UN urged to punish Myanmar army over Rohingya ‘atrocities’
Pressure tightened on Myanmar Monday as a rights group urged world leaders to impose sanctions on the country’s military, which is accused of driving out more than 400,000 Rohingya Muslims in an orchestrated “ethnic cleansing” campaign. The call from Human Rights Watch came as the UN General Assembly prepared to convene in New York, with […]
Maine bank fires executive over anti-Muslim Facebook posts
In a post to their Facebook page on Friday afternoon, Kennebunk Savings Bank announced that Dawn Robinson, who had been hired last month as the bank’s Chief Information Officer, was no longer working for the company. The firing was a result of Robinson posting what the bank described as “disturbing and offensive images” on Facebook. […]
Despite Disavowals, Leading Tech Companies Help Extremist Sites Monetize Hate
Because of its “extreme hostility toward Muslims,” the website Jihadwatch.org is considered an active hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League. The views of the site’s director, Robert Spencer, on Islam led the British Home Office to ban him from entering the country in 2013. But its designation as a […]
ISIS’s Dream Is Dead, But Its Violence Lives On
At its height, the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) was more than just a self-proclaimed caliphate spanning an extensive part of the Middle East, it was an international sensation with a clear vision. Its rapid, violent sweep across two of the most symbolically significant nations in Islamic history appealed to tens of thousands of supporters […]
Quran Swimming in Pork Lard Sent to California Mosque
Police in California are investigating a hate-related incident after a Sacramento Muslim group was sent a defiled copy of the Quran, immersed in a container of pork fat. Members of the Sacramento Valley Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) received a suspicious package on June 28. Wary of opening the package, they contacted the police.
Far-Right Group Plans to Patrol Mediterranean to Turn Back Migrants
A pan-European far-right group with a history of violent direct action has charted a 422-ton ship and says it plans to confront people-smugglers and turn back migrants it finds in the waters off Libya. Humanitarian organizations say the planned intervention is a “PR provocation” by the Defend Europe group, which is part of the continent-wide, […]
Muslim man reportedly attacked by Buddhist extremists in Myanmar
Myanmar police said Tuesday they were searching for several people who attacked a Muslim man in the central city of Meiktila. Locals said members of the Buddhist extremist organization Ma Ba Tha helped instigate the violence. The man was hospitalized after a crowd threw stones at his home late Monday. The dispute was reportedly sparked […]
Fake news fuels nationalism and Islamophobia — sound familiar? In this case, it’s in India
Pro-government websites in India circulated a story in May saying Arundhati Roy, the renowned Indian novelist, had criticized the Indian army’s heavy-handed presence in Kashmir, the disputed territory claimed by both countries. India would never gain full control of Kashmir, Roy was quoted as saying, “even if its army deployment increases from 7 lakh to […]
Rise Seen in Hate Crimes, Yet Reporting Methods Seen as Inadequate
By all accounts, hate crimes are rising in the United States. From an increase in the number of attacks on hijab-wearing Muslim women to threats made against Jewish community centers earlier this year, all indications suggest hate-motivated offenses are on the rise. But their true extent remains a puzzle, in part because of poor data […]
Mosul residents ‘lost everything’ in ISIL battle
Civilians who have fled fighting in Mosul face a dire humanitarian crisis even as the Iraqi prime minister has formally declared victory against the Islamic State of the Levant and Iraq (ISIL). The Norwegian Refugee Council said on Monday that civilians displaced by more than eight months of fighting are living in “incredible hardship” in […]