Tag Archives: Islamophobia

Singapore’s leader said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should continue excluding Myanmar’s junta from its meeting until it cooperates on an agreed peace plans. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in a video call on Friday urged the regional group’s new chair, Cambodia, to engage all sides in Myanmar’s …

Thousands of Israeli nationalists have staged a protest outside the parliament building in Jerusalem, urging the government not to demolish a West Bank settlement outpost. The demonstration came a month after a Palestinian gunman fired on a car filled with seminary students at the Homesh outpost, near the West Bank …

A British Jewish woman who fell foul of the UK’s Labour Party over her anti-Zionist views is threatening to take legal action against the party. Diana Neslen, 82, believes that the party unlawfully discriminated against her on the basis of her stance. She is now being investigated by the party …

The Palestinian prime minister has warned Israel that its refusal to accept a two-state solution to the century-old conflict would perpetuate a system of “apartheid” and eventually result in a one-state reality in which Israel loses its Jewish character. The Israeli government sworn in last June consists of parties from …

The Levant News Exclusive – By Emad El-Din Aysha, PhD Dr. Sophia Rose Arjana, please introduce yourself to our readers. Your education, background and interests? I am an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Western Kentucky University. My department home is the Department of History. I hold a BA in Pacific …

For a platform with at least 2.91 billion “friends,” Facebook has been creating a lot of enemies of late, even among its own ranks. Just this week, former Facebook employee and whistleblower Frances Haugen testified before members of the US Senate, delivering a scathing overview of how the world’s largest …

The West still faces the threat of large-scale terror attacks by radical Islamist groups, but this time using bio-terrorism, Britain’s former Prime Minister Tony Blair has warned. He made the comments in a speech marking two decades since the 9/11 terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in the US. …

Hollywood actor-turned-producer Bo Svenson has had enough of the US entertainment industry’s one-dimensional depiction of characters from the Middle East. He is working on films he hopes will shake up the industry and position Arabs and Muslims to be the stars of their own stories. Svenson, who was born in …

Facebook is not doing enough to stop the spread of false claims about COVID-19 and vaccines, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Thursday, part of a new administration pushback on misinformation in the United States. Facebook, which owns Instagram and WhatsApp, needs to work harder to remove inaccurate …

The US Senate on Wednesday passed a law banning the import of products from China’s Xinjiang region, the latest effort in Washington to punish Beijing for what US officials say is an ongoing genocide against Uighurs and other Muslim groups. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act would create a “reprehensible …

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Tuesday it was important to Turkey that Uyghur Muslims live in peace as “equal citizens of China” but said Turkey respects China’s national sovereignty. Erdogan made the comments during a phone call with Xi in which the two leaders …

After a number of Black English football players faced a torrent of racist abuse online following the team’s loss to Italy in the Euro 2020 final on Sunday, part-Arab models have taken to social media to show their support for the young players.  On Tuesday, part-Palestinian model Bella Hadid re-shared …

In early May, the world witnessed an escalation in violence committed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) against Palestinians, prompting a flood of thousands of posts on social media feeds around the globe. Throughout the month, the Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media (7amleh) documented more than 700 …

 Delhi police on Saturday said they were investigating online harassment involving hundreds of Muslim women, who were put up “for sale” on a now-defunct app and website titled “Sulli Deals,” many of whom also received rape and death threats. The women, active on social media platforms such as Twitter, found …

Israel’s new government faced its first big defeat in parliament on Tuesday, failing to renew a controversial law that prevents Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip who marry Israeli citizens from gaining citizenship themselves. It was the first major political test for Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who …

Violent speech directed against Arabs and Palestinians on social media increased 15-fold during the recent hostilities in Gaza, a report has found.  Between May 6 and May 21 when clashes with Israel were most severe, hate speech against Palestinians rose dramatically in comparison with the same period in 2020, according …

Israeli far-right nationalists began a flag-waving march through East Jerusalem on Tuesday that risks reigniting tensions with Palestinians and poses an early challenge for Israel’s new government. Last month, Israeli-Palestinian tensions and violence in contested Jerusalem helped trigger 11 days of cross-border fighting between Israel and Gaza’s ruling Hamas militant …

British actor Riz Ahmed on Thursday launched an effort to improve the way Muslims are depicted in movies after a study showed that they are barely seen and shown in a negative light when they do appear. Ahmed, the “Sound of Metal” star and the first Muslim to get a …

Instagram announced on Monday that the platform would be making changes to the way it displays content after receiving accusations of censoring Palestine-related content during the latest wave of violence in Gaza. The “stories” feature on Instagram was built according to an algorithm that favors original content as opposed to …

This week, The New York Times ran a full page ad that condemned part-Palestinian models Gigi and Bella Hadid and British-Albanian popstar Dua Lipa for showing solidarity with the people of Palestine. “Bella, Gigi and Dua, Hamas calls for a second holocaust. Condemn them now (sic),” read the headline of …

Ultranationalist Israelis in recent days have created secret online groups to hide their activities and to organize and spread hate against Arab Israelis.  News sites, including Sky News, have been monitoring the activities of Israeli ultranationalist social media accounts and have reported that the accounts are breeding grounds for hate …

A young German army officer went on trial on Thursday accused of planning to attack one or more politicians while posing as an Syrian asylum seeker to try to whip up anger against migrants. In a case that rattled the government in Berlin when it first came to light, the …

