Tuesday, November 7, 11:00 AM EDT
Week 45: Anti-Muslim and Anti-Islamic Discrimination
Israel continues its ground invasion of Gaza. Meanwhile antisemitism, anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic discourse has spread in the West. As advocates for peace and the humanity of all people, we must act. Please join us in the following Urgent Action, urging our governments to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and for our Kumi Now Online Gathering on Tuesday, during which we will address the the role of anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic discrimination in response to Israel's invasion of Gaza.
Urgent Action
Until there is a ceasefire, we want you to think globally, but act locally. Israel won’t stop its assault on Gazans until the international community pressures it to do so. So far, only Arab countries are openly calling for a ceasefire. Let’s change this!
Email or call your own representative, MP, or other leader, urging them to call for an immediate ceasefire. Did you email last week? Email again! Politicians won’t act on a single email. They need to be reminded over and over again that this matters.
Work with members of your local activism group (Friends of Sabeel or otherwise) to identify which politicians and leaders are the most likely to listen and act. Share their email addresses and phone numbers.
We will repeat our call for a ceasefire every week until a ceasefire is in place.
Share this action and your local contact information on social media. Use the hashtags #Palestine #Gaza #CeasefireNOW #KumiNow
Next Online Gathering
November 7: Week 45 - Anti-Muslim and Anti-Islamic Discrimination
Full information on the gathering is here.
We will be joined by Hatem Bazian of the Berkeley Center for Race and Gender.
This Week's Entry
November is Islamophobia Awareness Month, run by the Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) non-profit in the United Kingdom. Kumi Now would like to bring the message of Islamophobia Awareness Month to a world audience. Learn about Islamophobia Awareness Month on the website. Then join us this Tuesday as we address this issue and how it affects the Palestinian cause:
Week 45 of Kumi Now is now available on the website. The constant slings and arrows inherent in the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory have all the markings of anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic discrimination. While not all Palestinians are Muslims, and the overwhelming majority of Muslims have never engaged in any kind of violence, the overarching view in Western media of Palestinians as Muslim terrorists has done nothing to build global support for the anti-colonial struggles of the Palestinians in a way that the world supported the struggles in Ireland, India, and South Africa.
Please read the essay on this issue and the story of Leanne Gale, a Jewish woman observing Israeli security guards harassing a woman in a niqab. And here are some facts for you:
Understanding Anti-Muslim and Anti-Islamic Discrimination. Just the facts...
Since 2017, Chinese authorities have destroyed or damaged 16,000 mosques in Xinjiang.
Chinese authorities have detained up to 1.5 million people, mostly Uyghurs and other Muslims, in Xinjiang.
In 2018 Sri Lanka experienced a series of anti-Muslim riots.
India’s 2019 Citizenship Act allowed naturalization and citizenship to people based on their religion; Muslims were not included.
In France, 789 report forms referring to 1,043 Islamophobic incidents were received in 2019.
In Germany, 871 hate crimes against Muslims were reported to the police in 2019.
In the U.K., Muslims are paid between 13-21% less than their Christian counterparts.
And the U.K. recorded 3,530 cases of Islamophobic hate crimes, representing 47% of all recorded religiously motivated hate crime offences in 2018-19.
Spain has experienced an overall 11.6% increase in hate crimes, including islamophobia.
In the U.S., Muslim children are twice as likely as the general public to be bullied for their faith.
While at the airport, 44% of Muslims in the U.S. experience discrimination, compared to 5% of the general public.
To go deeper, we will be developing an extensive list of Additional Resources at the bottom of this week’s entry as well as a YouTube playlist on the subject. We hope to see you in the online gathering on Tuesday.
To register: Week 45: Anti-Muslim and Anti-Islamic Online Gathering 2023 – KUMI NOW
Background info: Week 45: Anti-Muslim and Anti-Islamic Discrimination – KUMI NOW
See the full Kumi Now email for additional info, actions and resources Gmail - Kumi Now - Week 45: Anti-Muslim and Anti-Islamic Discrimination (google.com)