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51. Factsheet: Sigrid Herrmann-Marschall

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
10-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Sigrid Herrmann-Marschall is a widely quoted German blogger, who is often invited as an expert on Islamism. She regularly argues that the government needs to take stricter measures to tackle Islamism in German society. She frequently lectures, trains, and publishes in a variety of newspapers and is referenced as an expert by many political parties including the far-right. More recently, she reportedly served as an expert on behalf of the far-right party, Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Topic:
Domestic Politics, Islamophobia, Far Right, Islamism, and Sigrid Herrmann-Marschall
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

52. Factsheet: Nina Scholz

Author:
Nina Scholz
Publication Date:
11-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Nina Scholz is a German political commentator and writer on Islamism based in Vienna, Austria. Scholz is often presented as an expert on Islam and Islamism by the Austrian media and policy circles. She produces many texts with Heiko Heinisch, with whom she served as an expert for Operation Luxor, an unlawful raid targeting the homes of 60 prominent Austrian Muslims, carried out by the Austrian government in 2020.
Topic:
Domestic Politics, Islamophobia, and Islamism
Political Geography:
Europe, Germany, and Austria

53. Presumptively Antisemitic: Islamophobic Tropes in the Palestine-Israel Discourse

Author:
Race and Rights (CSRR) Center for Security
Publication Date:
11-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:
A bastion of free speech, individual liberty, and equality. This is the mantra our government repeats across the world and teaches nationwide in American schools. Rarely stated, however, are the varying limitations imposed on persons seeking to exercise such rights according to their identity. Protection of fundamental rights is at its zenith when exercised by white, Judeo-Christian communities, while exceptions are frequently invoked when racial or ethnic minorities exercise the same rights to challenge policies and laws harmful to their communities. Members of the majority engaged in dissent are treated as patriots with different political views. Minorities who dissent are treated as security and cultural threats deserving of social stigma at best or criminalization at worst.1 This racialized double standard is most acute for Muslim or Arab Americans when they exercise their free speech rights to criticize the U.S. government’s failure to hold Israel accountable for its systematic violations of Palestinians’ human rights. Often repeated statements in support of Israel across U.S. administrations stand as a reminder of Israel’s central place in U.S. foreign policy. A most recent example occurred in Jerusalem on July 14, 2022 when President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid issued a joint statement declaring: “The United States and Israel reaffirm the unbreakable bonds between our two countries and the enduring commitment of the United States to Israel’s security. Our countries further reaffirm that the strategic U.S.-Israel partnership is based on a bedrock of shared values, shared interests, and true friendship.”2 Among the countless analyses expounding on the strong bond between the U.S. and Israel in policy terms, few examine the relationship between Islamophobia and U.S. policy on Palestine-Israel.3 Specifically, when Muslims and Arabs in America defend the rights of Palestinians or criticize Israeli state policy, they are often baselessly presumed to be motivated by a hatred for Jews rather than support for human rights, freedom, and consistent enforcement of international law. The resulting harm occurs at the individual and systemic level. Systemically, informed and critical debate about U.S. foreign policy is hampered by censorship campaigns targeting college students, faculty, human rights organizations, journalists, and elected officials.4 Individually, Muslim and Arab Americans are defamed and effectively excluded from critical public debates pertaining to U.S. policies executed in their names and with their tax funds. Should Arabs and Muslims exercise their constitutional rights of free speech and assembly in defense of Palestinian human rights, they frequently become targets of aggressive intimidation, harassment, and blacklisting campaigns5 in their workplaces, towns, and universities.6 This report examines how Islamophobia shapes American foreign policy in the three following ways: 1) restricting open debate about unconditional U.S. support for Israel notwithstanding documented and systematic violations of international law by the Israeli government,7 2) perpetuating racist tropes that Muslims and Arabs innately hate Jews, and 3) discrediting the Palestinian people from realizing their full civil, political, national, and human rights. Such racialized foreign and domestic policy was brought into sharp relief in 2022, with the response in the United States and Europe to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. As Americans in and out of government united in supporting the political, civil, and national rights and defense of Ukraine and Ukrainians, the approach in Washington to similar Palestinian interests ranges, with a few exceptions, from qualified, muted neutrality to outright hostile opposition.8 Such double standards prompt multiple questions that reveal how race and racism infect foreign policy and the treatment of minority communities who espouse unpopular views or dissent from the political orthodoxy, including the defense of human rights for all. What role does Islamophobia play in the formation of policies that restrict Palestinians from the same right of self-determination that are celebrated for Ukrainians and Israelis? How does Islamophobia silence and punish Muslim and Arab Americans who defend Palestinians’ rights in universities, the media, the public square, and online? This report explores these questions by addressing three key components of Islamophobia and related (though not identical) anti-Palestinian racism. First, Islamophobia adversely shapes public discourse on Palestine in the United States, currently and predating the “War on Terror.” Racist stereotypes of Muslims as savage are deployed to promote discriminatory policies against Palestinians. Second, an ecosystem of Zionist institutions and prominent individuals perpetuate Islamophobia to promote the policies and goals of Israel in its theft and occupation of Palestinian territory, decades of dispossession and marginalization of the Palestinian people, and denial of the rights of Palestinian refugees. Finally, Islamophobia is juxtaposed against antisemitism, portraying Muslims globally and domestically as agents of antisemitism; attempting to create a competition, or even a zero-sum scenario between Muslims and Jews–rather than allowing principled opposition to both antisemitism and Islamophobia to unite joint social justice struggles. As a result, legitimate efforts to combat antisemitism are disingenuously co-opted to undermine Palestinian aspirations for self-determination and human rights, as well as to defame Muslim and Arab human rights defenders as inherently antisemitic. Palestinian aspirations are often portrayed by the media and Zionist organizations as a cover for a uniquely Arab and Muslim antisemitism. Related is the tendency to pathologize Palestinians and all aspects of their political, cultural and social lives. This both stigmatizes the very idea of civil, national, and human rights of Palestinians and attempts to censor Arab and Muslim Americans’ political activism. Discrediting any criticism of Israeli state practices violating Palestinian human rights as antisemitism overlooks the growing number of Jews and Muslims working together to promote Palestinian rights.9 Concerns of American supporters of Israel, including Jewish Americans who have a deeply personal stake in the well-being of the Jewish people of Israel, and American supporters of Palestinians, who have an equally deep and personal stake in the well-being of the Palestinian people in Palestine, are not equally considered when crafting American policy in the region. Islamophobia, though far from being the sole reason for U.S. policy exceptionalizing Palestine, is a substantial factor. In turn, Muslims or Arabs (who are often mistaken as all Muslim) who criticize America’s unconditional support for Israeli state practices, regardless of the human rights implications, are immediately ostracized as antisemitic. The consequent harm is twofold: Palestinians’ lives and rights are discounted, and Muslim and Arab Americans are denied meaningful participation in public discourse on U.S. foreign policy and the ability to exercise their free speech rights.
Topic:
Human Rights, International Law, Minorities, Freedom of Expression, Islamophobia, Anti-Semitism, Discourse, Racism, Self-Determination, Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims
Political Geography:
Israel, Palestine, and United States of America

