A new report lays bare the 'unprecedented crackdown' on Islam and Muslims in France under the government of Emmanuel Macron.

The report by advocacy group Cage draws attention to France's ‘Systematic Obstruction’ policy, which it says meets the description of "Persecution under international law."

It outlines the methods of this persecution in French society, including through the sanctioning and forced dissolution of organisations and the policing and criminalisation of Islam in social, religious and political spheres.

“Four years ago, the French government initiated a secretive and draconian Islamophobic policy," said the author of the report Rayan Freschi.

"This report documents how the French state has swiftly dismantled the foundations of the Muslim community’s autonomy through a calculated persecution, spreading terror among an entire religious community. 

"718 closures, 24 884 inspections and 46 million euros extorted by the State later, it is time to stop this witch hunt against Muslims."

France has been criticized heavily for the way it deals with Islam and Muslims. Critics say it views Islam negatively and that it regularly discriminates against Muslim women.

‘Systematic Obstruction’ policy

On the fourth anniversary of the ‘Systematic Obstruction’ policy's introduction, the report says it almost exclusively targets Muslim institutions that are "monitored, surveilled, investigated and sanctioned for minor infractions".

Hundreds of establishments, including mosques and Muslim schools, have been closed, and many more investigated.

"The pattern of behaviour exhibited by the French state towards Muslims in the country is calculated to harass and humiliate Muslims, resulting in the intentional and severe deprivation of this minority group’s freedom of religion, of opinion, of association and right to property," said Cage.

It adds that “state Islamophobia is institutionalized through an infrastructure of enforcement and mass surveillance, with department cells spread across geographical units in France to enforce these policies.”

Recommendations from the report

• The report makes several recommendations, including: 
• Scrapping of the “Systematic Obstruction” policy, including the related institutions created to support it and reverse the decisions stemming from it, including the dissolution of organisations. 
• To oppose any attempts by France to export its Islamophobic policies during its term as EU Presidency until June 2022.
• Call for the repeal of Islamophobic policies such as the ‘Anti-Separatism Law’, the Imams Charter, as well as the 2004 Law on religious signs in schools and the 2010 Niqab ban.
• To set up an independent body investigating the consequences of the Systematic Obstruction measures and provide reparations for damages and losses incurred by establishments/individuals because of such measures.
• For respective EU member states condemn France’s persecution of Muslims and its draconian policies.

Islam channel tv 

According to Press TV, a new report by British advocacy group Cage points to Macron's use of executive powers to craft what it calls a "systematic obstruction" policy to target Muslim groups and institutions in France. 

The policy, which gives the state "vast powers to monitor and close institutions, unilaterally dissolve organizations and seize money under the pretence of preserving Republican values and combating Islamism and/or separatism”, has been used to single out Muslim organizations, the report notes.

Cage, which works to empower communities impacted by the so-called “war on terror” and campaigns against wrongful state policies, released the report at a press conference in Paris on Wednesday and called for the immediate repeal of such powers. 

The group said the systematic obstruction policy was used by French authorities to justify the closure of at least a dozen mosques, hundreds of Muslim-owned businesses and charities, and the seizure of millions of euros worth of assets. 

Rayan Freschi, a French legal jurist who has co-authored the report, said it exposes how Islamophobia has been "institutionalized through an infrastructure of enforcement and mass surveillance”.

"Four years ago, the French government initiated a secretive and draconian Islamophobic policy," Freschi said in a statement, referring to the policy.

"This report documents how the French state has swiftly dismantled the foundations of the Muslim community's autonomy through a calculated persecution, spreading terror among an entire religious community: 718 closures, 24,884 inspections and 46 million euros extorted by the state later, it is time to stop this witch hunt against Muslims," the statement further noted.

Among the organizations closed for allegedly promoting “Islamist propaganda” were the French Muslim charity Barakacity and the non-profit Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF), which monitor Islamophobic attacks throughout France.

Both organizations have fiercely denied such charges but both remain dissolved./ parstoday 

• "I think there's a tremendous amount of fear" about Muslims in Congress, Tlaib told The New York Times.

Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan says that Islamophobia in Congress is a bipartisan affair, suggesting that in addition to Republicans, some of her Democratic colleagues hold bigoted views about Muslims.

In a profile in The New York Times, Tlaib reflected on her time in Congress so far and particularly on how her identity as both a Muslim woman and a Palestinian has shaped her experiences in ways she hadn't anticipated. She described encountering both subtle and blatant bigotry when she and Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar first arrived in Congress in 2019.

"I guess I was naive," Tlaib told the Times, "in not understanding how bipartisan Islamophobia is in Congress."

Tlaib and Omar were the first Muslim women elected to Congress in American history, and are among the progressive "Squad" that includes Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. Tlaib said that some colleagues were shocked to learn that most American Muslims are Black, while one colleague touched Omar's hijab.

"I think there's a tremendous amount of fear," Tlaib told the Times.