Ethnic Karen guerrillas said they captured a Myanmar army base Tuesday in what represents a morale-boosting action for those opposing the military’s takeover of the country’s civilian government in February. A spokesman for the Karen National Union, the minority’s main political group seeking greater autonomy from Myanmar’s central government, said …

An international rights watchdog accused Israel on Tuesday of pursuing policies of apartheid and persecution against Palestinians – and against its own Arab minority – that amount to crimes against humanity. New York-based Human Rights Watch published a 213-page report which, it said, was not aimed at comparing Israel with …

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi held talks with the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland on Sunday over violent clashes in Jerusalem. Anti-Arab Israeli extremists, emboldened by the election of their allies to parliament, began a march over the weekend calling for violence against Arabs. …

Over 100 Palestinians and 20 Israeli police were wounded in overnight clashes in annexed east Jerusalem, authorities said Friday, as tensions mount over a ban on gatherings and videos of attacks on youths. The violence flared outside one of the entrances to the walled Old City, after police had barred …

During the formation of Israel in the late 1940s, hundreds of Jewish women were branded as enemies for marrying Arab men, resulting in exclusion, isolation, and in some cases murder, according to stories buried in the country’s archives.  The histories of the “lost” Jewish women — those who married and …

Turkey called in China’s ambassador on Tuesday after his embassy said it had “the right to respond” to opposition leaders who criticised China’s treatment of Uighur Muslims three decades ago. The politicians, IYI Party leader Meral Aksener and Ankara mayor Mansur Yavas of the main opposition CHP, had marked what …

A motorist rammed a car into U.S. Capitol police on Friday and brandished a knife, killing one officer and injuring another and forcing the Capitol complex to lock down in an attack that police said did not appear to be terrorism-related. Police officer killed in vehicle attack on U.S. Capitol …

The United States, the European Union, Britain and Canada imposed sanctions on Chinese officials on Monday for human rights abuses in Xinjiang, the first such coordinated Western action against Beijing under new U.S. President Joe Biden. Chinese territory of Xinjiang, Beijing hit back immediately with punitive measures against the EU …

A federal grand jury charged four leaders of the far-right Proud Boys with conspiring to block Congress from certifying U.S. President Joe Biden’s election on the day of a deadly assault on the Capitol, according to court papers unsealed on Friday. The indictment alleges that Ethan Nordean of Washington, Joseph …

At Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Circle, buzzing on a Saturday afternoon, around a dozen young people suddenly began to collapse slowly and theatrically to the ground, to the shock and confusion of Israelis out shopping or enjoying a coffee. “Did it scare you?”, flash mob organiser Mohamd Jabarin asked those watching, …

Staff members have criticized the BBC for ignoring its own diversity regulations just a month after the sacking of board member Kamal Ahmed, The Independent reported on Saturday. The BBC culled its news board while following through with an £80 million ($111 million) savings proposal. Several key positions, including editorial …

Fast-food chain Burger King found itself on the griddle and getting burnt over an offensive tongue-in-cheek tweet on International Women’s Day that backfired massively on the burger brand. “Women belong in the kitchen,” the now-deleted tweet by Burger King UK read on Monday. While the thread was meant to reference …

A U.S. agency investigating Facebook Inc for racial bias in hiring and promotions has designated the probe as “systemic,” attorneys for three job applicants and a manager who claim the company discriminated against them told Reuters on Friday. A “systemic” probe means the agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, suspects …

The proposed ban on face veils in Switzerland is discriminatory and “violates women’s rights,” the head of women’s rights at Amnesty International’s Swiss section said. “The proposed face veil ban cannot in any way be viewed as measure for the liberation of women. Rather, it is a dangerous policy that …

China, under growing global pressure over its treatment of a Muslim minority in its far west, is mounting an unprecedented and aggressive campaign to push back, including explicit attacks on women who have made claims of abuse. As allegations of human rights violations in Xinjiang mount, with a growing number …

Academics at the University of Bristol have urged it to abide by academic freedom and resist firing one of its lecturers, David Miller, who has been accused of anti-Semitism. A professor of political sociology, Miller said Israel wants to “impose its will all over the world,” and it is “fundamental …

The Dutch parliament on Thursday passed a non-binding motion saying the treatment of the Uighur Muslim minority in China amounts to genocide, the first such move by a European country. Activists and UN rights experts say at least one million Muslims are being detained in camps in the remote western …

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison vowed on Friday to press ahead with laws to force Facebook Inc to pay news outlets for content, saying he had received support from world leaders after the social media giant blacked out all media. Facebook stripped the pages of domestic and foreign news outlets …

Social media is inundated with offensive content, including hate, anger, personal attacks and, of course, exaggerated and false claims. Much of it is driven by angry political hyperbole and partisan attacks. It can be nauseating. But every once in a while you come across a social media account that is …

Facebook Inc. said on Wednesday it would temporarily reduce political content appearing on New Feeds for some users in Canada, Brazil and Indonesia this week and in the United States within the coming weeks. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said in January that he wanted to “turn down the temperature” …

The U.S. Navy’s top admiral on Tuesday condemned two new racist incidents involving hate symbols on warships, which sources said included a noose that was left on a Black sailor’s bed. The incidents, which occurred in recent weeks, underscore deep concerns about racism in the ranks. The cases come as …

Florida lawmakers, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, intensified their battle with Facebook, Twitter and Silicon Valley when they announced new proposals Tuesday aimed at reigning in platforms they accuse of squelching the free speech of conservatives. “Over the years, these platforms have changed from neutral platforms that provide Americans with the …