54. 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

55. REPORT LAUNCH: Presumptively Antisemitic: Islamophobic Tropes in the Palestine-Israel Discourse

Author:
Sahar Aziz, Mitchell Plitnick, and Jonathan Matz
Publication Date:
12-2023
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:
Join Sahar Aziz, Mitchell Plitnick, and Jonathan Matz for an insightful discussion during the launch of our pivotal report, 'Presumptively Antisemitic: Islamophobic Tropes in the Palestine-Israel Discourse'. This critical session delves into the escalating issue of antisemitism accusations in the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict, particularly amidst the recent calls for a ceasefire and human rights advocacy in Gaza. Our panelists will explore the complex dynamics at play, shedding light on how the weaponization of antisemitism accusations often results in perpetuating Islamophobic stereotypes, infringes on the free speech rights of Muslims and Arabs, and ultimately hinders genuine efforts to combat antisemitism. This discussion is crucial for anyone interested in Middle East politics, human rights advocacy, and the broader implications of political discourse.
Topic:
Human Rights, Politics, Islamophobia, Anti-Semitism, and Discourse
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and Gaza

56. The New Crusades: Islamophobia and the Global War on Muslims — by Khaled A. Beydoun

Author:
Khaled A. Beydoun
Publication Date:
11-2023
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:
Discover a groundbreaking exploration of Islamophobia on a global scale in 'The New Crusades' by Khaled A. Beydoun. This seminal book offers an unprecedented deep dive into how both democratic and authoritarian regimes worldwide are exploiting Islamophobia to target Muslim populations. Beydoun meticulously analyzes the impact of the American War on Terror, revealing its pivotal role in amplifying and interconnecting anti-Muslim campaigns across continents. From Europe to Asia, the Middle East, and beyond, 'The New Crusades' provides a critical and intimate examination of Islamophobia's diverse manifestations. This is the first book to offer such a comprehensive analysis, making it a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the complexities of global Islamophobia and its far-reaching consequences.
Topic:
Authoritarianism, Democracy, Islamophobia, Muslims, and Book Talk
Political Geography:
Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Global Focus

