Islamophobia envoy says Mideast war is bringing back anti-Muslim tropes from 9/11

2025/08/01 Leave a comment

Hard not to disagree but she is silent on whether the nature of some of the demonstrations, their locations and the carrying Hamas related symbols likely also has played a role in reinforcing anti-Muslim tropes:

…Elghawaby spoke to The Canadian Press after the sudden retirement this month of Deborah Lyons, Canada’s special envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism.

Lyons left her post early, saying she felt “despair” over of a growing gulf in Canadian society related to violence in the Middle East, and the failure of many Canadians to find common ground against hate.

Elghawaby said that she and Lyons worked to reinforce “the soul of Canada — a Canada where all of us, with all of our diversities, can belong and fulfil our fullest potential and feel safe to do so.”

Elghawaby said she shares Lyons’s fear that Canadians have “a sense of concern about appearing to be, for example, favouring one community over another.”

She said fighting hate means advancing the shared principle that everyone in Canada should feel safe to express their faith or political views without retribution.

“We do have rules and policies, and we have a Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and we have human-rights codes that should help be our North Star on how we navigate a time of deep social challenge, when it comes to the rise of hate toward any community,” she said.

But Elghawaby pushed back on Lyons’s claim that some Muslims have been uneasy with seeing her work to combat anti-Jewish hate.

Lyons told the Canadian Jewish News that she and Elghawaby tried to work together to counter hate, and had plans to visit provincial education ministers together.

“Neither my community, nor her community, were happy all the time to see us in pictures together,” Lyons said of Elghawaby.

Elghawaby said she’s not aware of Muslims opposing any of her work against anti-Jewish hate.

“I have had no pushback on condemning antisemitism. I have had very good conversations with members of Canadian Jewish communities,” she said.

Elghawaby said many Canadians’ discomfort with confronting the reality on the ground in Gaza is making it impossible to engage in “good faith” dialogue about a path forward.

“Many Canadians of all backgrounds do believe that there is terrible oppression happening in Palestine, that there’s an occupation,” she said. “It’s been described by human rights organizations as apartheid. Genocide scholars, and organizations have called what’s happening now a genocide.

“If we are to have true dialogue, not being able to actually name the situation as it’s being described … by human-rights organizations and experts, it means that it’s a discussion that can’t be had in in fully good faith, because of the effort to almost make invisible or erase what various Canadians are seeing or describing for themselves.”

While Elghawaby said she has no plans to quit before her term ends in February 2027, she acknowledged it’s been “very, very sad and difficult” to see the rise in hate….

Source: Islamophobia envoy says Mideast war is bringing back anti-Muslim tropes from 9/11

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Casey Babb: Canada doesn’t need an antisemitism or Islamophobia czar

2025/07/31 Leave a comment

Very one sided but one does have to ask whether these special rapporteurs are effective in improving cross community relations or not or just assuaging and reflecting the concerns of their particular groups.

Former antisemitism envoy Lyons and current islamophobia envoy Elghawaby apparently did try some joint events and initiatives but Lyons, in any case, was frustrated that neither group wished to listen to the concerns of the other.

No easy way to have such dialogues but clearly, current approach not effective:

All told, this disconnect between the positions of Canada’s special envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism and its special representative on combating Islamophobia has rendered them not just futile, but problematic. Never in our nation’s history have we so desperately needed moral fortitude, truth tellers and courageous religious and community leaders to come together and face hard truths in unison. Yet for the last two years, this need has been met not just with inefficiencies and obstacles, but what feels like deliberate attempts to undermine relations not just between Jews and Muslims, but between Jews and everyone else.

Canada is at an inflection point — socially, culturally, politically and economically. Major issues could improve in these spheres — or gradually worsen over time as they have been now for many years. It is therefore imperative that every dollar and initiative be spent and developed with prosperity and unity in mind — not the indulgence of endless grievances, the infantilization of entire peoples and the notion that our country can only be unburdened of our sins by relentlessly confirming our guilt.

Step 1 in achieving these things: get rid of useless and divisive positions.

