Number of results to display per page
Search Results
12. Protecting Academic Freedom, Empowering Muslim Students (Episode 12)
- Author:
- Tamara Sears and Asifa Quraishi-Landes
- Publication Date:
- 07-2024
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
- Abstract:
- Academic freedom, equity, Islamophobia, and the commercialization of higher education offer challenges to faculty nationwide. In a telling incident, Black Muslim students of Hamline University complained of Islamophobic incidents on campus while also taking offense at the showing of a famous Persian painting of the Prophet Mohammed in a global art history class. Host Sahar Aziz (https://saharazizlaw.com/) discusses these issues with Rutgers Art History Professor Tamara Sears (https://history.rutgers.edu/people/fa...) and University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School Professor Asifa Quraishi-Landes (https://law.wisc.edu/profiles/asifa.q...) .
- Topic:
- Islamophobia, Higher Education, Equity, Academic Freedom, and Muslims
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
13. Muslim Contributions to American Prosperity with Dalia Mogahed (Episode 9)
- Author:
- Sahar Aziz and Dalia Mogahed
- Publication Date:
- 06-2024
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
- Abstract:
- Muslims have long been central in America’s political discourse, policy debates and popular culture. Yet most Americans say they don’t even know a Muslim and more than 80% of media coverage of Islam and Muslims in the United States is negative. This week’s episode discusses the myriad ways in which Muslims contribute to economic development, medicine, philanthropy, arts, entertainment, sports, and education in the United States. Host Sahar Aziz (https://saharazizlaw.com/) addresses these issues with scholar Dalia Mogahed (https://www.ispu.org/scholars/daliamo...) .
- Topic:
- Domestic Politics, Islamophobia, Economic Development, and Muslims
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
14. Factsheet: Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA)
- Author:
- Bridge Initiative Team
- Publication Date:
- 05-2023
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
- Abstract:
- Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA) is a Hindu far-right organization and the US offshoot of India’s Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), designated as a “militant religious organization” by the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) World Factbook for a number of years. VHPA’s leaders have a history of making anti-Muslim remarks, it has platformed far-right Hindu nationalists and recently has targeted American Muslim politicians and rights organizations who call attention to the persecution of Muslims and rising Hindu nationalism in India.
- Topic:
- Islamophobia, Far Right, Narendra Modi, Political Extremism, Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA), and Hindu Nationalism
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
15. Factsheet: Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA)
- Author:
- Bridge Initiative Team
- Publication Date:
- 07-2023
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
- Abstract:
- Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA) is a Marietta, Georgia-based Hindu right-wing advocacy organization known for targeting critics of Hindu nationalism and those who highlight the persecution of religious minorities, particularly Muslims and Christians in India. CoHNA supports the discriminatory policies of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and has engaged in campaigns targeting academics and politicians who call attention to the dangers of Hindu nationalism. Leaders of CoHNA also share close associations with far-right Hindu nationalist individuals and groups.
- Topic:
- Islamophobia, Far Right, Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA), Hindu Nationalism, and Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA)
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
16. Factsheet: War on Drugs: Surveillance
- Author:
- Bridge Initiative Team
- Publication Date:
- 07-2023
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
- Abstract:
- The US War on Drugs has used surveillance to aid in policing, curb the international drug trade, and enforce drug prohibition since 1971. Technologies and techniques used as part of the “war” include wiretapping, aerial surveillance drones, thermal imaging, GPS tracking, entrapment, the use of informants, and parallel construction. The use of surveillance has raised Fourth Amendment concerns about protection from unreasonable searches and seizures, and further human rights concerns about privacy. The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has been at the forefront of the War on Drugs’ surveillance efforts, and has often collaborated with the National Security Agency (NSA). These surveillance efforts laid the groundwork for the US War on Terror, particularly the 2001 PATRIOT Act.
- Topic:
- War on Drugs, Surveillance, Islamophobia, and Muslims
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
17. Factsheet: War on Terror
- Author:
- Bridge Initiative Team
- Publication Date:
- 08-2023
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
- Abstract:
- The Global War on Terror (GWoT) is an international military campaign launched by the United States under President George W. Bush following the September 11th, 2001 attacks by Al-Qaeda. Dubbed the ‘Forever Wars,’ this conflict is a borderless and timeless campaign that has touched nearly 40 percent of the world, cost the United States an estimated $8 trillion, and has killed more than 900,000 people (although the actual death toll is likely to be much higher). The WoT discourse amplified Islamophobia as it dehumanized Muslims by tying them to terrorism and constructing them as ‘inherently violent’ and a threat. Along with formal military warfare, the WoT has also comprised of large-scale surveillance measures in the U.S, torture, global drone strikes, blacksites, and the Guantanamo Bay military prison.
