Latest news with #Anti-Muslim
Straits Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Mamdani's NYC primary win sparks surge in anti-Muslim posts, advocates say
FILE PHOTO: Zohran Mamdani speaks during a watch party for his primary election, which includes his bid to become the Democratic candidate for New York City mayor in the upcoming November 2025 election, in New York City, U.S., June 25, 2025. REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado/ File Photo WASHINGTON - Anti-Muslim online posts targeting New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani have surged since his Democratic primary upset this week, including death threats and comments comparing his candidacy to the September 11, 2001 attacks, advocates said on Friday. There were at least 127 violent hate-related reports mentioning Mamdani or his campaign in the day after polls closed, said CAIR Action, an arm of the Council on American Islamic Relations advocacy group, which logs such incidents. That marks a five-fold increase over a daily average of such reports tracked earlier this month, CAIR Action said in a statement. Overall, it noted about 6,200 online posts that mentioned some form of Islamophobic slur or hostility in that day long time-frame. Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist and a 33-year-old state lawmaker, declared victory in Tuesday's primary after former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo conceded defeat. Born in Uganda to Indian parents, Mamdani would be the city's first Muslim and Indian American mayor if he wins the November general election. "We call on public officials of every party - including those whose allies are amplifying these smears - to unequivocally condemn Islamophobia," said Basim Elkarra, executive director of CAIR Action. The advocacy group said its hate monitoring system includes its own scraping and analysis of posts, online submissions by the public and notifications from law enforcement. About 62% of the anti-Muslim posts against Mamdani originated on X, CAIR Action said. People close to Republican President Donald Trump, including one of his sons, are among those spreading anti-Muslim rhetoric, advocates said. Donald Trump Jr, the president's son, wrote on X on Wednesday that "New York City has fallen" while sharing a post that said New Yorkers had "voted for" 9/11. Also on Wednesday, Republican U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene posted an AI-generated picture of the Statue of Liberty draped in a burqa. President Trump has pursued domestic policies that rights advocates have described as anti-Muslim, including banning travel from some predominantly Muslim or Arab countries in his first term and attempting to deport pro-Palestinian students in his current term. The White House, which did not respond to a request for comment, has denied claims of discrimination against Muslims. Trump and his allies have said they oppose Mamdani and others due to what they call the Democrats' "radical left" ideology. THREATS The New York City Police Department said earlier this month its hate crime unit was probing anti-Muslim threats against Mamdani. Manjusha Kulkarni, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, which documents hate against Asian Americans, and CAIR said attacks against Mamdani mirrored those endured by other South Asian and Muslim political figures, including former Vice President Kamala Harris and Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. Republicans have called Mamdani antisemitic, citing his pro-Palestinian advocacy and his criticism of Israel's military assault on Gaza after an attack by Hamas militants in October 2023. Mamdani has condemned antisemitism and has the backing of New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is Jewish. Lander also ran in the Democratic primary. Rights advocates have noted rising antisemitism and Islamophobia since the start of the Israel-Gaza war, with fatal U.S. incidents including the shooting of two Israeli embassy staff in Washington and the stabbing of a Muslim child in Illinois. Mamdani and other Pro-Palestinian advocates, including some Jewish groups, said their criticism of Israel is wrongly conflated with antisemitism. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
15-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Tens of thousands protest in Netherlands over Israel's actions in Gaza
