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Thank and Urge Your Representatives to Support the “Combating International Islamophobia Act” |No Tech for Apartheid | Denounce Coup against Democracy in Tunisia

Global Islamophobia is on the rise.

From France’s ban on Hijab and Face-Coverings in public areas to China’s genocide of its Uighur Muslim minority, the cases are stacking up, and there is no global system of accountability.

More recently, India’s right-wing government has passed laws that are blatantly anti-Muslim, and are worrying experts in International religious freedoms.

These policies are otherizing Muslims, making Muslim families vulnerable to hate crimes and other forms of violence.

Reports out of the UK, the United States, and other countries make it clear: Islamophobia is a big issue everywhere.

Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Jan Schakowsky's “Combating International Islamophobia Act” aims to monitor International Islamophobia, keeping tabs on discriminatory policies that affect Muslims, and making note of violence against the Muslim communities in order to form effective strategies to combat it. This Act includes a Special Envoy position in the State Department, who would lead the program to combat Islamophobia worldwide.

This is nothing new - the United States monitors religious freedom globally, and openly stands against religious persecution. An envoy position to combat global anti-semitism already exists- and it works! Anti-Semitism around the world is recorded, and there is adequate data and reporting about what is happening, and how we can combat it. This Act demands the same for Muslims.

The bill, which was introduced by Congresswomen Omar and Schakowsky is co-sponsored by Representatives Karen Bass (D-CA), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Andre Carson (D-IN), Lou Correa (D-CA), Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Chuy Garcia (D-IL), Al Green (D-TX), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Mondaire Jones (D-NY), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Jim McGovern (D-MA, Marie Newman (D-IL), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), Donald M. Payne Jr. (D-NJ), Dean Phillips (D-MN), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Albio Sires (D-NJ), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), and Nikema Williams (D-GA).

The tech industry has grown immensely over the past decades, especially in the US, where the tech market comprises 32% of the world total, worth approximately $1.7 trillion in 2020. However, with the increasing growth of the tech industry, it is becoming easier to enact apartheid, occupation, and surveillance. 

In May of this year, while Palestinians were suffering by Israeli occupiers, Amazon Web Services and Google signed a deal with Israel’s government for a $1.22 billion project to provide cloud services for Israel’s public sector and military. The resulting effort from the deal is known as Project Nimbus. The deal was signed the same week that the Israeli military killed 250 people, including more than 60 children in the Gaza Strip. 

In mid-October, around 400 Amazon and Google workers condemned their employers for contributing to the surveillance, occupation, and dispossession of Palestinians by selling cloud services to the Israeli military.