Dear Colleagues and Friends,

The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) are pleased to invite you to the next session of our World Policy Forum (WPF):

World Policy Forum

Un-American:

How Islamophobia Betrays American Values and Undermines its Interests

📅 Wednesday, October 28, 2026

🕟 10:00 – 11:30 AM EDT Eastern Time (Via Zoom)

To attend the webinar via zoom: click Register

Twenty-five years after 9/11, Islamophobia in the United States is no longer confined to the fringes. It is increasingly voiced by elected officials and written into policy.

The Muslim Public Affairs Council has documented an 11-fold increase in threats and attacks against Muslims and Islamic institutions in the first three months of 2026. Researchers found that after the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began, daily Islamophobic posts on X tripled within the first week. Officials in several states, especially Texas and Florida, are treating ordinary Muslim practice, including prayer, dress, mosques, and community celebrations, as a political threat. Some are pushing to redefine what counts as a “religion” at all.

This matters to every American, not only to Muslim Americans. A country that tells one faith community its rights are conditional has weakened the First Amendment for everyone. Suspicion of a whole community distorts policy, undermines trust in law enforcement, and damages the democratic norms that make America distinctive. Abroad, when Washington speaks of religious freedom and democracy, while its own Muslim citizens face hostility at home, its credibility and influence suffer.

Our panelists will explore:

• How Islamophobia moved from the margins into mainstream politics and policy

• What it costs American democracy, constitutional freedoms, and national security

• How it affects U.S. credibility and influence abroad

• What Americans of all backgrounds can do about it

Featured Panelists

Tuqa Nusairat, Executive Director, Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU). A Middle East policy expert and former Atlantic Council strategy director, she leads ISPU, the leading research institution on American Muslims.

Mobashra Tazamal, Associate Director, The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University. She specializes in War on Terror discourse and state-sponsored Islamophobia worldwide.

Arsalan Iftikhar, Founder, TheMuslimGuy.com. An international human rights lawyer and global media commentator, he wrote Scapegoats: How Islamophobia Helps Our Enemies and Threatens Our Freedoms.

Asma Uddin, Professor of Law, Michigan State University. She wrote When Islam Is Not a Religion: Inside America’s Fight for Religious Freedom and is a leading voice on Muslim religious liberty.

Moderated by Dr. Radwan Masmoudi, Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) and Senior Advisor at the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC).

Free and open to the public. Registration required. This is a virtual event; there will be no in-person attendance.

MPAC and CSID Teams

Tuqa Nusairat

Tuqa Nusairat is Executive Director of the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), where she leads the organization’s strategy, representation, and growth. She previously served as Director for Strategy, Operations, and Finance for the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs, supporting research on political reform, civil society, and human rights. She has years of experience in civic engagement, advocacy, and organizational management.

Her expertise includes American Muslim civic participation, Islamophobia, media portrayals of Muslims, and U.S. Middle East policy. Her commentary has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, and Foreign Policy. She holds an M.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a B.A. from George Mason University.

Mobashra Tazamal

Mobashra Tazamal is Associate Director of the Bridge Initiative at Georgetown University, a leading research project on Islamophobia. Her work examines global Islamophobia, including China’s campaign against Uyghur Muslims, the lasting effects of War on Terror rhetoric, the rise of ethnonationalism, and the financial and transatlantic networks behind the Islamophobia “industry.”

Before joining the Bridge Initiative, she worked in human rights advocacy and immigration law. Her writing has appeared in The Independent, Al Jazeera, Middle East Eye, Truthout, and The New Arab. She holds a master’s degree in Islamic Societies and Cultures from SOAS, University of London.

Arsalan Iftikhar

Arsalan Iftikhar is an international human rights lawyer, global media commentator, and award-winning author. He is the founder of TheMuslimGuy.com and the GeoMuslim Institute, a watchdog that challenges anti-Muslim bigotry. He is the author of Scapegoats and Fear of a Muslim Planet. President Jimmy Carter called Scapegoats “an important book that shows Islamophobia must be addressed urgently.”

Iftikhar spent five years on the faculty of Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, including as a Senior Research Fellow at the Bridge Initiative. He is a longtime commentator for NPR and CNN, and a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and its School of Law.



Asma Uddin


Asma Uddin is a lawyer, Assistant Professor of Law, and author who specializes in religious liberty and the rights of Muslims in America. She teaches constitutional law and the First Amendment at Michigan State University College of Law. She is a Fellow for Religious Freedom at the Freedom Forum and a Religion & Society Fellow at the Aspen Institute.

She is the author of When Islam Is Not a Religion and The Politics of Vulnerability. Earlier, she was counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and founding editor-in-chief of altmuslimah.com. She also served as executive producer of the Emmy- and Peabody-nominated docuseries The Secret Life of Muslims. She holds a J.D. from the University of Chicago.

Radwan A. Masmoudi

Moderator

Founder and President of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, CSID, and Senior Advisor for Strategic and Philanthropic Initiatives at MPAC. Dr. Masmoudi has led programs on civic education, democratic governance, and policy dialogue across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and in Washington, DC.