobia and urged all governments to fully implement existing law or adopt new legislation if needed, citing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. » | M iranda Bryant in Stockholm | Tuesday, August 1, 2023

This is nonsense! There is clearly a linguistic misunderstanding here. A phobia is not a HATRED of, but a FEAR of something. The word derives from the Greek Φόβος which itself derives from the mythological Greek god Phobos, who had a special talent to be able to inspire fear and panic in others. How can one legislate against people’s fears? It simply CANNOT be done. No more than any government or authority can introduce legislation to make people love something or somebody.

It should be obvious to all by now that Islamophobia is a problem, and a growing one; but tackling it lies not in Western legislation; rather, the solution lies in changing legislation in Islamic countries.

Westerners have every reason to be fearful of Islam and its growth here in Western countries. They see on their TV screens, on the Internet, and they read in their newspapers the atrocious treatment that Islamic governments mete out to their citizens for relatively trivial misdemeanours, and often to people who, in our eyes, commit no crime whatsoever.

If the UN wants to eliminate Islamophobia—and I am certain that they do (and should)—the Organisation needs to start piling pressure on countries governed by Islamic law—Shar’iah law—not on Western governments. The UN needs to work towards Islamic governments respecting UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS. Most of them do not respect human rights. There are so many examples that could be cited; but here are just a few: the brutal treatment in Iran of women not wearing, or wishing to wear, the hijab; people being put to death in many Muslim-majority countries simply for being homosexual, a nature and predisposition most gays can do absolutely NOTHING about – they are simply born with this proclivity; and so many Muslims are jailed (and brutally treated whilst incarcerated) as ‘political prisoners simply for having different viewpoints than the government’s. Need I go on?

Then there is the problem with Islam itself. It is the indisputable belief of all devout Muslims that Islam will one day conquer the whole world. In their view, the whole wide world belongs to Allah; so, it must be Islamized for Him. The sooner, the better. Well-informed Westerners know this, so is there any wonder that Islamophobia is growing here in the Western world?

If the UN, if Islamic governments, and if Muslims want to combat this growing problem, they need to look East not West! Their behaviour needs to be modified, their laws need to be changed or modified, so that our fears can be eradicated. Ergo, the solution to this thorny problem lies not in the Occident, but in the Orient. – © Mark Alexander

Tory Islamophobia Report a ‘Whitewash’, Say Muslims in Party

THE GUARDIAN: Inquiry deems comments from PM were insensitive but finds no evidence of ‘institutional racism’

A long-awaited review into Islamophobia within the Conservative party has been condemned as a whitewash by Muslim Tories despite criticising the language used by Boris Johnson and the mayoral campaign run by Zac Goldsmith for being insensitive to Muslim communities.

The prime minister’s comments, in which he compared women wearing the burqa to letterboxes, were singled out in the review headed by Prof Swaran Singh.

The inquiry found that anti-Muslim sentiment was still present at local association and individual levels, but claims of “institutional racism” were not borne out by evidence of the way complaints were handled.

Senior Muslim figures within the party said the review was inadequate and failed to address deep prejudices in the party. Sajjad Karim, who was a Tory MEP for more than a decade and chaired the European parliament’s working group on Islamophobia, said: “The manner in which this inquiry has been conducted means it is nothing but an attempt to whitewash deep-rooted issues out of sight. » | Rajeev Syal | Tuesday, May 25, 2021

German Politician Helge Lindh Slams Anti-Muslim Hatred

German politician Helge Lindh has been praised for his speeches slamming racism and anti-Muslim hatred. TRT World spoke with Lindh about European leaders advancing anti-Muslim sentiments and the mainstreaming of far-right attitudes. #HelgeLindh #GermanIslamophobia #TurkishGerman

There's a Social Pandemic Poisoning Europe: Hatred of Muslims

THE GUARDIAN: If anti-Muslim prejudice is not targeted, steps to counter racism in Europe in the wake of BLM protests will be meaningless

Rarely does the EU act so swiftly. Less than four months since the killing of George Floyd in police custody and the Black Lives Matter campaign that spilled into Europe and galvanised continent-wide protests, the EU is appointing its first ever anti-racism coordinator. This brilliant idea will make little sense, however, if anti-Muslim hatred is not part of their portfolio. Because instead of building a “truly anti-racist union”, as the president of the European commission, Ursula von der Leyen, would wish, we have so far built an anti-Muslim one.

Prejudice against Muslims exists in every corner of Europe. Not only do we collectively devalue and discriminate against Europeans who follow Islam, but the incidence of violence against Muslims is increasing.

We have known since the refugee and migration crisis of 2015 and the jihadist terrorist attacks in France, Spain and Germany that Muslims suffer from an exceptionally bad reputation in our societies. In 2019, research conducted for the Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Religion Monitor yet again confirmed widespread mistrust towards Muslims across Europe. In Germany and Switzerland, every second respondent said they perceived Islam as a threat. In the UK, two in five share this perception. In Spain and France, about 60% think Islam is incompatible with the “west”. In Austria, one in three doesn’t want to have Muslim neighbours.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) confirms these findings in its most recent paper on the rise and meaning of hate crimes against Muslims. So does Europe’s police coordinating body Europol: in 2019, far-right terrorism soared.

