The term Islamophobia usually refers to acts of prejudice against Muslims and Islam.
But it does not capture the real core, which is disdain, abhorrence, loathing, and a total disrespect towards Islam and its adherents. It has become a significant issue with the persecution of Muslims and Islam in countries around the world.
At the forefront of perpetuating this hatred is Israel and its vassals, the United States of America, Britain, and the European Union.
Israel’s annual violent transgressions of the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem – the third holiest city in Islam during Ramadan – to intimidate and provoke Muslims performing their prayers, is the worst example of their utter contempt for Islam.
Israel not only violated the sanctity of Islam’s third holiest mosque, but it also inflicted injuries and deaths on men, women, and children – without provocation. The blackshirts acted with impunity against the defenceless worshippers.
Israel’s lackeys, the United States, Britain, and the European Union condoned this criminal act by the Israeli government, parroting the cued hypocritical response that “Israel has the right to defend itself” – against stone-throwing Palestinians who were only protecting their homes and land from which they have been evicted, to make way for Jewish settlers.
Israel also bombed and launched missile strikes on civilian areas that they unilaterally declared as hotbeds for Hamas’ “terrorist” operations. The rogue state continues to show scant regard for Palestinian life and property.
The European Union’s disdain and abhorrence for Islam was further demonstrated by the burning of the Quran by a Swedish national, Rasmus Paladin, in front of the Turkish Embassy in Sweden. It was not in retaliation against any act by the Muslim community against the state, or other faiths. There were none. It was purely an unprovoked act of hatred against Islam and Muslims.
One would have thought that the Swedish government would have stepped in to prevent such sacrilegious acts against Islam. Instead, it condoned it, hiding behind the veil of “freedom of expression”. It even provided police protection for the event.
But when a Swedish national wanted to burn the Torah, the Jewish holy book, the Swedish government, and the Jewish community, immediately moved in to block it, declaring it an act of anti-Semitism.
Woe betides those who question the validity of the Holocaust, which Israel and its lackeys have used to hold the world accountable for their sufferings inflicted by Adolf Hitler during World War II.
This clearly shows the hypocrisy and the double standards of the Swedish government, which is protective of Jewish interests and welfare, while blatantly neglecting and ignoring Muslims, and theirs.
In France, Islamophobia stems from French imperialism of its colonies in North Africa where it held a sense of superiority over the local Muslim population and their faith.
Some sections of the French population view the increasing visibility of the Muslims and their faith as a threat to the French way of life. And the media fuelled this anxiety and fear further by portraying Muslims as being prone to violence and extremism. Charlie Hebdo’s caricature of the Prophet Muhammad further exacerbated the situation, resulting in confrontation and violence between the Muslims and the French.
The country’s counterterrorism apparatus target Muslims, as they are viewed as potential terrorists. The French government’s ban on the wearing of the hijab in public places is discriminatory against Muslims, and an affront to their religious edict of protecting their aurat. At the same time, there has been an increase in hate crimes, and the burning of mosques and Muslim-owned businesses.
India is another country where Islamophobia against the 200 million Muslims living there, is rife.
The current BJP government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has used legislative measures, through Parliament, to deny the rights of the Muslim community by passing the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019, offering Indian citizenship to religious minorities from Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, who are Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, or Christians, who arrived in India before the end of 2014.
The legislation does not grant such eligibility to Muslims from these countries. Clearly, this amendment discriminates against Muslims.
Likewise, the passing of the National Register of Citizens is meant to marginalise the Muslim community in India and render them stateless, stripping them of their citizenship. The Muslims have been harassed by the Hindu majority, who has burnt and destroyed mosques, lives, and property.
China’s 12 million Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region are subjected to similar persecution and human rights abuses. Like in India, the Chinese government implemented policies that targeted the Muslim Uyghurs, restricting, or even preventing them from practicing their faith, as part of an effort to “combat terrorism”. The Uyghurs were relocated to ‘re-education camps’ to facilitate acculturation and assimilation into the official Chinese culture and beliefs.
The persecution of Rohingya Muslims in the Rakhine State in Myanmar is nothing less than an ongoing genocide. They have been rendered stateless, and have been forced into exodus to avoid being killed, raped, tortured, and maimed by the military junta government, led by the murderous General Min Aung Hlaing.
Muslims worldwide are being persecuted, but the international organisations charged with protecting human rights and justice are merely interested in empty rhetoric, while safeguarding the interests of the powers that be. Muslims cannot depend on the United Nations and the so called “democratic” big powers for justice, because these same powers that control the United Nations, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the International Criminal Court (ICC), are themselves a party to this persecution of Muslims and their faith.
It is time that Muslim countries and international organisations, such as the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) forge an understanding among themselves, and set aside their disputes and conflicts, and use their financial and military might, to counter the threat against Islam and Muslims.
This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Twentytwo13.
