At a protest by varied citizens under the banner of Sanjha Sanskriti Manch, Varanasi, a silent hunger strike was observed on Saturday March 7, protesting the US-Israel’s unprovoked war on Iran.

At the protest a strong statement was issued. This may be read here:

“We strongly condemn the military action carried out by the United States and Israel against Iran during the holy month of Ramadan and pay tribute to all those who have lost their lives. The attack, carried out deceitfully in the midst of peace negotiations mediated by Oman, without any formal declaration of war, resulted in the killing of Iran’s national and religious leaders and strikes on a school and Gandhi Hospital. These actions led to the deaths of more than one hundred and fifty young girls. We consider this a grave violation of human rights. This attack by Trump and Israel has created a serious threat to international peace and stability.

“Similarly, unilateral military intervention and political pressure on Venezuela are contrary to the sovereignty, independence, and the fundamental spirit of the United Nations Charter.

“At the same time, open threats such as occupying Greenland, taking complete control of the Panama Canal, turning Canada into the 51st state, and transforming Gaza into an “American Riviera” reflect the undemocratic and authoritarian policies of the United States.

“The demand by U.S. President Trump that India stop importing Russian oil, the threat of tariffs in connection with trade agreements, and his repeated claim that he prevented an India-Pakistan war by threatening a 200 percent tariff are not isolated incidents but part of the same imperialist chain of actions.

“The weak stance and compromises shown by the Government of India under this pressure have caused significant damage to our independent foreign policy, energy security, economic sovereignty, and national dignity. The national freedom struggle led by India under the leadership of Gandhi and Nehru symbolized an unwavering struggle against imperialism and the ideals of unity in diversity and equal respect for all religions. Our Constitution and this tradition of thought and struggle not only freed India from the chains of colonial rule but also inspired more than fifty nations across Africa, Asia, and the world to achieve independence.

“After independence, the Constitution of India—particularly Article 51—clearly directs the state to promote international peace and security, maintain just and honourable relations among nations, and foster respect for international law. India’s foreign policy has historically remained steadfast in principles of non-interference, respect for sovereignty, and peaceful coexistence.

“More than nine million Indians live in Iran and the Middle East, and thousands of students study there. Over six thousand Indian workers are currently in Israel, many of whom were sent under agreements by the present government. Our 38 cargo ships are also stranded. The devastation caused by war will severely damage our economic condition; inflation will rise, and shortages of oil and gas have already begun.

“We strongly condemn this inhumane and undemocratic action by the United States and express our concern and sympathy for the loss of lives and destruction caused by the war.

“As citizens of the land of Mahatma Gandhi, we appeal for an immediate end to the war and for peaceful coexistence among all nations and peoples.

“We are deeply saddened by the military action of the United States and Israel. Therefore, during the holy month of Ramadan, when bloodshed is taking place, we will instead connect ourselves with the spirit of harmony during Holi, maintain love for our neighbours, and pray to God to grant wisdom to the United States and Israel.”

Several organisations under the banner of Banaras Civil Society, Sauhard Peace Centre, Sanjha Sanskriti Manch and the National Alliance for Social Justice are signatories to this.

Related:

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Iran war: from the Middle East to America, history shows you cannot assassinate your way to peace

The post Varanasi, UP: No to war, we want peace appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Since the start of 2026, harmful content targeting Muslims across social media platforms has escalated at an alarming pace. For much of January and February, Islamophobic posts maintained a steady and persistent presence, continuing the deeply hostile climate that has built since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza in October 2023.

The onset of the US-Israel war on Iran on February 28, says the study, has accelerated this trend sharply, sending Islamophobic content targeting Muslim Americans to new extremes.

Political rhetoric has compounded the crisis. Senior Trump administration officials and some members of Congress have framed the war in overtly religious terms, drawing on Christian nationalist narratives, and inflaming anti-Muslim hatred. Secretary of War (a term coined to replace the more accepted, Secretary of Defence) Pete Hegseth even described Iran as driven by “prophetic Islamic delusions.”

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), a US watchdog group, has reported receiving complaints that military commanders told service members the war with Iran was “all part of God’s divine plan” and suggested it would “cause Armageddon.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, while referring to Iran, stated that “we’re the Great Satan in their analogy and their misguided religion.” Muslim civil rights groups have condemned such language as dangerous and inflammatory. Political leaders at the highest levels framing a military campaign in language that indicts an entire faith and draws on Christian nationalist rhetoric contributes to an environment in which Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim become targets of suspicion, hostility, and violence.

On March 1, a mass shooting in Austin, Texas, further intensified the online discourse. A gunman with a reported history of mental health issues opened fire at a bar, killing three and wounding fifteen. The shooter was reportedly wearing clothing referencing Iran and Islam.

The combined effect of the US-Israel war on Iran and the Austin shooting resulted in an explosion of anti-Muslim content across social media platforms.

An Analysis of the Data

To assess the scale of Islamophobic discourse online, the Centre for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH) analysed posts on X (formerly twitter) using a comprehensive query designed to capture language associated with dehumanisation, incitement, and exclusionary rhetoric targeting Muslims.

The dataset includes original posts, quote posts, and replies containing Islamophobic content from January 1 through March 5, 2026.  The data reveals a sharp spike beginning on February 28, the day the US-Israel war on Iran began.

Between February 28 and March 5, a total of 25,348 Islamophobic posts targeting Muslims were recorded on X.

Figure 1: Volume of Islamophobic Posts on X (Original Posts, Quote Posts, and Replies), January 1 – March 5, 2026

However, the reach of these posts expands significantly once reposts are included. Reposts dramatically amplify the visibility of harmful content, allowing it to spread far beyond the original accounts that generated it.

When reposts are counted, the total mention volume of Islamophobic content rises to 279,417, representing an 11-fold amplification of the harmful original posts.

Figure 2: Volume of Islamophobic Posts on X (Including Reposts), January 1 – March 5, 2026

This amplification is illustrative of how relatively lower volumes of explicitly harmful content can reach extremely large audiences through network effects and platforms’ engagement-driven algorithms. While the volume of Islamophobic content has shown some decline from its initial peak, the underlying conditions that fuelled this surge remain firmly in place.

What are the Patterns of Harmful Content

A qualitative review of the dataset reveals several recurring patterns of harmful discourse. These are not exhaustive categorizations of the full dataset but representative samples that illustrate the nature and severity of anti-Muslim content circulating on X and other social media platforms.

One of the most deeply disturbing patterns running through the posts we reviewed is the use of dehumanizing language, referring to Muslims as “rats,” “pests,” “vermin,” and “parasites.” Such language has historically preceded and enabled the most extreme forms of violence against targeted communities.

_{Examples of posts referring to Muslims as “rats“}

The prevalence of dehumanising language targeting Muslims should be recognized as a significant indicator of escalation risk.

_{Examples of posts referring to Muslims as “vermin”}

Closely related to dehumanisation is the framing of Muslim communities as an “infestation.” Posts using this narrative portray Muslims as a spreading contagion threatening American cities and institutions.

This framing mirrors historical propaganda used against numerous minority communities, in which the targeted group is depicted as a disease or infestation that must be eradicated.

_{Examples of posts referring to Muslims as an “infestation”}

Beyond dehumanisation, we found posts that cross the line from hatred into explicit incitement to violence, including direct calls to exterminate Muslims. Some posts frame the elimination of Muslims as an act of self-defense or civilizational survival, lending a veneer of patriotic duty to the genocidal rhetoric. In the current climate, this content functions as a call to action directed at a community that is already experiencing rising rates of bias, harassment, discrimination, and hate-fuelled violence.

_{Examples of violent and eliminationist posts}

Some of the most extreme posts advocate placing Muslim Americans in internment camps. Others call for the creation of a “Muslim Exclusion Act,” proposing that Muslims be barred entirely from entering the US.

_{Examples of internment camps posts}

A large volume of posts demand the removal of all Muslims from the US. The rhetoric ranges from blanket calls to “deport all Muslims” to specific calls for stripping citizenship from Muslim Americans through mass denaturalization. This category of content is significant not only for its volume but for the way it blurs the line between extremist fantasy and policy advocacy. Many of these posts are framed as actionable demands directed at elected officials.

_{Examples of mass deportation posts}

The CSOH also found posts advocating the destruction of mosques, treating Muslim houses of worship as enemy infrastructure. These posts frame mosques as “mini military bases” and “terrorist centres.”

Mosques in the US have long been targets of arson, vandalism, threats, and shootings. The circulation of content that frames them as legitimate targets increases the risk of violence against Muslim communities and religious institutions.

_{Examples of posts calling for the destruction of mosques}

Failure to Enforce Platform Rules

As part of this analysis, we reported 30 posts featured as examples in this brief to X using the platform’s own reporting categories, including “Violent Speech” and “Hate, Abuse or Harassment.”

These posts included language describing Muslims as “rats” and “vermin,” calls for extermination, demands for internment camps, and calls to destroy mosques. Of the 30 posts reported, 11 were removed. The remaining 19 remain live on the platform as of March 9.

This enforcement gap underscores a critical disconnect between platform policies and their application, particularly when it comes to combating dehumanization and incitement targeting Muslims. The failure to act proactively and to leave up violating content even after it has been reported suggests that existing enforcement mechanisms are either inadequate or inconsistently applied.

Recommendations

The findings in this brief illustrate an environment of anti-Muslim hate and incitement that, while already volatile, has reached a critical tipping point due to the convergence of several factors. These developments underscore the need for urgent action across multiple fronts.

Platform Accountability: Social media companies must strengthen enforcement against harmful content that dehumanizes or incites violence against Muslims. Much of the content documented in this brief appears to violate existing platform policies but remains widely accessible and amplified. Platforms must ensure that enforcement mechanisms respond quickly and consistently during periods of geopolitical crisis, when harmful online content tends to surge.

Establish a Trusted Flagger Network: Platforms should establish Trusted Flagger status for Muslim civil rights organizations with a dedicated reporting channel for flagging mass incitement and threats, bypassing slow standard reporting queues that allow harmful content to spread unchecked during crisis periods.

Political Responsibility:  Public officials must exercise extreme caution in how they frame geopolitical conflicts. Language that conflates a military confrontation with a religious or civilizational struggle, or draws on Christian nationalist narratives, risks inflaming domestic hostility toward minority communities. Political leaders have a responsibility to ensure that their rhetoric does not endanger Americans by framing global conflicts in ways that stigmatize entire religious communities.

Community Protection: Civil society organizations, law enforcement agencies, and community leaders should increase monitoring of threats against Muslim communities and institutions. With the heightened risk of targeted violence, there is an urgent need for increased protection of mosques, Islamic centres, and Muslim community organizations across the country.

Stakeholder Briefings and Information Sharing: Relevant stakeholders, including elected officials, law enforcement agencies, and social media companies, should engage with researchers studying Islamophobia to better understand emerging trends in online hate and incitement. Briefings on findings such as those presented in this data brief can help facilitate accurate and timely information sharing. Such engagement can support more informed responses to online narratives and incidents that have the potential to translate into violence targeting Muslims, individuals perceived to be Muslim, and their institutions.

(This data brief represents an initial analysis of an ongoing crisis. CSOH will continue to monitor social media platforms for anti-Muslim incitement, and subsequent briefs will follow.)