Demonstrators protest against conditions in Gaza and demand that the caretaker government impose sanctions against Israel, in The Hague, Netherlands, June 15 2025. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw Demonstrators protest against conditions in Gaza and demand that the caretaker government impose sanctions against Israel, in The Hague, Netherlands, June 15 2025. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw Demonstrators protest against conditions in Gaza and demand that the caretaker government impose sanctions against Israel, in The Hague, Netherlands, June 15 2025. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw Demonstrators protest against conditions in Gaza and demand that the caretaker government impose sanctions against Israel, in The Hague, Netherlands, June 15 2025. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw Demonstrators protest against conditions in Gaza and demand that the caretaker government impose sanctions against Israel, in The Hague, Netherlands, June 15 2025. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw THE HAGUE - Tens of thousands of protesters, including families with children, gathered in the Netherlands on Sunday to oppose Israel's siege of Gaza and the Dutch government's policy on the war. The second major rally in a month drew an estimated 150,000 people to The Hague, according to organisers. Participants dressed in red to create a "red line" against ongoing Israel attacks and alleged war crimes against Palestinians. Demonstrators sang, held speeches and marched past the International Court of Justice, which is hearing a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide. Last year the court ordered Israel to halt a military assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah and allow access for humanitarian aid. Israel rejects allegations of war crimes and genocide, and says its campaign is in self defence, targeting Palestinian militant group Hamas. The war in Gaza began 20 months ago after Hamas-led militants raided Israel and took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, on October 7, 2023. Israel's military campaign since has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the densely populated strip, which is home to more than two million people. Most of the population is displaced, and malnutrition is widespread. In May, now caretaker Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Caspar Veldkamp asked the European Union to reconsider cooperation agreements with Israel. Demonstrators on Sunday called for the caretaker government to speak out against what they said were ongoing violations of international law by Israel. The Dutch government, which collapsed on June 3, has so far refrained from outright criticism of Israel. Anti-Muslim populist Geert Wilders, whose far right party led the last government, has repeatedly voiced unwavering support for Israel. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Daily Mirror
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
'Reform and Tories want to ban burkhas but don't give a damn about Muslim women'
At the end of last week, Zia Yusuf, the millionaire 'patriotic Muslim' chairman of Reform, left the party with this goodbye email: '11 months ago I became chairman of Reform… I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office'. This came after Sarah Pochin, a new Reform MP, urged the PM to ban the burka, 'in the name of public safety'. Yusuf thought it was a 'dumb' intervention and flounced off. Now he is back in the fold, being flattered and coddled by Nigel Farage and his motley lot. Nige actually looked grey with shock when he first commented on the unexpected resignation. Now the perma smile is back. Now Kemi Badenoch, a hungry political scavenger, has picked up the burka theme. She wants bosses to be able to ban burkas. Lots of votes in that, she calculates, as her party sinks. Neither Reform nor the Tories give a damn about us Muslim females. They just want to incite hatred. Anti-Muslim bones are thrown and are grabbed by ISLAMOPHOBES. The burka is used, as it was by the ghastly Boris Johnson, as a code to incite fear of an enemy within. Muslims make up only 6.7% of the UK's population, but you would not know that from the hysteria they/we generate in the media and politics. Farage previously accused Muslims of wanting to take over the UK and, last May, told the nation that Muslims do 'not subscribe to British values'. As defined by him. So Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood, Tory peer Sayeeda Warsi, Olympian Sir Mo Farah, polymath Adil Ray, actor Riz Ahmed, TV chef Nadiya Hussain, broadcaster Mishal Husain, etc, are aliens living among us. Me too. Dangerous rubbish. And they know it. Yusuf, the born again Reform chairman, manifestly does. That said, the burka is not a brown and white issue. Modernist Muslims like me have, for many years, expressed dismay and opposition to all forms of veiling. I even wrote a book, Refusing the Veil, some years ago, outlining its history, exposing fake claims about what the holy texts say and revealing the long history of resistance to it. There are only five fundamental obligations in Islam. Veiling is not on the list. Aisha bint Talha, a granddaughter of Abu Bakr, head of Sunni Muslims after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, refused to cover herself: 'Since God has put upon me the stamp of beauty, it is my wish that the public should view that beauty… No one can force me to do anything.' Egyptian, Iranian, Iraqi