Notes on Randa Abdel-Fattah’s ‘Islamophobia and Everyday Multiculturalism in Australia’ from Arzu Merali.* There is so much to recommend Randa Abdel- Fattah’s book, it is difficult to know where to begin. I also fear that, without a forensic chapter by chapter analysis, I will do an injustice and leave important aspects
New paper from the Commission for Countering Extremism associates left-wing views with ‘violent extremism’ The document released by the UK Commission for Countering Extremism, titled “Violent extremist tactics and the ideology of the sectarian left” reads more like a textbook of sectarianism than an analysis of its ideas and methods. It is deeply alarming. Earlier this year,
Reflexively showcasing Muslim contributions to Westernised society will not in and of itself address the Islamophobia-motivated erasure and misrepresentation of Muslims from national narratives. That requires a wider, more forceful recognition and restatement of the role played by colonialism in subalternising racialised minorities, argues Arzu Merali.* “Armed Forces Day was one strand
UK police have rejected a proposed definition of Islamophobia, saying it could challenge free speech and undermine counter-terrorism efforts* It has been a week for those decrying the idea of institutional Islamophobia in Britain to inadvertently prove that it exists. First, there was Policy Exchange’s report, “On Islamophobia,” co-authored by the erstwhile
Ban on Hezbollah will criminalise dissent and become part of a gamut of law and policy the state uses to silence criticism In 2006, there was a war – another onslaught by the invincible Israeli war machine. Despite a media bias so palpable that even the BBC found itself guilty in a review of
Arzu Merali argues that Muslim civil society’s indulgence of anti-Muslim narratives and policies is complicity in the delegitimisation of opposition to war and injustice. I watched the Adam Mackay movie this week, Vice. It charts the rise of Dick Cheney (or maybe more precisely Lynne Cheney) and his/their stranglehold on power in the
Anna Soubury’s experiences at the hands of the far-right is the lived and normalised experience of the minoritised, says Arzu Merali. Year in year, for a good ten years or more, all sorts of far-right and a motley band of Zionists, congregate to counter the annual Al-Quds Day pro-Palestinian demonstration. They howl
Institutionalised Islamophobia has contributed to hate crimes, discrimination and the exclusion of Muslims from political spaces* Where to start or finish a year’s overview of Islamophobia in the UK? We can focus on the comments of various public figures, not least former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, who was exonerated of any wrongdoing for his
The launch of a ‘Counter-Islamophobia Toolkit’ offers reason for hope at a time when racism is on the rise in many parts of Europe* I am on the train to Brussels, to take part in the launch of the Counter-Islamophobia Toolkit **(CIK) report at the European Parliament. The culmination of nearly two
Arzu Merali says that despite getting the nation well and truly hooked the BBC series The Bodyguard played into virtually every Islamophobic stereotype. It’s Monday evening and I am still annoyed, and frankly alarmed. I am still thinking about the finale of the BBC Drama series Bodyguard that aired in the UK last
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