Related:

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Wars Fought in The Name of Women’s Rights

Hegemony by might: Gaza, Iran and the failures of nuclear power politics

Iran war: from the Middle East to America, history shows you cannot assassinate your way to peace

The post US-Israel War on Iran sees spirals in Hate against Muslim Americans: CSOH appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Human rights—especially the liberation of women—have long been invoked as moral justification for military interventions aimed at regime change in countries deemed hostile to the West’s vision of global order. As we witness the slow demise of the liberal international global order, with the retreat of USA from multilateral internationalism and the implementation of Trump’s grand plan of a US-led imperial order where both war and peace will be orchestrated by the same actors (especially with Trump’s favourite genocide-loving buddy state, Israel), one realises some vestiges of the moral rhetoric of the dying order persist. While Trump himself appeared unsure which rationale to foreground for the unlawful war on Iran, he nevertheless echoed his predecessors—who cloaked interventions in the faux benevolence of democracy—by announcing that for Iranians, “the hour of their freedom is near”. His friend, Bibi Netanyahu, in Israel’s 2025 attack on Iran, had more clearly invoked the rights of Iranian women to justify the unjustifiable. In an interview with Iran International, he had said, “They have impoverished you, they have given you misery. They have given you death, They shoot down your women, leaving this brave, unbelievable woman, Mahsa Amini, to bleed on the sidewalk for not covering her hair”. In the brutal genocide committed by Israel on Gaza, we had seen how ‘pinkwashing’ was deployed as a justification to attack the Palestinians, which led queer Palestinians to assert that ‘there is no pride in occupation’.

The ‘Us vs Them’ rhetoric, which Netanyahu had used against Palestine, terming them as modern-day Amalek, the nation which is depicted in Torah as having gone to war against the Israelites, is now extended to describe Iran. However, the ‘Us Vs them’ rhetoric was also deployed in his address to the protesting Iranians as a decoy to incite support for regime change through foreign invasion. Women’s rights have now reemerged in discussions and debates on the legitimacy of the war. There is widespread reporting in American media on the celebrations by Iranian women on Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death. However, Iranian activists are also putting forward nuanced arguments that refuse to couple their struggle for rights in Iran with the US-Israel-led invasion. Recently, the video of Spanish politician Manuela Bergerot, vehemently arguing against the depiction of war on Iran as being a magnificent victory for feminism, has been shared widely by feminists and others alike. She asserts that her position against the war is being put forward as a feminist. She joins a long line of feminists who have opposed the “imperialist feminist” position—the claim that certain wars are morally justified because they supposedly rescue women in the “rest” of the world from oppressive states. The imperialist feminist position, which coopts the conceptual language of feminism to justify the current war on Iran as saving the Iranian women from a repressive government, is by no means a new strategy. It was used with disastrous results in Iraq and Afghanistan, wars which had grossly misused the rhetoric of human rights, especially women’s rights and democracy promotion, to justify invasions. This rhetoric of rescuing women is a close corollary of the practice of terming countries as ‘failed’ states and ‘rogue’ states, as well as the earlier colonial use of the ‘Women’s Question’ to justify colonialism, which Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak had described as “white men saving brown women from brown men.”

It is useful to remember the ‘War Against Terrorism’ launched against Afghanistan with huge domestic support in the US, support which was garnered by the use of the rhetoric of women’s rights and the support of women’s organisations in the US. In a widely cited Radio address, Laura Bush had announced that “The fight against terrorism is also a fight for the rights and dignity of women”. Such ‘Rescue’ narratives tend to depict women in non-Western societies as passive, non-agential beings who need to be saved. Anthropologist and feminist scholar Lila Abu Lughod wrote, questioning this logic in her influential article ‘Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?’, which went on to become a prescribed text in most courses on feminism and gender studies. She urges us in her work to move beyond the rhetoric of saving and instead pay attention to and appreciate the differences among women in the world, including their different conceptions of freedom, choice, and justice. To assess how deceptive the rhetoric of women’s rights was in justifying the war in Afghanistan, one just has to look at the contemporary condition of Afghan women’s rights, most recently further eroded by the new Criminal Procedural Regulation. The war fought, citing the presence of active Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq (active only in the imagination of the USA), was no different. Bush had back then exhorted the Iraqi women to be the midwives of a new liberated Iraq. After more than twenty years of the invasion, as Nadje Al- Ali, Iraqi feminist and scholar, describes, women have come out as the biggest losers of the invasion. While before the invasion, Iraqi women had enjoyed the highest levels of education, labour force participation, and a certain degree of political involvement, women in post-invasion Iraq have seen a steady erosion of their rights along with a rise in conservatism.

The selective nature of caring for women’s rights in countries where the USA wants regime change is no coincidence. Also, the saving women rhetoric is a strategic diversion from not dealing with women’s rights within the USA. Like Bush who talked about the rights of women in Iraq and Afghanistan, but cut off funding to international family planning organisations that offered abortion and counselling services, Trump who talks about caring for Iranians, announcing to Iranians in his social account about ‘Making Iran Great Again’ has systematically cut down the rights of many American citizens under the guise of ‘Making America Great Again’. In In the Name of Women’s Rights: The Rise of Femonationalism, Sara Farris shows how women’s rights have been co-opted by anti-Islam, anti-migration, and xenophobic campaigns to justify exclusionary policies—diverting attention from the real violence faced by women and the erosion of their autonomy. The withheld Epstein files that incriminate Trump have been released and are beyond horrific in what it reveals, while ICE has detained immigrant women in detention in deplorable conditions. In contrast, feminists who have spoken against the stereotyping of non-Western women have not been silent on the issues of women or held back in their criticism of repressive regimes they live in, but as Abu-Lughod has written, “is mindful of complex entanglements in which we are all implicated, in sometimes surprising alignments.” Iranian activists who were on protests deserved support and engagement from around the world, including from the USA, but they definitely didn’t need a US-Israel invasion that ended up bombing an elementary school for girls. Egyptian feminist Nawal el Saadawi had famously suggested, when asked what the people in the US can do to support the revolution in Egypt, “Make your own revolution and change your government for us”. It is perhaps time feminists and citizens in the United States heed her advice.

Courtesy: The AIDEM

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It is already five days, since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February. There seems to be no letting up, as the war continues to escalate. Everything seems to be going out of control; the entire world seems to be affected in some way or the other. When the US attacked Iran, President Donald Trump did so without the mandatory Congressional approval; he did not consult with the United Nations, and the US does not have the support of their traditional allies. Many are condemning the unjustifiable attacks on Iran. Spain has been outright in this condemnation with the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez referring to the attacks as “unjustifiable” and “dangerous”. In a televised nationwide address on 4 February, he said that Spain’s position was “no to the war” adding that “this is how humanity’s great disasters start … The world cannot solve its problems with conflicts and bombs.”

António Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations, wasted no time in issuing a statement, unequivocally stating, “I condemn today’s military escalation in the Middle East. The use of force by the United States and Israel against Iran, and the subsequent retaliation by Iran across the region, undermine international peace and security. All Member States must respect their obligations under international law, including the Charter of the United Nations. The Charter clearly prohibits “the threat of the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.” I reiterate that there is no viable alternative to the peaceful settlement of international disputes, in full accordance with international law, including the UN Charter. The Charter provides the foundation for the maintenance of international peace and security.”

The United States/Israel axis has succeeded in killing the Supreme leader of Iran. On March 1,  the Iranian State Television reported that  Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in US-Israel airstrikes; also killed were Iran’s chief of army staff and defense minister and several other high ranking officials. Most of the world has condemned these murders stating that the US/Israel had no right to kill the head of State/ Government of another country. The world knows that this war on Iran, has nothing to do with the alleged nuclear weapons of Iran; it has everything do so with the Epstein files (a cover-up for Trump and the other big names); of the desperate need of the US to have oil from Iran to complement (and to thin) the crude oil they have robbed from Venezuela. Then, on the other hand, we have Netanyahu: his falling ratings in Israel, coupled with his war crimes against the Palestinian people! (For which is his a ‘wanted’ person in most parts of the world!)

The missiles attacks also destroyed a girl’s primary school in Minab, southern Iran, killing around 150(mainly girl students) and wounding several others. UNESCO expressed deep alarm at the impact of the military attacks. It also noted that pupils in a place dedicated to learning are protected under international humanitarian law, and that “attacks against educational institutions endanger students and teachers and undermine the right to education.”

Are the bullies of this world listening? Whose war is it, anyway? Several world leaders (not India) have condemned the attacks on Iran and the killing of their Supreme Leader and of innocent people.  Millions all over the world have come out on the streets, to protest, demanding that the war stops immediately! There is an outrage everywhere, as people rightly target the US and Israeli regimes and their military! Obviously, a good percentage of the media – controlled by the warmongers, will not highlight this reality (they are not reporting of how as a retaliatory measure, Iran has also destroyed several US bases in parts of the Middle East). There is enough of evidence and factual data, to show who the perpetrators of these terrible crimes against humanity are! There are cries for peace – underlining the painful reality, that in any war, the greatest victims, the people who suffer the most – are the poor, the vulnerable and marginalised; those who have to eke out a living; whose very existence is on their meagre daily earnings. Many of them have lost everything. Powerful nations (like Israel and the US) and their crony capitalist friends, unfortunately justify every attack, every bombing, and every killing! No one is looking at the consequences of war: of how reality irreversibly changes for the victims; how there is irreparable devastation and wanton destruction of both of life and property.

Endless debates have begun everywhere on this current war – and of who is winning! The plain truth is that no one is winning: our world is just becoming more insecure and unsafe! Thousands of travellers (particularly the international ones) are stranded everywhere! Several questions are being asked at every level: who decides whether any nation has the right to go to war, or attack the sovereignty of another nation? What about the role and responsibility of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)? The IAEA was established in 1957 – in the wake of what took place in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is an international organization that aims to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and prevent its use for military purposes; it serves as a global forum for scientific and technical cooperation in the nuclear field. The IAEA’s work includes monitoring nuclear facilities, reporting on nuclear activities, ensuring safety, and fostering diplomacy. Why do nations, particularly the United States and Israel, not pay heed to these universal monitoring bodies? After the entire world said “Never Again!” post-World War II, and signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 – can the world’s people afford World War III?

Then there is the role of the arms and ammunition industry. President Dwight D. Eisenhower popularised the term ‘military- industrial complex’. In his farewell address on January 17, 1961, Eisenhower highlighted how the combination of a permanent military establishment and a large arms industry could lead to significant societal and political consequences. During his tenure as President, Eisenhower became increasingly convinced that corporate interests were beginning to monopolize national interests. This is exactly what is happening today. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) publishes annually a very objective and accurate data- base on military spending the world over and on the key corporations that make huge profits because of war. War, is a lucrative business!

Late Pope Francis minced no words in taking on the arms and ammunition industry saying that they promoted a ‘culture of death’ In September 2025, whilst addressing a joint sitting of the US Congress he stated unequivocally, “being at the service of dialogue and peace also means being truly determined to minimize and, in the long term, to end the many armed conflicts throughout our world… Why are deadly weapons being sold to those who plan to inflict untold suffering on individuals and society?” He answered it himself saying, “sadly, the answer, as we all know, is simply for money: money that is drenched in blood, often innocent blood. In the face of this shameful and culpable silence, it is our duty to confront the problem and to stop the arms trade.” No one of course paid heed to his urgent plea!

