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UN International Day to Combat Islamophobia: A Recognition to Hardships for the Muslims

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Islamophobia is on the Sharp rise. Incidents like derogatory remarks on Prophet Muhammad witnesses this reality. One can think how international treaties and resolutions condemning religious intolerance and violence are effective to combat islamophobia. Are these declarations have any real value or these are just serving as the one time pomp and show.

Recognition to Islamophobia

Undoubtedly, United Nations’ adoption of 15 March as a day to combat islamophobia has a high symbolic value. It proclaims that “terrorism and extremism should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilisation or ethnic group”. March 15 also marks the anniversary of infamous attack and killing of 50 Muslim worshippers in the mosque of New Zealand.

A human-chain made to show gratitude to United Nations for the Declaration of March 15 as a day to combat islamophobia.

As, the most applauded feature is Its ability to give highest political recognition to the hardships of Muslims all over the world. So, this will help tracking the anti-Muslim sentiments and violations. 

But the crucial question is about its application on the real basis. How will it impact the laws and policies of the countries? Can it change the mindset of higher authorities and the general public towards brotherhood, equality, peaceful diversity and inclusive culture?

March 15 will serve as a day to remind people and institutions about the violence and problems of Muslim. It will make political leaders accountable for their efforts towards security of Muslims from negative agendas, persecutions, and elimination. Though, consequences are unclear for the larger impacts of the UN declaration to combat islamophobia.

It is based on a 1981 resolution of the UN that calls for the elimination of all forms of descriminations and intolerance based on a particular religion or belief.

Consequently, this resolution asks all the UN organisations, countries, NGOs, private organisations and faith based institutions to make efforts in creating awareness for fighting islamophobia at all levels.

Rise of Global Islamophobia

United Nations Human Rights Council reports that sentiments for islamophobia has increased drastically. UN Secretary-General António Guterres in March 2021 highlighted the issue of anti-muslim sentiments, discrimination and violence. He said, “unfortunately, far too often, stereotypes are further compounded by elements of the media and some in positions of power. Anti-Muslim bigotry is sadly in line with other distressing trends we are seeing globally.”

Islamophobia has emerged as a new form of racism. It has elements of stereotyping of Muslims and development of a negative profile against them. Consequently, this negative profiling and stereotypes creates hatred and violent acts against Muslims around the world. Now, the world can witness acts of prohibiting their choice of attire, ways of worship, and freedom of religious expression like hijab ban in India, burkini issue in France and demolition of worship places. Likewise, police raids like Operation Luxor by Austria shows the repression of Muslim communities and worst form of human rights violations. Other issues are hardships and refugee problems of Muslim minority communities in many countries of the world like Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and Bangladesh, and Uighur Muslims in China.

In recent times, there has been a rise by the far right groups and political parties to exploit general fear of Islam and gain political mileage.

Under such circumstances, UN declaration can be a relief and tool to combat islamophobia.

Association of Politics with Islamophobia

Today, the world is witnessing an interplay between islamophobia, security and violent extremism. Post 9/11 incidents, islamophobia has been spreading fast and presenting Islam and Muslims as new enemies for the world and its security. Muslims witness growing hostility and suspicion throughout the world after 9/11.

Later, islamophobia also being attached with immigrants and terrorist threats. This combination create huge wave of fear and recognition to threat from Islam and Muslims.

Even Far right groups in different countries begin to play with islamophobia as a perfect toy to create fear and mistrust among the public. 

The concept of enemies within that pointed towards the Muslim immigrants or homegrown Muslim population especially in  European countries rises. As a result, this concept gives an opportunity for anti-immigrants and far right groups to attach terrorism and security threats to the Muslims. It enhanced the suspicion, fear and hostility among different communities and led to the policing of Muslims.

Source: Gallup

Untrue narratives are being spread fast even in the mainstream media about Islam and Muslims to gain acceptability in media and among wider public for islamophobia. 

Consequently, We can witness many anti-Muslim laws and policies passed by the governments. Like, we see how France prohibited headscarves and the Indian state of Karnataka banned hijab in public schools.

Even there exists discriminatory visa restrictions and travel bans.

Further, Identify politics and increased securitization is also fuelling the sentiments against Islam and giving rise to islamophobia.

Source: Gallup

Negative Impacts on Social Structure.

Islamophobia is clearly dividing people on the lines of religion. It is serving as a double-edged sword for society. Muslims are bearing hardships and alienation. Religion is becoming the core issue for the people. Hence, politics is also intensely focusing towards divisive agendas. Likewise, Media is feeding on shows and discussions full of hate speech, religious allegations and prove of religious supremacy. Islamophobia has been impacting the lives of millions of people around the world and causing threat to internal security, fragmenting societies and leading to lack of social cohesion. Overall, it diplays exremist views and narratives against Muslims and Islam and put them under suspicion.

