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Cultural & social affairs Department

OIC islamophobia Observatory

Monthly Bulletin – March 2013

I. Manifestations of Islamophobia:

1. France: Mosque in Alsace is sent letter containing ham – The Collectif contre l’Islamophobie en France reported that a mosque at Mulhouse, in Alsace, was the victim of an Islamophobic act earlier in the last week of February 2013. Exactly as happened at Meximieux in the previous month, officials at the place of worship were mailed an envelope containing ham. The CCIF added that, as was also the case with the Meximieux mosque, this was not the first time that the Mulhouse mosque had been targeted in an act of hatred. About a year ago more than 70 nails were found along the front of the building where worshippers usually park their cars. When Daoui Hanafi, president of the mosque, attempted to file a complaint, the police refused to register it and only agreed to record a statement. In this latest incident, on collecting the post from the mosque’s mailbox Mr Hanafi found a yellow envelope, stamped and addressed to the As-Salam mosque. Inside was a plastic bag containing the pork. This time, he was able to file a complaint with the police. At Meximeux, by contrast, in identical circumstances, the police argued that no offence had been committed and refused to register a complaint. In addition to being the target of repeated attacks, and both receiving a letter containing pork, there was a third common feature that connected these two mosques, namely that they had faced the reluctance of the authorities to take threats to their places of worship seriously. The CCIF asked whether French Muslims were to be treated as second class citizens, who were to be denied the recognition and protection due to any victim under the law. In: http://www.islamophobia-watch.com/islamophobia-watch/2013/3/1/mosque-in-alsace-is-sent-letter-containing-ham.html, retrieved on 02.03.2013 2. Australia: Sydney suburb bombarded with anti-Muslim literature – Residents had been bombarded with an anonymous anti-Islamic letter drop, protesting against the proposed development of 150 houses by Qartaba Homes in Riverstone and Schofields. Rivo Respect, Responsibility & Recognition founders Danielle Fragomeli and Carroline Parkes said hundreds of flyers titled “Future of Riverstone a Muslim enclave”, as well as an eight-page booklet titled “Islam Aggressive Religion, Totalitarian Political System” had been distributed. The pair said the letter-drop had caused panic among some community members. Qartaba Homes director Wajahat Rana played down the impact of the flyers, saying the issue was settling down, adding: “We are not worried about these anonymous flyers as we have had good discussions with the local Chamber of Commerce and a community group…We are a business, not an Islamic organisation, and the people who are doing this are ignorant and trying to portray a bad reputation for Riverstone by using scare-mongering tactics which will consequently have a poor economic outlook for Riverstone.” Controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders, also referred to the “Muslim enclave in Riverstone” during his speeches in Sydney in the last week of February 2013. In: http://www.islamophobia-watch.com/islamophobia-watch/2013/3/1/sydney-suburb-bombarded-with-anti-muslim-literature.html, retrieved on 02.03.2013

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3. Russia: Moscow mayor says no to more mosques in the city – The Mayor of Moscow said there were no plans to build a new mosque in the city, and said the “excessive” number of economic migrants was a “harmful thing”. Sergey Sobyanin said in an interview with Moscow’s Echo radio: “It has turned out that the praying Muslims are not at all Russian citizens and they are not Moscow residents. They are labor migrants. There are only 10 percent of Moscow residents among them and building mosques for everyone who wants it – I think this will be over the top.” In: http://www.islamophobia-watch.com/islamophobia-watch/2013/3/1/moscow-mayor-says-no-to-more-mosques-in-the-city.html, retrieved on 02.03.2013 4. Norway: Far-rightists Profile Muslims – Resorting to Nazis tactics, a Norwegian anti-Islam group had published a list of Muslim companies and organization in the western European country, a list that had only been made once before in Norway by Nazis to profile Jews in the past century. LIM Network (Equality, Integration, Diversity) wrote in a message published on Facebook and cited by The Nordic Page magazine on Saturday (2nd March): “NDL has made a list of Muslim organizations in Norway and companies run by people with Muslim names…We cannot see that this has something with “Islam criticism” to do.” The list had been published by Norwegian Defence League (NDL) had been compiled on the basis of listings in the Public Entity Registry. Lars Johnny Aardal, deputy leader of the NDL, said that it was published “to show the extent of Islam and Muslims in Norway.” NDL wrote in the prologue of the list: “The list is far from complete, and a longer list can be prepared with multiple keywords or keyword changes we have used…We have only included entries under the keywords “Islam, Kurdish, Turkish, Muslim, Iranian, Iraqi, Somali, Pakistani, Arabic, Mohammed, Ali and Hussein.” The list drew criticism to the Norwegian anti-Islamic group, closely associated with the English Defence League (EDL). LIM Network added in its Facebook message: “Such lists based on religious affiliation evokes unpleasant historical associations, and is likely to cause fear and hostility between groups in society…We, as followers of a peaceful and tolerant multi-ethnic society, react and stand together against all forms of extremism.” The NDL was formed around New Year 2010/2011, inspired by the EDL which had been formed in 2009. The name of the far-right group hit the news in 2011 connected with anti-Islam mass killer Anders Behring Breivik who killed at least 76 people in twin attacks on a government building and a youth training camp in Oslo. In: http://www.onislam.net/english/news/europe/461599-norway-far-rightists-profile-muslims.html, retrieved on 03.03.2013 5. UK: BNP member calls for Swansea Mosque & Islamic Community Centre to be burnt down – A BNP member is being investigated by police after calling for a South Wales mosque to be burnt down. Joshua Wren, a BNP member from the Swansea area posted a photograph last night of the Swansea Mosque & Islamic Community Centre on his Facebook page adding “Burn down this devil centre”. Wren removed the photograph later, but not before Hope not Hate took a screengrab and reported the matter to South Wales Police. In: http://www.islamophobia-watch.com/islamophobia-watch/2013/3/4/bnp-member-calls-for-swansea-mosque-islamic-community-centre.html, retrieved on 05.03.2013

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6. US: Two Perham exchange students are kicked out of church – Two exchange students, Elshan Mirzazade, from Azerbaijan, and Fikri Rahmat, from Indonesia, attending school in Perham, Minnesota said they were kicked out of a church there when they questioned a nationally known speaker who said “Islam equals terrorism”. The boys were kicked out of the Assembly of God church in Perham during a question answer period following a speech by Walid Shoebat, who says he is a former terrorist, and claimed to be an anti-terrorism expert, calling Islam the devil and touring the US speaking to churches and schools - even collecting fees from Homeland Security. CNN had exposed Shoebat, calling him a fraud. In: http://www.wday.com/event/article/id/76361/, retrieved on 06.03.2013 7. US: AIPAC gives its seal of approval to Islamophobe Steven Emerson – The annual Israel lobby confab had once again put its seal of approval on Islamophobia. A key member of what had been termed the “Islamophobia network” appeared Sunday (3rd March) at an officially scheduled session at the

American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) annual conference. Steven Emerson, the head of the Investigative Project on Terrorism, had been a lead pusher of anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S. since the 1990s. On that day afternoon, he led a session at AIPAC titled “The Threat From Within: Islamic Radicalism in the United States.” Here’s the description, taken from AIPAC’s website: Islamic extremists operating within the United States pose a serious risk to America’s security. Acts of domestic

terrorism, as well as various attacks that have been thwarted by intelligence agencies and law enforcement, point to the severity of the threat. What can and should the United States do to combat these homegrown radicals? Emerson, who had given testimony to Congress, also appeared at AIPAC’s conference in 2012, where he spoke on a similar topic. There was evidence that had come out in recent years about “Islamic extremists” in the United States pointing to the conclusion that Emerson’s session likely hyped the threat. The latest study released by the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security in North Carolina revealed that only 14 American Muslims last year were indicted for violent terror plots. That was a decline from the 21 Muslim Americans indicted in 2011. What was more, almost all of the plots from 2012 involved undercover agents and informants. Critics had called plots egged on by undercover agents entrapment, and many of the plots involved law enforcement agents targeting young, unemployed and/or mentally ill Muslims. Unbiased evidence, though, was not a concern to Emerson, who had been pushing anti-Muslim politics since before the September 11, 2001 attacks. In 1991, the New York Times called one of Emerson’s books “anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian.” One of his most infamous moments came in the immediate aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing. Emerson told a reporter that the bombing bore a “Middle Eastern trait” because it intended to “inflict as many casualties as possible.” It turned out the attack had nothing to do with Islamic extremists. In: http://www.islamophobiatoday.com/2013/03/06/aipac-gives-its-seal-of-approval-to-islamophobe-steven-emerson/, retrieved on 07.03.2013 8. Canada: Hate crimes unit called in to investigate graffiti on Guelph mosque – Guelph police had their hate crimes unit investigating after racial graffiti was discovered on a mosque. Numerous spray-painted graffiti markings were discovered on the outside of the Guelph Muslim Society’s mosque at 286 Water Street early Wednesday. The graffiti was painted between 9 p.m. Tuesday and 7 a.m. Wednesday (5-6 March). It contained derogatory references to Muslims along with inflammatory and threatening language.