In his path-breaking Encyclical (October 2020) ‘Fratelli Tutti’ (Brothers and Sisters All) he devoted an entire section titled ‘The injustice of war’ (#256-262). Among the several critical and urgent issues, which he raises, he states, “since conditions that favour the outbreak of wars are once again increasing, I can only reiterate “war is the negation of all rights and a dramatic assault on the environment. If we want true integral human development for all, we must work tirelessly to avoid war between nations and peoples.  We can no longer think of war as a solution, because its risks will probably always be greater than its supposed benefits. In view of this, it is very difficult nowadays to invoke the rational criteria elaborated in earlier centuries to speak of the possibility of a “just war”. Never again war! We are experiencing a “world war fought piecemeal”; since the destinies of countries are so closely interconnected on the global scene…Every war leaves our world worse than it was before. War is a failure of politics and of humanity, a shameful capitulation, a stinging defeat before the forces of evil. With the money spent on weapons and other military expenditures, let us establish a global fund that can finally put an end to hunger and favour development in the most impoverished countries, so that their citizens will not resort to violent or illusory solutions, or have to leave their countries in order to seek a more dignified life.” These incisive statements from official Church teaching, is a call to immediate, substantial action!

Pope Leo XIV has been consistently bringing to the attention of world community the futility of war and why peace must be pursued and should triumph immediately.  On Sunday 1 March, during the Angelus message referring to the current war, he said, “stability and peace are not achieved through mutual threats, nor through the use of weapons, which sow destruction, suffering, and death, but only through reasonable, sincere, and responsible dialogue.” On 4 March, speaking informally to a group of journalists he said, “Pray for peace, work for peace, less hatred. Hatred in the world is constantly increasing.”

Mahatma Gandhi once famously said, “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” These words are so true today! In May 1969, in Montreal, Canada, Beatle John Lennon composed and sang the song together with Yoko Ono, ‘Give Peace a Chance’. It soon became an anthem of the anti-war movement during the 1970’s; thousands marched everywhere and sang

“All we are saying is give peace a chance

All we are saying is give peace a chance”

In the wake of the terrible war that has engulfed the world today,  we must not only sing song of peace and come out on the streets, but we all need to do all we can to Stop the War – IMMDIATELY!

March 5, 2026

(The author is an internationally renowned human rights, reconciliation and peace activist. He is also a prolific writer. Contact cedricprakash@gmail.com)  

Related:

India: Left at the forefront, opposition & people protests US-Israel attacks on Iran

Hegemony by might: Gaza, Iran and the failures of nuclear power politics

Iran war: from the Middle East to America, history shows you cannot assassinate your way to peace

The post STOP the War, NOW! appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Within the country, India, opposition to the US-Israeli war has not only come from left parties, but also mainstream opposition. The Indian National Congress (INC), India’s main opposition party, said in a statement on Sunday, March 1 “The targeted use of force to destabilize the leadership and governing structures of the sovereign state-whether in Iran or earlier in Venezuela-signals a disturbing revival of regime change doctrines and coercive unilateralism.” INC leaders called the Indian government’s failure to issue condemnation against the assassination of Khamenei “shameful and political cowardice.”

Chief of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP), Sonia Gandhi in a powerfully worded Op-Ed in The Indian Express On Tuesday, March 3, was damning. Titled, Government’s silence on killing of Iran leader is not neutral, it is abdication, the article states, “India has long invoked the ideal of vasudhaiva kutumbakam — the world is one family. That civilisational ethos is not a slogan for ceremonial diplomacy; it implies a commitment to justice, restraint and dialogue, even when doing so is inconvenient.”

Most vocal, in action and deed, have been the left, the Communist parties in India also issued condemnation to Israeli-US aggression and demanded the Indian government to take a proactive stand against the war. Besides, the left parties organized protests in different parts of the country to oppose the Israeli-US aggression against Iran and demanded the Indian state take a clear stand in support of UN Charter and international law. The protesters urged people to “stand against the attack” and express solidarity with the Iranian people.

Shia Muslims take to the streets in protest

Ordinary people, Shia Muslims and masses of people took to the streets in anti-war demonstrations in Srinagar and Kargil in the north, to Hyderabad and Chennai in the south. One of the largest demonstrations was recorded in the northern city of Lucknow, the capital of India’s largest state Uttar Pradesh. The Hindistan Times, The New Indian Express and The Hindu have reported these protests.

On February 28 and March 1, the US and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Tehran in what they called a pre-emptive attack — Operation Epic Fury and Operation Lion’s Roar respectively.

Khamenei was killed at his workplace in the early hours of Sunday, and Iran’s Tasnim News Agency and state television confirmed this. Thereafter, Iran declared 40 days of national mourning and launched retaliatory missile and drone strikes, targeting 27 American military sites according to the IRGC.

Delhi

On Tuesday, March 3, it was the left parties that held a protest at Jantar Mantar against the US-Israel attack on Iran and the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, accusing the Union government of maintaining silence on the issue.

At the protest, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Brinda Karat said that through the protest they were raising their voice against United States President Donald Trump’s “imperialist bullying” and against “Zionist Israel’s aggression”. Brinda Karat also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel a day before the strike on Iran.

“Why is Narendra Modi silent regarding Trump’s imperialist aggression towards Iran? Why is he quiet about the attack carried out on Iran? Holding the bloodstained hands of Netanyahu of Israel, he said this is the voice of the people of India. Which people’s voice is this? Did you go to Israel to offer support? Moreover, within 24 hours, there was an attack on Iran. Did you go there to give India’s approval stamp to it?” Karat said. She added that India’s foreign policy is guided by certain principles and that Modi should view foreign relations from the perspective of national sovereignty.

All leaders in the protest have also urged people to express solidarity with Iranians.

“The silence of the government over (U.S. President Donald) Trump’s imperialist hooliganism, the attack on Iran… Why is Narendra Modi quiet,” asked CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat. “He held (Israel Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s bloodied hands and said it is the voice of the people of India… How is this the voice of the people? You went to Israel to help a genocide,” she said. Ms. Karat said the attack on Iran came within 24 hours of Prime Minister Modi’s return from Israel. “Did you go there to give a stamp of approval,” she asked.

“We are raising our voices against the bullying of the U.S. and Zionist Israel,” she said, adding that Mr. Modi should look at foreign relations from the perspective of national sovereignty. “You (Mr. Modi) have bowed to Trump, and (are) silent over the issue. This is pro-imperialist foreign policy,” she said.

“We demand that the government of India take steps to stop the war and restore peace… Modi ji was in Israel, the war started after he returned. It is our responsibility to ensure India has no role in this war,” Mr. Bhattacharya said.

He said the war will “impact India” as many Indians work in West Asian countries. “Iran is an ancient civilisation with friendly and cultural relations. This has happened with Palestine, and now with Iran. It is clear Iran is ready to fight back,” he said, adding that the people of India stand with Iran. In the context of Modi’s visit to Israel, he said the Indian government must immediately take steps to stop the war and work towards peace.

“We know that Modi ji went to Israel. He came back and the war started. Therefore, it is our responsibility to ensure that there is no partnership with India in this war. In Iran, we saw that the Supreme Leader was assassinated. The Supreme Leader of Iran is not only the leader of Iran but also a religious leader for the Shia community worldwide,” he said. These Left leaders alleged that the United States was “shedding crocodile tears in the name of women”.

“We saw that in Iran, women are fighting for their freedom. In the same Iran, more than 100 girls were killed in a primary school. America and Israel did it. Thousands have lost their lives in the last four days in Iran. This war will have a severe impact on India after Iran, as many Indians work in West Asian countries,” Bhattacharya said.

In Delhi, the Imam of Shia Jama Masjid, Maulana Mohd Ali Mohsin Taqvi, warned of a dangerous new precedent. “Every person in favour of justice and sovereignty of a country is deeply saddened today. The world is about to witness worse days. The President of any country can be abducted; any country’s leadership can be killed with bombs. It was Iran today, tomorrow it may be Türkiye, Saudi Arabia.”

Taqvi described Khamenei as “a simple man and a major scholar of the Islamic world who never bowed in front of the oppressors”, and announced a condolence gathering at the mosque.

The Iranian Embassy in New Delhi lowered its flag to half-mast. The J&K Shia Association stated: “We mourn the martyrdom of the family members of Imam Khamenei. Our prayers are with the Leader and the people of Iran.”

Hyderabad

The CPI-M also held protests at Hyderabad, capital of Telangana against the US-Israel attacks on Iran. On Monday, March 2, the CPI-M organised a protest rally at Sundarayya Vignana Kendra here, condemning the attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran. At the protest rally, addressing the gathering, CPI(M) Politburo member B V Raghavulu alleged that the US had turned into an “international terrorist force” by carrying out aggressive actions against several countries. Raising slogans against American imperialism and war hysteria, party activists expressed solidarity with the Iranian people. CPI-M State Secretary John Wesley, also accused the US of destabilising nations, destroying economies and violating international law, citing attacks on Gaza, Iran, Cuba and Venezuela. He also criticised the union government for remaining silent on the attacks and questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stance, calling for intensified protests to pressure the Centre.

Besides, CPI(M) leaders R. Arun Kumar, T. Jyothi, M. Eshwarayya and several state and mass organisation leaders participated in the protest.

Protest rally, mourning over death of Iran’s Khamenei in Hyderabad’s old quarters

Meanwhile, also in Hyderabad, Shiite muslims mourn the death Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a demonstration against US and Israel forces attack on Iran, organized by Tanzeem-e-Jafferi from Mazaar-e-Ibne Khatoon, Purani Haveli, in Hyderabad on Sunday, the very next day after the Us-Israel attacks.

A wave of grief spilt onto the streets of Hyderabad’s old quarters as the news of the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei spread in the morning. By afternoon, summoned by social media messages, hundreds of men, women and children in black turned up near the grave of Ibne Khatoon. Some men wailed as they addressed their gathering, while others shouted “Shahdat, shahadat” (martyrdom, martyrdom); reported The Hindu.

“The U.S. is mistaken if it thinks Iran is finished with this bomb attack. Iran is alive, and we are with Iran. America murdabad,” shouted one speaker as reported by The Hindu. “He is our spiritual leader. That is why there is so much grief. That’s why I have turned up here,” Mujahid, a resident of Dar ul Shifa. The protest in the afternoon was organised by Tandem-e-Jafferi.

Later in the evening, post-Iftaar, there were two similar protests in the locality with hundreds of other protesters and grief-stricken residents marching beating their chest with their right arm. The protest started from Ibadan Khan and culminated near Alawa-e-Sartouq in Darulshifa at 8 p.m..The Dar ul Shifa area is an old quarter with many residents living from the time Hyderabad was designed and built.

The Hindu also recalled how Hyderabad has cultural ties to Iran that go back to the foundation of the city. One of the architects of Hyderabad, Mir Momin, an Iranian emigre, who became the prime mover during the rule of Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah in the 1590s, called the city, ‘Isfahan-e-Nau’ or a new Isfahan, the Iranian city known for its architecture. Incidentally, Iranian city of Isfahan was hit by the American missiles on Saturday.

Kashmir

The Times of India reported on widespread protests in Kashmir against killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei in US‑Israel strike.

