Watching from Australia, I feel both an elation at his win as well as exhaustion at the suspicion brown Muslims inevitably experience in the public sphere

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He eats biryani with his hands, references Bollywood, is an unapologetic Muslim and a progressive. He has also done something politically risky for a mainstream candidate: been vocal for Palestine. Zohran Mamdani proudly embodies what I have often felt alienated in: my own positioning as a Muslim progressive – one that has been treated as an oxymoron at best, or suspect at worst.

From Australia, watching him feels like having my own personality projected large. I feel both an elation at his reception and win as Democratic candidate for mayor of New York as well as exhaustion at the double bind and suspicion brown Muslims inevitably experience in the public sphere. It’s echoed here in Australia with the treatment of the first hijab‑wearing senator Fatima Payman and deputy Greens leader Mehreen Faruqi.

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The far-right commentator didn’t pull his punches when discussing his bigoted views on current events

• How Charlie Kirk turned campuses into cultural battlefields – and ushered in Trump’s assault on universities

• Charlie Kirk’s death raises fears of ‘beginning of a darker chapter’ for US violence

Charlie Kirk, the far-right commentator and ally of Donald Trump, was killed on Wednesday doing what he was known for throughout his career – making incendiary and often racist and sexist comments to large audiences.

If it was current and controversial in US politics, chances are that Kirk was talking about it. On his podcasts, and on the podcasts of friends and adversaries, and especially on college campuses, where he would go to debate students, Kirk spent much of his adult life defending and articulating a worldview aligned with Trump and the Maga movement. Accountable to no one but his audience, he did not shy away in his rhetoric from bigotry, intolerance, exclusion and stereotyping.

If I see a Black pilot, I’m going to be like, boy, I hope he’s qualified.

– The Charlie Kirk Show, 23 January 2024

If you’re a WNBA, pot-smoking, Black lesbian, do you get treated better than a United States marine?

– The Charlie Kirk Show, 8 December 2022

Happening all the time in urban America, prowling Blacks go around for fun to go target white people, that’s a fact. It’s happening more and more.

– The Charlie Kirk Show, 19 May 2023

If I’m dealing with somebody in customer service who’s a moronic Black woman, I wonder is she there because of her excellence, or is she there because of affirmative action?

– The Charlie Kirk Show, 3 January 2024

If we would have said that Joy Reid and Michelle Obama and Sheila Jackson Lee and Ketanji Brown Jackson were affirmative action picks, we would have been called racists. Now they’re coming out and they’re saying it for us … You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person’s slot to go be taken somewhat seriously.

– The Charlie Kirk Show, 13 July 2023

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Over 150 Muslim scholars, imams, community leaders, and institutions in the United States and several other nations have now endorsed a joint statement expressing their view that governments of Arab Muslim nations should immediately cut any ties with Israel, including the so-called Abraham Accords, and take other concrete steps to force an end to the genocide in Gaza.

The statement, which was originally signed by over 80 individuals and institutions when first released in August, also says that Arab Muslim nations should ban the use of their airspace to support the Israeli government, announce consideration of an embargo on any oil or gas sales that benefit Israel, facilitate the travel of humanitarian convoys and flotillas attempting to break the siege on Gaza, and send a diplomatic aid mission to demand entry to Gaza.

Since the statement’s original publication on Aug. 8th, the Israeli government has killed hundreds more Palestinians and bombed various countries, including Tunisia, Syria, and now Qatar.

The joint statement reads, in part:

“Business as usual in international affairs is simply not working. We believe that the governments of the Muslim-majority nations of the world should not wait for the ‘international community’ to grow a conscience. This is especially true of Arab Muslim nations surrounding Palestine.

“We believe that these governments have the unique opportunity, legal authority, and moral basis to take greater, immediate, and concrete action to pressure the Israeli occupation to end this carnage.

“Although a genocide should matter to every single human being regardless of their faith, this genocide against a predominantly Muslim population carried out by an openly racist, anti-Muslim government should especially matter to the ummah of Prophet Muhammad, may peace be upon him. So should the fate of Palestine, including Masjid Al Aqsa.” 

Signatories to the statement argue that these Muslim-majority nations have the unique opportunity, legal authority, and moral basis to take various steps, such as:

1. Ending any economic, diplomatic, intelligence, and military relationships with the Israeli government, including the so-called Abraham Accords.
2. Announcing consideration of an embargo on global oil and gas sales that directly or indirectly contribute support to the Israeli government’s genocide.
3. Banning the use of their country’s airspace and the use of any military bases within their country to support the Israeli government in any way.
4. Opening their side of Gaza entry points, like the Rafah crossing, and facilitating the travel of aid trucks, medics, journalists, demonstrators, and others who wish to approach the crossing and demand entry.
5. Organizing a unified diplomatic mission to a Gaza crossing with senior government officials personally leading an aid convoy and refusing to leave until Israel allows unlimited aid to enter freely by land routes.