Source: Casey Babb: Canada doesn’t need an antisemitism or Islamophobia czar

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Lack of action on Gaza eroding Muslim-Canadians’ sense of belonging, envoy says

2025/07/30 Leave a comment

Not surprising, along with similar erosion of Jewish Canadians sense of belonging given rise in anti-semitic and anti-Israel demonstrations and incidents. Sad fraying and inability to have cross-community conversations as former antisemitism envoy Lyons pointed out:

…Elghawaby said the grief felt by Muslim-Canadian families over the suffering of loved ones in Gaza is being compounded by a sense that Ottawa isn’t doing enough to prevent the suffering, despite issuing “very clear statements” on the situation.

“‘Devastated’ is not even strong enough a word to describe how people are feeling,” she said.

“[These are] their loved ones, their family members, who are starving, who are continuing to face bombing and displacement, and who are just desperate – desperate for this to end.”

On social media, Elghawaby wrote that the fear felt by Canadians with family in the region grows “with each day that passes without meaningful action towards upholding international humanitarian law.”

In the interview, Elghawaby said she doesn’t have the mandate or enough detailed information to say whether Canada is doing enough. She said she can only convey the feeling widespread in Muslim and Arab communities that Ottawa is dropping the ball.

“How can it be – is what people are asking me – that international humanitarian law is violated in this way, and nothing is actually happening, or not enough is happening?” she said….

Source: Lack of action on Gaza eroding Muslim-Canadians’ sense of belonging, envoy says

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Antisemitism envoy says resignation prompted by frustration over ‘not connecting’ with anti-hate message

2025/07/25 Leave a comment

Dispiriting. But kudos for Lyons for opening sharing her frustrations and critiques regarding the silence of business and faith leaders. Most despairing comment to me was this reference to silos:

“Lyons told The Canadian Jewish News that Amira Elghawaby, the federal government’s special representative on combating Islamophobia, tried to work with Lyons on fighting hate, citing an apparently shelved plan to visit provincial education ministers together.

“Neither my community, nor her community, were happy all the time to see us in pictures together,” Lyons said. “There were often people who just simply didn’t want me participating in respectful dialogues, or wouldn’t come into the room.””

Ottawa’s outgoing envoy for tackling antisemitism is accusing Canada’s business sector and civil society of failing to call out a rising tide of hate against Jews and other minorities.

In an extensive interview with The Canadian Jewish News, Deborah Lyons also said she could not get a meeting with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre during her nearly two-year term.

In a statement sent to The Canadian Press, the Conservatives said that Lyons was “powerless” in her job.

Lyons resigned early in her term as Canada’s special envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism. She said her decision reflected her “despair” over the growing gulf in society over violence in the Middle East and the failure of many Canadians to find common ground against hate.

“People were listening and hearing on different frequencies, and so we just were not connecting,” said Lyons. “That was where the big despair comes from.”

She said her work wasn’t made any easier by the silence of corporate leaders “whom I asked many times to stand up,” and by faith leaders who seemed to keep quiet on the suffering of people from other religions.

“I was incredibly disappointed with business leaders,” she said.

“We have a tendency to want to blame politicians all the time, but where have the faith leaders been? Where have the priests and ministers and rabbis and imams and so forth (been)?”

Lyons said that some community leaders did ask for her help in finding the right words to speak out against hate — because they feared that they would offend one community if they stood up for another.

“I’ve been really quite amazed — and often become quite despondent and despairing — about the fact that it was hard to get people to speak up. To speak with clarity, to speak with conviction,” she said.

“The mark of a country is not the courage of its military. It is the courage of its bystanders.”

The Canadian Press has requested an interview with Lyons but has not yet had a response.

Lyons told The Canadian Jewish News that Amira Elghawaby, the federal government’s special representative on combating Islamophobia, tried to work with Lyons on fighting hate, citing an apparently shelved plan to visit provincial education ministers together.

“Neither my community, nor her community, were happy all the time to see us in pictures together,” Lyons said. “There were often people who just simply didn’t want me participating in respectful dialogues, or wouldn’t come into the room.”