In several parts of Kashmir, especially Srinagar, the US-Israel killing of the Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a joint US-Israel strike, led to widespread protests. Hundreds of demonstrators, particularly from Shia-majority areas, took to the streets, marching peacefully while raising anti-US and anti-Israel slogans, as reported by news agency PTI. Gatherings were seen at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk and the capital’s Saida Kadal area. Protests also were observed at Budgam, Bandipora, Anantnag and Pulwama. In some locations, the police had reportedly used lathi charge against protesters. In Budgam district, hundreds of women and children joined marches shouting slogans against Israel and US.

Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, urged protesters to remain calm and “avoid any actions that could lead to tension or unrest”. Demonstrations were also reported in Sonawari, Bandipora, and Baramulla, where men and women marched peacefully carrying portraits of Khamenei, raising black flags, and leading traditional lamentation processions known as Nauha.

Former J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Kashmir’s chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq also condemned the strikes.

Lucknow, Aligarh, Meerut, Bhopal, Raipur, Ajmer, Ludhiana

In Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow, protesters chanted slogans against the US and Israel. “They kept deceiving with talks and threatened about war, but our leader did not get afraid and did not bow,” one demonstrator told ANI. “A thousand Khameneis will rise. Trump cannot win easily.”A leader of India’s Shia community leader Syed Samar Kazmi said: “He was killed only because he raised his voice for the killings in Palestine while the world was silent.”

‘Try America in the World Court’

All India Imam Association President Sajid Rashidi demanded international accountability: “America has killed Iran’s Supreme Commander Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They should be tried in the World Court and convicted. America does whatever it wants, whenever it wants.”The Shia community has declared a three-day mourning, during which people will wear black, hoist black flags at their homes and organise special prayers, Abbas added.

In Aligarh, it is reported that a large number of people gathered near the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and held a demonstration against the attack on Khamenei.The protesters, who were joined by many students from the AMU, submitted a memorandum addressed to the president of India, demanding that India express its clear protest against the brutal killing of dozens of schoolchildren in Iran by the US military.

Former AMU student leader Mehboob Alam told reporters, “Ayatollah Khamenei was not only the spiritual leader of the Shia community but also the voice of all those who stood against the imperialist forces posing a serious threat to world peace. His death is a grave loss to humanity.” In western Uttar Pradesh, around 200 km away in Muzaffarnagar, thousands of Shia Muslims marched with Khamenei’s photographs from Kidwai Nagar to Fakharshah Chowk, and submitted a memorandum to the district magistrate addressed to the president of India.

In Meerut, also in western UP, members of the Shia sect, including women and children, staged protests at Abdullahpur, Railway Road, Mansabiya and Zaidi Farm, mourning the killing of Iran’s supreme leader. Prayer meetings were also held at the Imam Bargah Panjetani and Darbar-e-Hussaini in Zaidi Farm.

A similar protest was witnessed in Jhansi, where a large number of Shia Muslims gathered at Masjid-e-Imamiya in Mewatipura to mourn the killing of Khamenei, calling it an attack on world peace. Cleric Haider Zaidi told the media, “Our community opposes any form of oppression. The military action (in Iran) is a form of bullying and against humanity. We will continue to raise our voice in a non-violent manner.” Reports of protests also came from Ambedkar Nagar, Rampur, Barabanki, Shahjahanpur and Ghaziabad.

In Bhopal, a mass condolence meeting and protest were held by Shia Muslims to mourn and condemn Khamenei’s death reported The Indian Express. The condolence prayers were held at the Shia Mosque in Bhopal’s Karond area, where Imam Syed Bankar Hussain and prominent religious leader Syed Azhar Hussain Rizwi said Khamenei’s “martyrdom” in the holy month of Ramadan and his contributions to Islam would be remembered. After the meeting, more than 100 members of the community took out a protest march, raising slogans against the United States and Israel.

Punjab, which has a small Muslim population, saw protests and effigies being burnt in Ludhiana. Shahi Imam Maulana Mohammad Usman Rahmani Ludhianvi, who led the protest, demanded that the central government declare a week-long national mourning.Rehmani urged Muslims worldwide to unite against such challenges, terming Khamenei a great martyr and condemning his killing in the strongest terms.

The Shia community in Ajmer also announced the observance of a three day mourning over the killing of Khamenei, said The Indian Express. The announcement was made by Syed Asif Ali, a community leader, who appealed to members of the Shia community to observe mourning and refrain from celebrations during the period. Media reports also said that condolence meetings were also organised at Dargah in Dorai and Taragarh in Ajmer, where members of the community offered prayers and expressed grief over the incident.

Alipur, Karnataka

The most unique form of mourning was reported in Alipura town, 75 km from Bengaluru turned gloomy and declared a three-day mourning. Located in Karnataka’s Chikkaballapur district of Karnataka where Khamenei once visited, observed silence, and shops and commercial establishments voluntarily closed.

Residents of the town, Alipur, located in Karnataka’s Gauribidanur taluk, speaking to The New Indian Express, emphasised the region’s deep spiritual, cultural, and educational ties with Iran. They said the area is also known as ‘Mini Iran’ or ‘Baby Iran’ for boasting a 25,000-strong Shia population. To voice protest against Khamenei’s killing, the residents carried out a march wearing black dresses on Sunday. Some were seen sobbing in grief while holding onto the photo of Khamenei. Also, shops in Alipur shut their shutters to mark their protest. Locals recalled that Khamenei himself visited Alipur in 1981-82 to inaugurate a hospital built with Iranian government support. Many from this town have been to Iran to pursue education, and some are still stranded in Iran. Many locals also run businesses in Tehran. Media reported how the district police deployed additional force and also held meetings with local Muslim community leaders. Chikkaballapur Superintendent of Police Kushal Chouksey visited the village. “The Shia Muslim population is about 90 per cent, and the rest are Hindu families. We have held a meeting with Anjuman-e-Jafaria Committee members. They held a prayer after the procession in which 3,000 people participated. The situation is under control, and the protests were peaceful,” Chouksey told media.

Related:

Hegemony by might: Gaza, Iran and the failures of nuclear power politics

Iran war: from the Middle East to America, history shows you cannot assassinate your way to peace

Israel bombs Iran, targets nuclear facilities, military leaders, scientists; US claims it’s not involved

The post India: Left at the forefront, opposition & people protests US-Israel attacks on Iran appeared first on SabrangIndia.

I. Mustafa Azemmouri and the Earliest Muslim Presence in America

One of the earliest known Muslims to set foot on what is now United States soil was Mustafa Azemmouri, known in Spanish records as Estebanico. Born in Morocco, Azemmouri was enslaved by Portuguese traders, sold in Spain, and forced to join the ill-fated Narváez expedition. In 1528, the expedition landed in present-day western Florida.¹ Unlike most of his European companions, Azemmouri survived years of shipwreck, starvation, and hostile terrain. He later emerged as an indispensable member of the expedition, traversing vast regions of what are now Arizona and New Mexico.² Contemporary accounts describe him as a gifted linguist, a master of sign language, a healer trusted by Indigenous communities, and a man skilled in navigation and the use of the astrolabe.³ His presence alone disrupts conventional timelines of American exploration, demonstrating that Muslims were present in North America nearly a century before permanent English settlement.

II. West Africa, Islam, and the Slave Trade

The majority of enslaved Africans transported to the Americas originated from West Africa—a region that, by the late medieval period, had undergone extensive Islamization. Understanding American Muslim heritage therefore requires engagement with the intellectual and institutional history of West Africa itself.

Mosques as Centers of Knowledge

In much of the contemporary Muslim world, mosques primarily function as spaces for ritual prayer and as intellectual echo chambers where inherited interpretations are repeated without sustained critical engagement. This represents a sharp departure from the mosque’s original civilizational role. In the premodern Muslim world, mosques were the nerve centers of intellectual life—universities in the fullest sense. Within mosque complexes, scholars debated theology, jurisprudence, philosophy, logic, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and the natural sciences. Fundamental cosmological questions—such as whether the universe was created in time or eternal—were openly contested.⁴ Instruction took place in open teaching circles (ḥalaqāt), where students were encouraged to question, challenge and refine ideas. Advanced students—what might today be called graduate scholars—then carried this knowledge across Africa, the Mediterranean, and beyond.

These mosque-based institutions created what has been described as “a civilization of international encyclopedic magnitude.” Harvard historian George Sarton famously observed that medieval Muslim civilization achieved a level of encyclopedic knowledge unmatched in its time, noting that: “Briefest enumeration of the Arabic contributions to knowledge would be too long to be inserted here…The creation of a new civilization of international and encyclopaedic magnitude within less than two centuries is something that we describe, but cannot explain…Indeed the superiority of Muslim culture, say in the eleventh century, was so great that we can understand their intellectual pride. It is easy to imagine their doctors speaking of western barbarians almost in the same spirit as ours do of the ‘Orientals.’ If there had been some ferocious eugenists among the Moslems the might have suggested some means breeding out all the western Christians and Greeks because of their hopeless backwardness.” 5

Timbuktu and Sankoré University in Colonial Times

One of the most striking embodiments of this tradition was the Sankoré Mosque and other mosques in Timbuktu. By the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, Sankoré functioned as a fully developed university supported by charitable endowments. Thousands of students studied there, and its scholars attracted audiences from across North and West Africa.⁶ As documented in Tārīkh al-Sudān and modern scholarship by Ousmane Kane and Nehemia Levtzion, Timbuktu housed libraries, produced original scholarship, and operated within a vast transregional intellectual network.⁷ These institutions flourished centuries before any comparable centers of higher learning existed in colonial North America.

There were many other mosques across West Africa that functioned in similar ways as centers of higher learning. West Africa was therefore not “uncivilized” in the colonial era; it possessed highly developed educational institutions and scholarly networks that long predated—and in many cases surpassed—what existed in colonial North America.

III. Who Were the Enslaved Africans?

The transatlantic slave trade forcibly relocated not only agricultural laborers but also scholars, engineers, jurists, veterinarians, and pastoral experts from Muslim West Africa. Evidence from slave narratives, court records, and archival documents confirms the presence of enslaved Muslim intellectuals and learned elites in the Americas. Prominent examples include Ayuba Suleiman Diallo (Job ben Solomon), who came from a distinguished family of Islamic scholars in Senegambia, and Ibrahim Abd al-Rahman, a Fulbe nobleman and Islamic scholar from Futa Jallon (Guinea), captured in 1788—whose portrait is preserved in the Library of Congress.⁸ Drawing on demographic and cultural analysis, Michael A. Gomez estimates that approximately 50–55 percent of enslaved West Africans were Muslims, reflecting the religious composition of major source regions such as Senegambia and Futa Jallon.⁹ This figure may be conservative. As Daniel C. Littlefield and other historians note, colonial planters in the rice-producing Lowcountry of South Carolina and Georgia deliberately preferred captives from Gambia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and the broader Rice Coast due to their expertise in irrigation, dike construction, tidal rice cultivation, swamp ecology, cattle herding, and water management.¹⁰ Crucially, these regions—apart from Liberia—were overwhelmingly Muslim: The Gambia (~97%), Senegal (~95–97%), Guinea (~85%), and Sierra Leone (~77–78%), compared with Liberia (~12–13%). This demographic reality strengthens the likelihood that the proportion of Muslims among enslaved West Africans, particularly those assigned to plantation economies and cattle herding may have exceeded 55 percent during key periods.

