International Initiative to Combat Islamophobia and Promotion of Hate
The third recommendation is aimed at the international community. In addition to the political climates in Muslim nations, part of the increased attention on blasphemy and apostasy among the Muslim masses can be linked to the global attacks on Muslims and Islam, and the symbols associated with these.[867] Arguably, the increased sensibilities among Muslims are due to the perceptions of siege and attack many Muslims feel today.
Globalization and the reach of international media have made the world a much smaller place. Many Muslims believe that promoting hatred and scorn for Islam and its sacred symbols has become one of the few socially and legally acceptable modern prejudices on a global level. Indeed, this new growth industry of Islamophobia is the new anti- Semitism.[868] Today, numerous studies have documented the rise in Islamophobia around the globe, including one by the British Runnymede Trust in 1997 and a more recent study by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia released in 2002.[869] Moreover, Islamophobia was recognized as a form of intolerance alongside xenophobia and anti-Semitism at the ‘Stockholm International Forum on Combating Intolerance’.[870] Indeed, even the University of California Berkeley School of Race and Gender’s Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project recently launched the Islamophobia Studies Journal to focus on emerging research on and analysis about the nature of Islamophobia and its impact on culture, politics, media, and the lives and experiences of Muslim people.[871]The frustration felt by many in the Muslim world was summarized by Malaysia’s foreign minister Anifah Aman, who told the General Assembly that the creators of the anti-Islam film, Innocence of Muslims,[872] and those behind the publication of lewd caricatures of the Prophet by French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo had shown ‘blatant malicious intent’ toward Muslims.[873] ‘When we discriminate against gender, it is called sexism. When African Americans are criticized and vilified, it is called racism.
When the same is done to the Jews, people call it Anti-Semitism. But why is it when Muslims are stigmatized and defamed, it is defended as “freedom of expression”?’ Aman rhetorically asked the General Assembly.[874]The calls to punish blasphemy and apostasy are partly rooted in this belief that Muslim sacred symbols are being attacked and violated. Muslim masses have directed their energy at both real and perceived threats to their sensibilities. Indeed, this reactionary response is bound to grow and entrench itself unless the discourse is changed. The seriousness with which the Muslim world treats this issue is evident from the long campaign by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)[875] in favour of an international defamation of religion/incitement of hate law.[876]
Indeed, what is and is not tolerable in terms of restrictions on free speech will vary from state to state, even between those with democratic outlooks. Discussions about setting the limits must be open to the community of nations and must allow all stakeholders to have an equal say. Rather than hysterically dismissing the OIC calls as simply leading us down the slippery slope of banning any critical discussion of religion, it would serve us well to engage with the OIC and its supporters in addressing their valid complaints about Islamophobia[877] and then move from the points of agreement to areas of disagreement and work towards developing a new international consensus.
IV.
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