What is more surprising is how quickly anti-Muslim racism has turned violent. » | Patrycja Sasnal and Yasemin El Menouar | Monday, September 28, 2020

Half of Conservative Party Members Believe Islam Is Threat, Poll Finds

THE GUARDIAN: Survey finds six in 10 card-carrying Tories have negative attitude towards Muslims

Almost half of Conservative party members believe Islam “a threat to the British way of life,” according to a poll which has reignited concerns over Islamophobia within Britain’s ruling party.

It found that more than one-third of card-carrying Tories believed that Islamist terror attacks reflected a widespread hostility to Britain among the Muslim community, and nearly six in 10 thought “there are no-go areas in Britain where sharia law dominates and non-Muslims cannot enter.”

Attitudes hardened among those who had backed Boris Johnson in the 2019 leadership election, 44% of whom believed that Islamist terror reflected widespread hostility of British Muslims, and two-thirds of whom believed there were “no-go areas”.

Conservative members were far more likely to have negative attitudes towards Muslims than members of the public in general, 30% of whom said they thought Islam was a threat, according to the poll, which was commissioned by the antiracism organization Hope Not Hate. » | Damien Gayle | Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Trump Under Fire over Islamophobia after Man Threatens to Kill Ilhan Omar

THE GUARDIAN: Ocasio-Cortez also makes direct link between controversial remarks by Fox News’s Jeanine Pirro and threat against Omar

Donald Trump and Fox News are coming under fire for contributing to a climate of Islamophobia, following the arrest of a supporter of the president who threatened to kill Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota who was one of the first Muslim women elected to the US Congress. » | Ed Pilkington in New York | Sunday, April 7, 2019

Owen Jones Meets Sayeeda Warsi | 'Islamophobia Is Britain’s Bigotry Blind Spot'

Tory peer Sayeeda Warsi is one the most outspoken critics of Islamophobia in her own party. I met her to talk about what she calls ‘Britain's bigotry blind spot’ and the consequences it has for Muslim communities around the country. She has some damning criticism for the way her party has dealt with the racism in its ranks and fears what will happen if Michael Gove, one of the current favourites to replace Theresa May, becomes prime minister.

Scott Morrison Responds to Turkish President's Gallipoli Comments

Ahead of issuing a dressing-down to the Turkish ambassador, Australian prime minister Scott Morrison was highly critical of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's accusation of Islamophobia in the wake of the Christchurch terror attack. He said it was the job of politicians to take the heat out of such situations and no to to inflame them

Labour Formally Adopts Definition of Islamophobia

THE GUARDIAN: All-party parliamentary group definition says Islamophobia is ‘rooted in racism’

The Labour party has formally adopted a definition of Islamophobia, arguing that it is vital to tackling the rise of far-right racism.

A party spokesperson said its national executive committee had adopted the working definition produced by the all-party parliamentary group on British Muslims “to help tackle Islamophobia, build a common understanding of its causes and consequences, and express solidarity with Muslim communities”.

The definition reads: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” » | Frances Perraudin | Wednesday, March 20, 2019

State-Sponsored Islamophobia & Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric Embolden Right-Wing Terrorists

Fifty people are dead, and millions around the globe are mourning, following the massacre at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Friday. The terrorist attack unfolded during Friday prayer, when a lone gunman and avid white supremacist opened fire on worshipers while live-streaming the attack on Facebook. It was the deadliest shooting in the country’s modern history. The youngest of the dead is 3-year-old Mucad Ibrahim. Police have arrested and charged a 28-year-old Australian white supremacist named Brenton Tarrant with the killings. Tarrant published a manifesto praising President Donald Trump as “a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose.” Trump has refused to acknowledge the global rise of white nationalism in the wake of the attack. We speak with Khaled Beydoun, a law professor at the University of Arkansas and the author of “American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear.” He says, “There’s an underbelly of anti-Muslim animus that facilitates the emergence of the very brazen Islamophobia we see today, weaponized by people like President Trump or by terrorists on the ground in places like New Zealand who commit massacres like we saw on Friday.”

Islamophobia Inc | Al Jazeera Investigations

Across the United States, there has been a growth in organizations that portray Islam as a threat.

Over two years, the number of groups that make up what’s become known as the Islamophobia industry has more than tripled.

This investigation reveals the tactics these groups use to instigate a fear of Islam, including how they manipulate social media to create a false narrative that Muslims are trying to take over the country.

Anti-Muslim messages proliferate social media with bought-in followers, fake accounts and robotic amplifiers.

The investigation also shows how these organizations try to suppress the rise of a Muslim political voice in America. It uncovers the “dark money” that has fuelled the rapid growth of Islamophobia Inc. - tens of millions of dollars which is funnelled through secretive, anonymous donor funds.

We unveil the donors of the dark money and ask; what do they ultimately hope to achieve?

