The Report includes six chapters that have identified contemporary manifestations of Islamophobia warning against the continuation of heavily publicized political campaigns against Muslims in some parts of the West. The Report also signals, as a positive step towards combating the malaise of Islamophobia, the consensus reached through adoption of resolution16/18 at the 16th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva in March this year. In his foreword to the Report, the Secretary General Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu has welcomed the consensus as “a new approach” that must be construed as “a triumph of multilateralism”. The report highlights the concern with regard to the political campaigns based on ideologies of some European right-winged parties promoting animosity against Islam gradually moving to the United States. It asserts that discrimination against Muslims could not be considered individual and spontaneous acts any more but increasingly appears to be a calculated phenomenon of hostility. Reflected in the events like desecration of its sacred symbols, prejudice towards attire perceived as Islamic and particularly the burning of the Holy Qur’an, the report contends that Islamophobia has acquired a new expansive element that should figure in strategic calculations of the international community in the interest of interfaith harmony essential to global peace security and stability. The Report ends with a set of recommendations, outlining a strategy to combat Islamophobia and growing intolerance and prejudice against Muslims through concerted international action, which merits particular attention. An annex to the report that catalogues selected incidents of Islamophobia monitored by the Observatory during the reporting period, is noteworthy.
© Organization of Islamic Cooperation http://www.oic-oci.org/home.asp
FOURTH OIC ANNUAL REPORT ON ISLAMOPHOBIA RELEASED
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ronin (not verified)
Fri, 07/08/2011 - 09:28
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islamophobia
If there is no political willingness to collect data on anti-semitism, there is even less for collection of data on islamophobia. While anti-semitism should not be diminished, the recent rise of islamophobia has been truly shocking in the EU and North America. Yet, there is no systematic attempt to understand and track recent problems. In Canada, anti-semetic speakers have been banned while Geert Wilders was allowed to speak in Toronto. Canada must reject a double standard when it comes to racism and the promotion of intolerance.