IV. Agriculture, Rice Technology, and Early American Wealth

Between 1500 and 1800, agriculture formed the backbone of the American economy. European settlers, however, lacked expertise in tropical agriculture, irrigation engineering, and animal husbandry. These deficiencies were remedied through the forced labor and technical knowledge of West Africans. Rice Cultivation and Hydraulic Engineering Enslaved Africans introduced advanced rice-growing systems, including tidal rice fields, earthen dikes, and wooden rice trunks—hydraulic valves that regulated freshwater flow while preventing saltwater intrusion.¹⁰ These systems required sophisticated understanding of fluid dynamics, soil chemistry, and lunar tidal cycles. By the mid-eighteenth century, rice exports from South Carolina exceeded sixty million pounds annually, accounting for more than half of the colony’s export value and generating immense wealth.¹¹ Comparable hydraulic technologies had long existed across the Muslim world, as documented by Thomas Glick’s study of irrigation in medieval Valencia.¹²

V. Architecture, Veterinary Science, and Tabby Construction

In Georgia and Florida, many colonial structures were built using tabby—a durable composite of lime from burned oyster shells, sand, water, and ash. Scholars have traced tabby construction techniques to North and West African architectural traditions.¹³ On Sapelo Island, the enslaved Muslim Bilali Muhammad supervised construction using these methods yet received no legal recognition or credit for his expertise.¹⁴

VI. Cattle Herding and Animal Medicine

Pastoral societies of Muslim West Africa—including Tuareg-influenced regions linked to Timbuktu’s early history—possessed centuries of experience in cattle herding and veterinary science. Enslaved Africans were therefore deliberately selected for work as cowboys, cattle drivers, horse trainers, and dairy workers in South Carolina and Louisiana.¹⁵ Despite these contributions, an 1858 ruling by the U.S. Patent Office barred enslaved individuals from holding patents, ensuring that African intellectual property entered American development without attribution.¹⁶

VII. Muslims and the Founding of the United States

Muslims were not absent from early American political imagination. According to “The Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series, Vol. 1, p. 232,” “If they are good workmen, they may be of Asia, Africa, or Europe. They may be Mahometans [Muslims], Jews or Christians of any Sect, or they may be Atheists.” There were two Muslim women at Mount Vernon of George Washington named Fathimier and Little Fathimier. Fathima. being the daughter of Prophet Muhammed (pbuh). is popular name among Muslims. Thomas Jefferson, in explaining Virginia’s statute for religious freedom, explicitly affirmed protections for “the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and the Mahometan [Muslim].”¹⁷ During the North Carolina ratifying convention, James Iredell acknowledged that Muslims could hold public office under the Constitution.¹⁸ Morocco became the first country to recognize the United States, maintaining diplomatic correspondence with George Washington. Jefferson later hosted an ifṭār dinner at the White House in 1808 for a Tunisian envoy, reflecting early American engagement with the Muslim world.¹⁹

VIII. Islam and the Abolition of Slavery

The Lincoln administration sought guidance from Tunisia, Muslim country, which abolished slavery in 1846—nearly two decades before the United States. The archives of Diplomatic correspondence records with the heading, “Papers presented to 39th Congress by President Lincoln,” has the reply the enquiry by Lincoln Administration on slavery. It states that the Tunisian ruler Ahmed Bey framing abolition as a moral imperative rooted in justice: “" Ahmed Bay Concluded: “It is my belief also that …There can be no permanent prosperity [for a nation] without justice, and justice results from freedom…since God has permitted you to enjoy full personal liberty and to manage your civil and political affairs yourselves, …it would not tarnish the luster of your crown to grant freedom to your slaves, … such civil rights are not to be denied to the humblest and meanest of your citizens.”²⁰

VIII. American Muslims in the Twenty-First Century

Today, American Muslims continue to shape national life. According to the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Muslims donate approximately $4.3 billion annually to charitable causes, with average household giving exceeding national norms.²¹ Muslims are disproportionately represented among physicians and dentists and contribute significantly to U.S. patent activity. American Muslims have also been recognized at the highest levels of scientific achievement, including Nobel Prizes awarded to Ahmed Zewail, Aziz Sancar, Moungi Bawendi, and Omar Yaghi.

Conclusion

Muslim presence in America predates the nation itself. More than half of enslaved West Africans were Muslims—educated, skilled, and embedded in sophisticated intellectual traditions. Their knowledge absorbed into America and generated early American wealth, shaped its infrastructure, and informed its moral discourse. Though their names were systematically erased, their legacy remains embedded in the foundations of the United States. American Muslim heritage is not peripheral to American history. It is constitutive of it.

…

FOOTNOTES

1. Andrés Reséndez, A Land So Strange: The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca (New York: Basic Books, 2007), 34–36.
2. Ibid., 112–145.
3. Ibid., 178–181.
4. George Makdisi, The Rise of Colleges: Institutions of Learning in Islam and the West (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1981).
5. George Sarton, The History of Science and the New Humanism (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1956), 87–90.
6. Nehemia Levtzion, Ancient Ghana and Mali (London: Methuen, 1973), 137–145.
7. Al-Saʿdī, Tārīkh al-Sudān, trans. John O. Hunwick (London: Routledge, 2000); Ousmane Kane, Beyond Timbuktu: An Intellectual History of Muslim West Africa (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2016).
8. Allan D. Austin, African Muslims in Antebellum America: A Sourcebook (New York: Routledge, 1997).
9. Michael A. Gomez, Black Crescent: The Experience and Legacy of African Muslims in the Americas (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 62–70.
10. Daniel C. Littlefield, Rice and Slaves: Ethnicity and the Slave Trade in Colonial South Carolina (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1981).
11. Ibid., 89–95.
12. Thomas F. Glick, Irrigation and Society in Medieval Valencia (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1970).
13. Littlefield, Rice and Slaves, 142–148.
14. Gomez, Black Crescent, 151–155.
15. Gwendolyn Midlo Hall, Africans in Colonial Louisiana: The Development of Afro-Creole Culture in the Eighteenth Century (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1992).
16. U.S. Patent Office, Annual Report of the Commissioner of Patents for the Year 1858 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1859).
17. Thomas Jefferson, Autobiography, in The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Paul Leicester Ford (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1892), 1:66.
18. James Iredell, speech at the North Carolina Ratifying Convention, July 30, 1788.
19. White House Historical Association, “Thomas Jefferson’s Ramadan Dinner,” 2009.
20. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1865, pt. 3, doc. 318.
21. Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Amplifying Muslim American Generosity (2024).

Courtesy: New Age Islam

The post American Muslim Heritage: Five Centuries of Muslim Life in America appeared first on SabrangIndia.

General, your tank is a powerful vehicle
It smashes down forests and crushes a hundred men.
But it has one defect:
It needs a driver.

General, your bomber is powerful.
It flies faster than a storm and carries more than an elephant.
But it has one defect:
It needs a mechanic.

General, human beings are very useful.
They can fly and they can kill.
But they have one defect:
They can think.

It is difficult to predict, in this day and age, how long this poem will remain relevant. But upon seeing, hearing and speaking with Aida Touma-Suleiman in Jerusalem, this poem came to mind vividly. Sixty-one-year-old Aida Touma-Suleiman is a member of Israel’s parliament, known as the Knesset. She is an Israeli citizen, of Arab-Christian origin, but she declares herself an atheist.

She is a member of Israel’s Communist Party, and represents the coalition Hadash, a feminist, the editor of the party’s Arabic-language newspaper Al-Ittihad – the first and only female editor in Israel. She is also the first female member of the “high-level committee for Arab Citizens of Israel”. She fights for the rights of Israeli citizens, but also for that of the Palestinian people.

Meeting her reminded me of all those activist comrades in my own country who, despite not being Muslim, Christian, Dalit, LGBTQ++ or Adivasi, fight for human justice and often face criticism within their own communities. She is also famous for having passed a law in the Knesset, raising the legal age of marriage for women in Israel from 17 to 18.

The conversation I had with her was about Israel, but my own country, India, repeatedly came to my mind with various similar observations.

Officially, Israel is a democracy and so is India. But Hitler too rode the chariot of democracy to reach fascist dictatorship, and we see the same is happening in India and Israel today. The capitalist ruling class uses the guise of democracy to carry out anti-people work and secures legitimacy for those crimes in the name of democracy. Whereas, the Left wants to establish that very democracy in the true sense for the welfare and upliftment of the people.

Aida says, “It is true that we have gained a few rights by virtue of being Israeli citizens. We are a group of Israeli Arab citizens, who are indigenous to this land, so we can form our own political party, raise our issues in politics, and contest elections. We also have some scope to raise our voice, however little, against any wrong step taken by the Israeli government. But this was true two years ago.”

“Now, replace ‘is’ with ‘was’ in these statements – all these things have become matters of the past. It is true that whatever democracy existed in Israel, it was the only so-called democracy in the Middle-Eastern countries, and by that token, we had some rights, but in the last two years, these rights have been completely stripped away. In the last two years, an entirely new kind of situation has been created, and it is taking new shape every single day,” she adds.

Aida did not condemn the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack in the Israeli Knesset and instead raised her voice against the atrocities by the Israeli army. In response, she was suspended from parliament for two months and penalised with a two-week salary cut.

Aida also accused the Israeli army and rulers of bombing hospitals in Gaza, as a result of which only seven out of 48 surgeons survived. She condemned the Israeli army’s attack on displaced and unarmed people and refused to apologise or retract her statement.

The Knesset’s Ethics Committee, recommending action against her, said that “not condemning the Hamas attack is a betrayal of those Israeli citizens whose tax money pays your salaries as representatives… Accusing your country’s army of atrocities against Palestinians aids Israel’s enemies.” Aida had also alleged that Israeli soldiers fired bullets at Gazans fleeing for their lives through the humanitarian corridor established for evacuating civilians from the war zone.

“With what face do they call themselves the world’s most moral army and claim they do not attack the innocent and hospitals?” she had questioned.

She says that many people also think that everything was fine until October 7 and that the deteriorating situation started only after the Hamas attack. Because of this, many people conclude that if Hamas had not done this, the Israeli government would not have been forced to take such harsh measures.

Aida says, “Among those who think like this, there are many good people, who are politically literate and often supporters of Palestine as well. But I want to say that this perspective is flawed and incomplete, The history of Israel’s oppression of Palestine is older than October 7, 2023.”

She says that people outside don’t know, or they forget, what was happening in Israel before October 7, 2023. They are not allowed to see behind that date. From January 2023, until the Hamas attack in October, there were large-scale protests in Israel against the Netanyahu government because the working-class people of Israel were unhappy with the new laws the government had proposed in the name of judicial reforms.

Under the guise of these proposed reforms, the government wanted to massively increase its own powers, thus reducing the power of the judiciary. In fact, the government’s intention was to completely take over Israel’s Supreme Court, she claims, adding that the aim of these so-called reforms was that they would pass their unilateral laws and become unquestionable, and also gain legal sanction for it.

Aida says that all opposition parties including hers, opposed these proposals, and the Israeli public too protested vehemently against the repressive, dictatorial, right-wing and fascist government.

Opposition against Netanyahu

In 2021, Netanyahu’s party had lost and he had been ousted from the prime minister’s post. When he returned to power in November 2022, he tried to impose his dictatorship, which faced strong opposition in Israel. Under the cover of these legal reforms, he wanted to accelerate actions to seize Palestinian lands. Aida and her party were opposing the government’s move. The public wanted peace, and it seemed that his government would fall again.