- Topic:
- Torture, Drones, Surveillance, Islamophobia, War on Terror, George W. Bush, and Guantanamo Bay
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, North America, and United States of America
18. Factsheet: Global Hindu Heritage Foundation
- Author:
- Bridge Initiative Team
- Publication Date:
- 08-2023
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
- Abstract:
- The Global Hindu Heritage Foundation (GHHF) is a Frisco, Texas-based Hindu non-profit organization. GHHF supports Hindu nationalist ideology and regularly publishes discriminatory, inflammatory, and intolerant content about Islam and Christianity. The group promotes anti-Muslim conspiracy theories, has raised funds to aid the demolition of Churches in India, and supports the Hindu nationalist mission of making India a Hindu-only nation.
- Topic:
- Islamophobia, Hindu Nationalism, Global Hindu Heritage Foundation (GHHF), and Anti-Christian
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
19. Shining a Light on New Jersey’s Secret State Intelligence System
- Author:
- Race and Rights (CSRR) Center for Security
- Publication Date:
- 03-2023
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
- Abstract:
- Civil liberties in the United States have been eroding for over two decades. Under the auspices of national security, federal agencies working with their state counterparts have built an expansive homeland security apparatus, facilitated by laws granting national security officials broader surveillance and investigative authorities. Prior to the attempted insurrection of January 6, 2021, national security powers nearly exclusively targeted Muslim and Arab communities – with many South Asian communities targeted in the immediate wake of 9/11 as well. At the same time, these powers have also furthered the mass incarceration of African American communities. The most invasive, and simultaneously secret, post-9/11 tool has been state fusion centers. Fusion centers coordinate federal, state, and local law enforcement through complex intelligence-gathering systems that retain, analyze, synthesize, and distribute data – with minimal oversight. They have become institutionalized within the American law enforcement framework post-9/11 despite little, if any, tangible results to show for their intended original purpose: preventing terrorism. New Jersey’s Regional Operations Intelligence Center is a prime example of expansive over-policing that targets marginalized communities fueled by the red herring of national security concerns – while much of its work remains opaque and inscrutable. Shining a Light on New Jersey’s Secret State Intelligence System examines New Jersey law enforcement’s unique use of CIA-style intelligence-gathering, some of its known harms in certain, well-documented instances like the City of Camden, and the Kafkaesque legal regime that works to keep vast amounts of public information out of the public eye. Three recommendations for New Jersey policymakers would help reign in these unaccountable drivers of mass incarceration and allay concerns that civil liberties are not still on the chopping block for Muslim, Arab, South Asian, and African American communities in the Garden State: Governor Murphy should appoint an ombudsman to oversee New Jersey’s intelligence system. The mechanism for this appointment already exists by way of a long-ago issued executive order – but has never been used. This ombudsman should have the authority to oversee the ROIC’s activities in collaboration with minority communities most impacted by surveillance. The New Jersey legislature should mandate regular reporting by the Chief Intelligence Director to ensure that the state’s domestic intelligence-gathering apparatus is focusing on actual terrorist threats while preserving civil liberties for all. Civil society should conduct a People’s Audit of the fusion center to determine the privacy impact on New Jersey’s diverse populations.
- Topic:
- Security, Intelligence, Law Enforcement, Minorities, Counter-terrorism, Islamophobia, Civil Liberties, Arabs, and Muslims
- Political Geography:
- North America, New Jersey, and United States of America
20. The Terror Trap: The Impact of the War on Terror on Muslim Communities Since 9/11
- Author:
- Bridge Initiative Team
- Publication Date:
- 10-2021
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
- Abstract:
- On October 7, 2021, 20 years since the U.S. launched the War in Afghanistan as part of its Global War on Terror, a group of seven civil society and research organizations, including The Bridge Initiative, are releasing a detailed report on the impact and consequences of the War on Terror. In The Terror Trap: The Impact of the War on Terror on Muslim Communities Since 9/11, thirty international scholars provide a critical assessment of the U.S-led “counterterrorism” apparatus and its policies and tactics, which have criminalized and securitized Muslims in the U.S. and around the world. The report examines the various dimensions of the so-called War on Terror, and its devastating impact on communities and nations worldwide. Some of the topics explored include the racist history of targeting minorities in the U.S.; the roots of the “terrorism” industry; the role of the Islamophobia industry in exploiting post-9/11 fears; the restructuring of the national security and surveillance state; the use of torture, rendition, black sites, Guantanamo Bay prison, and drone warfare; Countering Violent Extremism programs; the destructive wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; the destruction of Muslim civil liberties through the policies of infiltration, entrapment, and manufacturing crime; and further repression of American Muslims through the use of “terrorism” sentencing enhancement and discriminatory prison conditions. The report also documents the human impact of these policies, focusing on the widespread harm and trauma that has been caused, and often not documented, on communities, individuals, and families that were placed under suspicion. The report then seeks to provide a new way of thinking about abolishing the War on Terror as well as providing a pathway for communities to reflect on their current engagement with the structures of policing and counterterrorism. Finally, the report provides detailed recommendations signaling the need for systemic changes at almost every level.
- Topic:
- Counter-terrorism, Trauma, Islamophobia, 9/11, and War on Terror
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America