On Monday, citing a shoddy and dubious poll commissioned by notorious anti-Muslim conspiracist Frank Gaffney, real estate mogul and presidential candidate Donald Trump made an appalling call to halt all Muslim immigration into the U.S.
READ: The Counter-Jihad Movement: Anti-Muslim hatred from the margins to the mainstream
The recent Trump incident is just one recent example of how extreme anti-Muslim sentiment continues to be on full display in the mainstream. Trump’s comments come on the heels of other anti-Muslim rhetoric pushed by other Republican presidential candidates like Ted Cruz and Ben Carson, as well as all-too-prevalent discriminatory rhetoric and violence that the American Muslim community faces on a daily basis.
Thus, amid this climate of manufactured fear and bigotry, there doesn’t seem a more appropriate time for a new report shining a light on the vast organized and interconnected movement responsible for driving this anti-Muslim rhetoric seen in North America and across Europe.
Today, December 9, the UK-based HOPE not hate — in collaboration with the Center for New Community — released a new report titled The Counter-Jihad Movement: Anti-Muslim hatred from the margins to the mainstream. The publication profiles and charts the most notorious anti-Muslim groups and individuals in operation today. It lists the most prominent players — which include bloggers, funders, street activists, hooligans, and academics — and their connections and influence in regard to elected officials and the media. It also provides insightful commentary on how these problematic figures continue push their own agenda into the mainstream.
The HOPE not hate report on the Counter-Jihad Movement features information on anti-Muslim groups in 22 countries, including the United States.
The 180-page report examines 920 organizations and individuals in 22 countries, making it the most comprehensive report of its kind. Gaffney and his organization the Center for Security Policy are just some of the key players listed in the report.
The report comes in wake of the two recent horrific terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California. However, as HOPE not hate’s Chief Executive Nick Lowles writes, “[I]t is precisely because of the threat posed by the Islamic State, and other Islamist extremist organisations, that we need the report. As we explain in this report, the Counter-Jihad movement feeds the beast.”
It is our hope this report will serve as a resource to highlight the inner-workings and structure of the international organized anti-Muslim movement. Read CNC’s contribution to the report.
And, by exposing the architects of organized contemporary organized racism, we can create space for communities — especially those most affected by hatred and discrimination — to amplify their own narratives and work toward a more just society.