She said that indicates a “weakening” in the ability of both Canadian society and the broader western world to stand for common human values.

Lyons said she lacked the energy at times to bridge that gap.

“I held back from having some discussions, because I knew there was going to be animosity, or I wasn’t going to be welcome in the room. It disappoints me,” she said.

Lyons said she could not get a meeting with Poilievre despite requesting one and having a cordial chat with him during an event.

“I tried to meet with Mr. Poilievre when I was in the job, and in the end I got a response that he was too busy to meet with me,” she said.

In a statement attributed to Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman, the party did not dispute Lyons’ version of events.

“While communities face increasing threats, vandalism, intimidation and violence over the last 20 months, the Liberals deflected responsibility to a powerless envoy,” says the statement.

“We are ready to meet with the government at any point, because they’re the only ones with the power, the tools and the responsibility to do something — and they have done absolutely nothing to date.”

Statistics Canada reported this week a slight increase in police-reported hate crimes in 2024 compared with a year prior, and a very slight drop in those against Jewish people, who remain the most targeted group in Canada.

Lyons accused all three levels of government of failing to adequately co-ordinate their responses to hate, saying that issues like car theft or tariffs are seen as more tangible.

She said Prime Minister Mark Carney seemed engaged and requested a meeting with her, though she added it was not possible to meet with him before the July 8 date of her departure.

Lyons said she is leaving her job three months early not for health reasons but rather to restore “a little bit of the joy back into life” through retirement.

She said she would have liked to continue, but described the envoy role as more difficult than her stints as ambassador to Afghanistan and Israel.

“It was without question the toughest job I ever did.”

Source: Antisemitism envoy says resignation prompted by frustration over ‘not connecting’ with anti-hate message

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A White Nationalist Wrote a Law School Paper Promoting Racist Views. It Won Him an Award.

2025/06/23 2 Comments

Sad and sick:

…Mr. Damsky’s argument that at least some of the framers meant for the Constitution to apply only to white people is by no means a new one. Evan D. Bernick, an associate law professor at Northern Illinois University, notes that the argument can be found in the Ku Klux Klan’s founding organizational documents from the late 1860s.

Among originalists, though, this interpretation has been widely rejected. Instead, conservatives have argued that much of the text of the Constitution “tilts toward liberty” for all, said Jonathan Gienapp, an associate professor of history and law at Stanford. They also note that the post-Civil War amendments guaranteeing rights to nonwhite people “washed away whatever racial taint” there was in the original document.

While Mr. Damsky’s papers were written in a formal style consistent with legal scholarship, his social media posts have been blunt, crass and ugly. A critic of Israel’s war in Gaza, he argued in one post that President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were “controlled by Jews,” whom he called “the common enemy of humanity.” In posts about Guatemalan illegal immigrants, he said that “invaders” should be “done away with by any means necessary.” He lamented the “self-flagellatory mind-set” of modern-day Germans, noting their failure to revere Hitler.

Ms. Grabowski did not respond to a request for comment.

Mr. Damsky said he assumed that it was the judge who graded his paper. He also said that the judge “is not a white nationalist.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” he added. “I would prefer it if he was.”

Students took their complaints to Ms. McAlister, the interim dean. She addressed the granting of the award to Mr. Damsky in at least two town-hall-style meetings, according to an email she wrote to students and an article in The Independent Florida Alligator, the student newspaper. In the February email, the dean wrote that the law school, as a public institution, was bound by the First and 14th Amendments, meaning that no faculty member may “grade down a paper that is otherwise successful simply because he or she disagrees with the ideas the paper advances.”

Institutional neutrality, she wrote in her email, “is not agreement or complicity with the ideas that any community member advances.”

“It’s just that — neutrality,” she added. “The government — in this case, our public university — stays out of picking sides, so that, through the marketplace of ideas, you can debate and arrive at truth for yourself and for the community.”

Some at the law school agree with her stance. In an interview, John F. Stinneford, a professor at the university, said that it would be “academic misconduct” for a law professor who opposed abortion to give a lower grade to a well-argued paper advocating abortion rights.