Tlaib also said that it feels as if her Palestinian identity supersedes other identities and experiences that she has.

"I feel like no one wants to see me as anyone but Palestinian," Tlaib told the Times. "I'm a mother, I'm a woman, I have gone through a lot being the daughter of two immigrants in the United States. I'm also the big sister of 13 younger siblings. I'm also a neighbor in a predominantly Black city."

Both Tlaib and Omar have been targeted with Islamophobic remarks from their colleagues during their time in Congress. Last year, Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado joked that Omar was a suicide bomber, prompting calls to remove her from her committee assignments. The House later passed Omar's bill to establish an envoy to combat Islamophobia at the State Department, but not before Republicans mocked her bill during committee hearings.

Both have garnered criticism for being outspoken about Palestinian rights; in September, fellow Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch of Florida suggested that Tlaib was anti-Semitic after she deemed Israel to be an "apartheid regime" while speaking out against giving Israel an additional $1 billion for Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system.

Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Israeli human rights group B'Tselem have all labeled Israel an apartheid state over the country's treatment of Palestinians both in Israel and in the West Bank and Gaza.

Tlaib told the Times that following Deutch's remarks, colleagues whispered "Are you OK?" to her. "The whispering needs to stop," she said, "and they need to speak up and say, 'That was wrong.'"/ businessinsider

The US Treasury Department announced Thursday that it has imposed sanctions on three Russian oligarchs who have close ties to President Vladimir Putin.

The individuals include Alisher Burkhanovich Usmanov, Nikolay Petrovich Tokarev and Yevgeniy Prigozhin.

The Treasury Department said it blocked Usmanov's superyacht Dilbar, which has an estimated worth of between $600 million and $735 million with an estimated cost to run of $60 million per year.

Usmanov's aircraft, an Airbus A340-300 that cost between $350 million and $500 million, was also blocked.

The sanctions list included oil magnate Tokarev, the president of state-owned pipeline company Transneft, which is responsible for transporting 90% of the oil extracted in Russia.

Tokarev's wife and daughter were also included in the list, while the Treasury Department said the latter has a real estate empire valued at more than $50 million in Moscow.

Prigozhin, who was previously designated pursuant to multiple sanctions authorities for facilitating attempts to interfere in US elections, is the Russian financier of the Internet Research Agency (IRA), which he utilizes to operate global influence operations, it said.

He also attempts to evade sanctions by standing up front and shell companies both in and outside of Russia, it added.

Prigozhin’s wife, daughter and son were also added to the sanctions list.

In addition, a total of 26 Russia- and Ukraine-based individuals and seven Russian entities were also designated.

The Treasury Department also sanctioned Russian intelligence-directed disinformation outlets.

"Russian intelligence services, including the Federal Security Service (FSB), Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) and Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), employ disinformation outlets and intelligence service affiliates to spread false narratives that advance Russian strategic objectives to destabilize Ukraine and falsely justify the Kremlin’s activities," it said in its statement./aa

Global rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) lowered Russia's credit rating Thursday for the second time in a week.

Russia's long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings were both lowered to 'CCC-', from 'BB+' and 'BBB-' respectively.

"Russia's military conflict with Ukraine has prompted a new round of G7 government sanctions, including ones targeting the foreign exchange reserves of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR)," the agency said in a statement.

"This has rendered a large part of these reserves inaccessible, undermining the CBR's ability to act as a lender of last resort and impairing what had been -- until recently --Russia's standout credit strength: its net external liquidity position," it added.

S&P said the ratings will remain on credit watch negative and warned that they could be lowered further over the next few weeks./aa

Russia's war on Ukraine is likely to raise inflation and lower investment, US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday.

"We are going to see upward pressure on inflation, at least for a while," he said during testimony before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Stressing record-high oil and natural gas prices, upward pressure on inflation could be seen due to Russia’s role in global energy and commodity markets, he said.

"What we know so far is that commodity prices have moved up significantly, energy prices in particular. That is going to work its way through the US economy in the form of higher inflation, at least in the short term," he said.

The war in Ukraine, western allies' sanctions on Moscow, and private businesses leaving Russia may also cause a decline in investment and spending, he said.

"We could see risk sentiment decline so you could see lower investment. You could see people hold back on spending. It is hard to see what the effect on both supply and demand will be," said Powell. "We need to be alert and nimble as we make decisions in what is quite a difficult environment.”/aa

At least 33 civilians were killed Thursday in Russian airstrikes in the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine said the Russian army carried out airstrikes on civilian structures in Chernihiv.

Buildings were demolished and bodies were retrieved from the rubble.

Also, 18 civilians were injured and search and rescue efforts were suspended because of the intensification of the attacks, it said.

The Russian army hit fuel tanks in the city early Thursday.

Russia's war on Ukraine, which began Feb. 24, has been met with international outrage, with the European Union, US and UK, among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow./aa