An international coalition of Muslim advocacy organisations issued a joint declaration commemorating March 15th, the first UN-recognised International Day to Combat Islamophobia, and announcing their intent to cooperate in the global struggle against anti-Muslim bigotry.
The joint declaration, the first ever issued by Muslim civic organisations around the world, was signed by Muslim organisations active in over 30 different countries, including Australia, Belgium, France, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) first commemorated March 15th in 2021. OIC member states then encouraged the United Nations to adopt a similar resolution commemorating the day, which the international body did in 2022. March 15th marks the anniversary of the anti-Muslim mass shooting that took the lives of 51 men, women and children in Christchurch, New Zealand.
JOINT CALLS TO ACTION
In their joint statement released on March 15, 2023, the Muslim community groups around the world made the following joint calls to action:
- Nations should recognise the UN International Day to Combat Islamophobia;
- Muslim-majority nations should challenge Islamophobia internationally;
- All governments should protect places of worship from hate crimes;
- Political leaders should engage with their Muslim constituents;
- Communities should build bridges with neighbours of different faiths;
In the declaration, the groups noted, “Those who target Muslims want us to give up. They want us to stop caring about each other. They want us to stop working with our diverse neighbours. We say, No. We stand with our Muslim brothers and sisters, and all victims of injustice in not only our respective countries, but around the world.”
In a statement, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, Esq., said:
“This is a historic moment for American Muslims and the global Muslim community. For the first time ever, major Muslim advocacy groups operating in over 30 countries have united across borders, oceans and continents to confront the threat of global Islamophobia together.
“Anti-Muslim bigotry has spread from country to country, inspiring religious discrimination, hate crimes, ethnic cleansing and even genocide. Just as anti-Muslim extremists around the world have united to spread hate, Muslims around the world must unite with each other and people of goodwill to advance justice for all.”
In a statement, CAIR Research & Advocacy Director Corey Saylor said:
“In America we say religious freedom is a core value. Some fear mongers instead want us to not act on our values. Projecting uncompromising support for religious freedom to the world by creating a Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Islamophobia is nothing but a win for our ideals.”
The groups endorsing the statement are: AsociaciónMusulmanaporlosDerechos Humanos (AMDEH) (Spain), Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (Australia), Comité Justice &Libertés Pour Tous (France), Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) (USA), Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organisations – FEMYSO (Europe), Islamophobia Studies Center (USA), Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project (USA), International Islamophobia Studies and Research Association (multiple nations), Islamophobia Studies Journal (multiple nations), The March 15 Forum – Combating Islamophobia (USA), MPower Change (USA), Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) (United Kingdom), and US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO) (USA).
The Collective for Countering Islamophobia in Europe (CCIE) (Europe) and the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) (USA) expressed support for the statement.
UN COMMEMORATED THE DAY
The United Nations on March 10 commemorated the first-ever International Day to Combat Islamophobia with a special event in the General Assembly Hall, where speakers upheld the need for concrete action in the face of rising hatred, discrimination and violence against Muslims.
The President of the UN General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi, noted that Islamophobia is rooted in xenophobia, or the fear of strangers, which is reflected in discriminatory practices, travel bans, hate speech, bullying and targeting of other people.
He urged countries to uphold freedom of religion or belief, which is guaranteed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
“All of us carry a responsibility to challenge Islamophobia or any similar phenomenon, to call out injustice and condemn discrimination based on religion or belief – or the lack of them,” he added.
Mr. Kőrösi said education is key to learning why these phobias exist, and it can be “transformative” in changing how people understand each another.
The growing hate that Muslims face is not an isolated development, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told attendees.
“It is an inexorable part of the resurgence of ethno-nationalism, neo-Nazi white supremacist ideologies, and violence targeting vulnerable populations including Muslims, Jews, some minority Christian communities and others,” he said.
“Discrimination diminishes us all. And it is incumbent on all of us to stand up against it. We must never be bystanders to bigotry.”
Stressing that “we must strengthen our defences”, Mr. Guterres highlighted UN measures such as a Plan of Action to Safeguard Religious Sites. He also called for ramping up political, cultural, and economic investments in social cohesion.