If it were a good paper, he said, “you should put aside your moral qualms and give it an A.”

A number of students disagree, but several declined to be interviewed on the record for fear that criticizing the school, or a sitting federal judge, would harm their future job prospects.

One former student, who graduated in May, had his post-graduation job offer rescinded by a large law firm when he told them he had spoken to The New York Times for this article, criticizing Mr. Damsky’s paper and Judge Badalamenti for granting him the award. The student asked not to be identified for fear of jeopardizing other job offers.

Before his suspension, Mr. Damsky had been offered a summer internship in the local prosecutor’s office. But in early April, the prosecutor, Brian Kramer, the state attorney for the Eighth Judicial Circuit of Florida, rescinded the offer.

“You could imagine,” Mr. Kramer said in an interview, that “having someone in your office who espouses those kinds of beliefs would cause significant mistrust in the fairness of prosecutions.”

Source: A White Nationalist Wrote a Law School Paper Promoting Racist Views. It Won Him an Award.

Filed under Holocaust, Islamophobia, Multiculturalism, Racism Tagged with , , , ,

Opinion: Canada’s ‘Islamophobia’ guide falsely equates legitimate criticism with bigotry

2025/04/11 Leave a comment

There are arguments for replacing Islamophobia with anti-Muslim hate, just as there are arguments for replacing antisemitism with anti-Jewish hate:

The greatest victims of extremist interpretations of Islam are Muslims themselves. This uncomfortable truth undermines Canada’s approach to combating anti-Muslim bigotry, as outlined in “The Canadian Guide to Understanding and Combatting Islamophobia.”

The guide defines Islamophobia broadly as, “Racism, stereotypes, prejudice, fear or acts of hostility directed towards individual Muslims or followers of Islam in general.” This definition creates an intellectual sleight of hand, conflating prejudice against Muslims with criticism of certain doctrines or political movements operating under the banner of faith.

The term “anti-Muslim bigotry” serves us better than “Islamophobia,” as it clearly identifies what we should oppose: discrimination, prejudice and hatred directed at Muslims as people.

Islamophobia, with its “phobia” suffix, implies that any fear or criticism of Islam itself is irrational and racist. This linguistic imprecision has real consequences for civil liberties and public safety. The guide does reference “anti-Muslim hatred,” but wrongly conflates it with Islamophobia.

When we intentionally conflate criticism of ideas with hatred of people, we betray both liberal principles and the Muslims fighting for change within their own communities. These Muslim voices are often the first to be silenced by accusations of enabling Islamophobia and find themselves abandoned by the very western liberals who should be their natural allies — a perverse outcome of supposedly “progressive” thinking.

The guide’s recommendation to “centre diverse Muslim voices” sounds admirably inclusive until one realizes which Muslim voices are systematically excluded: secular and reformist Muslims, as well as those who reject the injection of extremism and antisemitism into Islamic doctrine.

Instead, the most extreme political interpretations are presented as the voices of the community. This betrays Muslims fighting for liberal values and denies the rich diversity of thought within Muslim communities themselves. It also creates the false impression that Islam is monolithic, rather than dynamic and evolving.

The consequences extend beyond intellectual discourse. Across campuses, literary festivals and public forums, speakers who critique certain Islamic doctrinal interpretations or practices are labelled as bigots and effectively silenced.

Extremists have weaponized western guilt and liberal sensibilities, learning that calling someone “Islamophobic” can end careers and shut down debate. Thus emerges the circular logic of Islamophobia: any criticism of political Islam becomes evidence of bigotry, and any attempt to expose this fallacy becomes further proof of prejudice.

The guide’s references to an “Islamophobia industry” further illustrate this problem by inverting reality. When critics highlight extremist literature in certain mosques or foreign funding of radical preachers, they’re addressing documented issues with potential national security implications.

Dismissing such concerns as products of an “industry of hate” shields legitimate security issues from scrutiny. This paralyzes police, security services and policymakers, who grow reluctant to investigate real threats for fear of being branded as bigots. The cost of this self-censorship is paid primarily by vulnerable communities, including Muslims themselves.

