February was another eventful month for the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC).\u00a0 Most of our time was consumed with addressing international issues that have garnered little in the way of media attention or have fallen off the mainstream radar.<\/p>\n
February 14 marked the seventh anniversary of the Bahrain uprisings, part of the ill fated Arab Spring revolts that convulsed the region in 2010-11. Despite an international commission of inquiry and promises of reform the government of Bahrain has slid back on human rights. We used the anniversary to write to the UN Secretary General<\/a> reminding him of the duty of the international community to apply pressure on the government of Bahrain to honour its commitments and uphold domestic and international human rights law.<\/p>\n The situation surrounding the illegally detained leader of the Nigeria\u2019s Islamic Movement , Sheikh Ibrahim el-Zakzaky, continued to exercise human rights activists in and outside the country. With Sheikh Zakzaky\u2019s already parlous health deteriorating, IHRC highlighted the many marches taking place to demand his release.\u00a0 Shaykh Zakzaky and his wife Zeenah have been held by state security services since December 2015 following their arrest during a savage military assault against the movement. In the course of one of these peaceful protests, another leading member of the Islamic Movement, Sheikh Qaseem Umar, was shot dead by Nigerian security forces leading IHRC to issue a condemnation<\/a>.<\/p>\n In response to a heightened era of American exceptionalism under an overtly chauvinistic President and administration, IHRC convened a conference<\/a> on 10 February, to unmask the more systemic problems that undergird US exceptionalism. This conference focussed on the Americanisation of human rights, and the praxis of human rights, arguing that they have become a tool of US-led foreign policy rather than a transformative discourse that seeks to liberate individuals, groups and indeed large sections of society who are oppressed by unjust systems.<\/p>\n At home, the conviction of Darren Osborne for the murder of a Muslim and the attempted murder of others last summer, was an opportunity for IHRC to highlight the growing relationship between hard-line Zionists and the far right<\/a>. In the course of his trial it emerged that although Osborne had been brainwashed and radicalised into hating Muslims by far right social media spewed out by the likes of Tommy Robinson and Jayda Fransen, the origins of that hate speech can be found in the febrile atmosphere created at the time by the demonisation of Muslims by pro-Israel activists.<\/p>\n During the trial the court heard how the annual Palestinian al-Quds Day March was the killer’s original target but after he found surrounding roads closed he started searching for mosques in London.<\/p>\n The choice of the al-Quds protest was not coincidental. For weeks leading up to the march which has taken place peacefully every year for 30 years without a single arrest being made, the Zionist press and Zionist activists had engaged in a campaign to vilify the protest.<\/p>\n Also this month we were proud to host an author evening with Muhammad Mojlum Khan<\/a>. His latest work, Great Muslims of the West, is a unique study. Through the lives of more than 50 great Western Muslims, this book reveals a remarkably rich and diverse cultural history spanning more than 1400 years. Challenging Eurocentric or essentialist views on Western history, culture and civilisation, this book argues that Islam \u2013 like Christianity \u2013 has always been a Western religion and culture. Indeed, the lives and contributions of the extraordinary and influential Western Muslims covered in this book shows that Islam is truly a global faith and culture, transcending race, colour, language and geographical boundaries.<\/p>\n IHRC is continuing its work with Decoloniality International Network (DIN),\u00a0 hosting the one-day training course \u2018Decolonising The Mind\u2019 delivered by Sandew Hira<\/a>. The course explores the concepts and tools from the theoretical framework, Decolonising The Mind. Two narratives of liberation have dominated knowledge, culture and activism for the past 150 years: Liberalism and Marxism. They are rooted in the European Enlightenment. Decolonial thinking is a collection of contributions to a third narrative of liberation with different labels (postcolonialism, orientalism, subaltern studies, Islamic liberation theology). DTM aims to develop a coherent theoretical framework as an alternative to Liberalism and Marxism.<\/p>\n Upcoming events:<\/p>\n 3 March 2018: Author Evening: ‘Whites, Jews, and Us: Toward a Politics of Revolutionary Love’ with Houria Bouteldja – http:\/\/ihrc.org.uk\/events\/12074-author-evening-whites-jews-and-us-toward-a-politics-of-revolutionary-love-with-houria-bouteldja<\/a><\/p>\n 29 March 2018: Author Evening: ‘Europe\u2019s Fault Lines Racism and the Rise of the Right’ with Liz Fekete – http:\/\/www.ihrc.org.uk\/events\/12057-author-evening-europes-fault-lines-racism-and-the-rise-of-the-right-with-liz-fekete<\/a><\/p>\n Watch IHRC events live online at IHRC.TV and on Facebook Live<\/p>\n Don\u2019t forget to like us on Facebook<\/a>, follow us on Twitter<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>. You can also subscribe to our mailing list on Islamophobia<\/a> to receive curated newsletters with a variety of content<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" February was another eventful month for the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC).\u00a0 Most of our time was consumed with addressing international issues that have garnered little in the way of media attention or have fallen off the mainstream radar. February 14 marked the seventh anniversary of the Bahrain uprisings, part of the ill fated Arab … Continue reading IHRC February report<\/span>