Source: Middle East Eye – Eye on Islamism

Biden campaign refuses invitation to address US Muslim voter advocacy groups Muslim voters say the campaign's refusal to engage 'reveals the disconnect' between Biden and voters, as Muslims hear from third-party candidates

April 26, 2024 Unlisted Author

(Middle East Eye) US President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign team refused an invitation to address a symposium regarding the voter engagement of more than one million Muslim Americans in the country, according to a coalition of more than two dozen Muslim civic […]

UK: Labour cuts ties with major Muslim organisation The organisation was labelled 'Islamist' by MP Michael Gove in UK parliament last month

April 2, 2024 Imran Mullah

(Middle East Eye) The UK’s Labour Party has cut ties with one of the UK’s most prominent Muslim organisations after the government’s communities secretary, Michael Gove, said the group would be investigated for extremism. On Monday, Labour told the Telegraph that it […]

Over 400 UK imams reject new extremism definition targeting Muslim groups Religious scholars accuse government of 'divisive tactics' and attempting to crack down on groups opposed to Israeli actions against Palestinians

March 22, 2024 Unlisted Author

(Middle East Eye) Over 400 British imams and religious scholars have signed a letter rejecting a new UK government definition of extremism that targeted several British Muslim organisations. Last week, Communities Secretary Michael Gove announced a contentious new definition of extremism, though the […]

‘Labour is 30,000 dead Gazans too late’: Muslim campaign aims to disrupt UK politics A new Muslim campaign is supporting independent candidates to run in the UK's upcoming election against MPs who have opposed a ceasefire

January 31, 2024 Imran Mulla

(Middle East Eye) A new Muslim campaign supporting independent candidates to run in Britain’s general election has slammed the Labour Party’s concern over losing Muslim support as “30,000 dead Gazans too late.” The Guardian reported on Tuesday that Labour leader Keir Starmer’s […]

UK withdraws interfaith charity funding over Muslim Council of Britain links The decision to stop funding the Inter Faith Network was due to the 'reputational risk' posed for government

January 25, 2024 Imran Mulla

(Middle East Eye) The British government intends to stop funding an interfaith charity because one of its trustees is a member of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), which the British government refuses to engage with. Communities Secretary Michael Gove told the […]

Cage director banned from entering Switzerland to address meeting at UN Muhammad Rabbani held overnight after being stopped at Geneva Airport in latest incident which he says is a consequence of France adding his name to a European no-entry database

December 13, 2023 Areeb Ullah

(Middle East Eye) Border authorities in Switzerland have stopped the director of a UK-based human rights group from entering the country to address a meeting at the United Nations office in Geneva “after a request from France.” Posting on social media on […]

Muslims ‘unjustly placed on blacklists’ across Europe, rights groups warn Muslim leaders urge European governments to take action against Islamophobia in Europe at security and human rights conference in Poland

October 6, 2023 Areeb Ullah

(Middle East Eye) Muslim civil society groups from Europe warned of the growing level of Islamophobia spreading across the continent at a major security and human rights conference in Poland. On Thursday, seven Muslim groups from Austria, France, Sweden, Spain, and the […]

US Quran burning by student sparks concerns over rising Hindu nationalism According to the Indian American Muslim Council, it was not an isolated incident

October 4, 2023 Unlisted Author

(Middle East Eye) A copy of the Quran was burnt in Illinois by a 16-year-old high school student, and rights organisations say it raises concerns about the India-based Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) paramilitary organisation’s influence in the US. While the […]

Cage director accuses France after being refused entry to Poland Muhammad Rabbani, who has accused the French government of Islamophobia, says border officers at Warsaw airport told him France had placed him on an EU no-entry list

October 3, 2023 Areeb Ullah

(Middle East Eye) The director of the UK-based advocacy group Cage has accused the French government of placing him on a European no-entry list after he was refused entry to Poland to attend a high-profile security conference in Warsaw. Border officers at […]

Paris Olympics 2024: France bans own athletes from wearing veil Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera made the statement amid an ongoing controversy over a ban on abayas in school

September 25, 2023 Nadda Osman

(Middle East Eye) French athletes will not be allowed to wear veils during the Paris Olympic Games set to be held next year, the country’s sports minister announced on Sunday. Appearing as a guest on the show Sunday in Politics, airing on the […]

Largest US body of lawyers adopts resolution combating Islamophobia The American Bar Association's resolution calls on Congress and UN to pass measures condemning anti-Muslim hate