Time to combat Islamophobia

Now is a time to recognise different forms of islamophobia that exist in different parts of the world. It is a new form of racism. Consequently, hate speech, violence and discrimination are the tools to spread fear against Muslims causing anger and frustration in Muslim world. We witnessed a joint condemnation of Muslim world against the derogatory comments about Prophet Muhammad by an official of a ruling party in India. 

The situation is poorly understood and hence, UN affirmed the need to address it.

It is particularly a relief for the Muslim women and girls in the context of gender aspects of islamiphobia. As it is a reality that Muslim women gains more hatred and attention for their visible attires. They also have been stereotyped as a symbol of oppression who should be liberated. 

Islamophobia is creating a threat to world peace and prosperity. So, diversification of religious beliefs and expressions are necessary to achieve human, religious and cultural freedom.

Hence, such a political recognition of islamophobia would help curb the state-sponsored hatred and persecution against Muslims. 

Now, the challenge is to ensure the implementation of the resolution to combat islamophobia. 

Can We Eliminate Islamophobia completely or Is It There to Stay?

Islamophobia focuses on cultural and religious differences. It represents muslims as sexist, inferior, barbaric, primitive, violent and supportive to terrorism. Islamophobes highly politicized the Islam and make it a sort of militant ideology. Hence, justify the discrimination and hostility against Muslims. Some of the major causes behind continous fuelling of Islamophobia are refugee crisis, migration issues, deteriorating living conditions, failure of mainstream politics, terrorist attacks and internal security threats. So, It is important to tackle these issues. Otherwise, it might be diffiicult to eliminate Islamophobia. Further, normalization of islamophobic speech and anti-immigration rhetoric is a rising phenomenon escalating hate and tensions among societies.

Islamophobia is here to stay if the world is going to witness normalization of anti-immigration discussions, hate speeches, attachement of terrorism with Islam and Muslims without understanding the real root cause.

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Jewish Nazism is reality not fiction

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Jewish Nazism

I realize that the title of this article might offend and provoke many people, especially those adhering to the Judaic faith. I do know that Jews, like everyone else, are not carbon copies of each other. There are many conscientious Jews who believe in fairness and basic human equality regardless of color, race and faith, and strongly reject racism and chauvinism in any form. Also, I will no longer be using euphemistic language in reference to Jewish Nazism especially in light of the latest Dresden-like bombing of Gaza by the Judeo-Nazi state also known as Israel.

Read Also: No forgiveness for Jewish Nazism

These people I salute for their rectitude, humanity and morality. They are our natural partners for peace and a better tomorrow for our children and their children.

But there are numerous other Jews who don’t believe in human equality and justice for all. Indeed, there are many Jews, e.g. followers of the hateful Chabad sect, who don’t even ascribe full humanity to people who are not members of the Jewish faith.

Needless to say, the venomous ideology adopted by these racist fanatics has much in common with Aryan Nazism.

Read Also: The futility of counting on the U.S. to pressure Israel

What else can be said to describe an ideology that teaches adherents that the life of a non-Jew has no sanctity and that goyem can be murdered without the slightest compunction or feeling of guilt?

The shocking reactions by the Israeli government, rabbis, and community leaders to the latest abduction, murder and subsequent burning of a Palestinian kids in Gaza are very telling.

In a certain sense, these reactions and attitudes can be compared to the reactions and attitudes of many Germans to the pogroms carried out against Jews by the Nazis prior to and during the Second World War.

The gleefully despicable embrace of the brashly hideous crime by the bulk of the Israeli Jewish society underscores the fact that millions of Jews in Israel and abroad do harbor certain Nazi tendencies, especially against the Palestinian people. These tendencies are too real and too tangible to be overstated.

However, we must call the spade a spade, even at the expense of upsetting the huge Zionist propaganda machine which habitually alters the black into white and the blatant big lie into a “truth” glorified by sheepish westerners who have long been brainwashed into believing that Israel is a modern, civilized and democratic state.

In the final analysis, when Jews (or anyone else) think, behave and act like the Nazis thought, behaved and acted, they simply become Nazis. Pure and simple.

Today, there are numerous Jews who openly call for the physical annihilation of Palestinians as retaliation for the abduction and killing of three Jewish settlers in the West Bank.

Saber-rattling rabbis speak menacingly of the need to adopt “the Biblical way” to combat the Palestinians.

For those not versed in Jewish phraseology, “Biblical way” is euphemism for genocide.

Today, the Israeli media reported that some army personnel openly appealed to the government to “give us the green light to annihilate them.”!!!

Just read what thousands of Jewish youths have been writing on their Facebook pages! It is outrageous, disgusting and sheer evil.