According to surveys in September 2023, his party’s members in the Knesset were going to decrease. Right at this time, the Hamas attack happened, and citing a state of war and emergency, all protests were stopped. Several opposition party members were placed under house arrest.

Since then, the Israeli government has presented the Palestinians as villains and corrupted the public’s minds with arrogance, portraying that “Jews as better and more powerful than Palestinians”. As a result, the Israeli government was able to carry out genocide in Gaza because they had instilled hatred, anger and fear towards Palestinians within the Israeli population. The Israeli government left no stone unturned in exploiting the October 7 incident as an opportunity.

Aida was talking of Israel but hearing this, my memories took me to 2002 Godhra incident, just before which the then-BJP government in Gujarat had started becoming unpopular and had even faced defeat in the local body elections. The Godhra incident united most Hindu voters in the state against the “fear of Muslims”.

I also remembered the Kargil War, just before which the NDA government fell due to Jayalalithaa’s party’s – the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s – withdrawal of support. The declaration of the Kargil War, however, united people against Pakistan and stabilised the central government. Then I remembered the Pulwama attack, which also made the political equations favourable for the party holding chair in New Delhi.

The Israeli government had to do something to fix its declining popularity and diminishing international support. If it hadn’t done it on October 7, it would have done it on the 6th or the 8th, or the 20th or 25th. If not in October, then at some other time – on any of the 365 days of the calendar, but it would have done it for sure. This time, it just chose the pretext of the Hamas attack.

Aida insists that most people in Israel did not become supporters of the Israeli government or anti-Palestinian or right-wing racist thinkers, but it is true that the rest are afraid to express their feelings because in the surge of this kind of nationalism, it becomes very easy for power to throttle dissenting voices – no matter how rational and sensible that voice may be.

She says, “We are filled with the pain of oppression being inflicted on our own Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank, but apart from that, we Palestinian Israelis living inside Israel are facing different kinds of challenges.”

Aida says that earlier, whenever the Israeli government took any repressive action in Gaza or in the West Bank, the Palestinians living in Israel would immediately go to the streets and register our protest against it.

“Now, under the declared state of emergency, we cannot do that. We are immediately arrested. Now we cannot demonstrate anywhere,” she says.

She also informs that when they tried to hold a meeting inside a hall, the owner of that hall received a message from the government that your hall will be shut down for six months, and what else would happen, was a separate matter. Another major challenge they face is that they are being turned into villains in their own cities and villages by state-sponsored propaganda against them.

In his first address to the nation after October 7, Netanyahu told Israeli citizens that they have to fight a war on four fronts. One in Gaza, the second in the West Bank, the third in Lebanon, and the fourth front is against those who, living in Israel, oppose its voice and raise the voice of justice.

According to Aida, Netanyahu was pointing a clear finger towards them. The Israeli government, she says, considers them its enemy and also presents them as traitors before the public so that the public stops paying attention to the voices they raise against their anti-people actions.

Brecht’s poem’s lines were echoing in my memory again, “Human beings can think.”

If they can think, then they can also change the circumstances.

Vineet Tiwari is a writer and human rights activist associated with India-Palestine Solidarity Network. He visited the West Bank region of Palestine in November 2025.

Courtesy: The Wire

The post A Conversation About Israel That Felt Uncomfortably Familiar appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Guardian reported the New South Wales Police stating the attack happened as hundreds gathered to mark the first day of Hanukkah and has been declared a terrorist incident. The victims include an Israeli citizen, according to Israel’s foreign ministry. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the national security committee was convened urgently following the attack. The attack occurred around 6:45 pm local time at Bondi Beach during a Hanukkah celebration attended by around 1,000 people.

“There has been a devastating terrorist incident at Bondi at the Hanukkah by the sea celebration. This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy, a celebration of faith, an act of evil, anti-Semitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation,” he said.

“An attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on every Australian and every Australian. There is no place for this hate, violence and terrorism in our nation. Let me be clear we will eradicate it,” he added.

A bystander fruit-seller emerges international hero

A bystander seen in a widely circulated video disarming a gunman during a deadly shooting rampage at a popular Australian beach has been widely heralded as a hero who saved lives. CCTV Video footage posted on social media shows a burly passer-by clad in a white T-shirt and dark pants crouching behind a parked car before sneaking up behind a gunman, grabbing him and wrestling away his firearm. The bystander then points the weapon at the gunman, who falls to the ground.

Identified by 7News as 43 year-old Ahmed al-Ahmed, a bystander fruit-seller, he suffered two bullet injuries from one of the terror attackers; he is the father of two and owner of a fruit shop in Sydney.

This extraordinarily brave act has drawn wide praise and acclaim including from religious political leaders alike. What is crucial is that the Australian media and international media have played up this heroic intervention that came from a resident Muslim. Central Synagogue rabbi Levi Wolff reported The Guardian said he is ‘grateful’ for those who aided victims of Sunday’s Bondi beach shooting attack, including a bystander who wrestled a firearm off one of the alleged gunmen. Praised as a hero, he is being identified by some media as a 43-year-old fruit shop owner from the Sutherland Shire. He suffered two bullet wounds, in his arm and in his hand, one of his relatives told Seven News outside a hospital. This brave intervention drew wide praise, including from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. New South Wales Premier Chris Minns called it the “most unbelievable scene.” “A man walking up to a gunman who had fired on the community and single-handedly disarming him, putting his own life at risk to save the lives of countless other people,” Minns said. “That man is a genuine hero.”

Speaking from the White House on Sunday, even US President Donald Trump called Ahmed a “very, very brave person” who “saved a lot of lives.” Trump offered “great respect to that man that did that.”

Extraordinary courage from Ahmed El Ahmad, a Muslim, 43-year-old father of two, who bravely risked his life to save his neighbors celebrating Hanukkah.
Praying for his full & speedy recovery.

And so deeply inspired by his example. pic.twitter.com/HTeLRTlbFV

— Brad Lander (@bradlander) December 14, 2025

Unlike international media, Indian national media, including newspapers played up the gun attack on Bondi Beach; Only NDTV and the Week carried mention of the citizen hero, fruit-seller!

From the Bloody Scene at Bondi Beach

Arsen Ostrovsky, a lawyer attending the Hanukkah ceremony with his wife and daughters, was grazed in the head by a bullet. Ostrovsky told the media that he had moved from Israel to Australia two weeks ago to work for a Jewish advocacy group.

“What I saw today was pure evil, just an absolute bloodbath. Bodies strewn everywhere,” he told The Associated Press in an email from the hospital. “I never thought would be possible here in Australia.”

Lachlan Moran, 32, from Melbourne, told the AP he was waiting for his family when he heard shots. “I sprinted as quickly as I could,” Moran said. He said he heard shooting off and on for about five minutes. “Everyone just dropped all their possessions and everything and were running and people were crying and it was just horrible.”

Anti-semitic attacks have risen in Australia

Albanese vowed the violence would be met with “a moment of national unity where Australians across the board will embrace their fellow Australians of Jewish faith.” Some of his political opponents and Israel’s government accused him of not having done enough to prevent such a horror.

Australia, a country of 28 million people, is home to about 117,000 Jews, according to official figures. Antisemitic incidents, including assaults, vandalism, threats and intimidation, surged more than threefold in the country during the year after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel launched a war on Hamas in Gaza in response, the government’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal reported in July.

Father and son duo alleged to be behind shooting using licensed firearms

Naveed Akram previously known to security agencies, prime minister says. His gun-owning father, Sajid, was shot dead by police at the scene said The Guardian adding that the alleged gunmen behind Sydney’ Bondi beach attack are a father-son duo suspected of using legally obtained firearms to commit the massacre, according to police.

Naveed Akram, 24, was nabbed at the scene itself and taken to a Sydney hospital with critical injuries. His 50-year-old father, who the Sydney Morning Herald first reported to be Sajid Akram, was shot dead by police. The two allegedly killed 15 people, with dozens more injured in the shootings which took place on Sunday, during a gathering to celebrate the first night of Hanukah.

According to reports, the son was known to New South Wales police and security agencies, while his father had a firearms licence with six weapons registered to him. All six firearms have been recovered, police said. Four of these weapons, long arms believed to include a rifle and shotgun, were seized at the scene in Bondi, with other weapons also found during a police raid at a house in Campsie, in Sydney’s south-west. As per a report in The Guardian.

Reportedly, Naveed Akram, who worked as a bricklayer, came under the attention of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio) in October 2019, according to the prime minister, Anthony Albanese. He was examined for six months because of his alleged associations with others, with the ABC reporting claims that the counter-terror investigation involved an Islamic State cell. “[Naveed Akram] was examined on the basis of being associated with others and the assessment was made that there was no indication of any ongoing threat or threat of him engaging in violence,” Albanese said. Sajid had held a Category AB firearm licence, police said. This is a licence which requires a person to demonstrate to police they have a “special need” for certain weapons, which can include muzzle-loading firearms (other than pistols); centre-fire rifles (other than self-loading); and shotgun/centre-fire rifle combinations.

The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said Naveed is an Australian-born citizen. His father had arrived in Australia on a student visa in 1998, transferred in 2001 to a partner visa and had since been on resident return visas.

The NSW police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, said the two men had lived at another house in Bonnyrigg, in the city’s west, which was also raided on Sunday night after the attack. He said there was nothing “to indicate that either of the men involved in yesterday’s attack was planning the attack”, and confirmed the older man had held a gun licence for a decade.

Lanyon refused to react or comment on reports claiming a manifesto or black Islamic State flag were found in the car driven to the scene by the alleged attackers. Instead of reducing the discourse to jingoistic Islamophobia, the North South Wales (NSW premier), Chris Minns, said there would “almost certainly” be changes to gun laws, and police were investigating whether there had been a failure of their systems in relation to how licensed weapons could have been used in a terror attack.

Attacker, a hard worker who enjoyed boxing?

Media reports also stated that, until recently, Naveed Akram had been working as a bricklayer. His employer then stated that he had taken him as an apprentice six years ago, describing him as a hard worker who never had time off. However, a few of months ago, he said Naveed reported that he’d broken his wrist while boxing, and would not be able to work again until 2026.

“He asked for all his entitlements paid up, annual leave and everything, but a lot of guys do that at end of year anyway,” said the employer, who did not wish to be named. He commented, “Now you can’t help but think, him getting all his money out, what’s he going to spend it on.”

He did not know Naveed well, saying he had employed dozens of people at the same time, but he was considered a quiet person. “In bricklaying, you work closely as a team on site, but he didn’t associate with anyone else out of hours … he’d have lunch himself, not with anyone else,” he said.

He said he knew Naveed came “from a Muslim background”, but Naveed did not speak much about religion at work. He said some employees had told him that Naveed’s parents had separated and that he closer to his father. He also contested claims that Naveed had lost his job, saying that he had wanted him to return to work, despite his wrist injury.

“He had been doing some boxing outside of hours … he said the doctor told him have a couple of months off,” the employer said. “I asked if he could come back a bit sooner … being a good worker and everything, I thought, fuck, I don’t want to lose this guy. “As a bricklayer, [I] could not fault him; his work was good. He was a good employee, as far as that goes.” Another bricklayer described Naveed as a strange colleague but a hard worker who had an interest in hunting. “No one was close to him,” said the former colleague, who did not wish to be named.

