Silencing Dissent: The Islamophobia Industry’s Assault on Academic Freedom
16 April 2025, 16:00 GMT — 18:00 South African time.

The few academic centres in the United States focused on combating Islamophobia have come under attack from special interest groups and politicians opposed to equality of speech, to knowledge production, and to rights for Muslims. The panel discussed where that campaign comes from and what it costs.

Panellists

Dr Nader Hashemi — Director of the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and Associate Professor of Middle East and Islamic Politics at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service. Author of Islam, Secularism and Liberal Democracy (Oxford, 2009) and co-editor of The People Reloaded, The Syria Dilemma, Sectarianization, and a four-volume study on Islam and Human Rights.

Mobashra Tazamal — Associate Director of The Bridge Initiative, specialising in the War on Terror discourse and state-sponsored Islamophobia worldwide. Her analysis is cited in the New York Times, NBC, the Washington Post and Al Jazeera; her writing has appeared in Politico, The Independent, Middle East Eye and elsewhere. She holds a master’s from SOAS, University of London, with a background in human rights advocacy and immigration law.

Professor Sahar Aziz — Distinguished Professor of Law, Middle East Legal Studies Scholar and Chancellor’s Social Justice Scholar at Rutgers University Law School. Her scholarship examines the intersection of national security, race, religion and civil rights, and the adverse impact of national security law on racial, religious and ethnic minorities. Author of The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes Religious Freedom, and founding director of the Center for Security, Race and Rights.

The event was convened by The Bridge Initiative at Georgetown University.

Related

Press Statement: Islamophobic Hate Crimes Increasing Across the World · Global Threats to Freedom of Expression Arising From Gaza

Shared by the South African Muslim Network (SAMNET) in the interest of fighting Islamophobia, hate and prejudice.