57. Hindutva in Britain

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
11-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
In August and September 2022, the English city of Leicester provided the backdrop for the convergence of international and local dynamics as unrest erupted between the city’s Hindu and Muslim communities. The events that unfolded highlighted the existence of Hindutva/Hindu nationalism and Islamophobia in the United Kingdom, and how online voices (both locally and globally) used social media platforms to inflame tensions and spread mis/disinformation. Hindu nationalism from India collided with a deeply entrenched Islamophobia in one of the most diverse cities in Europe. It was quickly apparent in the days that followed the violence in Leicester – as the local authority, police, and community tried to grapple with the events that had occurred – that many were not aware of the international politics that had likely factored into these events. Initial responses attributed the violence to a cricket match between India and Pakistan, with even the City’s Mayor presenting this view, However, further investigations revealed underlying issues within the communities long before the cricket match. This unawareness and inexperience was compounded by the abundance of voices seeking to use this opportunity to amplify Islamophobia. British Muslims are already the targets of the highest proportion of religious hate crimes in the country, and this response by some appeared to take advantage of that environment to shift the narrative away from the dangers of Hindu nationalism. The impact of this has been heavy on a city like Leicester, as residents have expressed an atmosphere of distrust emerging amongst communities. The events in Leicester and the conversations around it introduced a relatively new term to local and national discourse: Hindutva. While this term may be new to many, as an ideology, it has been around for decades. Hindutva is distinct from Hinduism – it is a modern ethno-nationalist movement that seeks to establish Hindu hegemony in India and should not be confused simply with the religion of more than a billion people. This report will examine the historical and contemporary context that has cultivated the complex landscape in which Hindu nationalist influences have materialized in the UK. It will discuss the history and background of Hindutva. It will then examine how British voices who have long played a role in spreading Islamophobia have aligned themselves with Hindu nationalist narratives, which often employ anti-Muslim tropes. This report will also profile several organizations that function within the UK and have expressed or supported Hindu nationalist sentiment, which serves as evidence against those who argue against the presence of Hindutva ideology in the country. Lastly, it will assess how the existence of Hindutva is impacting the harmony and cohesion between South Asian communities in the UK, and in particular, in Leicester. As highlighted by Dr. Fatima Rajina, a sociologist at De Montfort University in Leicester: “You will not understand the events of Leicester if you do not pay attention to what’s been happening in India and how Hindutva has been playing out across the diaspora.” A century-old ideology developed by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1922 is now shaping the politics of the world’s largest democracy, but also having a reverberating impact in countries like the UK and the United States. In the absence of any formal review of the Leicester unrest being completed as yet, this report will offer the opportunity to understand Hindu nationalism and its manifestations on the streets of Leicester.
Topic:
Islamophobia, Political Extremism, Hindutva, and Hindu Nationalism
Political Geography:
Britain and United Kingdom

58. European Islamophobia

Author:
Farid Hafez
Publication Date:
12-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:
Islamophobia is on the rise at an alarming speed in Europe, a continent with tens of millions of Muslim citizens.
Topic:
Minorities, Discrimination, and Islamophobia
Political Geography:
Europe

59. Is a Genocide of Muslims Underway in India?

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
10-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Over the past decade, India has experienced a dangerous rise in Islamophobia. There are near daily episodes of harassment, public beatings and mob assaults, destruction of property, and lynchings that have created an atmosphere of fear for the country’s 200+ million Muslims. The rise in this bigotry has largely come into being with the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a right-wing Hindu nationalist party. Videos of BJP politicians and right-wing Hindu religious leaders calling on Hindus to bear arms and to kill Muslims have become a normal feature in Modi’s India, where the Prime Minister has failed to condemn such rhetoric or speak out against the rising instability and divisions within society. The inaction and appeasement by the judiciary, law enforcement, and senior levels of government has signaled to the followers of Hindutva, a far-right political ideology that advocates for Hindu supremacy, that those in power support their efforts to carry out their mission of making India a Hindu-only nation. With this, the threat of mass atrocities is growing and becoming a dangerous reality. This report examines the situation in India utilizing Gregory Stanton’s 10 stages of genocide, and finds that examples of the first 8 stages of genocide are present in India. Currently, the country is teetering at stage 8 (persecution) with the indicators of stage 9 (extermination) becoming more and more visible. Islamophobia has been central to the BJP and the Hindu nationalist movement, as their goals are reliant on the subordination and dehumanization of Indian Muslims.
Topic:
Genocide, Islamophobia, Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Muslims
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

60. Factsheet: Karl Nehammer

Author:
Karl Nehammer
Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Karl Nehammer is the current Chancellor of Austria. Three days prior to being sworn in as Chancellor on December 6, 2021, he became the managing chairman of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP). Previously, he served as the Minister of the Interior from 2020 to 2021, General Secretary of the ÖVP from 2018 to 2020, and a member of the National Council from 2017 to 2020. He has been a key figure in supporting anti-Muslim policies.
Topic:
Politics, Domestic Politics, Islamophobia, Muslims, and Karl Nehammer
Political Geography:
Europe and Austria