The guide’s dismissal of concerns about extremism as “fearmongering” ignores the substantial problem of radicalization in some religious institutions. This hinders an honest assessment of how religious institutions can become vectors for political influence that may undermine democratic values and social cohesion.

The guide’s media representation complaints also merit a challenge. While the media does report on world events driven by religiously motivated violence, the guide is wrong to demand de-emphasizing such events. The answer to biased coverage isn’t enforced silence, but more nuanced reporting, including platforming Muslims who clearly separate Islam from Islamist extremism.

None of this denies the reality of genuine anti-Muslim prejudice. From vandalized mosques to harassment of visibly Muslim women, bigotry against Muslims demands unequivocal opposition. Every citizen deserves equal protection regardless of faith. Fighting prejudice, however, shouldn’t require terminology that conflates people with ideology.

Islam, like all religions, needs the space for open critique and discussion, not blanket protection. This balanced position allows us to combat genuine bigotry while preserving the intellectual freedom that benefits believers and non-believers alike.

When we replace “Islamophobia” with “anti-Muslim bigotry,” we lose nothing in our fight against prejudice. What we gain is the clarity needed for both honest critique and genuine protection — clarity that serves us all in building a pluralistic society.

Dalia al-Aqidi, Haras Rafiq and Mohammad Rizwan are members of Secure Canada’s International Muslim Counter-Voice Initiative.

Source: Opinion: Canada’s ‘Islamophobia’ guide falsely equates legitimate criticism with bigotry

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Byers: My students spent a semester dissecting the Gaza war. There was much to disagree about

2025/03/24 Leave a comment

Sounds like an informative and respectful discussion, refreshing:

…Our seminar is now over, but I know that my students are following the news from the Middle East. They are watching the resumption of the siege and the bombings, after Mr. Netanyahu walked away from “phase two” of the ceasefire that he’d agreed to with Hamas in January.

The humanitarian situation remains desperate, and it’s time for other actors, including Canada, to constructively engage. In the future, some of my students will lead the way. They’ve demonstrated the ability to debate the most emotionally charged issues objectively, respectfully and empathetically. They’ve gained perspective and depth by learning from, and disagreeing with, each other.

Free and respectful discussion – including the right to peaceful protest – is one of the main reasons we have universities. We have to defend it if free and democratic societies are to survive.

Source: My students spent a semester dissecting the Gaza war. There was much to disagree about

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Jamie Sarkonak: Federal bureaucrat-activists strike again with ‘Understanding Islamophobia’ guide

2025/03/11 Leave a comment

Unfortunate but typical framing by the NP.

It is valid for the federal government to prepare such a primer, just as it was valid for the government to prepare its Canadian Handbook on the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism.

One of the omission in these types of documents is that they tend to discount, arguably overly so, the extremist elements within communities and their impact on the social fabric. Given the nature of some of the Gaza demonstrations and rhetoric, the primer should be more nuanced and note the presence of extremists (not unique to Muslims).

Unfortunately, I do not have the time to do a comparative analysis, side-by-side of the Islamophobia and Antisemitism primers but hopefully some others will do so (would make great undergrad essay!):

…It concludes by asking that more Canadians do more to assist the good image of Islam in Canada: audit workplaces and engage in “anti-racist leadership”; collect data on the religion of one’s employees; launch awareness campaigns for religious rights; provide workplace training; include Islam as an identity promoted within diversity, equity and inclusion practices.

The report altogether sends the message that any cool sentiment towards Islam, or at least lack of warmth, is a problem that needs to be fixed, just like anti-Muslim violence. But, it’s not the government’s job to ensure that a satisfactory number of people like any certain religion. This is Canada. While discrimination is wrong, and hate-motivated violence should be fully prosecuted by the law, individuals are allowed to have opinions, negative or positive, about religious groups.

It also maligns non-Muslim Canadians as a collective for the wrongdoing of individuals, which, hypocritically, is exactly what it asks Canadians not to do of Islam.

