Even as CAIR-WA takes pride on focusing on local policies affecting Washington Muslims, it is also critical to remember how the global waves of Islamophobia directly affect our community as well. The global War on Terror launched by the US in the 2003 marked the start of an unprecedented wave of hate and discrimination globally, leading to unimaginable destruction in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries abroad.
Prime examples of this include China’s genocide and continued occupation of Uyghurs and other Turks in occupied East Turkistan, with the Chinese state apparatus using the pretext of “erasing terrorism” to put millions of Muslims in torture and death-ridden concentration camps and prisons.
As an Uyghur-American, I have over 90 missing relatives back home, with dozens of my family members detained and imprisoned in China’s dark and secretive camp system. My relatives who aren’t in camps live in an open-air prison with constant surveillance and fear of punishment from the Chinese government. Practicing Islam throughout occupied East Turkistan is severely restricted and is often met with lengthy prison sentences. One of my extended family members, Akram Islam, a 49-year-old middle school teacher, was charged with ‘separatism’ in 2021 and sentenced to two decades in prison after spending years in a labor camp where he was tortured. My family believes that he has been locked up due to his Arabic and Islamic name and the fact that he prayed five times a day.
Aydin Anwar giving testimony to her imprisoned relative Akram Islam in 2020. The photo shows him being awarded by the Chinese government as a top middle school mathematics teacher..
The fact that the Global War on Terror can be used by the Chinese state as a pretext to carry out a full-fledged genocide makes me ever more passionate to fight against the rhetoric of Islamophobia. For us to see any real change on an international scale, we must start locally – in our own communities. Last year, CAIR Washington’s policy experts spoke with local representatives to explain how they can empower and protect Uyghurs in Washington, especially those in university who may feel endangered, surveilled, and silenced by Chinese government informants on their campuses. Our media department has also worked tirelessly to share relevant news and action alerts regarding the genocide in occupied East Turkistan.
Aydin Anwar, right, with her sister and mother protesting China’s genocide on the Uyghurs in March 2018.
Concurrently, the Indian government has been espousing fascist rhetoric against Muslims in India, empowering Hindu extremists to conduct open murder of their Muslim neighbors. Like the Chinese government, the Indian government is now building detention camps that are designed to hold up over a million Indian and Kashmiri Muslims. Such events are likely to reverberate and have devastatingly tangible impacts on some of our local Indian and Kashmiri Muslim community members who have families abroad.
Palestinians are no exception to being victimized by this harmful blanket categorization of ‘terrorism’. Such rhetoric has enabled and justified Israel’s continued illegal occupation of Palestinian territory, as well as the US’s funding of Israel’s military. CAIR chapters across the country are fighting in the courts and continuing to win the right to engage in First Amendment protected boycotts on behalf of Palestinian rights. CAIR-WA recently won the right of two artists to display their sculpture which read, “Remember Palestine” at the Redmond Lights display, only days after initially being prohibited from displaying their art. The piece is now permanently installed in CAIR-WA’s offices as a symbol of their bravery in the face of anti-Palestinian sentiment.
It is of utmost importance that we keep our fellow Muslims abroad in our prayers, and take action by advocating locally, in protests, and directly to lawmakers. The Global War on Terror has been ongoing and intercontinental, with everlasting effects on our communities. CAIR-WA will continue to amplify and advocate for our Muslim communities abroad that are undergoing such atrocities in the name of ‘fighting terrorism’.
Aydin Anwar is a Community Organizer at CAIR Washington, based in Yakima.