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Police said the incident went beyond simple mischief, which was why a specialized unit was brought in to investigate. Const. Mike Gatto said: “Due to … the type of information that was put on those walls, we’re moving it upstairs to our hate crimes unit.” A security camera outside the mosque was able to capture two suspects. In: http://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/hate-crimes-unit-called-in-to-investigate-graffiti-on-guelph-mosque-1.1185883, retrieved on 08.03.2013 9. Sweden: Muslim discrimination ‘too common’ – Swedish Muslims slammed the government for failing to combat discrimination, submitting a report to the UN with a list of proposed measures, such as setting up an inquiry into the abuse of Somali migrants in the tiny town of Forserum. Kitimbwa Sabuni told The Local on Friday (08 March): “Forserum really showed what proportions Islamophobia as well as Afrophobia can take when an entire town looks on as people have their human rights violated.” Sabuni edited the report submitted to the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) by the Network of Swedish Muslims (Nätverket Svenska Muslimer i Samarbete), a cooperation of several different associations, in which representatives said Sweden was failing to tackle discrimination against Muslims. The report estimated there were 350,000 Muslim Swedes, making it one of Sweden’s biggest minorities. It asked the government to order an inquiry into how local authorities failed to help Somali migrants, some of whom were too afraid to let their children go to school after suffering verbal and physical abuse. The report also urged research into prejudices that ethnic Swedes who convert to Islam face, in many cases from their own families. The list also asked that the government probe the effects of Sweden anti-terror law, including the extended surveillance rights of the security agencies. It noted that out of 26 known arrests using the 2003 law change, all cases targeted Muslims. It also mentioned housing segregation as a problem that could in part be solved by allowing Islamic banking, which forbids interest rates, which could unlock flat and house ownership for many Swedish Muslims. The report also addressed how Muslims were represented by the Swedish media, urging that greater attention be paid to how Swedish news channels report on matters pertaining to the minority community. A further recommendation in the report was to foster a more diverse recruitment base for journalists working for the public broadcasting. It suggested that “Sveriges Television (SVT) remove the discriminatory ban on newscasters wearing headscarves.” Additionally, the report asked that the government gives funds to Muslim congregations to secure their safe operations. It also cited statistics that showed that per capita, Muslims receive less funding through community association funding than other groups. The report concluded that Islamophobia had “been allowed to creep into the political mainstream,” a comment that irked Integration Minister Erik Ullenhag. In: http://www.thelocal.se/46618/20130308/#.UTriwDdvBMg, retrieved on 09.03.2013 10. US: San Francisco Grapples With Anti-Islam Bus Ads, Pamela Geller’s Group Spawns New ‘Jihad’ Controversy – San Francisco city buses began carrying political ads on Monday (11 March) denounced by several municipal leaders as anti-Islamic, racist messages that unfairly depicted Arabs and Muslims as groups defined by extremism and violence. But rather than seek to bar San Francisco’s transit agency from accepting the paid ads and risk a court fight over free speech rights, city officials said they would instead mount a public service campaign preaching tolerance and peace. The bus ads were paid for by the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), the same group behind a similar campaign in San Francisco and New York in 2012 that referred to the Arab-Israeli conflict as a war “between the civilized man and the savage.” Those adds implored: “Support the civilized man” or “Support Israel. Defeat Jihad.” The founder of AFDI, Pamela Geller, is a New York-based blogger and commentator whom the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracked U.S. hate groups, described as “the anti-Muslim movement’s most visible and flamboyant figurehead.”

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The latest series of ads, posted on San Francisco’s so-called Muni buses, picture such figures as al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and convicted Times Square would-be car bomber Faisal Shahzad with quotes that essentially equated the Islamic concept of jihad, or holy struggle, with militant violence. Geller, who spoke by telephone with Reuters, defended her ads, denying they were motivated by bigotry, asking: “Truth is hate now?”, and then saying: “My point is to raise awareness of the greatest threat that this nation and that freedom lovers face. The purpose of our ads is to show the reality of jihad and the root causes of terrorism from the words of jihadists themselves.” But Scott Wiener, a member of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors who described himself as the city’s only elected Jewish official, said the AFDI was engaged in the same type of vilification long found in anti-Semitic tracts, adding: “The history of the Jewish people is the history of stereotyping and caricature…We as a community have to stand arm in arm against this awful message.” Some critics of the ads said a case could be made for the city to refuse to carry such messages on its buses on the grounds they violated the Metropolitan Transportation Agency policy against running “false, misleading or deceptive” advertising. But MTA spokesman Paul Rose said doing so would likely embroil the financially beleaguered agency in a costly and possibly futile legal fight. A federal court in 2012 ruled that AFDI’s “civilized man and the savage” messages were constitutionally protected forms of speech, forcing New York City’s transit authority to carry the posters. In: http://forward.com/articles/172713/san-francisco-grapples-with-anti-islam-bus-ads/?p=2, retrieved on 12.03.2013 11. US: Florida advances Sharia ban – Florida was once again mulling a ban on sharia law, this time passing a bill out of the state’s Senate Judiciary Committee that would prevent courts from considering “foreign law” when handing down legal decisions.

From the Miami Herald: The bill, SB 58, bans courts or other legal authorities from using religious or foreign law as a part of a legal decision or contract relating to family law. Florida law would supercede foreign law regarding divorce, alimony, the division of marital assets, child support and child custody. The bill is ready to be heard on the House floor but it has more committee stops in the Senate. Last year, the bill passed the House but died in the Senate.

The bill was introduced by state Sen. Alan Hays and state Rep. Larry Metz, both Republicans, who contended that it had nothing to do with targeting Islam, adding: “If your law violates the constitutional rights of a Floridian, it has no business being in a Florida court.” Bills like this one had popped up in state legislatures across US – including in Florida, multiple times, by the same two lawmakers. Back in 2011, neither could name an instance when a state court had used international or Islamic law to make a decision. In: http://www.salon.com/2013/03/08/florida_advances_sharia_ban/, retrieved on 13.03.2013 12. UK: Muslim helpline reveals majority of faith attacks on women – According to the first results from the UK’s official helpline for victims of Islamophobia, the majority of Muslims physically attacked, harassed or intimidated because of their faith were women. More than 630 incidents were logged during the first 12 months of the helpline, launched in an attempt to quantify the scale and nature of anti-Muslim violence in Britain. Some of the most egregious attacks recorded include a family being forced from their Nottinghamshire home, a five-year-old girl knocked over by a hit-and-run driver and a Somali lady who had dog faeces placed on her head by a white man while shopping in south London. The attacks, collated by the helpline, Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks), showed that Muslim women were targeted in 58% of all incidents. The majority of physical assaults committed in the street were on women wearing Islamic clothing, with most victims describing the nature of the attacks as seemingly “random”.

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High-profile female targets have included communities minister Lady Warsi who was threatened online by an English Defence League (EDL) member and journalist Jemima Khan, whose 14-year-old son received anti-Muslim comments on Twitter. Of the perpetrators, the majority were subsequently found to have had links to recognised far-right groups such as the British National Party (BNP) or the EDL. So far, information provided to the helpline has led to the arrests of 21 far-right EDL supporters, with more than 40 incidents reported against EDL leader Tommy Robinson alone. Members of the BNP or EDL were involved in 54% of all incidents, of which three-quarters were committed by men. The average ages of perpetrators were between 21 and 30. The results follow a report by think-tank Chatham House which identified a considerable Islamophobic sentiment in the UK, detecting a “wide reservoir of public sympathy for claims that Islam and the growth of settled, Muslim communities pose a fundamental threat to the native group and nation.” The majority of incidents received by the helpline related to what it described as “abusive behaviour” with 74% of recorded incidents occurring online. However, experts agreed that even non-violent incidents had a profound adverse impact on peoples’ lives. There was a calling on police forces to drastically improve their recording of Islamophobic crimes. At the moment just two forces, the Metropolitan police and City of London police, currently record anti-Muslim crimes separately. Additionaly, the Home Office should take over monitoring of online hate and far-right groups from the Department for Communities and Local Government. Other areas that the Muslim community believed could be improved include more prosecutions against online-based hatred. In: http://www.loonwatch.com/2013/03/muslim-helpline-reveals-majority-of-faith-attacks-on-women/, retrieved on 13.03.2013 13. UK: Far-right anti-Islam group EDL seeking to link religion with crime – according to a King’s College London report, Britain’s far-right anti-Islam grouping, the English Defence League was exploiting concerns about sex-grooming gangs to enhance its anti-Islam agenda. The Report had found that the EDL was using recent cases, such as that of 9 Asian men imprisoned in 2012 for grooming girls in Rochdale to win support from among the British public. One of the report’s authors, Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens of KCL’s International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, said: “The EDL has successfully exploited concerns about the sex-grooming gangs in the north of England, turning the issue into one of Islam versus the west,” adding that activists across Europe recognized the EDL chief, Tommy Robinson, as a “rock star” and “They want him to help their own organisations to become like the EDL. There’s a danger that the UK will export this kind of vicious, far-right activism to the rest of the continent.” According to the report, community tensions in Europe had been heightened by the EDL and its partners, and they further promoted ideas that helped inspire the Norwegian mass killer Anders Breivik. One theme used by the EDL to try to boost its support was that of rape allegedly committed by Muslim men as evidence of the “Islamisation” of the west, which the report noted as being seen as ‘rape jihad’ In: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/03/13/293432/religion/, retrieved on 14.03.2013 14. Georgia: Local nationalists protest against new mosque – A group of Georgian nationalists outside the government’s house organized a protest rally having the main slogan as “Let’s say no to Turkish religious and economic expansion!” Members of the non-governmental organization named “National Front” staged the protest against construction of a new mosque in the sea-side city of Batumi near the Turkish border.

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Protesters called on the government to annul agreements with Ankara for construction of the new mosque, as well as stop accommodating Turkish citizens in the coastal region of Adjara, which stipulated revision of visa relations with Turkey. In: http://www.islamophobia-watch.com/islamophobia-watch/2013/3/14/georgian-nationalists-protest-against-new-mosque.html, retrieved on 16.03.2013 15. US: Islamophobia still has its place at CPAC – Though, for the most part, the fringiest conservatives were shut out of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in 2013’s meeting, one unofficial panel hosted by Breitbart.com did not disappoint, bringing out “The Uninvited” anti-Islam activists for a panel on national security. Speaking to a packed room, Pamela Geller, Frank Gaffney, and former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, talked of the Muslim Brotherhood’s infiltration of America, and, more imminently, of the CPAC conference. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, who introduced the panel on Saturday (16 March) and called the speakers “the world experts on global jihad,” bemoaned that the FBI had “scrubbed out” derogatory references to Islam or Muslims because their Muslim advisers told them they had to. He also couldn’t pass up the opportunity to talk illegal immigrants, who he called “undocumented Democrats.” Former Bush Attorney General Michael Mukasey warned of Islam’s “need to impose sharia on the world,” noting that “there has been a systematic purging of references to Islamism, lest offense be given to Muslims.” And where was the government finding out what would give offense to Muslims, Mukasey asked. From groups like CAIR and ISNA, “both of which are branches of the Muslim Brotherhood…[and]…The vast majority of the world’s 1.4 billion Muslims adhere to a view of their religion that agrees on the need to impose Sharia, or Islamic law, on the world.” Robert Spencer, the blogger for Jihad Watch, got a standing ovation for tying both Grover Norquist, who married to a Muslim woman, and ex-Bush staffer and CPAC board member Suhail Khan, a Muslim, to the Muslim Brotherhood, adding: “What I do know is that they’re completely in bed with the same people Barack Obama is listening to to draft the entire foreign policy of the United States and domestic policy as well…[and Norquist]… is the one who made it so that Pamela Geller and I are on this panel called ‘The Uninvited’…Maybe you don’t know, but Barack Obama has completely aligned this nation with the Muslim Brotherhood…Barack Obama is not stupid and we should give him credit for knowing what he’s doing and for doing it on purpose.” Pamela Geller, who called the panel “poetic justice,” said that “truth is the new hate speech,” and that those who tried to speak the truth were “marginalize[d], demonize[d] and render[ed] radioactive.” She also