 

The full statement reads:

In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. All praise and thanks belong to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. May peace and prayers be upon Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.

Al-Nu’man ibn Bashir reported that the Messenger of Allah, may peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The parable of the believers in their affection, mercy, and compassion for each other is that of a body. When any limb aches, the whole body reacts with sleeplessness and fever.”

We, the undersigned Islamic scholars, religious leaders, and institutions, write today to share our view that the political leaders of the world’s Muslim-majority nations should take greater, concrete action to stop the ongoing genocide of our brothers and sisters in Gaza.

We wake up every morning to see new images of men, women, and children in Gaza whose rib cages protrude through their skin because of starvation, whose heads have been hollowed out because of Israeli snipers, or whose bodies have been charred like charcoal because of a bombing.

We also see the Israeli occupation stealing more swathes of land across Palestine and threatening to expel surviving Palestinians from Gaza. We see mercenaries opening fire on crowds of starving Palestinians seeking food.

We see that, even under increasing international outcry, an insufficient trickle of aid enters Gaza while the death toll from both starvation and Israel’s indiscriminate attacks rises daily.

Despite the efforts of various human rights groups, brave journalists, nations like South Africa, and millions of protestors around the world, the Israeli occupation is now reaching the final stages of its campaign of extermination and expulsion.

The common regional response to Israel’s crimes—a foreign ministry issuing a statement of condemnation that calls on unnamed members of the international community to stop the genocide—has not stopped the genocide. Neither have calls for the deadlocked, ineffective and unrepresentative UN Security Council to take action.

Business as usual in international affairs is simply not working.

We believe that the governments of the Muslim-majority nations of the world should not wait for the “international community” to grow a conscience. This is especially true of Arab Muslim nations surrounding Palestine.

We believe that these governments have the unique opportunity, legal authority, and moral basis to take greater, immediate, and concrete action to pressure the Israeli occupation to end this carnage.

Although a genocide should matter to every single human being regardless of their faith, this genocide against a predominantly Muslim population carried out by an openly racist, anti-Muslim government should especially matter to the ummah of the Prophet Muhammad . So should the fate of Palestine, including Masjid Al Aqsa.

Although we recognize the geographic, financial, and military limitations that some governments in the Arab Muslim world face, it appears to us that these governments have many unused tools at their disposal.

Some of these governments control the most important parts of global oil production. Some of them host military bases used to resupply and support Israel. Others control airspace that is critical to the Israeli government and its ability to rearm. One controls a border crossing with Gaza. These nations have leverage. They just haven’t used it.

We therefore today express our view that the governments of Muslim-majority nations should go beyond harsh statements and diplomatic entreaties. Specifically, we believe that these governments could help end the genocide by:

1. Ending any economic, diplomatic, intelligence, and military relationships with the Israeli government, including the so-called Abraham Accords.
2. Announcing consideration of an embargo on global oil and gas sales that directly or indirectly contribute support to the Israeli government’s genocide.
3. Banning the use of their country’s airspace and the use of any military bases in their country to support the Israeli government in any way.
4. Opening their side of Gaza entry points like the Rafah crossing and facilitating the travel of aid trucks, medics, journalists, demonstrators and others who wish to approach the crossing and demand entry.
5. Organizing a unified diplomatic mission to a Gaza crossing with senior government officials personally leading an aid convoy and refusing to leave until Israel allows unlimited aid to enter freely by land routes.

Over the past two years, people around the world have bravely protested to demand an end to the Israeli occupation’s genocide in Gaza. These protesters—many of them not Muslim, Palestinian, or Arab—risked their jobs, reputations, and safety to stand up for our brothers and sisters in Palestine.

Now the governments of the Muslim world have an opportunity to reflect the wishes of their citizens by taking brave, unified action to help our brothers and sisters in Gaza.

We believe that if they take the aforementioned steps and use other appropriate tools at their disposal in an attempt to stop the genocide, the entire Muslim world and people of good faith around the world will rally around them.

We close with a prayer:

May Allah  grant the highest rank of Paradise to our brothers and sisters who have been martyred in Gaza, heal those injured, and comfort those who have lost loved ones.

May Allah  forgive the ummah for failing to do more to help our brothers and sisters in Gaza.

May Allah  guide the political leaders of the Muslim world to take effective action for our brothers and sisters in Gaza and uphold justice for all.

May Allah  inspire all of us to strive for justice with sincere intentions, wise decisions, effective strategies, and successful outcomes.

May peace and blessings be upon Prophet Muhammad , his family, and his Companions.

Ameen. 