“And we must confront bigotry wherever and whenever it rears its ugly head. This includes working to tackle the hate that spreads like wildfire across the internet,” he added.
To this end, the UN is working with governments, regulators, technology companies and the media “to set up guardrails, and enforce them.”
Other policies already launched include a Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech, and the Our Common Agenda report, which outlines a framework for a more inclusive and secure “digital future” for all people.
The Secretary-General also expressed gratitude to religious leaders across the world who have united to promote dialogue and interfaith harmony.
He described the 2019 declaration on ‘Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together’ – co-authored by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed El Tayeb – as “a model for compassion and human solidarity.”
NEW ZEALAND MARKS 4THYEAR OF ATTACK
New Zealand on March 15 marked the fourth anniversary of the deadly terrorist attack on a mosque and an Islamic centre in 2019. On March 15, 2019, Brenton Tarrant, an Australian white supremacist, killed 51 people and injured 40 more at the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch city. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2020 without the possibility of parole, in the first such ruling ever handed down in the island country.
However, Tarrant filed an appeal against his life sentence in court last year. The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ) described his move as an attempt to re-traumatise the victims and the nation.
The latest statement issued by the association on March 15, while commemorating the fourth anniversary of the attack, stated that the entire nation remembers the “shahadah” or martyrs.
Lawrence Kimberley, the Dean of Christchurch, recently said about the incredible response of the people of Christchurch in the wake of the attacks.
Kimberley reflected on the way the community rose up, particularly those affected by the two mosques that were attacked, and said that their response was amazing to witness. “The way the people rose up, especially the people of the two mosques that were attacked and said this is not who we are – and that was an amazing thing to see,” he said.
While the community’s response to the attacks was heartening, Kimberley acknowledged that those who were directly affected by the events will still face a long road to recovery. “The people that were affected by this will be on a long road to recovery and says we remember them regularly and we pray for healing,” he said.
Imam Gamal Fouda of Al Noor Mosque has spoken out, saying that there is still a long way to go for the Muslim community in New Zealand. Fouda, who became a symbol of hope and forgiveness after the tragic shooting, called for a law on hate speech, saying that he does not want freedom of speech to turn into hate speech. He emphasised the importance of preventing hate speech from spreading and inciting violence against marginalised communities. In his message to the public, Fouda expressed his gratitude to the people of New Zealand for their support and solidarity over the past four years.
‘WAR ON TERROR’ AND ISLAMOPHOBIA
An academic and an author researching Islamophobia in the US, Khaled Ali Beydoun, reportedly said on March 14, pointing to the role of the US in the increasing globalisation of anti-Islam protests in Asia and Europe.
“The US has exported Islamophobia to Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and beyond, in a destructive way,” Beydoun said.
The Professor at the Wayne State University School of Law also said the US administration laid out a new framework for the Muslim identity with the rhetoric of “war on terror” after the September 11 attacks.
“United States provided a new language of counter-terrorism. In addition to that, there was a new legal and policing architecture that came into play that the United States sort of engineered, and there was nothing across the world adopted, specifically that had a vested interest in persecuting Muslims adopted this new American language, and adopted this new American policing paradigm to crack down on their own Muslim populations.”
Pointing out that the “war on terror” campaign of the US is effective in a wide area from Asia to Europe, Beydoun said: “Before 9/11, Uyghurs living in China were not defined as terrorists, extremists or those affiliated with transnational terrorist networks.”
“The US is the catalyst for the ‘global war on terror’ that spreads and globalises Islamophobia with anti-Muslim language, perhaps even more powerfully than any other government in the world. Because the US is a superpower, isn’t it? It’s the most powerful country and government in the world, claiming to be a democracy. The US has exported Islamophobia to Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and beyond in a devastating way,” he said.
Beydoun also said Western society is afraid of Islam, the essence of which it did not know, and added: “They hate Islam because they don’t know anything about it. There are ideas that Islam is associated with terrorism; that Muslims want to conquer and change European culture; that Muslims oppress women; that Muslims have no desire to fit into the society they enter. I think that’s why ordinary citizens, in France, UK, Spain, Italy and other countries, hate and fear Muslims they know little about.”