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took a shot at Khan: “Suhail Khan is worse than Anwar al Awaki” because “look what’s he’s done to this conference.” Frank Gaffney, who was banned from the conference several years ago, said that Khan “was recruited to the Muslim Brotherhood” when in college. “He is a prince of the Muslim Brotherhood.” After the panel, Robert Spencer told Salon that “Islamophobia is a concept manufactured by the Muslim Brotherhood in order to intimidate people into being afraid to resist Islamic supremacism.” In: http://www.salon.com/2013/03/16/islamophobia_still_has_its_place_at_cpac/singleton/, retrieved on 17.03.2013 16. US: ADVANCE EXCERPT: Upcoming Ailes Biography Reveals Fox's Islamophobia goes straight To the Top – In an upcoming biography of Fox News president Roger Ailes, author Zev Chafets reported that Ailes had not donated to any Muslim charities, and connected that decision to comments

tying all Muslim charities to terrorism. Ailes’ brand of Islamophobia was mirrored in Fox News’ coverage, which had repeatedly tried to connect all Muslims and Muslim institutions with terrorism. In his new book Roger Ailes: Off Camera, an early copy of which was obtained by Media Matters, Chafets described Ailes’ charitable giving as being spread among a variety of religious charities. Despite giving to charities of various faiths, Chafets reported that Ailes had not given to any Muslim charities, quoting Ailes as saying he would only support those organizations “if they disarm” (emphasis added):

“I’ve been kicked out of every damn church I’ve ever belonged to,” says Roger Ailes. It is a buccaneer’s boast, meant to convey a hard-core irreverence. Ailes is not, by any means, a conventional born-again Christian of the Mike Huckabee variety, let alone Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell. He wouldn't use the word himself, but he is ecumenical. He donates considerable sums each year to a small Protestant church near his home in Garrison, although he is not on its membership rolls. He donates upward of 10 percent of his net income to charities, many of them religious, including an annual fifty grand to the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York and another fifty grand to Catholic charities. He told me he’d be glad to give to Muslim charities, too, “if they disarm”.

The implication that all Muslim charities were connected to terrorism was in line with the Islamophobic rhetoric that regularly appeared on Fox News, where hosts and guests had a long history of invoking terrorism to attack Muslims and Islam:

In an appearance on ABC’s The View, Fox host Bill O’Reilly declared “Muslims killed us on 9-11”. O’Reilly used the claim to justify his opposition to a planned Islamic community center located two blocks away from New York City’s Ground Zero. O’Reilly later said, “If anybody felt I was demeaning all Muslims, I apologize.”

Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade defended O’Reilly’s statement by saying “there was a certain group of people that attacked us on 9-11. It wasn’t just one person. It was one religion. Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims.” On his radio show later in the day, Kilmeade asserted that it’s a “fact” that “every terrorist is a Muslim”. Following widespread criticism of his remarks, Kilmeade “clarified” his comments, saying “I’m sorry about that, if I offended ... or hurt anybody’s feelings. But that’s it.”

On The O’Reilly Factor, regular Fox guest Ann Coulter& advocated racial profiling by claiming terrorists “all look alike. They’re all foreign-born ... They’re all Muslim.”

On The Five, co-host Eric Bolling falsely claimed “every terrorist on American soil has been a Muslim.”

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In a months-long attack on the proposed Islamic community center Park51, Fox News hosts and guests regularly invoked terrorism. Contributor Dick Morris claimed the center would “train the same kind of terrorists that caused the attacks” on 9-11. Bolling predicted Park51 “may be a meeting place for some of the scariest minds -- some of the biggest terrorist minds.” Kilmeade described the center by saying “the next Hamburg cell could be right downtown,” a reference to the terrorist cell whose members executed the 9-11 hijackings.

Chafets’ book was not the first to report on Ailes’ Islamophobia. In a 2011 Rolling Stone profile of Ailes, Tim Dickinson described Ailes putting “Fox News on lockdown” after “observing a dark-skinned man in what Ailes perceived to be Muslim garb.” Dickinson quoted a source close to Ailes saying “He has a personal paranoia about people who are Muslim -- which is consistent with the ideology of his network”:

Inside his blast-resistant office at Fox News headquarters, Ailes keeps a monitor on his desk that allows him to view any activity outside his closed door. Once, after observing a dark-skinned man in what Ailes perceived to be Muslim garb, he put Fox News on lockdown. “What the hell!” Ailes shouted. “This guy could be bombing me!” The suspected terrorist turned out to be a janitor. “Roger tore up the whole floor,” recalls a source close to Ailes. “He has a personal paranoia about people who are Muslim -- which is consistent with the ideology of his network.”

In: http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/03/18/advance-excerpt-upcoming-ailes-biography-reveal/193090, retrieved on 19.03.2013, emphasis in the original. 17. Sri Lanka’s Buddhist extremists vow to remove Muslim mosque in Kuragala – Having announced that they had concluded the fight against the Halal victoriously, the Sri Lanka Sinhala Buddhist extremist organization Bodu Bala Sena Sunday (17 March) announced that they would not talk about Halal issue. Instead they would now take up the issue of removing a mosque from Kuragala Buddhist monastery complex in the central hills. Addressing a mass rally held in Kandy city in the Central Province on that day, the national organizer of Bodu Bala Sena Ven. Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera said that the organization would not speak of Halal again since they had won the Halal issue. He insisted the relevant firms to remove the Halal certificate before the Sinhala New Year that falls in mid-April 2013.The Buddhist monk vowed that the Bodu Bala Sena would now take up the issue of removing a mosque that had allegedly taken over the Buddhist monastery in Kuragala. Kuragala rock cave is believed to be a Buddhist monastery dating back to 2nd century BC, the Buddhist organization said that in recent times the Muslim fundamentalists had taken over the site and destroyed the evidence of Buddhist heritage. The shrine had inscriptions dated back to 10th century and Muslims believed the visiting Muslim traders in the past used this place as a resting place and shrine. In: http://www.colombopage.com/archive_13A/Mar18_1363584917CH.php, retrieved on 19.03.2013 18. UK: Six admit charges after Sunderland mosque protest violence – Six men had admitted charges after left and right-wing groups clashed at a demonstration in Sunderland. They were arrested following a protest against plans to covert a former council depot in Millfield into a mosque. Prosecutor Glenda Beck told Sunderland magistrates that demonstration began at 12.30pm on 6 October, with both sides shouting at each other. She said: “The right-wing group was the most hostile.” Three Wearsiders were arrested following the clash. Stephen George Brown, 32, of Palmerston Road in Pennywell, admitted a public order offence and religiously-aggravated harassment. He was charged with the second offence in November 2012, after police viewed CCTV from the incident and heard him using anti-Muslim abuse. Defending, Heather Bolton said Brown had friends and family living near the site of the mosque and he had aired his concerns about it at public meetings.

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Darren Stokoe, from Patrick Road, Pennywell, also pleaded guilty to a public order offence. Mrs Beck said he was spotted by officers throwing an object at supporters of the mosque. Both cases were adjourned for sentencing until April 2013 for Probation Service reports. Anthony Farrer, 37, of Cleveland Road, was given a six-month conditional discharge after admitting throwing an egg at anti-fascists. Also involved was Ronald Wood, 39, of Lonnen Drive in Swalwell, Gateshead, who was fined £110 after admitting racially-aggravated harassment. Dean Spence, 23, of Yew Close, Spennymoor, admitted disorderly conduct, but denied throwing a firework, and was fined £73. Shaun Bunting, 34, of Fenhall Green, Newton Aycliffe, was fined £133 after refusing to comply with a police notice to leave the area. In: http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/crime/six-admit-charges-after-sunderland-mosque-protest-violence-1-5505110, retrieved on 20.03.2013 19. Australia: Islamophobia Hurts Multiculturalism – With a vocal minority holding racist views about Islam, a parliamentary report was warning that anti-Muslim sentiments were casting a pale on the success of multiculturalism in Australia. The parliamentary report cited by The Australian on Tuesday, 19 March, in part, said: “The committee’s analysis has revealed that the perception of Islam as a threat has led to serious concerns within the community, which in turn is sometimes used as a justification for aggressive racist attacks and intensifying the marginalization of Muslims…This results in and springs from a consolidation of conservative attitudes both within Islamic communities and across the mainstream, with public discussion entrenching fear and alarmist views.” A two-year inquiry into multiculturalism in Australia had found overwhelming concerns on Muslims and their faith. It found that out of 513 submissions to the inquiry, 212 raised concerns about or discussed the question of Islam in Australia. Some 113 submissions objected to the possible introduction of legal pluralism to accommodate the requirements of Islamic Shari’ah. The report said many submissions asserted that multiculturalism was “laying the foundations for ethnic separatism under increased migration from Islamic countries”. The parliamentary committee also heard accusations that Muslim imams were encouraging Muslim-only enclaves. The report said: “References were made to Muslim ‘enclaves’ in Sydney and Melbourne, and the riots in Cronulla in 2005, to suggest a lack of willingness on the part of Muslims to embrace the Australian lifestyle, values and behaviors.” The report, however, noted that most Australians were not racist and were comfortable with cultural diversity, “Nevertheless, a small but vocal number in the community hold racist views and are exacting a high toll both on emerging communities and on social cohesion.” The Report also:

warned that mistrusting Muslims or multiculturalism would never lead to a stronger, richer or safer community.

advocated a “supportive and flexible approach by respecting other cultures, languages and practices”.

supported “…measures to foster understanding and liberal debate on Islam” and calls for “joint initiatives across academic institutions between Australia and the region”.

recommended rebuilding Australia’s research capacity in factoring cultural and linguistic diversity into the government’s social inclusion agenda.

also recommended the establishment of a government-funded, independent collaborative institute for excellence in research into multicultural affairs.

called for increasing flexibility in English language training and supporting micro enterprises, especially for women.