 

CURRENT SIGNATORIES

Individuals

• Ruqia Abdi, Author and Educator
• Imam Sedin Agic
• Aftab Alam, President, The March 15th Forum
• Atiya Aftab, Esq.
• Imam Khalid Alkhalili, Fullerton Muslim Community Center
• Ajir Bilal Mahmud, Executive Director, OPOW
• Imam Mohamed Abdel Salam, Puyallup Islamic Community Center (PICC)
• Dr. Ismahan Abdullahi
• Professor Hamid Algar
• Shaykh Abdullah Al-Mahmudi
• Emad Al-Turk, Chairman- Mississippi for a Just World
• Imam Osama Alrefai
• Shaykh Hashim Ahmad, Senior Lecturer, DarulUloom Ashrafia San Francisco
• Shaykh Ibrahim Ali
• Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi
• Hafiz Ikhlas Ansari
• Atiya Aftab, Esq. / Kenneth Rasheed, Esq., Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University
• Sheikh Abdullah Ateeque
• Nihad Awad, National Executive Director, Council on American-Islamic Relations
• Shoaeb Basha, Executive Director, American Muslim Health Professionals
• Dr. Hatem Bazian, President of Northern California Islamic Council
• Dr. Zahid Bukhari
• Imam Saffet Catovic
• Imam Chris Caras, Islamic Center of Pittsburgh
• Noorgul Dada, Chairman, Noor Islamic Cultural Center
• Imam Mohamed Dahir
• Dr. Abdelhafid Djemil
• Dr AbdAlAziz Eddebbarh, Imam Ibn Asheer Institute
• Imam John Ederer
• Imam Mohammed Ebrahim, ISSA – Islamic Society of the Seacoast Area
• Imam Mustapha Elturk
• Dr. Asif Hirani
• Imam Seyed Ali Ghazvini
• Imam Khalid Griggs, Executive Director, ICNA Council for Social Justice
• Dr. Ayman Hammous, Executive Director, Muslim American Society
• Dr. Suleiman Hani
• Dr. Altaf Husain
• Oussama Jammal, USCMO Secretary General
• Dr. Quraysha Ismail Sooliman
• Imam Is’Haaq Jasat
• Imam Ahmadullah Kamal, IQRA Cultural Center
• Maria Kari, Executive Director of Project TAHA
• Muhi Khwaja, American Muslim Community Foundation
• Shaikh Ahmad Kutty
• Sa’ad Quadri, Muslim Educational Center
• Yasser Louati, Comité Justice & Libertés (Committee for Justice and Liberties)
• Maulana Muhammad Faisal
• Edward Ahmed Mitchell, Deputy Director, Council on American-Islamic Relations
• Shaykh Suhail Mulla
• Ustadh AbdelRahman Murphy, Roots Community
• Shaykh Rami Nsour
• Imam Saeed Purcell
• Dr. Yasir Qadhi
• Dr. Mufti Muhammed Omer Rafique
• Okolo Rashid, Co-founder, International Museum of Muslim Cultures
• Emad Sabbah, President and Co-Founder, Ethaar
• Imam Mohamed Mukhtar Sayid
• Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi
• Imam Ali Siddiqui, Former Chairman, Peace with Justice Center, LaVerne, CA
• Chaplain Ahmed Shedeed, President, Islamic Center Of Jersey City
• Dr. Omar Suleiman
• Dr. Hebatullah Taha, President of the Board, CAIR Los Angeles
• Shaykh M Ihsaan Taliep
• Shaykh Dr. Salman Younas
• Imam Suhaib Webb
• Hena Zuberi, Editor-in-Chief, MuslimMatters
• Sheikh Abdullah Zaheed

