Exporting Anti-Muslim Bigotry: A Global Crisis, According to Researcher

Professor Khaled Beydoun, who resides in the United States, told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Tuesday that the United States plays a role in “exporting” hatred against Muslims in Asia and Europe, amid the escalation of the issue in those regions.

“The United States has exported Islamophobia to Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and beyond in a devastating way,” Beydoun said.

The professor at Wayne State University Law School said that the US administration has established a new framework for Islamic identity with the “war on terror” rhetoric after the September 11 attacks, as the International Day for the Elimination of Islamophobia on March 15th. Approaching.

“The more Muslims look like Muslims, the more they are suspected of involvement in terrorism,” he said.

“The United States introduced a new counterterrorism language. In addition, there was a new legal and police structure that kind of began to be engineered by the United States, and governments around the world adopted it. And it was precisely governments that had a vested interest in persecuting Muslims that adopted this American language. new, and adopted this new American police model to oppress its Muslim population.”

Noting that the US “war on terror” campaign is effective in a wide area from Asia to Europe, Beydoun noted, “Prior to 9/11, Uyghurs living in China were not defined as terrorists, extremists, or as belonging to transnational terrorist networks.”

The Uyghurs are often described as “separatists, vandals, rogues and criminals,” but this new American language of terror has provided the Chinese government with unlimited power to neutralize the Uyghurs as if they were terrorists. The same is true of India, Myanmar, Sweden, France, the UK and the whole world, he said.

5 countries with the most Islamophobia: China, India, France, the United States, Myanmar

Citing his studies, Beydoun also said, “First of all, I can say that China is the worst because China is a totalitarian government that practices the most heinous forms of Islamophobia, such as concentration camps and ethnic cleansing. Focusing on Islam, it is a kind of ethnic cleansing aimed at destroying a people.” Uyghurs through genocide.”

Noting that India ranks second in anti-Muslim sentiment, Beydoun said, “In India, which has the second largest Muslim population in the world, the (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi regime and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) use Hindu supremacy as a tool to destroy Muslims.” And they do it in absolutely horrific ways, using the citizenship law (which excludes Muslims), or banning headscarves in the states, or usurping the citizenship of Muslims.”

Putting France in third place, Beydoun noted, “I would say France is number three because France has kind of set a model for the Western model of how Muslims can be oppressed and marginalized through law. And we see this most striking in policies like the headscarf ban.” France objects. on Muslims’ freedom of religion and weaken the expanded policies including the veil.”

The professor also said that after France, the country where anti-Muslim sentiment is felt is the United States

“The United States is the catalyst for the ‘Global War on Terror’ that spreads and globalizes Islamophobia with anti-Muslim language, perhaps more powerful than any other government in the world. Because the United States is a superpower, right? The most powerful country and government in the world, it claims to be a democracy. Islamophobia spreads to Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and beyond in a devastating way.

Referring to the situation of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, Beydoun said: “We cannot ignore what is happening in Myanmar. Tens of thousands of Rohingya have been killed and hundreds of thousands of them have been displaced due to ethnic cleansing in the country. All Muslim villages, cities and communities have been destroyed by a hardline Buddhist government.” .

Media as an ‘Enabler of Islamophobia’

Speaking about the role of law and media in the rise of anti-Muslim sentiments in recent years, Beydoun said, “As a law professor, I note that the law is always the most effective way to advance and expand Islamophobia. Like the hijab law in France, and the nationality law in India.

“Secondly, the media. The media perpetuates Islamophobia by spreading negative thoughts, negative stories, and negative stereotypes,” he said, adding that the media is an enabler of Islamophobia.

Noting that Muslims who are discriminated against, marginalized, or killed because of anti-Muslim laws are not adequately covered in the media, Beydoun said: “In my first book I wrote that Muslims deserve publication only when they are evil, not when they are victims. After all, There is a Muslim terrorist that every media organization talks about. Right? Few media outlets talk about it when Muslims are victims of horrific state-sponsored terrorism in China.”

Islamophobia is a mixture of fear and hate

Emphasizing that “Islamophobia” is deliberately produced by politicians in societies, Beydoun continued, “Islamophobia is a mixture of fear and hatred. Politicians want to advance their political, economic and geopolitical interests by using Islamophobia as a tool. Governments know what they are doing. Politicians know what they are doing when “They use Islamophobia as a weapon to support them. For example, former US President Donald Trump declared Islamophobia a weapon. He knew that if he used it as a campaign tactic, he would mobilize his base and get more support for his campaign.”

Baydoun also said that Western society is afraid of Islam, which does not know its essence, and added, “They hate Islam because they do not know anything about it. There are ideas that Islam is linked to terrorism, and Muslims want that.” Conquering and changing European culture, that Muslims oppress women, and that Muslims have no desire to integrate into the society they enter. I think this is why ordinary citizens, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and other countries, hate and fear Muslims they know so little about.”