Why Is Islamophobia Increasing in Western Countries? | Inside Story

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern calls it a ‘terrorist attack.’ She was sent a 74-page so-called "manifesto" against Muslims and immigrants by a suspected gunman just minutes before he began firing indiscriminately at the first of two mosques in Christchurch.

In the "manifesto" the suspect describes U.S. President Donald Trump as a symbol of renewed white identity.

When Trump asked Ardern what he could do to help, she told him to show "sympathy and love for all Muslim communities."

So what's driving the hatred and prejudice against Muslims in Western countries? And is it linked to white supremacy?

Presenter: Hazem Sika | Guests: Tasneem Chopra, chair of the Australian Muslim Women's Centre for Human Rights; Rodger Shanahan, research fellow at the Lowy Institute; Matthew Goodwin, professor at the University of Kent and former member of the UK government's Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group.

Boris Johnson's Burka Jibe: Discussion – BBC Newsnight

Former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has been accused of Islamophobia after writing in his Telegraph column that Muslim women wearing burkas "look like letter boxes".

Evan Davis is joined by Mohammed Amin, Chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum, and Jack Blanchard, Editor of Politico London Playbook to discuss Mr Johnson's controversial comments.

John Bolton Names Professional Islamophobe & Bush Official Fred Fleitz to National Security Staff

The White House has appointed a longtime senior staffer at an anti-Muslim think tank who has been named by National Security Adviser John Bolton as his new chief of staff. Fred Fleitz formerly served as Bolton’s undersecretary of state in the George W. Bush administration. He now joins the Trump administration from the Center for Security Policy, a think tank founded by former Reagan administration official Frank Gaffney. The Southern Poverty Law Center designated the organization an anti-Muslim extremist group. We speak with Eric Levitz, associate editor for New York Magazine’s “Daily Intelligencer,” whose recent piece is headlined “Bolton Installs Anti-Muslim Wingnut as NSC Chief of Staff.”

Islamophobia Inc | Al Jazeera Investigations

Across the United States, there has been a growth in organizations that portray Islam as a threat.

Over two years, the number of groups that make up what’s become known as the Islamophobia industry has more than tripled. This investigation reveals the tactics these groups use to instigate a fear of Islam, including how they manipulate social media to create a false narrative that Muslims are trying to take over the country.

Anti-Muslim messages proliferate social media with bought-in followers, fake accounts and robotic amplifiers. The investigation also shows how these organizations try to suppress the rise of a Muslim political voice in America. It uncovers the “dark money” that has fuelled the rapid growth of Islamophobia Inc. - tens of millions of dollars which is funnelled through secretive, anonymous donor funds. We unveil the donors of the dark money and ask; what do they ultimately hope to achieve?

What Is the Business of Hate? Islamophobia Inc. in the US | The Stream

Islamophobia in the United States is on the rise - and now a multi-million dollar industry is promoting it, a new documentary by Al Jazeera's Investigations unit has found.

Hate crimes against Muslims have dramatically increased, according to FBI statistics. Muslims in the US have reported incidents ranging from verbal abuse and intimidation to physical assaults, whille mosques have been vandalised and, in some cases, been hit with home-made explosives.

Against this backdrop the number of Islamophobic organisations in the US has risen sharply - anti-Muslim groups trebled between 2015 and 2016. The election of Donald Trump as US president has given them more space to thrive, and they are becoming ever more adroit at spreading their disinformation through social media, buying fake Twitter followers and using bots that spread anti-Islam messages.

The traditional image of hate organisations brings to mind groups of disaffected, angry individuals with placards. But Islamophobia Incorporated is well-oiled, amply funded and politically connected.

Islamophobia Inc | Al Jazeera Investigations

Across the United States, there has been a growth in organizations that portray Islam as a threat. Over two years, the number of groups that make up what’s become known as the Islamophobia industry has more than tripled.

This investigation reveals the tactics these groups use to instigate a fear of Islam, including how they manipulate social media to create a false narrative that Muslims are trying to take over the country. Anti-Muslim messages proliferate social media with bought-in followers, fake accounts and robotic amplifiers.

The investigation also shows how these organizations try to suppress the rise of a Muslim political voice in America. It uncovers the “dark money” that has fuelled the rapid growth of Islamophobia Inc. - tens of millions of dollars, which are funnelled through secretive, anonymous donor funds. We unveil the donors of the dark money and ask; what do they ultimately hope to achieve?

Inside Story: Is President Donald Trump to Blame for a Rise in Hate Crimes?

The National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC celebrates its first anniversary this week. It took a century to get it built - a salute to the history, culture and achievements of America's almost 40 million black people. Fittingly, it was the Obamas who opened it along with George W. Bush, who had signed off on the project. Its opening could have heralded a new era, a departure from the racism of the past. But it hasn't.

In the past 12 months the US has had perhaps its most divisive election, there's a new man in the White House and racist violence and hate crimes are on the rise. So, what's behind this spike in hate?

Presenter: Martine Dennis | Guests: Daryl Johnson - Author, 'Rightwing Resurgence'; Day Gardener - President, National Black Pro-Life Union; Corey Saylor - Director, Department to Monitor & Combat Islamophobia, Council on American-Islamic Relations