INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN MUSLIM. UNDERSTANDING ANTI-MUSLIM HATE

In an age of far-right politics and genocide, anti-Muslim hate appears once again as the era-defining phenomenon. Anti-Muslim hate has resulted in genocidal violence against Muslims from Srebrenica and Myanmar to Xinjiang and Gaza and normalized systems of oppression and surveillance far beyond. The speakers on this panel—writers, activists and peers from the community—will help us understand what is anti-Muslim hatred.

Why has anti-Muslim racism been so essential and constitutive of what we call “Western civilization”? Why is the trope of a “Muslim threat” a coalescing sentiment for liberals, conservatives and fascists alike, used to justify genocide, military domination, and tight(er) immigration controls, and police violence? We also interrogate how women’s and LGBTQ+ issues are weaponized to justify oppression and pinkwash wars and genocides. And we explore how feminists, queers and leftists of all stripes and intensities can mobilize in the fight against anti-Muslim racism.

Moderator: Fouad Gehad Marei is a political scientist and anthropologist. He is co-editor of “Religion That Matters” and the editor of the forthcoming book, “Race and Islam.”