Islamophobia in a Global Context

8/6/2019 Islamophobia in a Global Context

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Islamophobia in

a globalcontext

By Fozia and Lauren


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Introduction for this presentation we are looking at

Islamophobia globally 1st we are looking at Islamophobia in Europe

and will look at the Islamic history there andhow 9/11 effected Muslims in Europe

We are then looking at France & the UK as case

studys The Bosnian genocide will then be looked at

We will then ask, why does Islamophobia exist inEurope?

The USA will be the next case study to look at

Islamophobia there particularly since 9/11 We are then going to explore India to see if the

conflict between religions there is anything to dowith Islamophobia

We will then conclude our presentation and it

will be your chance to ask any questions


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What is Islamophobia?

A fear of Muslims and Islam (www.blog.beliefnet.com)

Rynnymede Trust in 1997: dread orhatred of Islam and, therefore, the fearand dislike of all Muslims.

It also included any act of discriminationagainst Muslims. It could also involve theperception that Islam has no values incommon with other cultures and is aviolent political ideology rather than areligion.

(www.exmuslimdiaries.wordpress.com )


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They try to tell me my religion is wrong They try to tell me to follow

Islam They said their prophet was a righteous dude But I found outnone of their words were true I read the Quran and I read thehadith And the sickness of Muhammad was apparent to me. He

justified perversion in the name of Allah When he married a girl tooyoung for a bra She was playing with dolls when the prophetcame Her childhood was stolen in Allahs name Aisha was ninewhen he took her to bed Dont tell me that fools not sick in thehead isn't gonna follow no child molester, sex offender, prophet

pretender. Ain't gonna follow no child molester, Islam is not forme. Islam is not for me. The sickness of the Islamic mind Hascaused the Mullahs to be blind To justify their prophet they would

justify sin So the sins of the prophet are repeated again All overthe world in Islamic states 9 year old girls suffer cruel fate Sold intomarriage to twisted men And Aishas sad story is repeated again

Aint gonna follow no child molester, sex offender, prophetpretender. Ain't gonna follow no child molester, Islam is not forme. Islam is not for me. Do you care about women all over theworld? Do you care about those little girls? Then stand up andfight for human rights Speak out against the laws of Islam Aint

gonna follow no child molester, sex offender, prophet pretender.Ain't gonna follow no child molester, Islam is not for me.


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Examples of Islamaphobia

propaganda


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France

Catholicism is the most widely practised religion in France with approximately 30million churchgoers, Islam is in second place, with 3.7 to 5.5 million Muslims out ofmetropolitan Frances total population of around 63 million (5 to 9%).www.ambafrance-uk.org

French activists have recognised a rise of Islamaphobic and racist values inFrance against the Muslim and Arab community particularly in the past 2 years.

Other experts also say that 'church people are more understanding and

tolerant than secular people. This is most apparent in the issue of Islamic veil, assome secular people encouraged the passing of a law that bans such a veil inFrench schools, while the Christian community has lately denounced suchsituation. www.islamonline.net

The big problem is that it is not a religious state and French law now dictates theno religious symbols can we used or worn in public places such as schools, thisincludes religious practices such as the headscarf.

Many Muslims in France feel persecuted that they cannot wear the headscarf

in public places like schools as this is a major part of Islam, many parents havehad to take their children out of school and educate them at home or pay toput them in private Islamic schools just so the girls have the right to coverthemselves as the holy Quran says they should.

We can take a look at this short video which highlights how the headscarf banin particular has effected muslims in France.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQtTBhbzG8g&feature=related


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UK Islamaphobia has been present in western culture for many

centuries. It has taken different forms, however, at different timesand in different contexts. The current context in Britain includes theinternational situation, concerns about asylum and refugees, andwidespread scepticism in relation to all religious beliefs.

Life for Britain's 1.6 million Muslims has never been easy. For decadesthey have struggled in the face of discrimination. But since 11September 2001, things have become even worse.

There has been an upsurge in attacks on Muslims and their places ofworship. The police have been ineffective in preventing suchassaults. They seem more concerned with harassing young Muslimsunder new stop-and-search powers granted by the Terrorism Act.There has been little evidence that such heavy-handed tacticsachieve anything other than alienating the Muslim community.

Akbar S. Ahmed, (2003), Islam under siege, polity Press in association with Blackwellpublishing LTD.


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The Bosnian Genocide; anything todo with Islamaphobia?