Yet, said it did not consider legal recognition of Islamic practices necessary or desirable.

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In conclusion, “In the committee’s opinion, the message conveyed should be that multiculturalism is an inclusive policy which values and respects diversity and promotes inclusiveness and engagement within the framework of Australian laws.” Muslims, who had been in Australia for more than 200 years, make up 1.7 percent of its 20-million population. Islam is the country’s second largest religion after Christianity. In: http://www.onislam.net/english/news/asia-pacific/461883-islamophobia-imperils-aussie-multiculturalism.html, retrieved on 20.03.2013 20. France: Pork-filled Envelopes Sent to mosques – In the past few days, mosques in several regions of France, received by mail envelopes containing pork. Some mosques, such as the one in Mulhouse, decided to lodge a complaint. Below is the list of mosques that had been documented to have received pork packages. It is very possible that more envelopes were sent to other mosques without it having been made public for the time being:

2 February 2013 : A Meximieux, in Ain, an envelope containing ham was discovered in the mailbox of the place of worship. A week later, the mosque received a Islamophobic letter, reported in February the site progress .

End of February 2013 : At Mulhouse, As-Salam mosque receives an envelope full of pork.

5 March 2013 : A Mulhouse, An-Nour Mosque in turn receives an envelope with ham inside.

7 March 2013 : The imam of the mosque of Brest Sunna said it had received an envelope containing pork.

March 2013 : the mosque of Mandelieu-la-Napoule, near Nice, received an envelope with ham inside.

6 to 8 March 2013: the mosque run by the Muslim Association of the Alpes-Maritimes, Nice, receives an envelope with pork slices

7 to 16 March 2013: the same mosque, located 130 boulevard de la Madeleine in Nice again receives an envelope with pork inside.

In March 2013, the mosque of the Fraternity, in Aubervilliers (93), received an envelope with pork.

In all likelihood, it would be the same person or the same group of people responsible for these mailings. In the meantime here is an interesting shot of a website belonging to the fachosphère:

Finally remember that such acts had been encouraged for years by the French extreme right. In the 2000s, the site Echos.com France called on its readers to flood the mailboxes elected as favorable to the construction of a mosque, in Toulouse in 2006 , or such other deemed too conciliatory towards Muslims.

Other action of these popular Islamophobic online: send leaflets to neighbors of an alleged dangerous Islamist to inform the immediate danger that lurks or pasting posters near future mosque to prevent the worst. These actions were – and still are – called “SITA action”, that is to say action ‘awareness of Islam in all directions “). In: http://www.islamophobiatoday.com/2013/03/20/pork-filled-envelopes-sent-to-mosques/, retrieved on 21.03.2013

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21. German spies accused of racism, Islamophobia – The Süddeutsche Zeitung, citing inside sources, wrote that Germany’s security service the Verfassungsschutz was a hornet’s nest of conflict, envy, jealousy and inappropriate insults. And they weren’t just innocent office jokes. Employees of the department tasked with observing militant Islamists reportedly threw around deeply offensive, Nazi-affiliated words in private of the kind which would be unthinkable in a public setting. These range from Herrenrasse, the German for “master race” to Muselmann – originally a German word meaning “Muslim man” later used by the Nazis as a slang word for emaciated death camp inmates who had surrendered to their fate – to Ölauge, a derogatory name for “greasy” dark-eyed foreigners. In one case currently the subject of an internal investigation, an agency employee was said to have offended co-workers in his office by positioning a doll of a Teutonic Knight with his sword pointing at a miniature mosque, wrote the paper. The highly secretive intelligence agency declined to comment on the investigation into the doll incident, but the paper reported mixed views among internal sources. In: http://www.thelocal.de/national/20130322-48693.html#.UU1VhzeeR5s, retrieved on 23.03.2013 22. Germany: Rightists Use German Identity to Fight Islam – Campaigning to preserve the German identity against Islam, a right-wing group started using social websites to spread anti-Muslim sentiments among the youth in the European country. Alexander Hausler, an expert on right-wing extremism at University of Applied Sciences in Dusseldorf, told Deutsche Welle: “They are clearly racist…They are making a major affront on Germany's multicultural society, composed of immigrants. They mostly

criticize the alleged Islamization of Germany.” The group’s logo shows the Greek letter lambda on a yellow background, like one from the 300 Spartan soldiers. Right-wing movement die Identitare Bewegung (The Identity Movement) had been using social websites to spread anti-Islam sentiments among young Germans. Putting German identity as its fixed point, the right-wing group focused on spreading its message mostly on the internet via Facebook and YouTube. “We are the identity-generation,” the group said, while declaring itself a protector

against the threat of Islam, adding: “100 percent identity - 0 percent racism,” and calling for “the protection of [its] continent from infiltration by foreigners, mass immigration and Islamization.” These posts on the right-wing movement’s website, however, had revealed a racist agenda. The movement’s Facebook page reached more than 4,000 fans. In: http://www.onislam.net/english/news/europe/461932-anti-islam-rightists-target-german-youth.html, retrieved on 24.03.2013 23. Italy: Muslim convert quits Catholic Church, says it’s too weak against Islam – A high-profile Italian Muslim who converted to Catholicism and was baptized by Pope Benedict XVI announced on 25 March 25 that he would leave the church to protest its soft stance against Islam. Egyptian-born Magdi Cristiano Allam, 61, a prominent journalist and outspoken critic of Islam, publicly entered the Catholic Church on 22 March 2008 during an Easter Vigil service, receiving baptism directly from Benedict. After his conversion, Allam founded a small right-wing political party that lost badly in Italy’s general elections in April 2012. Writing on Monday (25 March) in the right-wing daily Il Giornale, Allam explained that he considered his conversion to Catholicism finished “in combination with the end of (Benedict’s) pontificate [as] The ‘papolatry’ that has inflamed the euphoria for Francis I and has quickly archived Benedict XVI was the last straw in an overall framework of uncertainty and doubts about the Church.” Few days earlier, , Francis pledged to “intensify dialogue among the various religions,” particularly Islam.

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Allam, who had called Islam an “intrinsically violent ideology,” said his main reason for leaving the church was its perceived “religious relativism, in particular the legitimization of Islam as a true religion.” He warned: “Europe will end up being subjugated to Islam,”, unless it “finds the courage to denounce Islam as incompatible with our civilization and fundamental human rights,” and to “banish the Quran for inciting hatred, violence and death towards non-Muslims.” Europeans also need to “condemn Sharia as a crime against humanity” and to “stop the spread of mosques.” Allam said he would remain a Christian but that he did not “believe in the church anymore.” In: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/muslim-convert-quits-catholic-church-says-its-too-weak-against-islam/2013/03/25/1e7f8d0c-9581-11e2-95ca-dd43e7ffee9c_story.html, retrieved on 26.03.2013 24. Australia: Legal challenge to Gungahlin mosque plans – A group opposing plans to build a mosque at Gungahlin in Canberra’s north had won the right to mount a Supreme Court challenge. The Concerned Citizens of Canberra took its case to the ACT Supreme Court after its objections failed during the planning consultation period in 2012. It had raised concerns about the social impact of a mosque on the area, including extra traffic and noise. The development plans for the site on Valley Avenue received approval from authorities in August 2012. Acting Justice Margaret Sidis has agreed to allow the group an extension of time after they failed to meet the deadline for launching their case. The legal challenge must then begin by the end of April 2013. Justice Sidis had ordered the group to pay a surety of $25,000 to the court to cover legal costs. She had noted concerns raised by the ACT Government that the group had only six members and assets of just over $2,000. Justice Sidis rejected calls for local pastor Irwin Ross to join the case saying his real motivation was to circumvent the security for costs. In: http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/latest/16451951/legal-challenge-to-gungahlin-mosque-plans/, retrieved on 28.03.2013 I.I. On Islamophobic Behavior by US Military & Police: 1. New Report: “Mapping Muslims: NYPD Spying and its Impact on American Muslims” – American Muslim civil liberties groups released a new report on 11 March, Mapping Muslims: NYPD Spying and Its Impact on American Muslims, documenting the devastating impacts of the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) extensive surveillance program that targeted American Muslims throughout the

Northeast and spread outrage throughout the nation. Since 2002, the NYPD embarked on a covert domestic surveillance program that monitored American Muslims throughout the Northeast, from spying on neighborhood cafes and places of worship to infiltrating student whitewater-rafting trips - a program that continued despite the NYPD’s own acknowledgment that, over the course of six years, these efforts had not generated a single lead. The report is an unprecedented collection of voices from affected community members reflecting how the NYPD spying and infiltration creates a pervasive climate of fear and suspicion that encroaches upon every aspect of their religious, political, and community lives. The report was prepared by the Muslim American Civil Liberties Coalition, and its partner organizations the Creating Law

Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility (CLEAR) project at Main Street Legal Services, Inc. of the CUNY School of Law, and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF). American Muslim community members delivered the report to NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly and Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence David Cohen on the release day at 1 Police Plaza.

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Diala Shamas, a Liman Fellow at the CLEAR project and one of the report’s authors, said: “This report provides a powerful rebuttal to the NYPD and its supporters’ assertion that surveillance is harmless and victimless…It is a first-of-its kind opportunity to hear directly from affected community members, many of whom would only speak with us on condition of strict anonymity.” The extensive, in-depth interviews indicated that fear of surveillance had resulted in a decline participation and level of involvement in religious activities, community and social activities, and Muslim student organizations. The findings documented, among other things:

Impacts on students on college campuses, including silencing their activism, alienating their student groups, and affecting their academic choices;

Suppressing religious spaces, as mosque congregants become suspicious of one another, imams hesitate when advising their congregants, and individuals refrain from appearing overtly 'Muslim' to avoid triggering surveillance;

Silencing speech and political activism - from engagement in public debates and protests, to friendly coffee-house banter;

Damaging the NYPD’s own relationship with American Muslims in New York City, breaching communities’ much-needed relationship of trust with those who are tasked with protecting them.