August 9, 2023 Unlisted Author

(Middle East Eye) The largest body of lawyers in the United States has passed a resolution condemning Islamophobia and calling on Congress and the United Nations to implement similar resolutions combating anti-Muslim sentiment. The American Bar Association (ABA)’s House of Delegates passed […]

Belgium summons UAE ambassador over ‘Muslim Brotherhood smear campaign’ Emirati intelligence paid millions to Swiss company to create files on over 1,000 people in Europe, according to data leak

July 9, 2023 Unlisted Author

(Middle East Eye) Belgium summoned the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ambassador in Brussels on Friday, following reports of the Gulf state’s alleged involvement in a smear campaign that sought to link at least 1,000 individuals in Europe to the Muslim Brotherhood. The […]

US university condemned for removing pro-Palestine speech from YouTube Students and activists say commencement speech was removed for its pro-Palestinian content after some critiqued speech as being 'antisemitic'

May 23, 2023 Zainab Iqbal

(Middle East Eye) On 12 May, the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law live-streamed its commencement ceremony where Fatima Mohammed was speaking. The student was draped in the famous Palestinian keffiyeh. But just hours after the graduation ceremony, the […]

Netherlands: Muslims file UN complaint against parliament, citing discrimination Dutch parliamentary committee on unwanted foreign influence is accused of waging a 'witch-hunt' against the country's Muslim community

April 25, 2023 Areeb Ullah

(Middle East Eye) A coalition of Muslim groups in the Netherlands has filed a complaint with the United Nations against a Dutch parliamentary committee tasked with investigating the influence of foreign funding on mosques and Islamic associations. The Ummah Project, a group […]

Prevent review: Shawcross reforms risk ‘slide into authoritarianism,’ critics warn Coalition of civil society organisations, community leaders and rights groups urge the British government to withdraw Shawcross report

March 21, 2023 Simon Hooper and Areeb Ullah

(Middle East Eye) The UK is facing a “slide into dangerous authoritarianism” if the government proceeds with the recommendations of a contentious review of Prevent, critics of the counter-terrorism strategy have warned. In a joint letter issued on Tuesday, a coalition of […]

High Court rules Ed Husain defamed MCB official Miqdaad Versi in tweet Versi will now seek further compensation of £25,000 and an injunction against Husain's defamatory tweets not to be republished

March 7, 2023 Areeb Ullah

(Middle East Eye) The High Court in London has ruled that a tweet sent by the author and commentator Ed Husain had defamed a senior leader of the Muslim Council of Britain. Husain, also known as Mohammed Mahbub Husain, founded the defunct […]

Shamima Begum: Labour’s Starmer says court was right to reject citizenship appeal Opposition leader says judgment was 'the right decision,' having previously described removal of Begum's citizenship in 2019 as 'the wrong decision'

February 23, 2023 Areeb Ullah

(Middle East Eye) Labour leader Keir Starmer on Thursday said he supported a court ruling dismissing an appeal by Shamima Begum challenging the UK government over the removal of her British citizenship. The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) on Wednesday rejected Begum’s […]

Immigration court to rule on Shamima Begum British citizenship case Begum is seeking to reverse the 2019 decision to strip her of British citizenship

February 21, 2023 Areeb Ullah

(Middle East Eye) An immigration court in London will rule this week on whether Shamima Begum, who fled Britain to join the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria aged 15, has won her appeal against the UK government who revoked her British citizenship. […]

Prevent review: Treat Hamas and Islamic State supporters the same, says Shawcross Counter-extremism reviewer says supporters of proscribed Palestinian movement should face full force of counter-terrorism powers

February 8, 2023 Unlisted Author

(Middle East Eye) Supporters of Hamas should be treated the same as supporters of the Islamic State group and subjected to the full force of the law, a contentious review of the UK government’s Prevent counter-extremism strategy has recommended. William Shawcross’s review, […]

US Muslim rights group calls on Biden to suspend use of ‘terror’ watchlist No-fly list leak reveals more than one million entries, mostly comprised of Muslim and Arab names, according to rights group

January 25, 2023 Unlisted Author

(Middle East Eye) Following a massive leak of the US government’s no-fly list, a leading Muslim rights group is calling on the Biden administration to stop the use of the “terrorist” watchlist the government has been utilising for decades, saying that the […]

Jack Letts’s mother hails ‘rights victory’ as Canadians to be repatriated from Syria Sally Lane, mother of British-Canadian man detained in Syrian camp, exclusively tells MEE that judgement will have 'global implications'