Bosnia has a long history but to stay on track I'm starting in 1980. in1980 the population of Bosnia consisted of 1.3m Bosnian Serbs (Orthodox Catholic

Christians), over 1m Bosniaks (Sunni Muslim), and 0.7m Bosnian Croats (Roman CatholicChristians), all with strong historical and local claims to a homeland there.

1987 Slobodan Milosevic became Serbia's leader (and thus effectively Yugoslavia's aswell) and he encouraged Serb nationalism

All of the countries in Yugoslavia where given independence as well as Bosnia butBosnian Serbs were not happy

Bosnian Serb army got control of nearly three quarters of Bosnia Cities where used by the UN as safe haven for the Muslims but they all got taken over

by the Serbs and where ethnically cleansed except for Sarajevo

Srebrenica was a UN safe area but Serb troops destroyed all the soldiers trying toprotect the town and when they reached Srebrenica began killing thousands of Muslimcivilian

Food supplies and water began to dwindle, buildings were damaged, people wereinjured.

All of the Muslims wanted to get out of there and they were told that all women andchildren would be allowed to leave but men would have to be screened 1st then senton if they were not war criminals

As the women and children left on tanks and buses the men where lined up and shotand that is the mass graves you see on the next slide


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Bosnian genocide in pictures

Bodies ofvictims being found who

have been lined up and killed with

the intention of ethniccleansing.


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The Bosnian Genocide; anything to do withIslamaphobia?

What happened in the Bosnian genocide was eerily similar to whathappened to the Jews in the Nazi concentration camps

The Bosnian genocide has elements of Islamaphobia, with the Muslimpeople facing death because of an unreasonable hatred againstthem

There are many accounts of women and young girls who were

abused sexually, tortured and forced to drink alcohol in order toentertain islamaphobic soldiers

When you look in depth at specific cases it is easy to see that thesesoldiers where islamaphobic and i do think the genocide did happenbecause of hatred to the Muslim people

However, I also think the hatred for the Muslim people was becauseof geography too, a lot of the conflict was territorial and aboutpower

If we go back to the definition of Islamaphobia it says it is a hatredof Muslims and any act of discrimination against Muslims

The genocide definitely fits that definition


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Why does Islamaphobia exist in

Europe? Conflict between religions has always been a part of world

history but today it seems that it is Islam that is getting pickedon

Islam has never really been a part of European society until now

so for many people it is new religion that they dont understand Stereotypes are often made about Muslim women been

oppressed and depressed and men been terrorists

The terrorist connotation with Islam definitely comes from 9/11and i think many people who have never experienced Islam

are scared and threatened by it Slowly Muslim communities are becoming more defined inEurope and the more Islam spreads the more people willhopefully understand it and be tolerant and respectful ofdifferent religions


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USA case study

Since 9/11 Muslims in America havefelt islamaphobia on the increase

A lot of people in the US have a lowtolerance of Muslims especially since

9/11

Its a shame that the good Muslimpeople have to be punished for asmall percentage who are extremists

This low tolerance and racistassumptions can lead to people

turning to extremism

Here is a video showing how

Americans react to Muslims

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX5oxxv9Q1E&feature=related


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USA Here is a survey on Islam In the USA published in the Guardian

58% of those interviewed now believe that Islam has moreviolent followers than any other religion

Since January 2002 the proportion of those who believe

mainstream Islam promotes violence against non-believershas risen from 14% to 32%

nearly half of Americans, 46%, said they held unfavourableattitudes towards Islam

It also found that the demonization of Islam by politicians andthe media during the past four years had led to an erosion oftolerance


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India; different religions living side by sidein peace?

Islam came to India in the early 7thcentury with the advent of Arab traders,it started to become a major religionduring the Muslim conquest in the Indiansubcontinent.

Islam's spread in India mostly took placeunder the Delhi Sultanate (12061526)and the mughal empire, greatly aided by

the mystic Sufi tradition. During the 14-17th centuries, North India

was under Muslim rule,


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India; different religions livingside by side in peace?

Through history there has been conflicts in India because it isvery religiously diverse

There are Muslims, Hindu's, Sikh's and Christians living together

Hindus account for 80% of the population

The 2nd largest religion is Islam with around 13%

In 2002 there where riots where Hindu's went on killing spreesand attacked the Muslim villages

Many Muslims argue that there is Islamaphobia in India todaybecause there is a hatred towards them from the Hindu

community in particular


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Documents

Islamophobia in a Global Context