NYC Councilmember Brad Lander said: “As former NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Counterterrorism Richard Falkenrath made clear, ‘the vast majority of the people from [Muslim] communities -- the vast, vast majority -- are no threat at all and simply want to live in peace and enjoy everything the city has to offer,’ so why is the NYPD constantly surveilling them in mosques, restaurants, cafes, and college student groups? There’s just too much evidence that the NYPD’s surveillance program has targeted Muslim communities simply based on religion and ethnicity, with no real leads, and -- by NYPD Chief Thomas Galati’s own admission -- nothing to show for it. The result is frayed police-community relations, and a profound chilling effect on First Amendment-protected speech and worship. The time has come to pass the Community Safety Act to ban policing based on racial and religious profiling, and to establish an NYPD Inspector General to make sure that the NYPD follows the rules.” In: http://aaldef.org/press-releases/press-release/new-report-launched-nypd-spyings-impact-on-american-muslims.html, retrieved on 12.03.2013 II. Positive Developments: 1. UN committee condemns News Zealand MP's inflammatory remarks about Muslims – The United Nations has noticed NZ First MP Richard Prosser’s “Wogistan” rant about Muslims. Reports about his magazine article calling for young Muslims to be banned from Western airlines went around the world, which prompted the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to have its say as follows in the New Zealand section of its latest report:

The committee regrets the recent inflammatory remarks by a Member of Parliament vilifying persons from Central Asia or the Middle East based on their skin colour and country of origin as well as their religion…It welcomes the strong criticism of such statements by the Minister of Justice and Ethnic Affairs and the Race Relations Commissioner, among others.

Mr Prosser wrote in his column for Investigate magazine that most terrorists were Muslims, as he wrote, in part: “Misogynist troglodytes from Wogistan are threatening our way of life and security of travel in the name of their stone-age religion.” Mr Prosser was reprimanded by NZ First leader Winston Peters and apologized for his remarks. Justice Minister Judith Collins, Prime Minister John Key and MPs from all the parties in parliament condemned him for making them. In: http://www.islamophobia-watch.com/islamophobia-watch/2013/3/4/un-committee-condemns-news-zealand-mps-inflammatory-remarks.html, retrieved on 05.03.2013

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III. On Muslims in US and Americas: 1. US conservatives exclude Pamela Geller from conference – Anti-Muslim activist Pamela Geller had been turned away from the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference, despite speaking at the event for the past four years, she says. She wrote on her blog: “This year, I applied to speak and was ignored. So, for the first time in five years, I won’t be at CPAC.” CPAC is the largest annual gathering of conservatives in the country, and one of the few places where conservative politicians, movement leaders, media personalities and big donors all come together under one roof. In: http://www.islamophobia-watch.com/islamophobia-watch/2013/3/4/us-conservatives-exclude-geller-from-conference.html, retrieved on 06.03.2013 2. Group Launches Grassroots Campaign to Counter Anti-Muslim New York Subway Ads – A grassroots campaign aimed at countering hateful anti-Muslim ads in New York’s subway system had gone live, placing posters in ten locations across New York City. Called Talk Back to Hate, the campaign first launched its crowd funding appeal in January 2013 in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, seeking to raise the money necessary to post advertisements in major subway stations from among the citizens of New York. Talk Back to Hate’s poster message was chosen from various suggestions submitted by contributors to the

campaign. The image depicted a pair of arms wrapped around the Big Apple or New York and the winning words “Hatred is easy. It is love that requires true strength.” The poster also featured the names of those who donated to make the poster a reality. The ad had been running at some of the New York subway’s most-trafficked stops, including Times Square and Rockefeller Center, as well as eight other locations throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn. Fundraising for a second round of ads was already on-going. The spark that launched the campaign was a series of Islamophobic subway ads funded by Pamela Geller’s American Freedom Defense Initiative that ran in New York City and Washington, DC last year. Much as in the case of the ads that inspired Talk Back to Hate, theoriginal series of ads from Geller — which

referred to Muslims as “savages” — were likewise countered by various religious and civil groups. In: http://www.islamophobiatoday.com/2013/03/06/group-launches-grassroots-campaign-to-counter-anti-muslim-new-york-subway-ads/, retrieved on 07.03.2013 2. Silence most important factor behind Islamophobia: Jack Shaheen – A former CBS news consultant on Middle East affairs believed that silence was the most important factor causing the rise of

Islamophobia across the world. Jack Shaheen, also the author of Reel Bad Arabs, told Press TV’s U.S. Desk

on Tuesday (12 March): “I think there are many reasons for the rise of Islamophobia certainly 9/11 had a lot to do with it, but it was there before 9/11…It exists for several reasons one some politicians mainly Republicans use it for political gain by demonizing Islam and Muslims.” During the interview, Shaheen explained that ignorance, silence, and the motion picture industry and televisions were the other reasons behind the rise of Islamophobia, adding: “The leadership of the country (American) needs to speak out and to say that there is nothing wrong with the Muslims, that Muslims are part of the American fabric as are Christians, Jews and other people but it needs to come from the top.”

A Pittsburgh native, Shaheen’s lectures and writings illustrated that damaging racial and ethnic stereotypes of Asians, blacks, Native Americans and others injured innocent people. He defined crude caricatures, explained why they persisted, and provided workable solutions to help shatter misperceptions. In: http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/293222.html, retrieved on 13.03.2013

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3. On 12 March, Nat Sowinski, an American School of Arts and Sciences senior majoring in Middle Eastern studies and minoring in philosophy, published an article titled ‘New media enables rampant Islamophobia’ in the Daily Targum. Some of her arguments are as follows:

…On the Internet, we discover that often, speculation and opinion are touted as fact. Nowhere is this more apparent than in U.S. scholarships, literature and formal and informal news media surrounding “Islamic radicalism,” “Islamism” and the notion of jihad. The post-Sept. 11 world has seen the emergence of a widespread strain of xenophobia and racist fear, particularly targeted toward Muslims, Arabs and Arab-Americans. There has been growing sense of trepidation among many Web authors regarding a possible “Islamization of America.” The Internet provides Islamophobic pundits favorable conditions for their message — and agenda — to disseminate and gain readership. Possibly the most dangerous facet of this rise of Web anti-scholarship is its manifestation of anti-Islamic messages, which carry with them strong suggestions for directing American foreign policy. Such Islamophobic pundits have unfortunately found their way into the Targum. As you have likely seen — especially from the huge reaction on this opinions page and elsewhere — the Targum last Tuesday [05 March] included a full-page advertisement for “Islamic Apartheid Week,” which was purchased by the David Horowitz Freedom Center. I wish to elucidate some details about David Horowitz, his organization and the concerted effort to insert Islamophobia into American discourse. The David Horowitz Freedom Center is a conservative think tank founded by political activist, and notorious racist Horowitz. The Southern Poverty Law Center identified the David Horowitz Freedom Center — formerly known as the Center for the Study of Popular Culture — as one of 17 “right-wing foundations and think tanks support[ing] efforts to make bigoted and discredited ideas respectable.” Much of Horowitz’s efforts are focused on the demonization of Islam and Muslim-Americans…He is also a figurehead in the astroturf (read: artificial grassroots) movement alleging Islam as conspiring to “take over Western society.”…Horowitz has published previous ads in school newspapers similar to the one published in ours. Horowitz ran an advertisement in 2008 in the Daily Nexus, UC-Santa Barbara’s newspaper, alleging that their Muslim Student Association has ties to known terrorist organizations. On Al-Jazeera, he stated that “The [MSA] pretends to be a religious organization, while it is really an arm of the Muslim Brotherhood … Hamas and Hezbollah.” The reality is quite the contrary. I believe this spurious pseudoculture of demonizing Muslims and Horowitz’s condemnation of MSAs have contributed deeply to racist sentiment against Muslims in the United States and have brought about concrete consequences. The New York Police Department’s recent spying of our very own MSA is, I think, a testament to this. …leading “counterjihadi” activist Pamela Geller…sat on the panel for the “Islamic Apartheid Week” event at Temple University, an event that justifiably spurred outcry from Temple’s Muslim community. “Temple University is not unique … the reception we got at Temple was just a snapshot of what America will look like in just a few years if we don’t stand up and go on the offense,” she said. The quote is indicative of a concerted effort to play the role of provocateur and scapegoat Muslims across America. I’d rebut that Geller and Horowitz are not unique. They are simply members of a larger national effort to justify hateful attitudes toward Muslims in the United States — and to justify intervention abroad. It is crucial that we raise our voices and speak out against this kind of racist, anti-Muslim hatred in the United States and on campus at the University.

In: http://www.dailytargum.com/opinion/columnists/new-media-enables-rampant-islamophobia/article_ade3b684-8abf-11e2-9ace-0019bb30f31a.html, retrieved on 13.03.2013

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4. Anti-Islam writer “infiltrates” Muslim conference, finds it “innocuous”, But he says that it’s all part of the Muslim Brotherhood’s plot to win “the hearts and minds of the young” – Mark Tapson, a writer for the conservative and anti-Islam FrontPage Magazine, detailed how his secret infiltration of the Muslim Student Association’s yearly West Coast conference did not yield the expected results. He said: “It was largely very innocuous. I mean, there was nothing beyond what I’ve already told you, really. There was very little that you’d consider radical. Highly politicized, yes, but nothing damning.” Miranda Blue from Right Wing Watch reported that Tapson was speaking on Janet Mefferd’s radio show, and was disappointed that after going so far as to use a “variation” of his name to get into the conference, there was nothing too nefarious to report, even at the apparently tantalizingly named panel “Islamatics.” But, he stipulated, this was all part of the plan. Mefferd noted: “that for the Muslim Brotherhood front groups that organized this thing, it serves as a very successful recruitment and radicalization tool. Is that really, at root, the reason for the conference, or at least a primary reason for the conference …?” Tapson agreed: “It’s all about the younger generation. And, politicizing and organizing that younger generation in campus groups and strengthening their sense of community as Muslims, strengthening their campus activism, that’s all, that’s a very important goal because it radicalizes them and it steers them toward further radicalization down the line. So, yeah, it’s all about capturing the hearts and minds of the young.” FrontPage Magazine is edited by David Horowitz, a conservative activist who once gave money to Islamophobic Dutch politician Geert Wilders. In: http://www.salon.com/2013/03/12/anti_islam_writer_infiltrates_muslim_group_finds_it_innocuous/, retrieved on 13.03.2013 IV. On Muslims in Europe: 1. Netherlands: Former far-right Dutch politician converts to Islam – A former member of the anti-Islamist Dutch politician Geert Wilders’ party and personal friend of his, had declared his conversion to Islam. Arnoud van Doorn was a member of Wilders’ right-wing Freedom Party until the end of 2011. He said that he had made a fresh start by announcing his decision to the world and taking his Shahadah [Testimony of Faith] on his Twitter In: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/former-far-right-dutch-politician-converts-to-islam.aspx?pageID=238&nID=42372&NewsCatID=351, retrieved on 06.03.2013

2. Muslims in France: Identifying a Discriminatory Equilibrium – Professor of Political Science at Stanford University, David Laitin gave a public lecture entitled ‘Muslims in France: Identifying a discriminatory equilibrium’ at the London School of Economics (LSE) on 28 February. The event, which took place in the New Theatre at the East Building, revealed some of Laitin’s unique findings concerning the patterns of assimilation of the Muslim population into the French society. It had been found that Muslim communities perceived discrimination as an institutionalized factor, and were therefore reluctant to assimilate into the nation. The native French, on the other hand, identified this low level of assimilation and thus revealed their distaste for Muslims. Hence, a ‘discriminatory equilibrium’ was maintained by both groups of the society.