Organizations

• Ahlulbayt Islamic Center of Columbus
• American Center for Justice
• American Islamic Cultural Center
• American Muslim Health Professionals (AMHP)
• American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)
• Arizona Muslim Alliance
• Australian Muslim Advocacy Network (AMAN)
• Center for Education and Research Nahla
• Center for Religious Tolerance (Masjid Usman) San Diego
• Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University
• Comité Justice & Libertés (Committee for Justice and Liberties) (France)
• Council of Sacramento Valley Islamic Organizations (COSVIO)
• Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
• Dallas Peace and Justice Center
• Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center
• Ethaar
• FEMYSO (Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organisations)
• Greenview Madani Center
• Hamzah Islamic Center
• Hershey Islamic Center
• Husaynia Islamic Society of Seattle
• ICNA Council for Social Justice
• Imam Council of Metropolitan St. Louis
• INSAN – Institutet för Samhällsanalys
• International Museum of Muslim Cultures
• IQRA Cultural Center
• Islamic Association of North America (IANA)
• Islamic Center of Boston Wayland
• Islamic Center Masjid Al-Sabereen
• Islamic Center of Irving
• Islamic Center of Maryland (ICM)
• Islamic Center of Morgantown
• Islamic Center of Passaic County
• Islamic Center of Pennsylvania
• Islamic Center of Pittsburgh
• Islamic Center of San Diego
• Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA)
• Islamic Community Center of Atlanta
• Islamic Council of Victoria
• Islamic Organization of North America (IONA)
• Islamic Society of Central Jersey
• Islamic Society of Chester County
• Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)
• Islamic Society of Orange County
• Islamophobia Studies Center
• ISSA – Islamic Society of the Seacoast Area
• Kitaab Academy
• Kurdish Community Islamic Center
• MAS Sacramento Region
• Mississippi for a Just World
• Mosque Foundation
• Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA)
• Muslim American Society (MAS)
• Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative (MuslimARC)
• Muslim Community Of Folsom
• Muslim Community of Nassau County
• Muslim Educational Center
• Muslim Girl
• Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA)
• Muslim Peace Fellowship
• Muslim Rights Watch Belgium
• Muslim Students Association (MSA National)
• North American Imams Federation (NAIF)
• Noor Islamic Cultural Center
• Partei Für Muslime Plus (Germany)
• Peace Tree Mental Health
• Prince George’s County Muslim Council
• Sacramento Area League of Associated Muslims (SALAM)
• Salam Scouts
• San Ramon Valley Islamic Center
• Shia Muslim Council of Southern California
• Silicon Valley Islamic Center
• Tayba Foundation
• The Islamic Society of Central Delaware
• The March 15th Forum
• Tri-City Islamic Center
• UBM Advisory Services
• Ubudiyyah Life Centre
• US Council of Muslim Organizations
• We Love Our Neighbors
• Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance
• World Council of Muslims for Interfaith Relations
• Worry Free Community

The post 150 Muslim Leaders And Institutions Now Say Arab Muslim Nations Should Cancel Abraham Accords, Suspend Oil Sales, Close Airspace To Israel, And Send Diplomatic Aid Mission To Gaza appeared first on MuslimMatters.org.

Police do not rule out possibility of finding more as incidents raise alarm over increase of anti-Muslim hatred

At least nine pigs’ heads were found outside several mosques in the Paris region on Tuesday, the city’s police chief said, prompting alarm over rising anti-Muslim hatred.

“Pigs’ heads have been left in front of certain mosques ... Four in Paris and five in the inner suburbs,” Laurent Nuñez told a press conference, adding that officers were not “ruling out the possibility of finding more”.

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A man being arrested near the Brook Hotel in Norwich

Last Thursday in the Guardian, there was a letter from one Desmond Hewitt telling us we should watch what we say about the people ‘protesting’ outside hotels housing asylum seekers in the UK. Referring to an article by David Renton which suggested drawing a strong link with the convictions for domestic violence of a large number of the prominent ‘protesters’, he said that this would be “like a red rag to a bull to the many protesters not involved in crimes of domestic violence” which could be dismissed as a “lefty slur against all men protesting against immigration”. He also suggested that we call “Tommy Robinson” an Islamophobe, as he targets single Muslim men: “if we can’t get that blatant fact out there as our argument, then I’m afraid we are, as they say, screwed”. I wrote a letter in response, but have had no reply in my inbox, so here’s a response to it.

To take the question of “Tommy Robinson” first: he certainly is an Islamophobe, but that term doesn’t have the same ‘sting’ among the far right, or even much of the mainstream Tory right, these days that “antisemitism” has across the political spectrum, except when it’s used as a slur against anyone opposing the genocide of Palestinians, or the oppression they experienced for the several decades leading up to it. They claim “we’re not Islamophobes, we’re Islamo-realists” or some similar get-out based on a selective reading of Islamic history, entirely overlooking the history of the Muslims in their country. Robinson, however, has a long criminal record, much of it violent.

In footage of the ‘protests’ outside the asylum hotels, we have seen an awful lot of violence, not only aimed at the hotels and their residents but also against counter-demonstrators and other dissenters. Last week, for example, footage was shared on social media of a man talking to reporters outside the Brook Hotel, a Best Western hotel on the outskirts of Norwich, telling them among other things that the ‘demonstrators’ bothered him far more than the asylum seekers do by disturbing his sleep, which was interrupted by thugs who chased the man around before he took refuge with the police guarding the hotel itself; the goons’ supporters cheered it on, calling the young man an ‘infiltrator’. There have been scores of arrests at these events; these include attempting to enter the hotels and attacking police, as well as things like breaching bail conditions. Locals not involved — women included — often say, as did the young man at Norwich, that they find the ‘protesters’ far more threatening than they find the asylum seekers themselves.

You can tell a man by the company he keeps, and the people at these ‘protests’ do not seem to mind the company of thugs, nor to listen to the speeches of thugs. Whether they all have pre-existing convictions for domestic violence or not, they choose to attend gatherings outside people’s homes that are designed to threaten them, gatherings they know have ended in violence, and many of those without prior convictions will doubtless acquire some, as many have found out to their cost.