Category Archives: human rights

The Death of Islamophobia: The Rise of Islamo-Racism | Race Files

Understanding the nature of Islamo-racism is also essential to understanding the contemporary realities of being “apparently Muslim.” In these communities, race and religion have commingled to form aspects of an othered identity which is not only outside of the mainstream, but one that has been criminalized by the State. Furthermore, Islam and Muslim Americans have been deceitfully vilified by influential political, religious, and media figures. As a consequence, visible religious identity has emerged as a primary factor rendering individuals vulnerable to the social degradation— and potential violence— that has plagued peoples of color throughout our history. Putting Islamo-racism in historical perspective also illuminates our understanding of an old societal disorder. The contemporary use of religion as a tool with which to differentiate and designate the “other” in public life— a space once occupied in our past by every community of color— mimics closely the role of race in our collective history. Once we historically contextualize Islamo-racism, we can see clearly how identity (or perceived identity) is again being deployed by demagogues to divide Americans, for personal gain. Ultimately, identifying Islamo-racism as a strain of racism illuminates a major impediment to building a more egalitarian nation, one in which people are judged for their character instead of their race, ethnic, or religious identity. By rejecting the fanciful specters conjured by the peddlers of this latest brand of American racism, we must stand against the rising tide of bigotry sweeping the nation with renewed vigor in the Age of Obama. If we cannot find the courage to fight this battle now, it will continue to vex future generations.

Source: The Death of Islamophobia: The Rise of Islamo-Racism | Race Files

Saudi Arabia, UAE urge citizens against traveling to Lebanon | News | DW.COM | 23.02.2016 {Cutting off noses to spite… themselves?}

Now, the countries’ anger has turned toward Lebanon for its support of Hezbollah, an Iran-backed, Shiite terrorist organization, as well as embattled President Bashar al Assad, whom those countries want to see ousted. Billions in aid halted Neither Saudi Arabia nor the UAE specified why they were calling on their citizens not to go to Lebanon. However, their announcement followed a decision by Saudi Arabia to halt a deal to arm the Lebanese army with some $4 billion (3.7 billion euros) in weapons, citing the country’s refusal to condemn the embassy attacks in Tehran. In a statement carried by Saudi Arabia’s state news agency, the government called Lebanon’s support for Iran “regrettable and unjustified” and “inconsistent with the fraternal relations between the two countries.” Relations in the Middle East have become fraught as Saudi Arabia and Iran compete for influence in the region. The two countries’ support for opposing sides in the ongoing Syrian conflict has contributed considerably to the tensions.

Source: Saudi Arabia, UAE urge citizens against traveling to Lebanon | News | DW.COM | 23.02.2016

Ukraine’s Eurovision pick highlights Russian oppression

A Crimean Tatar singer has been chosen to represent Ukraine with a song about Russia’s deadly deportation of the group. Jamala may face challenges if the song “1944” breaks Eurovision’s rules on political content.

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Source: Ukraine’s Eurovision pick highlights Russian oppression

State-funded Danish Muslim school tells girls not to date – The Local

The psychologist’s remarks led Copenhagen City Council member Lars Aslan Rasmussen to call for the school’s funding to be yanked.    “One should definitely remove support from a school whose psychologists can’t figure out how to be psychologists but instead act like imams,” he told Radio24syv.    “The majority of the school’s subsidy is covered by Danish taxpayers, so this should definitely have consequences,” he added.    Rasmussen said the school’s advice to female students is “crazy” and he called on the Education Ministry to take the school’s policy “very seriously”.

Source: State-funded Danish Muslim school tells girls not to date – The Local

Alfred W. McCoy: How a Pink Flower Defeated the World’s Sole Superpower – Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics

Long and good on analysis – very, very short on plausible solutions.

Even in troubled Afghanistan, however, there are alternatives whose sum could potentially slice through this Gordian knot of a policy problem. As a first and fundamental step, maybe it’s time to stop talking about the next sets of boots on the ground and for President Obama to complete his planned troop withdrawal. Next, investing even a small portion of all that misspent military funding in rural Afghanistan could produce economic alternatives for the millions of farmers who depend upon the opium crop for employment. Such money could help rebuild that land’s ruined orchards, ravaged flocks, wasted seed stocks, and wrecked snowmelt irrigation systems that, before these decades of war, sustained a diverse agriculture. If the international community can continue to nudge the country’s dependence on illicit opium down from the current 13% of GDP through such sustained rural development, then perhaps Afghanistan will cease to be the planet’s leading narco-state and just maybe that annual cycle can at long last be broken.

Source: Alfred W. McCoy: How a Pink Flower Defeated the World’s Sole Superpower – Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics

German officials shocked by ‘disgusting’ anti-refugee mobs – The Local

A group of 20-30 apparently drunken onlookers applauded as fire took hold in a former hotel being converted into home for asylum seekers, in a suspected arson attack in the town of Bautzen in Saxony state overnight. Some members of the group also tried to impede the work of firefighters dispatched to the scene, police said. A police spokesman said that the group showed “unabashed delight” at the blaze and made “disparaging comments” about the efforts to contain it.

Source: German officials shocked by ‘disgusting’ anti-refugee mobs – The Local

Death of homeless man from bacterial infection sparks vaccination drive – The Boston Globe

Boston health officials are vaccinating hundreds of homeless people against a severe bacterial infection that can kill within hours, after a homeless man died Monday from the disease. The victim was among three homeless men who recently came down with meningococcemia, which occurs when certain bacteria get into the bloodstream. The fatal case appears to be unrelated to the other two, which occurred in late January and involved a different strain of the bacteria, said Dr. Denise De Las Nueces, medical director of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, a nonprofit agency managing the response. “It’s not a disease that’s seen frequently in homeless people,” De Las Nueces said. “The recent cluster of three cases has been unusual. That has sparked our response. . . . Our population lives in crowded conditions in the shelters. That puts them at increased risk.”

Source: Death of homeless man from bacterial infection sparks vaccination drive – The Boston Globe