Recognizing Religious Bias

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) What is Antisemitism? page (USHMM) defines antisemitism as "prejudice against or hatred of Jews." The Holocaust was history’s most extreme example of antisemitism; however, antisemitism dates back to the Middle Ages and continues today with antisemitic violence and Holocaust Denial.

What is Holocaust Denial?

The USHMM Holocaust Denial and Distortion page defines Holocaust denial as "any attempt to negate the established facts of the Nazi genocide of European Jews. [A form of antisemitism,] Holocaust denial and distortion generally claim that the Holocaust was invented or exaggerated by Jews as part of a plot to advance Jewish interests. These views perpetuate long-standing antisemitic stereotypes, hateful beliefs that helped lay the groundwork for the Holocaust. Holocaust denial, distortion, and misuse all undermine the truth and our understanding of history."

The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding states that Islamophobia manifests in many different anti-Muslim activities that fall under three different categories: structural, individual, and dialectic. 

• Structural Islamophobia is reflected in institutionalized anti-Muslim legislation and further perpetuated through dialectical Islamophobia via policing, bias in media representation and in the legal system, and the use of anti-Muslim rhetoric and statements by political candidates and elected or appointed officials. 
• On a community level, the emergence of anti-Muslim hate groups, anti-Muslim rallies, organized and anti-mosque activity, including opposition to mosque construction or expansion, vandalism, and opposition to refugee resettlement, demonstrate Islamophobia.
• At the private individual level, Islamophobia takes the form of harassment and violence.