No other religious group gets this level of treatment from government, with dedicated federal appointees, equity initiatives, and heaps of funding for community groups and phobia-dispelling initiatives: not Sikhism, or Judaism, or Hinduism. Not even Christianity, even though it’s engrained into Canadian society as a result of history and forms the moral foundation of the West. Indeed, anyone with eyes knows that Christianity is frequently bashed in the public sphere for all sorts of reasons.

This report is an attempt at progress, but it’s anything but. It’s up to the public to think what it thinks, it’s up to employers to treat employees of all religions fairly, and it’s up to the government (and its courts) to punish violent, hateful criminal activity.

Source: Jamie Sarkonak: Federal bureaucrat-activists strike again with ‘Understanding Islamophobia’ guide, The Canadian Guide to Understanding and Combatting Islamophobia

The Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism, however, did note:

….But there was a shadow over the Forum that did not go unnoticed in the impromptu discussions taking place. The Prime Minister said he is a Zionist and we cannot normalize treating Zionism as a pejorative term. However, shortly before the Forum was held, the Canadian Guide to Understanding and Combatting Islamophobia was released by the Federal government. 

The Guide was led by the Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia, Almira Elghawaby. Much of it is unproblematic. But it devotes a section to anti-Palestinian racism (APR) noting that, in Canada, the understanding of APR is growing, with initiatives like the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association’s 2022 framework. It also states that “some school boards have also developed or are in the process of developing their own definitions of anti-Palestinian racism to address this issue and its harmful effects.” 

These passages are footnoted to include, among other things, the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association’s report that defines APR in a way that makes all Zionists racists. For example, it claims that those who “fail to acknowledge Palestinians as an Indigenous people with a collective identity, belonging and rights in relation to occupied and historic Palestine” are racists. We also know that there is a call for filmmakers on Instagram respecting a film project on anti-Palestinian racism. It appears to be sponsored by the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association, the authors of the troubling definition of APR discussed above and funded by the Government of Canada (Employment and Social Development Canada).

A Call for Consistent Policies

No one should condone or permit discrimination against Palestinians because they are Palestinian, against Arabs because they are Arabs, or against Muslims because they are Muslim. Nor should anyone discriminate against those who wish to express “pro-Palestinian” views or criticize Israel in the same way that other countries are subjected to criticism. The IHRA definition of antisemitism and its illustrations make that clear. 

However, the federal government cannot have it both ways. Issuing a guide that incorporates by reference a definition of APR that demonizes all Zionists and Israelis is incompatible with what the Prime Minister told those assembled at the Forum, and incompatible with true Canadian values. If the Canadian government truly wishes to show its commitment to combatting antisemitism, it should immediately withdraw the objectionable passages of the Guide to Combatting Islamophobia and reconfirm its commitment that Zionists and Israeli-Canadians will not be demonized for their beliefs.

Source: The National Forum on Antisemitism and Mixed Messages

Filed under Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Multiculturalism Tagged with , , ,

If we want to stem the tide of hate, we need robust definitions of Islamophobia and antisemitism

2025/02/18 Leave a comment

While definitions, preferably robust, are helpful, not sure the degree to which they “stem the tide of hate.” This definition, while generally helpful, sidesteps issues when religious or ethnic cultures conflict with what most would consider fundamental human rights:

…The criteria proposed by the Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia(CBMI) provide a valuable framework for distinguishing between legitimate criticism of Islam and Islamophobic discourse. These criteria address key dimensions that help us assess the nature and intent behind the critique. These dimensions are organised into eight key areas:

  • Monolithic versus diverse: Legitimate criticism acknowledges the diversity of thought and practice within Islam, avoiding generalisations. Islamophobia, on the other hand, often portrays Islam as monolithic and static.
  • Other versus interdependent: Legitimate critique recognises that Islam is part of a complex, interconnected world; whereas Islamophobia often portrays Islam as separate, “other” and irreconcilable with Western societies.
  • Inferior versus different but equal: Legitimate criticism considers different cultures as equal and different. Islamophobia, on the other hand, positions Islam as inferior to other cultures and religions.
  • Aggressive enemy versus cooperative partner: Legitimate criticism acknowledges that some elements of some Islamic traditions may be problematic while still recognising that Muslims as a community are generally peaceful. Islamophobia paints Islam and Muslims as fundamentally aggressive and hostile.
  • Manipulative versus sincere: Legitimate criticism acknowledges that some people use any religious tradition for personal and political gains, but does not to assume that all adherents of those traditions are dishonest. Islamophobia assumes that all Muslims are manipulative or insincere in their beliefs and practices.
  • Rejection versus reciprocal exchange and critique: Legitimate criticism must be open to engaging with and debating Muslim criticisms of Western societies. Islamophobia often dismisses Muslim voices altogether.
  • Defending discrimination versus its opposition: Legitimate criticism would oppose all forms of discrimination — including those directed at Muslims. Islamophobia defends or ignores discriminatory behaviour against Muslims.
  • Rational criticism versus problematic anti-Muslim discourse: Legitimate criticism recognises that criticism of ideas is one thing, but anti-Muslim hate speech is a problem. Islamophobia, on the other hand, normalises and promotes anti-Muslim discourse.

These criteria are crucial in understanding what constitutes Islamophobia and what does not. For example, while criticising specific Islamic doctrines is valid, using such critiques to stereotype all Muslims as violent or fanatical crosses the line into Islamophobia. Similarly, while a discussion of the role of religion in politics is important, denying the basic human rights of Muslims is clearly Islamophobic.

The importance of clarity and cooperative action

The CBMI criteria offer an important framework that helps us differentiate between fair critique and prejudiced bigotry. Just as a clear definition of Islamophobia and criteria for legitimate criticism of Islam are crucial for combating prejudice against Muslims, a similar effort is required to establish a robust and well-understood definition of antisemitism — along with an understanding of what constitutes legitimate criticism of Judaism and of the State of Israel — in order to combat antisemitism effectively. I believe that the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism(JDA) is one such definition.

Clear definitions of Islamophobia and antisemitism — along with adherence to the CBMI criteria and JDA guidelines — are not just an abstract academic concern but a practical necessity. Without such robust definitions, it is difficult to identify and counter Islamophobic and antisemitic acts and rhetoric. When Islamophobia is not recognised, its consequences can be dire, as is evidenced by the tragic events in Christchurch.

Source: If we want to stem the tide of hate, we need robust definitions of Islamophobia and antisemitism

Filed under Islamophobia, Multiculturalism, Religion Tagged with ,

Akkad: Biden was a failure. Trump will be a catastrophe

2025/01/27 Leave a comment

Remarkably simplistic analysis, assessing Biden only by his action and inaction with respect to Israel and Gaza. No mention of Ukraine, no mention investments in the American economy etc. Also telling is his silence on Hamas and the October 7 killings and hostage taking, which affected both white and brown Israelis:

…But a deranged right-wing capitalizing on the empty dissociation of neo-liberal politics is not some uniquely American phenomenon. It is coming for Canada, it is coming for Germany, it will fester everywhere the performance of great virtue accompanies the absence of substance. There is immense cruelty on the way, and given how quickly the CEO class has positioned itself in total fealty to the Trump administration, there will be little institutional resistance. If only as an act of pre-emptive penance to future generations’ history books, it will be important to document this cruelty, to not become desensitized. Just as it is important to document the cruelty that has led us here.

Joe Biden spent his much of his final few days as President trying to frame his administration as a successful one. It’s what Presidents do. There’s nothing interesting or novel about it, and anyway many of his predecessors have presided over the killing of faraway brown people in much greater numbers before retiring comfortably into the role of respected elder statesman. What is perhaps most fascinating about this particular bit of reputation massage is that it may well mark the last time any such administration is able to even pretend its success isn’t dependent on ignoring the suffering of distant others. Because distance is a relative thing. Today the town that burns is by chance someone else’s, but not for long. Today the crops fail elsewhere, but not for long. Today the drone executes a child in another part of the world, but not for long.

Today, America loves you back.

Source: Biden was a failure. Trump will be a catastrophe

Filed under Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Multiculturalism, Racism, Religion Tagged with , , , ,

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