In a world of rising Islamophobia, some countries seek refuge in denial

In recent history, divisive rhetoric and misrepresentation have been stigmatising Muslim communities worldwide since the dawn of the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent "War on Terror" – the global military campaign initiated by the United States. In the virtual space, online hate speech fueled real-life violence against Muslims across the world.

From the genocide against the Rohingya people in Myanmar, Uyghur concentration camps in China, mob-lynching and anti-Muslim policies in India to the hijab ban in France - repressions and targeted attacks have been on rise against the Muslims across the world. 

Fast forward to 2023. After the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, the world witnessed a substantial rise in Islamophobic comments and sentiments – all the while when it is Israel that continues to commit arguably the worst genocide in the 21st century. 

In light of the recent surge in Islamophobia, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution on 15 March 2024, marking the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, to push back against the recent uptick of Islamophobia. 

This year's International Day to Combat Islamophobia – first observed in 2022 – calls for strengthened international efforts to foster a global dialogue on the promotion of a culture of tolerance and peace at all levels, based on respect for human rights and the diversity of religions and beliefs. 

The resolution, initiated by Pakistan on behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as a follow-up to General Assembly Resolution 76/254, emphasises the need for concerted international action to combat violence against Muslims. 

What do the votes say? 

The newly adopted resolution passed with a vote of 115 in favour, with no opposing votes. 

Bangladesh voted in favour.

In a very odd twist, rivals like the United States, Russia and China have finally agreed on something and voted in favour. However, 44 member states abstained, including India, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. 

Herein lies the dichotomy - these are some of the countries where Islamophobia has already been on the rise. 

Let's take Western European countries for instance.  

The rise of far-right groups has contributed greatly to the escalation of anti-Muslim rhetoric. Islamophobia in Europe is often left unaddressed or its seriousness minimised. Often, when politicians talk about combating Islamophobia, they end up grouping it under an agenda to counter the wider far-right narratives; and not as a separate racial and religious issue. 

Despite having a strong Muslim community, the UK has seen a massive 335% increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes, with over 2,000 cases since 7 October. According to Tell Mama – a national project which records and measures anti-Muslim incidents in the United Kingdom – the types of cases were abusive behaviour, threats, assaults, acts of vandalism, discrimination and acts of hate speech – and women were the main target in 65% of the cases. 

Additionally, since Israel's war on Gaza began in October, there have been growing incidents in the UK where people have had their employment terminated for showing their support for a 'Free Palestine' – and many are Muslims. 

In France, the war on veils has been on for years now, and it forces Muslim women who wear niqabs to migrate from the country. In 2021, presidential candidate Eric Zemmour said, "Islam has no place in France," which, regrettably made Marine Le Pen, the vicious rightwing leader, sound soft. 

And anti-Muslim sentiment has been on the rise since 7 October. For instance, a prominent lawyer and politician named Arno Klarsfeld claimed, "Many Muslims work on construction sites. They have access to explosives and can potentially access firearms. If there were an order to kill Jews, there could be an attack every day." 

In this French climate, it is disheartening to see the French representative to the UNGA abstain from voting in favour of the anti-Islamophia resolution and say, "Islamophobia has no agreed definition in international law. France supports the protection of all religions and beliefs. The creation of an international day does not respond to concerns about countering all forms of discrimination."

This line of argument – evasive at best – sounds awfully similar to the far-right's slogan after the George Floyd murder in Minnesota, US in 2020: 'All lives matter' to counter 'Black lives matter' and dismiss police brutality and racism in the US.  

Germany abstained, where in recent months, attacks on Muslims have reached new heights. Studies have found that Muslims in Germany encounter Islamophobic discrimination in their everyday lives, for example, in education, in the labour market, while looking for accommodation, in the media, and much more. 

One in two people in Germany agrees with anti-Muslim statements, according to a Deutsche Welle report. And since the start of the latest "Gaza War," 53 cases of anti-Muslim threats, violence and discrimination in recent weeks, including 10 attacks on mosques, have been documented. 

Even one Muslim lawmaker, Jian Omar, has been attacked three times by far-right radicals, according to Reuters.   

Lest we forget, India, which also abstained. India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj voiced condemnation of all acts and said "While there was a global rise in sectarian violence, anti-Semitism, Christianophobia, and Islamophobia, anti-Hindu, anti-Buddhist, and anti-Sikh examples abound as well.  

It was time to acknowledge the abundance of phobias, rather than just one form; the resolution elevating one phobia to an international day may downplay the seriousness of phobias towards all other religions." 

The evasive language was at an all-time high akin to anti-Muslim attacks on its own Muslim population across the country. One example is Time Magazine's August 2023 story "How India's Bulldozers Became a Vehicle of Injustice" which targets India's Muslims. Another is India's Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which will come into effect on the eve of elections, which discriminates against Muslims. Another more recent and more granular example is how foreign Muslim students at Gujarat University in western India were attacked for offering Ramadan prayers on Saturday, according to BBC. 

India has become a major hub of Islamophobia, and the country is now exporting its Islamophobia abroad via its NRI community, according to a Vice documentary.  called "A new brand of Hindu extremism is going global." 

Moreover, there has been a growing pro-Israel sentiment and anti-Palestine misinformation in India. Amid the Israel-Gaza war, Indian right-wing accounts are among the leading spreaders of anti-Palestinian fake news. 

According to a survey by the Islamic Council of Victoria in Australia, India is the source of most Islamophobic tweets. 

Also, Islamophobic conspiracy theories have been spreading like wildfire on social media in India. Such theories included "land jihad," which claims Muslims are occupying public lands by erecting religious structures or holding prayers; "halal jihad," which sees Islamic practices as the economic exclusion of non-Muslim traders; and "population jihad," which claims Muslims reproduce to eventually outnumber and convert Hindu women to Islam.

Since 7 October, far-right Indian groups have been using Israel's assault on Gaza and the Hamas attack on  Israel as weapons to incite hatred and fear against Indian Muslims. According to the IHL study, from 7 October 7 to 31 December 2023, one in five hate speech incidents mentioned Israel's war; this trend peaked in November.

And so, when India claims that elevating one phobia to an international day may downplay the seriousness of phobias towards all other religions, perhaps it is only to mask its internal surge of Islamophobia. 

The UN resolution is intended not to divide but to unite. Islamophobia is a scourge plaguing different regions, a rising threat taking many forms, including racism, xenophobia and violence. Even countries such as the US who voted in favour of the resolution, are also grappling with serious levels of Islamophobia, especially since October 7. 

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim civil rights group, said it had received 2,171 complaints of Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias from October 7 to December 21, a 172 percent increase since the previous year. In November, three men were shot in Vermont, and around the same period, Stuart Seldowitz, a former adviser to President Barak Obama, was captured on video taunting and threatening a fast food vendor in Manhattan with Islamophobic abuse.

From national policies, textbooks and social media, the rise of Islamophobia often receives little attention, and the Muslims who are targeted generally do not receive protection or empathy. Thus, this UN resolution calls attention to a grave concern, which tends to fall under the radar.