and Afghan women, through the centuries, have done what she did. And keep on challenging the practice today. I also am forthright about grooming circles of men of Pakistani heritage and their white victims. As a feminist Muslim, I feel I must continue to do that. However, as an anti-racist leftie, I must take on vicious politicians who are going after people of my faith. The genuine anxieties and problems experienced by citizens across the Western world are being exploited by the far right to whip up xenophobia against migrants and Muslims. Reform tries to project itself as inclusive – Yusuf was a useful mascot – but this does not bear scrutiny. Farage, like Trump, has savaged equality policies because they 'disadvantage' white people. A year ago, a Channel 4 investigation recorded Reform canvassers making explicitly Islamophobic and racist comments. The Great Leader has posed with far-right activists who show off their swastikas. With more voters flocking to his party and unending media sycophancy, Farage seems unstoppable. Yusuf is back on the mission to make him PM. He may succeed. Then Reform's messiah will dump on the common people. Those who pick on minorities should not be trusted. Ever. Muslims will have to battle against these xenophobes as well as misogyny within our families and communities. And for British democracy, hard times are coming. I read excerpts of Sarah Vine's new book, How Not to Be a Political Wife with, first, amusement, then annoyance. The stridently anti-EU Daily Mail columnist and ex-Mrs Michael Gove was once in the top Tory girl gang led by Samantha Cameron. The great Brexit swindle broke them up. Vine was devastated – no more holidays together, no cheery dinners, no children's sleepovers. Her marriage, she claims, crashed too. I feel her pain. Sort of. But there is no concern that the country fell apart and will never recover. Her lot live in a bubble of privilege and vanity. That's why the voters kicked them out. No lessons have been learnt.
NDTV
03-06-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
Dutch Far-Right Leader Quits Ruling Coalition Over Migration Plan
Amsterdam: Dutch far right leader Geert Wilders said on Tuesday his PVV party would leave the governing coalition, toppling the right wing government and likely leading to new elections. Wilders said his coalition partners were not willing to embrace his ideas on halting asylum migration, for which he had demanded immediate support last week. "No signature under our asylum plans. The PVV leaves the coalition," Wilders said in a post on X. Wilders' surprise move ends an already fragile coalition which has struggled to reach any consensus since its installation last July. It will likely bring new elections in a few months, adding to political uncertainty in the euro zone's fifth-largest economy. It will likely also delay a decision on a possibly historic increase in defense spending to meet new NATO targets. And it will leave the Netherlands with only a caretaker government when it receives NATO country leaders for a summit to decide on these targets in The Hague later this month. Anti-Muslim populist Wilders won the most recent election in the Netherlands, but recent polls have shown he has lost support since joining government. Polls now put his party roughly at par with the Labour/Green combination that is currently the second-largest in parliament.
GMA Network
03-06-2025
- Politics
- GMA Network
Dutch far-right leader Wilders quits coalition, toppling government
Dutch far right leader Geert Wilders won the most recent election in the Netherlands, but recent polls have shown he has lost support since joining government. REUTERS/ Lewis Macdonald/ File photo AMSTERDAM — Dutch far right leader Geert Wilders said on Tuesday his PVV party would leave the governing coalition, toppling the right wing government and likely leading to new elections. Wilders said his coalition partners were not willing to embrace his ideas on halting asylum migration, for which he had demanded immediate support last week. "No signature under our asylum plans. The PVV leaves the coalition," Wilders said in a post on X. Wilders' surprise move ends an already fragile coalition which has struggled to reach any consensus since its installation last July. It will likely bring new elections in a few months, adding to political uncertainty in the euro zone's fifth-largest economy. It will likely also delay a decision on a possibly historic increase in defense spending to meet new NATO targets. And it will leave the Netherlands with only a caretaker government when it receives NATO country leaders for a summit to decide on these targets in The Hague later this month. Anti-Muslim populist Wilders won the most recent election in the Netherlands, but recent polls have shown he has lost support since joining government. Polls now put his party roughly at par with the Labour/Green combination that is currently the second-largest in parliament. — Reuters