To put it in a nutshell, Nazism is being regurgitated and exuded all over Israel. This is happening in broad daylight while professional liars like Binyamin Netanyahu are filling the ether with all sorts of shameless lies about Israel being victimized by the Palestinians.

Seventy-six years have passed since Kristalnacht. Today Jewish settlers in the west Bank, in close cooperation and coordination, with the Israeli army could very well carry out a huge pogrom against an innocent and helpless community which really finds itself very much in the same precarious and vulnerable position that European Jewry experienced prior to WWII.

I am not a prophet of doom and gloom, but the signs are unmistakably bleak.

A final point, the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are surviving thanks to the good-will of the international public opinion. Should the international community go into a brief slumber, God forbid, Israel and its own Wehrmacht, SS, Gestapo and Hitler Youth might embark on the unthinkable. Don’t you ever say Jews can’t carry out a holocaust against their victims, the Palestinians?

Words can kill; words do kill.

Unfortunately, the chilling words we are hearing from many Israeli Jews these days leave no room for optimism.

Khalid Amayreh is a Palestinian journalist and political commentator , we lost him on account of natural reasons on 12th of July last year in the Occupied Palestine

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I’m most definitely Palestinian!

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Palestinian

In-your-face brutality, unending genocide, unending atrocities, mass slaughter directed against one’s people, one’s brethren, causes the most strong and unimaginable reaction, in response to the oppressor’s horrendous and barbaric deeds. The autocratic, despotic, tyrannical Israeli-hand systematically and with pre-planned engineered precision, massacres, annihilates, eliminates the young and the old Palestinian alike – in the most inhumane and most despicable of ways. Slaughters men, women and children in broad daylight. Bares its blood-thirsty intentions, its monstrous objectives in the most unashamed of ways. Mercy to none – not to the living, not to the severely wounded and dying; no mercy even on the dead or their lifeless remains.

The constant fear of being bombed anytime, rained down with missiles and all manner of munitions from within the vast arsenal of the Israeli side; definitely stockpiled high, with enough buffer inventory of munitions, deadly and lethal stockpile, to blow the receiving side multiple times over; so as not to leave a “shred” of evidence of your original physical-self on the surface of the land, which your people, generations and generations of your ancestors, since time immemorial have dwelt on.

Read Also: The age-old Palestinian-fear (of the Israeli thirst)

The inexplicable terror of seeing Israeli drones constantly “floating about” unopposed, in the skies above your unsheltered head. Drones with eyes like that of a greedy dog. Electronic pixels wanting to cast an evil eye, an evil-spell upon your very being. Eyeing upon your existence, wanting to blow-up, tear-up your physical being, seemingly wanting to devour your flesh and body; all by way of a few computer clicks / even the manual computer-clicks now, seemingly, are being replaced by more automated ways of executing these most evil deeds. Software, coded software, written programs to execute on the most Evil-intentions. Evil-intentions of the most evil amongst the human race.

Everybody knows, the Israelis have exterminated with their weaponry, uncountable numbers of Palestinians across a 40, 50km stretch of land, in front of the whole world, over the past so many weeks and months. And retain the capacity, the ability, the power, the means to slaughter, devour many, many more innocent ones, day in, day out.

The Israelis possess American technology, American weapons – the bedrock of their faith, the foundation stone of their belief in their never-ending invincibility. The Palestinians have their faith in Allah; that Allah will redeem his faithful people, from the clutches of these war-mongers, who rain down terror, day and night on the most innocent, the most vulnerable.

Most definitely, the Moslem spirit in me, the Palestinian spirit in me is not defeated; quite to the contrary, it’s rekindled, stronger than ever.

I’m definitely Palestinian, in every sense of the word, and Allah will save us, Allah will have mercy on us, Allah will guide us.

(Note: Azhaar Amayreh is a marketer stuck in war-ravaged Rafah with her child.)The following article is part of a campaign to raise money to help MZEMO contributor Azhaar Amayreh and her family leave Gaza. Please give what you can.

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The futility of counting on the U.S. to pressure Israel

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It is really ludicrous to see how dishonest the U.S “mediators” constantly demand that the Palestinians display more “good will” toward Israel at a time when Israel continues to perpetrate a real Holocaust against the hapless and helpless Palestinaians and steal Palestinian land in broad daylight.

It seems amply clear that the current Palestinian leadership, i.e. the Palestinian Authority (PA)  led by Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, neither learns from its own blunders nor from other people’s blunders. This is really a gigantic disaster befalling the Palestinian people and their enduring just cause.

How else can one relate to the unrelenting illogical insistence of the the whole world on accepting the U.S., Israel’s guardian-ally, as “mediator and honest broker” between us and our murderous tormentors and grave-diggers, Israel?

Read Also: The US and IsraelThe dog versus the wagging tail.