January 21, 2023 Rayhan Uddin and Simon Hooper

(Middle East Eye) The mother of Jack Letts, a British-Canadian man held among suspected Islamic State group (IS) fighters in prison in northeast Syria, has hailed Canada’s decision to repatriate him along with 22 other of its citizens. Speaking to Middle East Eye, Sally […]

Muslim children disconsolate as Sweden forces Islamic schools shut Swedish authorities have closed 17 private Islamic schools since 2019, claiming they're unfit to conduct school activities. But critics say it's part of 'anti-Islamic rhetoric'

January 1, 2023 Bashir Mohamed Caato

(Middle East Eye) Samsam Ahmad’s children, eight and 12, were inconsolable. They had just found out that their school in the Swedish capital Stockholm was closed down, leaving their mother at a loss of how to explain why they would no longer […]

Favourable view of Muslims in the US ticks up, even as Islamophobic incidents rise Number of Americans holding Islamophobic and antisemitic views has flatlined, and may actually be shrinking, even as hate crimes increase

December 30, 2022 Unlisted Author

(Middle East Eye) The number of US residents holding Islamophobic and antisemitic views has flatlined, and may actually be shrinking, even as hate crimes increase, according to a 2022 poll conducted by Brookings Institute. Favourable views of Muslims in the US have […]

US lawmakers demand banking regulators address discrimination against Muslims Congressman Ilhan Omar and Senator Elizabeth Warren urge Treasury to adopt corrective measures to promote equal access to banking institutions

December 6, 2022 Unlisted Author

(Middle East Eye) US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and Senator Elizabeth Warren are leading an effort to urge American banking regulators to reassess policies that discriminate against Muslim Americans and immigrant communities. The two lawmakers, along with Senator Ed Markey and Congresswomen Rashida […]

Ron DeSantis: Republican rising star alarms Muslim, Palestinian communities As the Florida governor positions himself for a possible presidential bid, activists and organisers say DeSantis reminds them of bigoted rhetoric birthed in US-led 'war on terror'

December 5, 2022 Umar A. Farooq

(Middle East Eye) In 2006, then-Navy officer Ron DeSantis was an appointed attorney supporting the US military’s mission at Guantanamo Bay. Not much is officially known about his months-long stint at the prison, which at its peak held nearly 800 Muslim men […]

UK: Growing Muslim population hailed as ‘strategic national asset’ New census data suggests Christians now a minority in England and Wales while number of those with 'no religion' increases

November 30, 2022 Unlisted Author

(Middle East Eye) The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has said that the growth of the UK’s Muslim population is a “strategic national asset” for the country but raised concerns about the levels of poverty the community continues to live in. Results […]

Holy Land Five: Rights groups, families demand release over ‘miscarriage of justice’ Advocacy groups launch awareness campaign marking 14 years since the conviction of the Holy Land Five

November 24, 2022 Azad Essa and Umar A. Farooq

(Middle East Eye) A coalition of advocacy groups have called for the release of the Holy Land Five, a group of Palestinian-American men who were convicted of funding terrorism in a case civil liberties groups say highlights the disproportionate targeting of Muslim charities […]

Why more Muslim Americans are choosing to send their children to Islamic schools Many Muslim parents are opting to send their children to Islamic schools because they feel secular schooling is heading in the wrong direction

November 14, 2022 Zainab Iqbal

(Middle East Eye) Abdullah Khan attended public school his entire life. The truth is, his parents had wanted to send their kids to a private Islamic school, but they just couldn’t afford it — and Abdullah believes he suffered because of it. […]

Why the Muslim vote for Republicans grew in 2022 midterm elections There’s an important emphasis on traditional values in Islam, experts and voters tell MEE

November 14, 2022 Unlisted Author

(Middle East Eye) More Muslims shifted to the right in this year’s midterm elections, compared to how they voted in the 2018 midterms. In the 2022 midterm election, 28 percent of Muslim voters voted Republican, which is an 11 percent increase from […]

European governments accused over ‘suppression of Muslim civil society’ OSCE conference in Poland hears plea for member states to protect Muslim citizens from Islamophobia and 'state racism'

September 29, 2022 Simon Hooper

(Middle East Eye) Muslim civil society organisations have raised the alarm about a rising tide of state-sponsored Islamophobia in Europe at a major security and human rights conference in Poland. France, Denmark and Austria were among countries singled out over policies which […]