Although authorities have not said the son was a licensed firearms holder, the colleague claimed he hunted regularly, and spoke about shooting rabbits and other game around Crookwell, in the state’s southern tablelands. They worked across Sydney, with the last job in which he saw Naveed on a site in Penrith.

There has also been unconfirmed claims that Naveed was a member of a hunting club, after images emerged of what appears to be a membership card said to have been found in his wallet. However, these reports are unconfirmed.

Shortly after the attack, an old photo of Naveed originally posted by Sheikh Adam Ismail, the head of Al-Murad Institute, went viral. Ismail distanced himself from the man, telling Guardian Australia he hadn’t seen him since 2022. “As I’ve done with 1,000s of students over the years, I’ve taught him Qur’an recitation and Arabic only for a combined period of one year,” he said. Ismail said he was deeply saddened by what had occurred, and gave his condolences to the victims and Jewish community.

“[The] Qur’an … clearly states that taking one innocent life is like killing all of humanity. This makes it clear that what unfolded yesterday at Bondi is completely forbidden in Islam.”

At Bonnyrigg, reporters and police were gathered outside the home that remained cordoned off with blue tape on Monday morning. Two police cars were parked out the front. At around noon, three people returned to the house, which is owned by Naveed’s mother. A young man, and two women, who held paper over their heads to shield themselves from being filmed, exited a car and walked into the home.

Last year, the country was rocked by anti-Semitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. Synagogues and cars were torched, businesses and homes sprayed with graffiti and Jews attacked in those cities, where 85% of the nation’s Jewish population lives.

Albanese in August blamed Iran for two of the attacks and cut diplomatic ties to Tehran.

Israel urged Australia’s government to address crimes targeting Jews. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he warned Australia’s leader’s months ago about the dangers of failing to take action against antisemitism. He claimed Australia’s decision — in line with scores of other countries — to recognize a Palestinian state “pours fuel on the anti-Semitic fire.”

“Your government did nothing to stop the spread of anti-Semitism in Australia … and the result is the horrific attacks on Jews we saw today,” Netanyahu said.

Police will investigate what happened

Authorities were not looking for anyone else in connection with the massacre, said Lanyon. Police pledged a “thorough” investigation, he added. Further inquiries are likely to be announced.

Two improvised explosive devices were found at the scene. Bomb disposal experts rendered them safe. Lanyon described them as “rudimentary” devices that would have been detonated by a wick rather than a phone or electronically.

Australia rarely has mass shooting deaths

Minns said there would “almost certainly” be gun law changes after the massacre. The 50-year-old gunman who was shot dead was found to have six firearms when law enforcement raided the property where he’d been staying, police said. Questions about how he was able to acquire them gathered pace on Monday, in part because mass shootings in Australia are extremely rare. A 1996 massacre in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur, where a lone gunman killed 35 people, prompted the government to drastically tighten gun laws, making it much more difficult to acquire firearms.

Significant mass shootings this century included two murder-suicides with death tolls of five people in 2014 and seven in 2018, in which gunmen killed their own families and themselves. In 2022, six people were killed in a shootout between police and Christian extremists at a rural property in Queensland State. Reported AP News.

World leaders express shock and grief

After the massacre, messages flooded in from leaders around the world. King Charles III said he and Queen Camilla were “appalled and saddened by the most dreadful anti-Semitic terrorist attack.” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on X he was horrified, and his “heart is with the Jewish community worldwide.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X: “The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Australia targeting a Jewish celebration. Anti-Semitism has no place in this world.”

Who Is Ahmed Al Ahmed, The Heroic Bystander Who Disarmed Sydney Shooter?

Local outlet 7News identified the man as 43-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed, a fruit seller. The report said he suffered two gunshot wounds during the attack. Unitedly, Australians on Sunday praised a man described as a “hero” after his quick thinking during a mass shooting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, the deadliest attack in the country in years. Footage shared widely on social media showed the unarmed man tackling one of the gunmen as shots were being fired at civilians, a move believed to have saved many lives. The 15-second video shows the man hiding behind parked cars before running towards the gunman from behind. He grabs him by the neck, pulls away his rifle and forces him to the ground, before pointing the weapon back at him.

The man was identified as 43-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed, a fruit seller. He reportedly suffered two gunshot wounds during the attack.

7News spoke to a man named Mustapha, who said he was Ahmed’s cousin. “He’s in hospital and we don’t know exactly what’s going on inside,” he said. “We do hope he will be fine. He’s a hero 100 per cent,” he added. Ahmed was due to undergo surgery later that night. He reportedly had no experience with guns and was simply walking past the area when he decided to step in.

Online, he was widely praised for his bravery and fast reaction. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also described him as a “hero”.

The Week, India headlined their story thus, No, ‘Bondi Hero’ was not a Jew! Who is ‘brave Muslim’ Ahmed al Ahmed, the fruit seller who disarmed the shooter in Australia?

43-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed, a fruit seller by profession, was the brave soul who tackled one of the Bondi Beach gunmen from behind and took away the loaded gun, Australian authorities have confirmed. The video of a civilian risking his life to disarm one of the Bondi Beach shooters had taken the internet by storm. The man had become an instant internet sensation, winning hearts worldwide for his selfless act and unparalleled courage as he ambushed the gunman from behind and forcefully took the loaded gun from him.

The identity of the “Bondi Beach Hero” was debated for a while before he was officially identified by Australian authorities. Many on social media initially hailed him as a Jewish man who stepped up to protect his fellow citizens before Benjamin Netanyahu himself “saluted” the “brave Muslim man” who “stopped the terrorists from killing innocent” people.

Having lost one of his guns to Ahmed, the shooter was forced to join his companion on the bridge. As the attacker retreated, Ahmed wasted no time to place the gun against a tree and raise his hands to ensure the law enforcement didn’t mistake him for a villain, reports said.

He had no previous experience with firearms and was forced to intervene as his conscience didn’t let him walk away. Ahmed al Ahmed suffered bullet injuries in the incident and remains hospitalised, waiting for surgery. His kin reportedly told Australian press that they don’t know much about his condition apart from the fact that his surgery is scheduled for the night. Ahmed is native to Sydney’s Sutherland Shire.

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The post Australia, World express shock at Sydney’s Bondi Beach terror attack, toll rises to 16, Govt promises stricter gun laws appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The first  day saw 11 witnesses give testimony of evidence regarding both genocide and ecocide, from the likes of Raji Sourani from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, Dr. Omar Nashabe of Lebanon, and Maria Zendrera with the Global Sumud Flotilla. The proof of intent on the deliberate destruction of Gaza’s environment at-large, the destruction of all means of the ability to sustain life beyond the complete blockade, and the day-to-day impact on the Palestinian people was highlighted in the evidence delivered.

The second day of the Tribunal explicated on much of the same topics and included 5 witness testimonies. With the court in session, the prosecution began with the effects on women in a written testimony on Day 1 from Nadia Bakri, a feminist and human rights activist that served as director of the Women’s Affairs Staff in Gaza for 30 years before being forcibly displaced to Egypt due to the genocidal war. “There has been a deliberate targeting of women’s health centres and clinics in order to stop Palestinian people from reproducing, in line with Zionist strategy,” stated Suzanne Adely of the National Lawyers Guild, the Tribunal prosecutor representing Bakri.

The jurors then intervened with their own line of questioning to Raji Sourani and Dr. Omar Nashabe in order to clarify different aspects of their testimonies.

Sourani was asked by the prosecution about the recent historical precedent behind the UN Security Council’s recent vote around Trump’s ‘peace’ plan. He responded with, “There isn’t one word about the unalienable right of Palestinian people, the occupation is institutionalized, and supported more by the American presidencies who are involved directly with the genocide and supporting Israel directly. . . 30 years ago, we were extremely critical about the Oslo Accords which did not mention anything about ending the occupation and self-determination – and that was intentional.”

Dr. Nashabe added during his portion that it is not only a genocide or ecocide stating, “I’d like to reiterate that the ecocide and genocide is a fundamental part of this policy of total extermination. It can’t take place by just killing people, but you have to kill all forms of life that will allow the people to rebuild. It is a metacide, the destruction of everything.” Furthermore, he spoke about the schism within the United Nations due to this ‘peace’ plan and the deep crisis within the intergovernmental body, “What other kind of creative, destructive, violent tactics can [Israel] come up with now when they haven’t been able to achieve their vile, obscene objective? We are going through a crisis in international law never seen before – this is like George Orwell’s 1984 on an unseen scale.”

After the jurors’ line of questioning, the five witnesses testified on the stand either in-person, over Zoom, or through pre-recorded videos on the collective punishment, deliberate targeting of entire families, intentional blockades of food and water, direct targeting of farmers and fisherfolk by airstrikes and settler mobs, and even direct evidence of systematic repression and silencing of Palestinian voices by other states in collusion with the Zionist government.

Mushier Ek Farra, an activist and filmmaker that was in the midst of a project centring on the plight of Gaza’s fisher people until 2023, was the first witness on the stand. He spoke on the collective punishment inflicted in Gaza right from the beginning of the genocide, as soon as October 9th, 2023. He stated, “In one instance, 67 people were killed and 52 houses were destroyed to target a Hamas operative. That is collective punishment which even one of the accused [Joe Biden] has condemned.”

After Ek Farra, two written testimonies from Gaza – first a collection of testimonies from an activist, then a worker – were delivered by the prosecution. The collection of testimonies were procured through great difficulty due to the chilling effect from 172 journalists deliberately killed in their role of revealing the truth to the world. One of the Palestinian farmers willing to testify stated, “Israeli tanks and bulldozers entered the land to destroy and raze it again, cutting irrigation networks, destroying water sources like agricultural ponds and wells, and shredding the remnants of the trees into very small pieces with massive machines.” In line with that, the testimony of the worker from Gaza illustrated the strategy behind this destruction, “The aim was to inflict the largest possible number of deaths and injuries among civilians and medical personnel to force them to leave northern Gaza.”

Three real-time Zoom testimonies along with videos of Palestinian farmers and fisher people conducted by a journalist who gave his own written testimony followed. Throughout the video testimonies, the strategy of complete destruction – not just of killing people en masse, but destroying the basic means to assure their existence – were exhibited throughout. In particular, the dire situation and sheer destruction of Gaza’s sole port was illustrated, compounding on the complete blockade that Israel has imposed, “The port, heavily bombarded with roughly 26 rockets on the third day of the war, was split in half. About 95% of fishing boats were destroyed. There is a deliberate strategy to create famine: the occupation closes crossings, blocks the entry of food supplies, and prevents fishermen from feeding our people.”

The real-time Zoom testimonies began with Mohammad el Bakri, an engineer specializing in agricultural infrastructure and board member of the Urban Agriculture Forum, “They have destroyed [the crops], there is nothing now. In the north and south of Gaza, all this land is agricultural land and Israel has not allowed anybody to access or reach this land. There is no income, there is no water as its polluted — the sewage water has gone into aquifers directly.” Founder and director of the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability at Bethlehem University, Mazin B. Qumsiyeh, added to this point in his testimony and illustrated how this is connected to the strategy of occupation of Israel in the West Bank as well, which has escalated to unprecedented heights since 2023. He stated, “In the West Bank, they are draining the wetland of the Hula, redirecting waters of the Jordan River to their settlements, and uprooting millions of indigenous trees to plant an invasive monoculture of European trees. This squeezes remaining indigenous Palestinians into “concentration areas” and refugee camps increasingly surrounded by environmentally damaging walls and military infrastructures.”