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Throughout the lecture Laitin made it clear that it was not the religiosity of the Muslims that was causing the discrimination, but rather the whole set of qualities attributed to living in a Muslim community. In fact, the evidence collected in support of this finding was so revealing for the French community, that no French mass media had agreed to publish Laitin’s report. For instance, a CV experiment, carried out using a random sample of French firms, had shown that a hypothetical female called Aurélie was 2.5 times more likely to receive a call-back from a potential employer than a hypothetical female Khadija with a CV of equal quality. In addition, surveys had shown that average monthly household income in Muslim communities was lower than the one in Christian communities by more than 400 Euros. A possible explanation of this discrimination was that Muslim workers had different gender norms and did not take orders from female bosses, making them less attractive as employees. However, Laitin insisted that discrimination was not limited to employment and was related to all spheres of social life. Thus, a number of gamestyled experiments, held by Laitin in France, had shown that native French individuals were less altruistic towards people they could identify as Muslims. In addition, Muslims themselves expected such attitude towards themselves and were therefore less generous towards people they could identify as Christian French. These two trends did not allow for the discriminatory deadlock to be resolved. In: http://thebeaveronline.co.uk/2013/03/06/muslims-in-france-identifying-a-discriminatory-equilibrium/, retrieved on 07.03.2013 3. Shortage of Islam Teachers Troubles Germany – A severe shortage of teachers in Islamic studies and lack of appropriate materials had been hindering efforts to provide a proper religious education for Muslims in Germany. Sylvia Lohrmann, education minister of the North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), told Deutsche Welle on Wednesday, 6 March: “But what is the alternative? We could not have trained the teachers before knowing whether we were going to have the classes in the first place.” There were nearly 100,000 Muslim students in elementary schools in NRW, the most populous German state. However, there were only enough teachers to educate just 2,000 students about the religion. The lack of appropriate religious materials was further complicating the problem. NRW had incorporated Islamic religious education in the curriculum in 2013, becoming the first German state to take such a move. But the start of the program had been weak because of the shortage of Islamic education teachers. Worse still, courses to train teachers in Islamic studies at German universities had just started. The first graduates from the University of Munster would not be ready until the spring of 2017. Trying to solve the problem, the NRW education ministry was offering special courses to train educators on Islamic religious studies. In: http://www.onislam.net/english/news/europe/461666-shortage-of-islam-teachers-troubles-germany.html, retrieved on 07.03.2013 4. France to ban website documenting police violence against Muslims – Alleging defamation, France’s interior minister Manuel Valls was trying to shut down a website which gave a voice to the victims of police harassment. The site has become especially popular with France’s Muslim population, who often claimed that police targeted, harassed and even killed them with impunity. Statistics proved that non-whites justifiably felt under attack: Researchers said that Arabs and black Muslims composed up to 70% of France’s prisoners. For years groups such as Amnesty International and the UN Human Rights Committee had testified to racist practices among the French police, but many said nothing had changed. Allegations of abuse were routinely dismissed as the French police were supported by their unions, far-right political groups and even the Socialist administration as of 2013. Bentounsi started the website in 2012, after her brother was reportedly shot in the back by a policeman. The case was ongoing, but she said her site provided a voice for the many victims whose experiences were never heard in a courtroom. While agreeing that government action was needed, Bentounsi believed it was

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the French media which needed the most urgent reform. She said they needed to acknowledge their role in legitimizing the Islamophobia which had especially stigmatized young Muslim males. Many Muslims said that French society had two sets of rules: One for the police, and another for regular citizens; one form of justice for whites, and another for Muslims and immigrants. For those who were 2nd and even 3rd generation French citizens, such inequalities were especially dispiriting. In: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/03/06/292118/france-to-ban-website-documenting-police-violence-against-muslims/, retrieved on 07.03.2013 5. NGOs call for recognition of Islamophobia as form of racism – Ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on 21 March, the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) called the European Union (EU) institutions to recognize Islamophobia as a specific form of racism. The call came after on 12 March the European Parliament hosted a debate on strengthening the fight against hate crime, racism and xenophobia in Europe. During the debate, the EU justice commissioner Viviane Reding said that racism, xenophobia and hate crimes, as well as anti-Semitism, Islamophobia anti-gypsyism, were all manifestations “incompatible with European rules” and with “the basis on which Europe is founded”. However, the European Parliament did not include the term “Islamophobia” in the adopted text of its resolution and referred only to “religious intolerance”. The plea also came with the release of ENAR’s shadow report 2011/2012 on racism in Europe which the EU-wide network of NGOs presented on 20 March. The key findings of the report highlighted, in particular, the experiences of Muslim communities, while the study was claimed to be the first pan-European qualitative survey of Islamophobia. The report said that discrimination against Muslims in Europe was widespread. According to the study covering 26 national reports, Muslims continued to experience discrimination in a range of areas, more specifically in employment, education and access to goods and services. Sarah Isal, an ENAR Bureau member, told reporters at the launch press conference in Brussels: “Muslim women and girls are most affected and face double discrimination on the basis of both their religion and their gender.” She further explained that for this reason, Islamophobia needed to be addressed as a gender issue in addition to being a religious one. Moreover, Isal stressed that increasingly hatred against Muslims in Europe manifested itself as opposition to, as well as protests against, the building of mosques and property damage to Islamic places of worship. The ENAR representative gave the height restrictions for mosques in Austria and the attacks by activists of the Bulgarian party ATAKA on the Sofia mosque and Muslim worshippers as examples of this type of Islamophobia manifestation. The newest ENAR report also found that Islamophobia was promoted both by extremist political parties, as well as mainstream parties to gain votes and popularity. Isal gave Italy as an example, where Mario Borghezio from the Lega Nord Party and current member of the European Parliament (MEP) recently proposed taxing Muslims who had too many children in order to ‘slow down the great Islamic advance in Europe’. Last but not least, Isal pointed out that media had contributed to the rise of Islamophobia in Europe through biased reporting. In Belgium, for example, 51% of complaints on the ground of religion targeting Muslims in 2011 related to media and the Internet. The shadow report 2011/2012 also looked at other communities vulnerable to racism in Europe, such as Roma and Black Africans, concluding that they continue to be the most vulnerable to discrimination, together with immigrants. More specifically, the study found that the public perception of ethnic minorities in most countries remained negative, highlighting that segregation of Roma pupils in education remained a pressing problem in some countries and one which some governments “appear reluctant to address or uncertain how to do so.” In: http://www.neurope.eu/article/ngos-call-recognition-islamophobia-form-racism, retrieved on 22.03.2013

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6. Muslims most religious community in France: Study – A survey conducted by the French Sociovision Institute, released on 08 March, indicated that French Muslims were more adherent to their religious values, compared with other religious communities in France, and 68% of the French Muslims attached more importance to their religious values than to national values.

The survey, which was carried out in the previous month among 1,800 French Muslim, Christian and Jewish adults, also indicated that 40% of the French Jews gave priority to their religious beliefs, while 60% of them preferred national values. Out of Christian respondents, 63% favored their national values and only 37% preferred religious beliefs.

A recent report by New York Times indicated that annual rate of conversion to Islam had doubled in France over the past 25 years. Bernard Godard, an official in charge of religious issues at the French Interior Ministry, said around 100,000 out of an estimated six million Muslims in France were thought to be converts, compared with some 50,000 in 1986. Experts said the increasing rate of conversion to Islam in France presented Paris with a growing challenge as the secular government held awkward or sometimes hostile attitudes towards Muslims. In: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/03/25/295149/muslims-most-religious-group-in-france/, retrieved on 26.03.2013

7. Thousands gather at the Annual meeting of French Muslims – Muslims from all walks of life had gathered just north of Paris discussing, for instance, the difficult question of Islamophobia. Rights groups said that every day, at least one Muslim citizen faced Islamophobia. For many, the change in government in 2012 had not made a big difference.

At this biggest gathering of Muslims in France, people had not just come from all over the country, but also from other neighboring countries and all of them had one particular point in common. They said Islamophobia was a rising concern. They believed the media spread some dangerous and false clichés. As Islamophobia continued to survive, there was little doubt, Muslims being the most sizeable minority in the country, would continue to face discrimination. In: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/03/31/295871/thousands-gather-at-the-annual-meeting-of-french-muslims/, retrieved on 01.04.2013

IV.I. On Muslims in the United Kingdom, Including Australia & New Zealand:

1. Councillor under investigation on three fronts over Islamophobia allegations – The councillor kicked out of the Conservative group after Islamophobic comments were posted on his Facebook page was then facing three separate investigations. Chris Joannides, who represented Grange ward, had been mired in controversy after comments and images which mocked Muslims appeared on his Facebook page. After barring reporters from a councillor conduct meeting in mid-February 2013, the local authority had confirmed it had received complaints about Mr Joannides and an investigation was being carried out.

However, council chiefs were unable to confirm when meetings held to scrutinize the councillor’s conduct would be held in public. A council spokesman said: “The matter is under investigation and we cannot comment further.” Enfield police had also confirmed that an investigation was being carried out into the disgraced councillor’s actions. A spokeswoman said they were looking at “an allegation of internet-based hate crime”.

