Uyghur Leader: Jewish Groups Support Us, Muslim Groups Don’t
Imagine being part of the Uyghurs, a group facing actual genocide, while world leaders, left-wing activists, and the media scream incessantly about an imaginary one.
That’s the position Salih Hudayar finds himself in. Foreign minister of the East Turkistan Government in Exile, he has been trying desperately to bring attention to what China is doing to his people – the Turkic, mostly Muslim population of a region China calls Xinjiang.
In the new episode of They Stand Corrected, the podcast and newsletter fact-checking the news, Salih calls out the epic failure of those who claim to stand for “human rights” but turn a blind eye to reality. (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.)
“The hypocrisy that this exposes — even the Muslim world’s, ‘Oh, we care about our oppressed Muslim brothers and sisters,’ it’s all fake,” he told me.
It’s only when it’s tied to their own interest. They’ve sold out their own religion, their own values, etc., for China’s money. And this is what we’re seeing. All of these people on the left are like, ‘We’re against colonialism, we’re against imperialism.’ The biggest imperialist power right now is China.
Kicked out of U.S. mosques
In the Washington DC area where he lives, he’s been “kicked out of two mosques” for even requesting a prayer to end the genocide of Uyghurs, he said. “This was during Ramadan. I said, ‘We can’t even celebrate Ramadan in East Turkistan.” But Mosque leaders refused, insisting that doing so would be political. “I said, ‘How is it politics? You let the Palestinians come and do their thing. That’s not politics. You let the Kashmiris come and do their thing. That’s not politics.’
“And they’re like, ‘Oh you’re talking bad about China. China is supportive of Palestine. China is supportive of this, China supportive of that.’ And it’s like, yeah, why is China doing that? So it can whitewash its own crimes over here. It wants to pressure the Western world. And these people don’t understand.”
On the flip side, he says, Jewish people and groups have been profoundly supportive. “I’ve had a lot of engagements with Jewish organizations, and they have been the most vocal supporters for our cause,” Salih said. “They understand what it feels like to undergo a genocide… We’ve received a lot of solidarity from Jewish people and Jewish organizations. I can’t say the same for Muslim organizations.”
On Mamdani’s dangerous message
Salih addressed the hypocrisy of the OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation), far-left influencer Hasan Piker, and New York City’s Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who recently refused to participate in an annual parade for Israel despite participating in an event that celebrated China.
Organizers of that event were linked to the Chinese Communist Party, Salih explained. Mamdani being there was “a win for them.” Mamdani participated along with the Chinese consul general, a representative of the Chinese government.
“By being there, you are sending a political message that we align with the Chinese government, we align with the CCP. And because you’re not going there to criticize what China is doing you’re essentially approving of that. You’re approving of the colonization happening in East Turkistan and Tibet. You’re approving of the occupation, you’re approving of the genocide. So that’s the message that Mamdani or any other official who attends these events sends by being there.”
