Tag Archives: Islamophobia

In Shadow of Trump’s India Visit, New Delhi Sees Worst Attacks on Muslims in Decades

“That this recent burst of anti-Muslim violence comes during Trump’s visit to India is only proof of not only Trump’s own legitimizing power of violence against Muslims but also the Pavlovian fascist reactionism in India to a fascist like Trump.”

By for Common Dreams. Published 2-25-2020

A shop set on fire during clashes between a group of anti-CAA protestors and supporters of the new citizenship act, near Maujpur and Jaffrabad metro station on February 24, 2020 in New Delhi, India. (Photo: Sanjeev Verma/Hindustan Times)

As President Donald Trump left India Tuesday after a state visit to the world’s largest democracy that saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s right-wing government signing a $3 billion arms deal with the U.S., attacks on Muslims in New Delhi that coincided with the trip killed at least 13 people in the worst violence in the city in at least two decades.

“Muslim friends in Delhi are contemplating leaving the city,  some are already leaving for fear of riots spreading across Delhi,” tweeted journalist Rana Ayyub. Continue reading

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‘Meant to Hide the Poor’: Trump Gets His Wall—In India—Ahead of Monday Visit

The newly-erected barrier will allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to offer a carefully-curated view for the U.S. president.

By Eoin Higgins, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 2-21-2020

U.S. President Donald Trump with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two will meet in India on Monday. (Photo: White House/Flickr)

U.S. President Donald Trump with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two will meet in India on Monday. (Photo: White House/Flickr)[/caption[

When President Donald Trump arrives in Ahmedabad, India on Monday, he’s expected to be greeted by roughly 100,000 cheering Indians along a sparkling clean route to the world’s largest cricket stadium where another crowd of 110,000 will attend a rally with the U.S. president and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

It’s pure spectacle. Continue reading

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Propaganda and Islam: What You’re Not Being Told

The truth about Muslims and Islam.

By Justin King.  Published 6-21-2014 by The Anti-Media

Image: braveandboldthinking

Propaganda is the wheel by which the government steers the bus of a nation; typically driving it into war or off the cliff of humanity. It is amazing to see how many people who are otherwise rational human beings will blindly follow the herd on the matter of how subhuman a perceived national enemy is.

Some western media wonderfully paints Islam as a death cult bent on world domination. Continue reading

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‘This Is Alarming’: Iranian-Americans Reportedly Detained, Asked About Political Views at US Border

“Deeply disturbed by reports that Iranian-Americans, including U.S. citizens, are being detained at the Canadian border with WA State,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal.

By Jake Johnson, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 1-5-2020

“First they ban us. Then they starve our families via sanctions. Then they threaten our cultural heritage sites with bombs. Now they’re detaining us at the border,” said NIAC organizing director Donna Farvard. (Photo: U.S. Customs and Border Protection/Flickr/cc)

Reports that dozens of Iranian-Americans were detained at the U.S.-Canada border on Saturday and questioned about their “political views and allegiances” were met with alarm by lawmakers and rights groups, particularly given the soaring military tensions between Iran and the U.S. brought on by the Trump administration.

On Sunday, the Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said it is “assisting more than 60 Iranians and Iranian-Americans of all ages who were detained at length and questioned at the Peace Arch Border Crossing in Blaine, Wash.” Continue reading

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US State Dept. Under Fire for Using Official Website to Promote Pompeo’s “Christian Nationalist Talking Points”

“The Department of State looks more like it should be representing the Republic of Gilead from The Handmaid’s Tale than an America that respects religious equality under the law.”

By Jake Johnson, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 10-15-2019

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered his address, titled “Being a Christian Leader,” to a gathering of the American Association of Christian Counselors last Friday in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo: Screengrab/State Department Website)

The State Department on Monday was accused of blatantly violating the constitutional principle of separation of religion and government by plastering the homepage of its website with an October 11 speech by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo touting his Christian faith.