Enfield Southgate Conservative Association held the first stage of its own investigations into accusations against the councillor in the night of 05 March. Speaking before the meeting, a spokesman from the association said: “We will meet to see if we will be taking the investigation further. At this stage we have received no complaints from residents or members of the public.” Although the Conservative group on Enfield Council had removed the whip from Mr Joannides, he was still a member of the national Conservative Party. The Enfield Southgate association would decide whether further action to remove Mr Joannides from the national party should be taken. In: http://www.northlondon-today.co.uk/News.cfm?id=7453&headline=Councillor%20under%20investigation%20on%20three%20fronts%20over%20Islamophobia%20allegations, retrieved on 07.03.2013

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2. British Students Discover Islam – Encouraging their non-Muslim colleagues to explore what Islam really is, Muslim students in the Newcastle University held a Week to raise awareness about the Islamic religion and clear misconceptions on the faith. Samantha McGregor, a non-Muslim student, who took part at the week, told Sky Tyne and Wear on Monday, 11 March: “I think people have bad views of Islam…Today it’s made me completely change and get rid of all those views.”

The Islamic Society at the university had held the “Discover Islam Week” to raise awareness about the faith among students. Organizers said the event aimed at breaking down barriers and getting people talking and exploring what Islam really is. Ahmed Gatnash from the society said the Week tried to “dispel stereotypes that are so common about Muslims in the media these days, as they are really harmful to society as well as being plain wrong”.

As part of the Week, Muslim students arranged what they called “The Hijab Challenge” to encourage non-Muslim colleagues to try to wear the Muslim headscarf for a day. The challenge was a way for students to experience what it felt like to be a Muslim woman in Britain. McGregor, who tried hijab for the whole day, said: “I found that people were looking at me. I don’t know if they were thinking she looks silly or she’s not actually a Muslim…I felt like saying: ‘Stop looking at me! I’ve done nothing wrong.’…I like the idea that you wear a hijab so only your husband can see your hair, I find that quite special.” Non-Muslim students said donning hijab had helped them change views about the headscarf. Jeanna Spencer, another participant, said: “It’s been really interesting to think about why someone would choose to wear it and why hair would be something to be kept private and be modest about.” In: http://www.onislam.net/english/news/europe/461726-british-students-discover-islam-hijab.html, retrieved on 12.03.2013

3. Australia: Council approves large Doveton mosque proposal after 1600 complaints – A Casey Council planning committee meeting had given the nod to a super-size mosque in Doveton. During the meeting in the night of 12 March, councillors backed an officer’s report recommending issue of a notice

of intention to grant a permit, against a background of stiff objection from neighbours and others. More than 1900 signatures and 30 letters objecting to the $2.5 million Afghan Mosque Project Committee development on industrial land in Green St were submitted to the council in a bid to block support for a permit. The council’s manager of planning, Duncan Turner, said all aspects of the mosque relevant to a planning permit had been thoroughly examined. The mosque would have a 105m frontage on Green St - the equivalent of

four house blocks - and provide 214 parking spaces. The minarets could be up to 11.5m and it would hold up to 600 people during festivals. In: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/south-east/council-considers-large-doveton-mosque-proposal-after-1600-complaints/story-fngnvmhm-1226595666979, retrieved on 13.03.2013 4. Christians express outrage over threats to mosque – Christians in west Oxfordshire had signed a letter expressing “shock and outrage” at discrimination against Muslims in Chipping Norton. A planned mosque in the town fell through in February 2013 after landlord Georg Wissinter received a threat that it would be burnt to the ground. Applicant Tahirul Hasan, a town councillor, had received planning permission to convert the former shop in Hitchmans Mews into a mosque.

The letter said: “As Christians we know that Jesus called us to love God and our neighbour as we love ourselves. It is for us to welcome the stranger and to be hospitable to all. We affirm that all people have the right to be treated as human beings with the freedom to practice their faith without fear of persecution.” The letter was signed by 38 Christians, including Witney Congregational Church minister the Rev Jason Boyd, High Street Methodist Church minister the Rev Richard Donoghue, and Chipping Norton team vicar David Salter. In: http://www.witneygazette.co.uk/news/wgheadlines/10281954.Christians_express_outrage_over_threats_to_mosque/?ref=nt, retrieved on 13.03.2013

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V. On Burqah and Veil Related Issues: 1. Spain: court overturns veil ban – A Spanish court had overturned a city’s ban on wearing face-covering Islamic veils in municipal buildings, saying it infringes religious liberties. In 2010, Lleida, in the northeastern region of Catalonia, became the first town in Spain to impose such a ban. It was temporarily suspended by a regional court following an appeal by a Muslim association but then later upheld. Spain’s Supreme Court on Thursday (28 February) accepted a second appeal and said the city was not entitled to order such a ban. It said that in line with Spanish and European rulings, such a prohibition must be based on a law, which does not exist in Spain at present. The Lleida ban was largely symbolic since only about 3 percent of its population is Muslim and very few wear such garments. In: http://www.islamophobia-watch.com/islamophobia-watch/2013/3/1/spanish-court-overturns-veil-ban.html, retrieved on 02.03.2013 2. Frenchman convicted of veil assault – A Frenchman who ripped a Muslim woman’s veil off her face as she strolled in a fairground was Wednesday (13 March) given a five-month suspended prison sentence and ordered to compensate his victim. The 30-year-old man, who admitted charges of aggravated assault, had justified the September 2012 attack at the time as an attempt to uphold a controversial law banning women from wearing niqabs, face-covering veils, in public. That defence was thrown out by public prosecutors, who accused him of acting as a vigilante and carrying out an assault motivated by his victim's religious faith. The man, who was not publicly identified on the request of his lawyers, was also convicted of presenting a false identity to police. The incident in the western city of Nantes was the latest in a series triggered by France’s controversial ban on the wearing of full face veils in public, which came into force in April 2011. In: http://www.islamophobia-watch.com/islamophobia-watch/2013/3/13/frenchman-convicted-of-veil-assault.html, retrieved on 14.03.2013 3. France: 80% of French public favor tougher anti-veil laws – The Islamic veil was still very much a French national controversy, data from a front-page BVA survey in Le Parisien newspaper showed on Monday, 25 March. More than 80% of respondents favored toughening the country’s 2004 law, which banned religious dress and insignia in schools, nurseries, and anywhere that involved the care and education of children. Another 83% was in favor of extending the ban to the private sector, and 16% was against. Socialists, intellectuals, politicians and humanitarian NGOs signed an online petition launched by Marianne weekly, calling on the government to enact a new, tougher law in defense of secularism, one that would explain with “pedagogy and clarity” where and when the principle of secularism was to be applied. The debate flared when France’s highest court on 19 March vacated the dismissal of a woman from a Chateloup-les-Vignes private nursery school for refusing to remove her Islamic veil in the workplace. School authorities cited the principle of secularism and the school’s “philosophical, political and sectarian neutrality”', but the Supreme Court replied that since secularism did not apply in the private sector, the dismissal “constitutes in this case an act of discrimination on grounds of religion”. Interior Minister Manuel Valls hotly criticized the ruling, which he said “brings secularism into question”. Since 2004, French law banned ostentatious wear of all “religious insignia” in public schools. A law banning women from wearing the full-body Islamic veil (burqa and niqab) in all public places, including the street, was enacted in 2011. Women defying the ban risk fines of 150 euros. In: http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/nations/france/2013/03/25/Islam-80-French-public-favor-tougher-anti-veil-laws_8457461.html, retrieved on 26.03.2013

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VI. On Dialogue among Civilizations: 1. UK: British Muslims Save Jewish Synagogue – Extending their hands to their Jewish neighbors to save their worship place, Muslims in the northern British city of Bradford were rallying efforts to raise

funds for preserving the last remaining synagogue in the city. Zulfi Karim, secretary of Bradford Council for Mosques, told Telegraph & Argus: “In Bradford we are working hard to bring people of different faiths together, and to support one another as good neighbors.” The umbrella group said it would raise funds for local authorities to help renovate the Bradford Reform Synagogue, the last remaining Jewish worship place in the city. Built in 1880, the Jewish synagogue stood as an example of Moorish Victorian Architecture. The Muslim help has won praise from Jewish leaders in Bradford.

In: http://www.onislam.net/english/news/europe/461682-british-muslims-save-jewish-synagogue.html, retrieved on 08.03.2013

2. US: Christian Pastor Debunks Common Stereotypes about Islam in New Book – A new book from Presbyterian pastor Ben Daniel, Pastor of Foothill Presbyterian Church in San José, California, addressed the many negative stereotypes about Islam in an attempt to demystify the religion for North American Christians. In The Search for Truth about Islam: A Christian Pastor Separates Fact from Fiction (Westminster John Knox Press), Daniel provided a basic introduction to the Islamic religion for readers with little background knowledge—including its history, culture, and beliefs—drawing on his personal interviews with prominent Muslim figures in the United States and Jerusalem. Daniel also examined the misconceptions about Islamic teachings relating to violence and the treatment of women, pointing to examples from Christian scripture and history that might suggest to an outsider that Christianity was violent or misogynistic. Daniel concluded with hope for interfaith cooperation in the growing interconnectedness between Christianity and Islam.

Advance praise for The Search for Truth about Islam: “Those looking for a basic introduction and a refutation of common stereotypes will welcome Daniel’s straightforward prose and friendly, approachable tone.” —Publishers Weekly “American readers would do well to join Ben Daniel on his journeys visiting Muslims here in the U.S. and those in the Middle East. This devoted Presbyterian minister confronts history and myth; he guides us through enlightening readings of the Qur’an and the Bible. The Search for Truth about Islam gives us hope for making peace.” —Maxine Hong Kingston, author of The Fifth Book of Peace and editor of Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace “If you want to know the truth about Islam, be you Christian, Muslim or something else altogether, read this book. Daniel is more than just a Christian pastor counseling on 9/11. He is a brave, spiritual journeyman with a mighty pen.” —Asma Gull Hasan, author of Red, White, and Muslim: My Story of Belief and American Muslims: The New Generation “A beautifully written corrective to fears about Islam. This book deserves wide readership among Christians and Muslims.” —J. Philip Wogaman, former Professor of Christian Ethics, Wesley Theological Seminary, and author of Christian Ethics, Second Edition: A Historical Introduction

In: http://pressreleases.religionnews.com/2013/03/12/christian-pastor-debunks-common-stereotypes-about-islam-in-new-book/, retrieved on 13.02.2013

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3. Muslims seek better ties with new Pope – The Muslim world on 14 March expressed hopes for better ties with the Vatican under new Pope Francis, after years of strained relations with Benedict XVI who was seen as hostile to Islam. The 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Al Azhar, Sunni Islam’s highest seat of learning, came out with similar statements expressing this sentiment as they welcomed the Argentine’s election.

