The world noticed International Day to Combat Islamophobia on Wednesday, with the United Nations calling for “concrete action in the face of rising hatred, discrimination and violence against Muslims.”
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres affirmed that the transfer is “a call for action to stamp out anti-Muslim hatred.”
“Discrimination diminishes us all. We must stand up against it,” he wrote on Twitter. “Today & every day, we must counter the forces of division by reaffirming our common humanity.”
U.N. General Assembly President Csaba Korosi mentioned: “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” and urged international locations to uphold the liberty of faith and take motion in opposition to the hatred.
“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,” mentioned Korosi.
The U.N. in its message mentioned all international locations “must confront bigotry wherever and whenever it rears its ugly head,” together with tackling on-line hate speech, including that it’s working with governments, regulators, media and expertise firms “to set up guardrails and enforce them.”
The United Nations General Assembly acknowledged March 15 because the International Day to Combat Islamophobia final 12 months, after it adopted a unanimous decision submitted by Pakistan on behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
To mark this 12 months’s occasion, Istanbul-based Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA) held it is 4th International Conference on Islamophobia between March 11-13.
Titled “Examining the Cultural and Geopolitical Dimensions of Islamophobia in Muslim-majority Countries,” the convention introduced collectively 51 audio system from 12 international locations.
Experts on the convention mentioned accepting plurality, holding dialogue and dealing collectively are vital parts within the struggle in opposition to Islamophobia.
“We have to accept the diversity of our nations, the plurality of the nationalities, the colors, the ethnic groups, political orientations and intellectual orientations … We have to admit and accept them,” Muhammad Muzaffari, from the University of Religions and Denominations in Iran, advised the convention.
Muzaffari careworn that Muslim societies should “start constructive dialogue not only with our brothers but also with seculars.”
“Because if we want to manage our society … we want to open a new horizon for our future, we have to do it through constructive dialogue,” he mentioned, calling Islamophobia in Muslim-majority nations a “challenging task.”
‘Need for political activism’
Calling for a deeper understanding of Muslim issues, Asim Qureshi, analysis director on the U.Ok.-based CAGE Advocacy Group, mentioned “we are not uncritically regurgitating narratives that are in the longer term unhealthy for us … because it is very easy to reach for easy answers.”
Enes Bayraklı, an affiliate professor at Turkish-German University and co-editor of the annual European Islamophobia Report, known as for “political activism” in combating Islamophobia.
Lauding the U.N.’s declaration of March 15 because the Day to Combat Islamophobia as an “important turning important and first step,” Bayraklı mentioned whereas there was “enough literature” obtainable on Islamophobia, “what we have to do now is establish a nongovernmental organization.”
The principal job of this NGO, he mentioned, “would be to fight Islamophobia,” stressing the each day assortment of information on anti-Muslim hate crimes.
Bayraklı additionally known as for steps to declare an “Islamophobic country, politician, movie or novel of the year.”
“So that we put pressure … so that there is a price, for being Islamophobic, to pay … at least politically,” he mentioned.
The Turkish educational additionally urged the necessity for advocacy work and constructing alliances whereas additionally difficult Islamophobic incidents in courts, which “needs lots of funding.”
Bayraklı mentioned there was a necessity for funding educational analysis on Islamophobia in any respect ranges.
Fahad Qureshi from the U.Ok.-based University of Salford emphasised the necessity for collaboration amongst teachers and teams within the struggle in opposition to Islamophobia.
“Coming together, working together, learning from each other … as how Islamophobia is operating in different countries,” Qureshi mentioned, calling the convention “very important” to fight Islamophobia, which is a world phenomenon however “has local flavors.”
Call for ‘safer’ tech areas
Uveys Han, a analysis fellow at CIGA, mentioned there was a “need for more precision about trying to make sure that states don’t hide behind this kind of language or order to justify the Islamophobic actions.”
Han additionally careworn specializing in a long-term technique impacting the psychological parts of colonialism by way of social media, particularly by way of creating protected areas for Muslims to have extra open conversations
While a lot of the social media messaging “is managed,” Han mentioned it was “no longer a safe space for our youth and ourselves … There is false information.”
“We need to start to look at technological interventions which we are so embedded in and roll out solutions that will allow for, especially the next generation, to be less and less prone to interacting with tech spaces where Islamophobia is normalized,” he mentioned, urgent on the “social and spiritual well-being of Muslims” to fight Islamophobia.
Professor Sami al-Arian, the director of CIGA, mentioned 4 areas “resulting” in islamophobia in Muslim-majority nations, together with “authoritarian regimes, which use Islam for their own purposes; the role of foreigners or colonialists to serve colonial economic or geopolitical interests; secular elites at the intellectual and cultural levels and established structures within Muslim societies such as the court system, media, academia, political class and bureaucracy.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com