Pompeo delivered his “Being a Christian Leader” address to a gathering of the American Association of Christian Counselors last Friday in Nashville, Tennessee. The Secretary of State’s trip to Nashville was funded by U.S. taxpayers. Continue reading

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DeVos Threatens to Cut Funding for Middle Eastern Studies Programs for ‘Portraying Islam Too Positively’

“This is what a real threat to free speech on a college campus looks like.”

By Julia Conley, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 9-22-2019

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos spoke at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. (Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr/cc)

Sunday marked a deadline for the University of North Carolina and Duke University to submit information to the Trump administration about the two schools’ Consortium for Middle East Studies, after the Department of Education accused the joint program of biases against Christianity and Judaism.

The DOE called on the schools to provide a list of events it is supporting in during the school year and a full list of courses it’s offering, claiming in a letter sent late last month that in the program, “there is a considerable emphasis placed on the understanding the positive aspects of Islam, while there is an absolute absence of any similar focus on the positive aspects of Christianity, Judaism, or any other religion or belief system in the Middle East.”
Continue reading

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Victory Over ‘Civil Liberties Train Wreck’ as Federal Judge Rules US Terror Watchlist Unconstitutional

After years of abuse and secrecy, court’s decision seen by rights advocates as very welcome but “long overdue”

By Eoin Higgins, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 9-5-2019

A Transportation Security Administration agent at a checkpoint verifying passenger identification in John Glenn Columbus International Airport. (Photo: Michael Ball/cc)

A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that the government’s terror watchlist violates the civil rights of Americans placed on it, opening the door for a major piece of legislation from the global war on terror being overturned.

“This is a really important ruling, long overdue,” said Jameel Jaffer, director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. “The watchlist is overbroad, opaque, and arbitrary—a civil liberties train wreck.” Continue reading

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Despite Christchurch Massacre and Others, Trump Refuses to Join ‘Unprecedented’ Global Effort to Tackle Racist Extremism Online

“To be honest, I do not understand the United States,” said New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

By Andrea Germanos, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 5-15-2019

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron this week launched the Christchurch Call, a global initiative to combat online extremism. (Photo: @JaneCoombsNZ/Twitter)

The White House announced Wednesday it will not join a global initiative, launched in the wake of a massacre in New Zealand two months ago, to tackle racist and extremist online content.

“By not standing alongside other world leaders to fight hate,” said the Southern Poverty Law Center in response, “President Trump has shown once again that he doesn’t understand the importance of white supremacy in fueling terrorism.” Continue reading

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Just Like Trump, Media Outlets Rarely Label Far-Right Attacks ‘Terrorism’: Study

A rare exception in the glaring trend came last month when New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was swift to characterize the massacre in Christchurch as the work of a white nationalist terrorist

By Julia Conley, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 4-10-2019

Governor Wolf Joins Pittsburgh in mourning after the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting. Photo: Governor Tom Wolf/flickr

A new study shows that media outlets frequently echo the instinct of political leaders like President Donald Trump when they refuse to label the violence of far-right assailants as “terrorism” while showing significantly less reluctance if an attack was carried out by an Islamic extremist.

The British media monitoring firm Signal AI found that most news sources are quick to draw links between incidents identified as “Islamist” attacks and terrorism, but are far less likely to do the same when an attack suspect is linked to far-right ideologies like white nationalism. Continue reading

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‘Bigotry Is Deadly’: Warnings of ‘Normalized Hate Speech’ After Latest Threats Targeting Rep. Ilhan Omar

Despite threats to the congresswoman’s safety, Trump continued “using her as fodder for ridicule” in a weekend speech

By Jessica Corbett, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 4-7-2019

Ilhan Omar. Photo: Leopaltik1242 [CC BY-SA 4.0]

Advocacy groups, progressives, and politicians are warning about the dangers of “normalized hate speech” and Islamophobia after the latest round of threats targeting Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Somali refugee and one of the first Muslim congresswomen.

“The political environment, led by an Islamophobe in the White House, has normalized hate speech and emboldened bigots in their actions,” Afaf Nasher, executive director of the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY), said Saturday. Continue reading

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