RIYADH — The Jeddah-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation marked on Sunday International Day for Combating Islamophobia.
The day of remembrance was introduced in 2019 to commemorate the victims of the Christchurch attacks in New Zealand.
On that day, 51 worshippers were killed and 89 injured when a terrorist opened fire at two of the city’s mosques during Friday prayers.
The organisation published a statement Sunday from Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha with a call to action.
In it, Taha said: “Islamophobia is not only a Muslim concern. It undermines human dignity, pluralism and the freedom of religion or belief for all.
“The OIC calls upon governments, international organisations, media, social media and digital platforms, and civil society to translate commitment into concrete action through strong legal protections, responsible digital governance and genuine interfaith dialogue.”
Taha also noted that anti-Muslim incidents are on the rise, with Islamophobic rhetoric increasingly normalized in political discourse.
New technologies, artificial intelligence-generated content and digital transformation are increasingly weaponized to spread hatred at an unprecedented scale, he added.
On Friday, the organization visited the UNESCO headquarters in Paris for a high-level roundtable on combating Islamophobia.
Speakers discussed the causes of Islamophobia and its disproportional impact on women, and focused on the role of education and culture in countering misinformation and promoting dialogue.
Taha’s special envoy on Islamophobia, Ambassador Mohammad Bashgi, delivered a speech, and the event concluded with a Ramadan iftar ceremony that brought together the diverse attendees.
The OIC was founded in 2007 as one of the first international observatories monitoring Islamophobia.
Since then it has published 18 annual reports and 216 weekly reports in Arabic, English and French.
Its stated aims are to be the leading international reference in monitoring Islamophobia by documenting incidents, raising awareness internationally, sharing political dialogue and responding to offensive stereotypes in the media.
C. Arab News
