Fighting Islamophobia: The New Human Rights Battle of 2017

Description

Immediately upon winning the American election, President-elect Trump reiterated intention to aggressively ban all Muslims entering the United States, and has even suggested registering all Muslims in the country. The election has also sparked a wave of xenophobic violence in American society against minorities of all kinds, including Muslims, who have been the target of attacks by white supremacist groups. Meanwhile, Al Qaeda and Daesh have celebrated the new Trump presidency, declaring it a victory in their ideological battle.

As this state-led targeting of Muslims and other minority groups becomes a reality, human rights defenders are mobilizing to defend constitutional protections for these vulnerable populations. But what does this new era of Islamophobia mean for the future of democracy and human rights? What are the real concerns of Muslims living in the United States? What can defenders of human rights actually do? And how susceptible is Canada to the spread of these ideas?

To answer these pressing questions, the Islam and Global Affairs Initiative at the Munk School is pleased to host a panel discussion with leading scholars at the University of Toronto and from the legal community working on these critical issues.

Mohammad Fadel is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, at the University of Toronto. He specializes in Islamic law, International human rights law, and the compatibility of Islam and liberal democracy.

Naseem Mithoowani is a prominent Canadian lawyer, who served as co-counsel for Zunera Ishaq, a Muslim woman who challenged the legality of a policy requiring her to remove her facial covering at a citizenship oath ceremony. Naseem has lectured at the University of Toronto regarding the human rights of women and minorities, and helped develop a specialized seminar empowering Muslim women to identify, and report hate crimes.

Chris Cochrane is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto, Scarborough. He works on anti-immigration sentiment and left and right wing political parties in Canada and other democracies, with a special focus on xenophobic and ethno-nationalist trends North America and Europe.

Shafique Virani is Distinguished Professor of Islamic Studies and founding Director of the Centre for South Asian Civilizations at the University of Toronto. He recently delivered a TEDx Talk on Islamophobia entitled “The Clash of Ignorance” His research focuses on Islamic history, philosophy, Sufism, Shi‘ism, Bhakti and Islamic literatures in Arabic, Persian and South Asian languages

Aisha Ahmad is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto, Scarborough. She specializes in International Security, with expertise in the rise of militant jihadist groups in civil wars, as well as how these groups actively stoke Islamophobia to undermine and de-legitimize democracy.

This event will also be available via live webcast and can be viewed at the following link on November 25 starting at 5:30 PM EST:
https://hosting2.desire2learncapture.com/MUNK/1/live/391.aspx
No registration required for the webcast.