Indeed, one doesn’t have to be an expert on American foreign policy in the Middle East to know that the U.S represents the problem, not the solution, given its long-standing embrace of Israeli fascism and expansion.  After all, it is the US that not only enabled Israel to actively pursue its lebensraum policy at the expense of its neighbors but consistently shield it from any accountability or international condemnation.

Today, the U.S. administration is criticizing Palestinian “unilateralism” in reference to desperate PA efforts to get the UN Security Council to recognize Palestinian statehood and agree on a deadline for ending Israel’s Nazi-like occupation.

Well, we all know that the U.S. is being pornographically hypocritical when it accuses the virtually vanquished Palestinians of acting unilaterally as if its spoilt nefarious daughter, Israel, were ever acting in full conformity with international law.

Well, Mr. Abbas and Mr. Ereikat: Don’t be too gullible, too sheepish. Ask your American interlocutors, e.g. Mr. John Kerry, the following questions:

Since when did Israel ever behave bilaterally rather than unilaterally?

Was the usurpation of Palestine and expulsion of its indigenous people at the hands of Jewish terrorist gangs hailing from Eastern Europe, a bilateral or unilateral act?

Was the annexation by Israel of East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights a bilateral or a unilateral act?

Was the building of hundreds of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as well as the transfer of 600,000 Jewish settlers to live on a land that belongs not to them a bilateral or unilateral act?

Was the wanton demolition of some 30,000 Palestinian homes by Israel a bilateral or a unilateral act?

Was the annexation of the bulk of the West Bank and East Jerusalem a bilateral or a unilateral act?

And what about this ugly structure, called Separation wall, which resulted in the theft of thousands of acres of private Palestinian land? Was it a bilateral or a unilateral act?

I could go on and on and on listing America’s hypocritical and duplicitous stands on Palestinian grievances and Israeli crimes. Indeed, the U.S dishonest stand on the Palestinian plight has only been consistent in its moral depravity. Indeed, hypocrisy in its most brazen form has always been and continues to be the modus operandi of American policy toward the Palestinian issue. I know it is politically incorrect to speak in this tone. However, truth must not be another victim of the dark evil embrace between the U.S. and Israel.

But morality is not and has never been part of American politics or policies, especially foreign policy. This is why the world looks so ugly, so gloomy and so unjust.

The U.S. is insisting that only a “negotiated” settlement to the Palestinian issue would be acceptable to the U.S.

Read Also: The Palestinian Authority: confused, frustrated and corrupt

In other words, Israel must always have the final say as to any possible peace deal with the Palestinians.

But since Israel would never ever end its occupation or dismantle the settlements, let alone allow for the repatriation of the refugees, it means there can be no negotiated settlement unless the Palestinians agree to surrender to Jewish Nazism. But that will never happen as Muslims, including the Palestinian people, would never allow the Ramallah leadership or any other leadership to commit adultery with the honorable Palestinian cause.

Let’s be honest. The purportedly honest American broker or mediator is neither honest nor a broker or mediator. The proverbial American judge is simply telling the insolent rapist (Israel) and the vanquished rape victim (the Palestinians) to sort it out amongst yourselves. Do we have to be the smartest humans on earth to understand the implications of this brutal ugliness?

It is tantamount to a total American embrace of Israeli fascism. It means that the American stance is actually Israel’s stance. It also means that that the U.S. would never accept or condone any settlement that Israel doesn’t accept.

That is why the Palestinians need to have a moment of truth with themselves.
And the message they need to internalize is that they would have to wait ages if they continued to put their trust in the U.S. to pressure Israel to walk in the path of peace.

Let us face it. Israel will never walk in the path of peace unless it is pressured and bullied to do so. However, Israel would never ever walk in the path of peace as long as it continues to receive nuclear submarines from Germany and the most advanced fighter jets from the U.S.

In a nut shell, America can’t and won’t exert any meaningful pressure on Israel to end its N-a-z-i-like occupation. We all know that Israel controls the American government or at least controls those who control the American government. Israel is intoxicated by its arrogance of power and Talmudic insolence. And the U.S., Israel’s guardian-ally, is not in a position to be an honest mediator and to impose a deal on Israel or even convince her to allow for one that would give the Palestinian a semblance of justice.

What should be done?

We must go ahead with our efforts at the U.N. Security Council, irrespective of American threats to veto any resolution favorable to the Palestinian cause. At least casting the veto would embarrass America itself and its treacherous Arab allies (they are not actually allies but cheap slaves and puppets as we all know).

We Palestinians must be confident of our inevitable triumph over Zionism and its evils. Yes, it may take time, but eventually Zionism won’t live forever in a sea where hundreds of millions live.

Khalid Amayreh is a Palestinian journalist and political commentator , we lost him on account of natural reasons on 12th of July last year in the Occupied Palestine

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