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21. Factsheet: Ednan Aslan

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
11-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Ednan Aslan is a Turkish-German Professor of Islamic Religious Education at the University of Vienna in Austria. Aslan is frequently interviewed by mainstream media as an expert on Islam and a critical voice on Muslims. He has been a vocal supporter of the Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s anti-Muslim policies, and also served in the Documentation Center Political Islam, a federally funded center that monitors, surveils, and maps Muslims in Austria.
Topic:
Surveillance, Islamophobia, Political Islam, and Ednan Aslan
Political Geography:
Europe and Austria

22. Factsheet: Éric Zemmour

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Éric Zemmour is a far-right French writer and political pundit who supports the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory, peddles historical revisionism, and has a history of making racist and anti-Muslim comments. He has been fined for and convicted of inciting racial hatred in France. Zemmour formally announced in November 2021 that he is running in the French presidential election in April 2022, and polls indicate that he could have enough support to qualify for the second-round runoff between the two leading contenders.
Topic:
Islamophobia, Far Right, Polls, and Great Replacement Theory
Political Geography:
Europe and France

23. Factsheet: Documentation Center Political Islam (Dokumentationsstelle Politischer Islam)

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
The Documentation Center Political Islam is a fund of the Republic of Austria according to the Law on Trusts and Funds 2015. It was established in July 2020 by the center-right New Austrian People’s Party’s (ÖVP), which has instituted a number of anti-Muslim policies. The Center’s academic advisory board hosts several experts who hold anti-Muslim views. The Center has usually presented its output alongside the Minister of Integration Affairs.
Topic:
Islamophobia, Far Right, Political Parties, and Muslims
Political Geography:
Europe and Austria

24. Factsheet: Heiko Heinisch

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Heiko Heinisch is a German political commentator and writer on Islamism. Heinisch is often presented as an expert on Islam and Islamism by the far-right Austrian government and the Austrian media. He serves on the academic advisory board of Austria’s Documentation Center for Political Islam, a federally funded center for monitoring, surveilling and mapping Muslims in Austria.
Topic:
Surveillance, Islamophobia, Far Right, and Islamism
Political Geography:
Europe, Germany, and Austria

25. Factsheet: Mouhanad Khorchide

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Mouhanad Khorchide is professor of Islamic pedagogy at the University of Münster in Germany. He has authored several books on Islam and is a frequent media commentator on Islam and Muslims. Khorchide is a member of several political initiatives calling for the reform of Islam and he supports discriminatory state policies, including the hijab ban. He heads the advisory board for Austria’s Documentation Center for Political Islam—a project that monitors movements that do not pose a security-related threat and is “part of the national strategy of extremism prevention and deradicalization.”
Topic:
Islam, Domestic Politics, Discrimination, Academia, and Muslims
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

26. Factsheet: Elham Manea

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Elham Manea is a Yemeni Swiss political scientist, writer, and activist based in Switzerland. Manea has served as an advisor to several governments, including Austria, on issues related to the surveillance and criminalization of Muslims. Manea has also worked with anti-Muslim organizations in Europe and the United States, including the Clarion Project, the AHA Foundation, the European Foundation for Democracy, and the Secular Policy Institute. Manea presents herself as a formerly “radicalized” person with “insider” knowledge on “extremism,” particularly “non-violent extremism,” “Islamism” and “political Islam.”
Topic:
Surveillance, Islamophobia, Political Islam, Criminalization, and Elham Manea
Political Geography:
Europe and Switzerland

27. Factsheet: Unaccompanied Minor Children (Los Menas)

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
05-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
MENAs (Menor Extranjero no Acompañado, or “Unaccompanied Foreign Minors”) is the term used to describe minors (under the age of eighteen) who arrive in Spain with no parents or guardians. The children come primarily from North Africa and are predominately Muslim. In recent years, right-wing politicians and groups in Spain have targeted and stigmatized them by employing anti-Muslim tropes.
Topic:
Migration, Muslims, Unaccompanied Minors, and Los Menas
Political Geography:
Europe, Spain, and North Africa

28. Factsheet: Hogar Social Madrid

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
08-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Hogar Social es un movimiento social y político de extrema derecha creado en Madrid en 2014, que cuenta con filiales en otras ciudades como Toledo, Granada y Zaragoza. La líder del movimiento, Melisa Domínguez Ruiz, militó previamente en el partido político Movimiento Social Republicano (MSR). Los miembros del Hogar Social han expresado ideas xenófobas, vinculando delincuencia e inmigración. Los musulmanes han sido un blanco especial de sus críticas. En 2016 Hogar Social llevó a cabo en una acción violenta contra la principal mezquita de Madrid.
Topic:
Islamophobia, Muslims, and Hogar Social
Political Geography:
Europe and Spain

29. Factsheet: Vox Party

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
The VOX Party is a far-right, nationalist political party in Spain that advocates discriminatory policies against Spanish Muslims and Muslim immigrants. VOX has achieved significant political success in regional and national elections since its 2013 founding, while building a political narrative that Spain must be “reconquered” from Muslims again—a reengineering of the centuries-old mythology of Reconquista. The party’s political messaging employs derogatory rhetoric against Muslims broadly and Muslim women in particular, while declaring a “civilizational clash” between Spain and Islam.
Topic:
Nationalism, Discrimination, Islamophobia, Far Right, and VOX Party
Political Geography:
Europe and Spain

30. Factsheet: Ceuta and Melilla - Two Muslim Cities in Spain

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Ceuta and Melilla are autonomous Spanish cities in North Africa. Both cities act as the border between Spain and Morocco. Although they each have autonomous governments from Spain, their educational systems are managed by the regional Spanish government of Andalusia and institutions such as the Catholic church and the judiciary are under the jurisdiction of Andalusia. While Ceuta and Melilla are majority Muslim, their neighborhoods are separated between Muslims and Christians from the Iberian Peninsula. The Muslim populations of both cities face discrimination.
Topic:
Discrimination, Islamophobia, Borders, Autonomy, and Muslims
Political Geography:
Europe, Spain, North Africa, Ceuta, and Melilla