OIC chief Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, in a letter of congratulations, said he hoped “the relationship between Islam and Christianity will regain its cordiality and sincere friendship” under the new head of the Roman Catholic Church. Ihsanoglu said that “over the last eight years, the OIC has called for and worked hard to propagate the idea of ‘historic reconciliation between Islam and Christianity’…I would like at this historic moment to reiterate this call.”

Al Azhar also called for “better relations” with the Vatican under the new Pope following the suspension of dialogue after statements by Benedict XVI sparked Muslim anger. “As soon as a new policy emerges, we will resume the dialogue with the Vatican which was suspended in early 2011,” Mahmud Azab, adviser for inter-faith affairs to Al Azhar imam Ahmed al-Tayyeb, told AFP. In: http://www.gulf-times.com/region/216/details/345567/muslims-seek-better-ties-with-new-pope, retrieved on 16.03.2013

4. On 14 March, Dr. David Liepert, Canadian Muslim Leader, Spokesperson, Author and Educator, published in the Huffingtonpost an article titled “Saint Francis of Assisi and Islam: How the New Pope Could Bring Muslims and Christians Together”. Some of his arguments are as follows:

Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio’s decision to choose the name of Francis as pope has profound significance to Muslims regarding Muslim/Christian relations. The Christian Saint Francis of Assisi -- for whom he has chosen to be named for the rest of his life -- is remembered by Muslims who know their history as a holy man, perhaps the only one (since Jesus) so recognized by Christians and Muslims alike.

In fact, as much as Muslims have saints in the first place, Saint Francis could be considered one of our saints too. Raised in privilege and renouncing that privilege for the sake of justice, fidelity to God’s revelations and God and God’s creation -- to the harsh criticism of friend and family alike -- St. Francis’ early life path is achingly close to that of Muhammad. And the events of his later life, particularly his three-week dialogue with Sheikh al-Malik al-Kamel the Sultan of Egypt, had a profound effect on Francis, the Sultan and the Christians and Muslims living then that are still being felt today. That should bring hope to us all.

Surprisingly, little is known about what actually happened when they talked to each other: everything written was written long after the fact, and carries the obvious imprint of whatever philosophical “spin” was popular at the time. However, the influence of that meeting on those two men was both profound and significant, for St. Francis perhaps as significant as his first embrace of the lepers of Assisi that led him to recognize their equality in the eyes of God. Because Francis went to Egypt expecting to find martyrdom, and evil men who needed to be converted to Christians in order to be saved from hell-fire. But he left respectful of Muslims to the point that he encouraged Christians to emulate them in prayer and prostration, and to join Muslms -- and others -- in service to all despite their different religions, and he specifically told his followers not to try and convert them.

Having seen Muslim prayers while in Egypt he declared for his followers: “You should manifest such honour to the Lord among the people entrusted to you that every evening an announcement be made by a town crier or some other signal that praise and thanks may be given by all people to the all-powerful Lord God.” And, “At the mention of His name you must adore Him with fear and reverence, prostrate on the ground ... so that in word and deed you may give witness to his voice and bring everyone to know that there is no one who is all-powerful but Him.” And instead of seeking converts among Muslims, in missionary work he charged his followers: “[The brothers] are not to engage in arguments or disputes, but to be subject to (serve) every human creature for God’s sake.”

Those words calling us all -- Christian and non-Christian alike for the sake of our shared humanity under God-Most-High -- to service alone. Based on all that, I think it’s pretty obvious that in those three weeks St. Francis learned that Muslims were God’s people too. And what did knowing St. Francis of Assisi do to Sultan al Malik al Kamel? Ten years later, in 1229, by diplomacy alone and by no act of warfare, he ceded control of Jerusalem, Bethlehem and a corridor from there to the sea to the Christians, saving only the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque for the Muslims, and the temple area for the Jews.

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Now, to be honest, I don’t really know what the near future holds for Muslim/Christian relations, or whether Pope Francis has received those lessons from his studies of Saint Francis. I do know that since those days many different stories have been told about the Saint and the Sultan, some to promote the Christian side, and others to promote the Muslim one; some claiming the Sultan became Christian, or that Saint Francis became Muslim: I think that's just human nature, and the work of those old-time spin doctors should serve as nothing more than cautionary tales to us all. The truth is both men continued to walk the walks that God had ordained for them, one seeking to emulate Jesus, the other to perfect his Islam.

However, I do know God promised to bring us all one day together, and that Saint Francis and Sultan al Malik found something special from God in each other that changed their worlds for the better, and changed the world for everyone else for the better too. So in their memory and in that spirit, I wish Pope Francis all the best, and all the blessings God can give him in his life and his service.

In: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-david-liepert/pope-francis-saint-francis-of-assisi-and-islam_b_2877661.html, retrieved on 15.03.2013

5. Pope Francis: A Friend to Muslims? – The former Cardinal and Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, was almost removed from his position in the church in 2005 by his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, in a dispute over the Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam. In 2005, Bergoglio expressed his disapproval over comments Benedict had made castigating Muhammad.

The Daily Telegraph reported that Benedict, in an appearance at the University of Regensburg in Germany, quoting a medieval document, called the Prophet “evil and inhuman”, a declaration that triggered outrage across the Muslim world, prior to an apology issued by the then-pope. In response to the brouhaha, Bergoglio, speaking through an aide, told Newsweek Argentina of his “unhappiness” with Benedict’s statements and urged church members to criticize the pope, adding: “Pope Benedict’s statement don’t reflect my own opinions…These statements will serve to destroy in 20 seconds the careful construction of a relationship with Islam that Pope John Paul II built over the last 20 years.”

Benedict did not take kindly to these statements. Almost immediately, the Vatican removed Joaquín Piña, the archbishop of Puerto Iguazú in northern Argentina, who also criticized Benedict. As a subordinate to Bergoglio, Pina’s removal was a signal that the Cardinal of Buenos Aires himself could be the next to go. As it turned out, Bergoglio kept his position, but in a protest canceled a flight to Rome to boycott a synod Benedict had called. Horacio Verbitsky in the newspaper Página/24: “The only thing that didn’t happen to Bergoglio was being removed from his post…The Vatican was very quick to react.”

Bergoglio reportedly had long enjoyed good relations with the Muslim community in Argentina. The Buenos Aires Herald newspaper reported that when Bergoglio was elected pope, two senior Muslim officials in the country, Sheik Mohsen Ali and Dr. Sumer Noufouri, Secretary General of the Islamic Center of the Republic of Argentina, both praised the news. Ali, director of the House for the Diffusion of Islam, said: “[Bergoglio] always showed himself as a friend of the Islamic community. He visited the At-Tauhid Mosque in the neighborhood of Floresta and the Arab-Argentine Ali Ibn Abi Talib School, strengthening our relation…His humility drew my attention.” And Noufouri said his organization received his election as pope “with joy and expectation of strengthening dialogue between religions,” adding that Bergoglio was a “respectful, pro-dialogue person who knows Islam. Argentina is a model of dialogue and coexistence that, God willing, could be exported to the world.” In: http://www.ibtimes.com/pope-francis-friend-muslims-1130225, retrieved on 16.03.2013

5. Scotland: Aberdeen church opens doors to Muslims – A Scottish reverend had invited Muslims to pray alongside Christians in an Aberdeen church because the nearby mosque was so small that some worshippers were forced to pray outside. The rector of St John’s church, Rev Isaac Poobalan, had made parts of the building available to the congregation of the mosque. Up to 100 Muslims prayed in the main chapel five times every Friday. Church leaders believed this may be the only place in the UK where Christians and Muslims worship side by side; there had been similar moves in the US, including in Memphis in 2011. In: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/mar/18/aberdeen-muslims-christians-share-church, retrieved on 19.03.2013

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Related: Scottish Church That Let Muslims In To Pray Hit by ‘Satan’ Abuse on Facebook – A priest who had allowed Muslims to pray in his church said how he had been hit by a barrage of abuse by internet ‘trolls’. St John’s Episcopal Church became the first church in the UK to share their building with Muslims after Rev Isaac Poobalan saw members of a neighbouring mosque praying outside in the snow because of a lack of space. Hundred of Muslims started praying in the Aberdeen Church’s main hall and chapel every week, but the news had not been well received by some Christians, who had taken to the church’s Facebook page to blast the decision. One user said that the church were “sharing Christ’s table with Satan” before others another predicted a “flood” of Muslims moving to Aberdeen to convert the church into a mosque and said Rev Poobalan needed to be given the “boot” before it was too late. Another posted: “I would leave this so called “church”. Allah is Satan, and no God.”

But Rev Poobalan said he would not sever his relationship with the nearby Crown Street Mosque. He said: “I keep seeing these Facebook comments coming up on my email account, but I will not back down. We have developed a relationship with the mosque and we will not be breaking that up.” In: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/03/21/scottish-church-abused-after-allowing-muslims-in_n_2922783.html?utm_hp_ref=uk, retrieved on 22.03.2013

6. Pope reaches out to Jews, promises dialogue, will work with Muslims for common good – Pope Francis had promised to continue the Catholic Church’s “fraternal” dialogue with Jews and work with Muslims for the common good. Francis met Wednesday (20 March) with religious representatives from a dozen faiths and traditions who attended his installation Mass a day earlier. Directing himself to the half-dozen rabbis attending, Francis promised to continue the “useful brotherly dialogue” that had been under way since the Second Vatican Council. He singled out Muslims in his comments, saying he wanted to “grow in esteemed respect” and work for the common good. In: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/20/pope-reaches-out-to-jews-promises-dialogue-will-work-with-muslims-for-common/, retrieved on 21.03.2013

Compiled by: Abdula Manafi Mutualo,

Secretary of the Observatory Culture & Social Affairs Department

Email: abdmanafi@oic-oci.org