As the environmental aspects of ecocide and the many aspects to genocide aside from mass slaughter being thoroughly investigated, Dr. Diana Nazzal’s testimony touched on the devastating health impacts from the forced starvation, and hyperinflation along with targeting aid recipients as an aspect of the starvation. “The hair becomes thin and lost, the nails become brittle, the concentration and mental health of people become very poor, and their whole life becomes about how they can get their next meal,” stated Nazzal. “The hospitals would always prepare for when the Gaza Humanitarian Fund was providing ‘aid’ because children were deliberately killed – it was another example of using humanitarian aid to commit genocide.”

A kilogram of the following foodstuff had risen to these exorbitant prices, showcasing the impact of the complete blockade through land, air, and sea aside from the ecocide:

• Tomatoes: 163 euros in the North; 17 euros in the South
• Meat: 175 euros in the North; 95 euros in the South
• Flour: 1000 euros in the North; 90 euros in the South
• Sugar: 46 euros in the North; 40 euros in the South
• Coffee: 135 euros throughout Gaza

Throughout the testimonies around the massive destruction of Gaza’s environment, the massive loss of life and ability to sustain life, and the countless violation of international humanitarian law, the experts and witnesses all resolved that the true solution to end the horror inflicted by the Zionist entity is the struggle of the Palestinian people for self-determination. From the witnesses and experts:

• Mushier Ek Farra: “[Those killed through collective punishment] are people I knew who were not even part of the resistance, I would have supported their resistance, but they were just civilians. . . We need support out of solidarity, not charity. This is a political matter, we must extend our political support first and then sympathize. The same oil, mining, and timber companies destroying Gaza are destroying the rest of the world.”
• Dr. Diana Nazzal: “We want to have our land and right to self-determination and be left alone. We are able to build our own society but we aren’t given the chance to do so.”
• Mazin B. Qumsiyeh: “Only we, the Palestinian people, can challenge against our corrupt leaders and the occupation”

After the testimonies came to a close, the lead prosecutor – Jan Fermon – delivered his final statement:

• “I would say, from a broader perspective, we do have to say that this is even beyond genocide and ecocide–and that is metacide: the destruction of everything. I think that terminology is absolutely appropriate with what we’ve been hearing and witnessing. . . The liberation of Palestine is the work of the Palestinians. The work of the rest of us is solidarity. Nazism was brought down by the resistance of the people of the world. The US intervention in Vietnam was ended by the struggle of the Vietnamese people and the solidarity of the people of the world. Apartheid was brought down by the struggle of the South African people and the solidarity of the people of the world.”

At the end of the jurors’ deliberation, they delivered the verdict: finding Israel, the United States, and other complicit entities guilty of genocide, ecocide, and forced starvation – finding Israel as the principal perpetrator of these crimes and the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany complicit in aiding, abetting, and enabling the crimes found in the verdict. “Free, free Palestine!” rang through the hall, with attendees celebrating the decision, and committing to use the findings to exact justice and accountability in the streets through mass mobilizations and action in solidarity with the Palestinian peoples’ struggle for self-determination.

Earlier today, organisers and attendees of the Tribunal took a copy of the full verdict produced by the jurors to the Zionist consulate and held a demonstration. Representatives of the Zionist occupation refused to attend the Tribunal and subsequently refused to receive a copy of the verdict.

Throughout the two days of testimonies and evidence, the final guilty verdict of the International People’s Tribunal stands in line with what international institutions have also determined, but have either moved too slowly on or have wholly ignored. The verdict, based on a mountain of evidence showcasing Israel’s and US’s clear intent and exposing the ecocide rarely touched in the mainstream narrative, has put the power into the hands of the people to exact justice and accountability in solidarity with Palestinian people’s right to and struggle for self-determination.

The verdict serves only as a start. True justice will only be found through continued movement building and mass actions in the streets and in any venue possible if advocacy efforts will have any hope of contributing to justice and accountability. What the Tribunal proved is that true justice belongs with the people, and the people will fight for it until the end of all economic, political, military, and diplomatic support from Israel.

There will be more activities and campaigns in relation to the Tribunal in the coming months available for press to cover.

About the International People’s Tribunal for Palestine:

The IPT for Palestine is a civil society initiative organized by the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS), International Peoples’ Front, and the Peoples’ Coalition on Food Sovereignty, with the cooperation of endorsers including the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) and Palestine Land Studies Centre, among others. It aims to establish a historical record of crimes against the Palestinian people, mobilize international solidarity, and exert moral and political pressure on complicit governments and international institutions.

Watch the full Tribunal recording here: https://bit.ly/IPTPalestineRecordings

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The post Israel, United States & and other complicit entities guilty of genocide, ecocide, and forced starvation in Palestine: International People’s Tribunal appeared first on SabrangIndia.

For Indian audiences, Mamdani’s victory carries significance that extends far beyond New York’s five boroughs. His win represents a complex convergence of identity, ideology and generational change that challenges established political narratives on both sides of the Atlantic.

Seven dimensions of his triumph deserve particular attention, particularly in India.​

1) A modern Muslim identity

Mamdani embodies a form of Muslim political identity that defies the stereotypes that the Bharatiya Janata Party and similar forces rely upon to paint Muslims as fundamentalist or separatist.

He is a practicing Muslim who openly discusses his faith while simultaneously championing secular democratic socialism, feminist causes and LGBTQ rights. This combination directly contradicts the caricature of Muslims as backwards looking Islamists.

His emotional speech outside a Bronx mosque about the humiliations Muslims have endured in New York since 9/11 demonstrated vulnerability and civic commitment rather than religious extremism. He married a Syrian American artist in a relationship that bridges cultural divides, and campaigns in multiple languages including Urdu and Spanish while maintaining his Muslim identity as central rather than hidden.

This presents a progressive Muslim political figure who is comfortable in his faith without being defined solely by it, a model that undermines narratives equating Muslim identity with Taliban style Islamist fundamentalism, as seen from the welcome given to the Taliban leader by the Modi government in Delhi last month.​

2) Mixed heritage and transnational roots

Mamdani’s parentage tells a story of cosmopolitan belonging that resonates across the global South.

Born in Kampala to Mira Nair, the acclaimed Hindu filmmaker from Delhi, and Mahmood Mamdani, a Gujarati Muslim scholar raised in Uganda, Mamdani carries Indian, African and American identities simultaneously. His family was part of the Asian diaspora expelled by Idi Amin in 1972, experienced apartheid-era South Africa, and eventually settled in New York when he was seven.

This background gives him an intuitive understanding of colonialism, displacement and minority experience that informs his politics. For Indians familiar with the complexities of diasporic identity and the lingering effects of British colonial divide and rule strategies, Mamdani’s mixed heritage represents a repudiation of narrow ethnic nationalism. His father’s scholarship explicitly critiques the tribalisation of politics, a pattern visible in both Uganda under Museveni and India under Modi. The son can be considered to have absorbed these lessons.​

3) Youth and generational change

At 34, Mamdani is the youngest New York mayor in 112 years, younger even than the legendary “Boy Mayor” John Purroy Mitchel elected in 1913. His age matters not merely as biography but as political force. He galvanised young voters, winning those under 50 by a two to one margin, precisely the demographic that feels locked out of home ownership, burdened by debt and alienated from establishment politics. His rapid rise from unknown state assemblyman polling at one percent just months before the primary to decisive victor reflects how quickly generational change can upend entrenched power structures.

For India, where Modi’s BJP has dominated national politics for over a decade, Mamdani’s trajectory offers evidence that insurgent campaigns built on youth energy and grassroots organising can overcome entrenched political figures like the Cuomos.

His campaign demonstrates that age and inexperience, typically framed as liabilities, can become assets when voters hunger for change.​

4) Socialist economic policies

Mamdani’s democratic socialism, often dismissed as radical or unworkable, formed the core of his appeal. He proposed rent freezes on stabilised apartments, free bus service, universal childcare, city run grocery stores and raising the minimum wage to 30 dollars, all funded by taxing corporations and the wealthy. These policies directly address the affordability crisis strangling working people in expensive cities. His message resonated because it named the problem clearly and offered concrete solutions rather than technocratic adjustments.

For Indian audiences familiar with the welfare state legacies of pre-liberalisation era, now being dismantled through privatisation, Mamdani’s unapologetic embrace of state intervention in markets to secure basic needs recalls an older social democratic tradition. His success suggests that economic populism focused on redistribution still wins elections when articulated with clarity and passion, a lesson relevant for opposition parties in India struggling to counter Modi’s Hindu nationalism with an economic alternative.​

5) Stance on Gaza and moral consistency

His vocal support for Palestinian rights, unusual for a major American mayoral candidate, cost him support among some Jewish voters but energised others, particularly younger Jews and the broader progressive coalition. He condemned Hamas’s October 7 attack as a war crime while also accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, pledging to arrest Netanyahu if given the chance and maintaining his criticism despite intense pressure.

This moral consistency, refusing to moderate his position for political convenience, functioned as proof of authenticity for voters exhausted by politicians who say different things to different audiences.

The likes of Modi and his cohort of RSS leaders have mastered this to an art form. Mamdani’s willingness to alienate powerful constituencies rather than compromise on principles he formed during his college activism with Students for Justice in Palestine shows a robust political calculus, one that prizes moral clarity over coalition management.​

6) Criticism of Modi’s Hindutva politics

Mamdani has repeatedly criticised Modi, calling him a war criminal and accusing the BJP of pursuing a vision of India that only has room for certain kinds of Indians. During his Diwali outreach to Hindu voters, he explained that he grew up with a pluralistic vision of India where everyone belonged regardless of religion, contrasting this with what he sees as Modi’s exclusionary Hindutva ideology.

He also attacked New York Mayor Eric Adams for backing Modi’s violent approach.

These statements, unusual for an American politician seeking office, reflect his family background. His father’s scholarship analyses how political leaders use ethnic and religious divisions to maintain power, a dynamic visible in both Uganda and India.

For Indian audiences, particularly those troubled by the erosion of secular pluralism under Modi, Mamdani’s willingness as a Muslim politician to defend a pluralistic vision of India while simultaneously claiming his Muslim identity offers a model. He refuses the choice between assimilation and separatism, instead asserting that diversity itself should be celebrated and protected.​

7) Implications beyond New York

Mamdani’s victory will reverberate beyond the United States. National Democrats will study his combination of social media savvy, grassroots organising and economic populism for lessons applicable to their own campaigns. Republicans will use his democratic socialism as a wedge issue in swing districts.

But for observers in India, the significance lies elsewhere. His win demonstrates that that an authentic progressive position has political rewards even in a city identified with capitalism, that youth can overcome entrenched political leaders, that economic redistribution still motivates voters, and that moral consistency on difficult issues can be rewarded rather than punished.

He will judged on his record at governance when he comes for re-election, but his election itself challenges assumptions about what kinds of politicians can win and what kinds of coalitions are possible in increasingly diverse democracies.

Courtesy: The Wire

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