US: Rights group condemns congressman’s attack on Muslim university officer CAIR says Lee Zeldin's attack on CUNY diversity officer is 'vile, defamatory and Islamophobic'

September 22, 2022 Unlisted Author

(Middle East Eye) New York Congressman Lee Zeldin has come under fire from a leading Muslim rights organisation after attacking the Muslim American official tapped to lead a probe into a complaint of antisemitism at a university in New York City. Saly […]

American Muslims as likely as general population to serve in US military, poll finds Institute for Social Policy and Understanding survey found white Muslims more likely than white non-Muslims to serve in the US armed forces

September 20, 2022 Unlisted Author

(Middle East Eye) American Muslims are just as likely as any other faith group to serve in the US military, a new poll by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (Ispu) has found. More specifically, white Muslims are more likely than […]

King Charles III: Five things the new British monarch said about Islam and Muslims The king, who once studied Arabic to better understand the Quran, has long spoken about Islamic history and theology

September 13, 2022 Rayhan Uddin

(Middle East Eye) In 1996, the grand mufti of Cyprus, shockingly, accused Charles III — the new British king — of secretly being a Muslim. “Did you know that Prince Charles has converted to Islam. Yes, yes. He is a Muslim. I […]

UK: Muslim students threaten to disaffiliate from NUS after Islamophobia claims The Federation of Student Islamic Societies said it would urge its members to disaffiliate after Shaima Dallali was reportedly suspended from the union

September 2, 2022 Areeb Ullah

(Middle East Eye) The Federation of Student Islamic Societies (Fosis), the national body for Muslim students in Britain, has threatened to launch a disaffiliation campaign against the National Union of Students (NUS) after the NUS suspended its president-elect, Shaima Dallali. Earlier this […]

Islamophobia remains steady in the US, but why do some Muslims share the sentiment? Institute for Social Policy and Understanding suggests past two decades of demonisation of Muslims post-9/11 may have played a role in negative sentiments

August 25, 2022 Unlisted Author

(Middle East Eye) As Islamophobia in the United States has remained steady in recent years, internalised Islamophobic sentiments have risen from within the Muslim American community, according to newly released data from the Institute for [Social] Policy and Understanding. The new American […]

US Muslims five times more likely to face police harassment due to their religion, study shows Muslims who identify as white are less likely to be harassed by the police because of their faith compared to non-white Muslims, the study notes

August 23, 2022 Unlisted Author

(Middle East Eye) Muslims are five times more likely to experience police harassment because of their religion compared to those of other faiths, a study by Rice University shows. More specifically, Muslim adults who identify as black, Middle Eastern, Arab or North […]

Holy Land Five: Palestinian released, deported to Turkey after more than decade in US prison Mohammad el-Mezain was held in ICE custody for nearly a year after completing his prison sentence

July 1, 2022 Umar A. Farooq

(Middle East Eye) Mohammad el-Mezain, a Palestinian resident in the US, was released from detention and subsequently deported to Turkey after serving more than a decade in an American prison, following a controversial case in which he and others involved in a […]

Turkey set to deport ‘Islamic State Beatle’ Aine Davis to UK Aine Davis, who was convicted of membership of IS in 2017, is scheduled to be released and flown to the UK within days

June 30, 2022 Ragip Soylu and Simon Hooper

(Middle East Eye) An alleged member of an Islamic State (IS) execution cell dubbed “the Beatles” is scheduled to be deported from Turkey to the UK within days, Middle East Eye can exclusively reveal. Aine Davis, who is originally from London, was […]

Roe v Wade: Muslim women say overturning of decision will hurt everyone The US Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v Wade, which protected a woman's right to have an abortion, will have far-reaching consequences

June 24, 2022 Zainab Iqbal

(Middle East Eye) Fatima* remembers every painstaking detail as if it were yesterday. Her parents had gone out for dinner and she stayed at home with her uncle. She was wearing purple pyjamas under her abaya. Her T-shirt had a small hole […]

Most American Muslims believe gun laws need to be stricter, says survey Muslims are more likely than Protestants, white Evangelicals and the general public to hold this view, Ispu survey finds

June 13, 2022 Unlisted Author

(Middle East Eye) Most American Muslims believe gun control laws should be stricter, a new report by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (Ispu) has found. According to the poll, 65 percent of Muslim respondents believe existing gun control laws need to […]

Former Guantanamo detainee explains why he’s suing Canada Mohamedou Ould Slahi is suing the Canadian government for $28m over its alleged role in wrongly sending him to Guantanamo Bay

May 27, 2022 Mohamed Hashem and Umar A. Farooq

(Middle East Eye) Mohamedou Ould Slahi hoped his release from Guantanamo in 2016 would mark a new stage in his life, one where he could finally live freely after decades of imprisonment and torture. But years later, without a passport and the ability to […]

UK’s charity regulator urged to investigate Policy Exchange over ‘anti-Muslim agenda’ Complaint to Charity Commission accuses think tank of Islamophobia over report in which David Cameron said Muslim critics of Prevent were 'enabling terrorism'

May 11, 2022 Simon Hooper

(Middle East Eye) The UK’s charities regulator is being urged to investigate the Policy Exchange think tank for alleged racism and Islamophobia, over a report in which it accused Muslim critics of the government’s Prevent strategy of “enabling terrorism.” In a letter […]

US jail settles lawsuit, agrees to serve Muslims kosher meals during Ramadan DeKalb County Jail will provide adequate and timely meals for Muslim inmates who are fasting during the month

April 21, 2022 Unlisted Author

(Middle East Eye) A county jail in the US state of Georgia has agreed to accommodate Muslim inmates during the holy month of Ramadan, saying it will provide them with adequate, timely meals and also notify the detainees of the five daily […]

Muslim inmate sues US jail for denying halal, timely meals during Ramadan Norman Simmonds was denied a halal diet because the jail could not 'confirm the devoutness of his beliefs,' according to lawsuit filed with help of Cair-Georgia

April 19, 2022 Umar A. Farooq

(Middle East Eye) A Muslim prisoner in the US state of Georgia has filed a lawsuit challenging his detention facility’s refusal to provide him halal meals during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The lawsuit, filed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations […]

New York attorney general urges Justice Department to probe anti-Muslim group The attorney general also told Investigative Project on Terrorism to cease and desist 'ongoing or contemplated unlawful espionage operations against Muslims'

April 4, 2022 Zainab Iqbal

(Middle East Eye) New York’s attorney general has called on the US Justice Department to investigate whether an anti-Muslim group violated federal, criminal, and civil rights laws by spying on American Muslim groups. In a letter to the Justice Department on Friday, Attorney […]

New York Muslims voice concern over Times Square’s first Tarawih prayers Several members of the Muslim community have voiced concern over holding Tarawih, an extra night prayer performed during Ramadan, at the bustling thoroughfare

April 1, 2022 Zainab Iqbal

(Middle East Eye) New York City’s Times Square is set to host its first ever Tarawih prayers on Saturday, but several members of the Muslim community have voiced concern over the event being held at the bustling location. According to social media advertisements […]

US Muslims react to Biden’s nomination of first Muslim woman to be federal judge Nusrat Choudhury has been praised for her commitment to defending marginalised communities and fighting for civil rights

February 7, 2022 Zainab Iqbal

(Middle East Eye) Muslims across the United States are celebrating President Joe Biden’s judicial nomination of Nusrat Choudhury, who, if confirmed by the Senate, will be the first Muslim woman to be appointed as a US federal judge. Choudhury, a Bangladeshi American among […]

US: Justice Department urged to probe anti-Muslim group’s alleged spying More than 80 groups call on US government to determine whether the Investigative Project on Terrorism violated any federal laws in an alleged espionage campaign

February 1, 2022 Umar A. Farooq

(Middle East Eye) More than 80 Muslim organisations, including rights groups, mosques and charities, have sent a letter to the US Department of Justice, calling on the administration to launch an investigation into whether an anti-Muslim group violated federal laws by allegedly […]

‘War on terror’: US protesters urge release for Pakistani woman Aafia Siddiqui Protesters call for the release of the Pakistani neurosurgeon serving 86 years in prison for the attempted murder of US officials

October 20, 2021 Umar A. Farooq

(Middle East Eye) Dozens of protesters stood outside Pakistan’s consulate in New York City on Wednesday, calling for the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani woman who is currently serving 86 years in prison in what civil liberties groups and activists say was […]

Austria appoints Jordanian as security chief Appointment follows criticism of old security organisation after failure to prevent attack by Islamic State sympathiser in November

September 17, 2021 Mustafa Abu Sneineh

(Middle East Eye) An Austrian-Jordanian has been appointed … head of the country’s new security agency, following harsh criticism of the previous institution’s failure to prevent an attack by an alleged Islamic State (IS) sympathiser. The appointment of Omar Haijawi-Pirchner as head […]