Islamophobia Watch
Documenting anti Muslim bigotry
Runnymede Trust:
The Runnymede Trust has identified eight components that they say define Islamophobia.
This definition, from the 1997 document 'Islamophobia: A Challenge For Us All' is widely accepted, including by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia.
The eight components are:
1) Islam is seen as a monolithic bloc, static and unresponsive to change.
2) Islam is seen as separate and 'other'. It does not have values in common with other cultures, is not affected by them and does not influence them.
3) Islam is seen as inferior to the West. It is seen as barbaric, irrational, primitive and sexist.
4) Islam is seen as violent, aggressive, threatening, supportive of terrorism and engaged in a 'clash of civilisations'.
5) Islam is seen as a political ideology and is used for political or military advantage.
6) Criticisms made of the West by Islam are rejected out of hand.
7) Hostility towards Islam is used to justify discriminatory practices towards Muslims and exclusion of Muslims from mainstream society.
8) Anti-Muslim hostility is seen as natural or normal.
Wikipedia
Islamophobia is the fear and/or hatred of Islam, Muslims or Islamic culture. Islamophobia can be characterized by the belief that all or most Muslims are religious fanatics, have violent tendencies towards non-Muslims, and reject as directly opposed to Islam such concepts as equality, tolerance, and democracy.
It is viewed as a new form of racism whereby Muslims, an ethno-religious group, not a race, are nevertheless constructed as a race.
A set of negative assumptions are made of the entire group to the detriment of members of that group.
During the 1990's many sociologists and cultural analysts observed a shift in forms of prejudice from ones based on skin colour to ones based on notions of cultural superiority and otherness.
Salaam website:
An excellent definition also appears on the Salaam website written by "al-Maktabi":
"the term 'Islamophobia' does not adequately express the full range and depth of antipathy towards Islam and Muslims in the West today. It is an inadequate term."
"A more accurate expression would be 'anti-Islamic racism' for it combines the elements of dislike of a religion and active discrimination against the people belonging to that religion."
Imam Dr Abduljalil Sajid:
One of the members of the Runnymede Trust's Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia which published the famous 1997 report argues that:
"Hostility towards Islam and Muslims has been a feature of European societies since the eighth century of the Common Era. It has taken different forms, however, at different times and has fulfilled a variety of functions. For example, the hostility in Spain in the fifteenth century was not the same as the hostility that had been expressed and mobilised in the Crusades. Nor was the hostility during the time of the Ottoman Empire or that which was prevalent throughout the age of empires and colonialism. It may be more apt to speak of 'Islamophobias' rather than of a single phenomenon. Each version of Islamophobia has its own features as well as similarities with, and borrowings from, other versions."
There are a number of Islamophobes who are busily spreading their lies, misinformation , hatred and bigotry against one of the world's great religion Islam.
They include Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch, Briggitte Gabriel, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Limbaugh, O'Reilly , Michael Savage etc.
Pam Geller is an anti-Islam extremist who is proud of being an Islamophobes . Though sometimes in the more mainstream press she tries to act as a moderate and a reasonable person though in most cases she fails at this task and her extremism becomes evident.. Her blog at Atlas Shrugs is a continuous stream of hate, lies & fear mongering against Islam. Her conspiracy theory about Islam as a religion of the sword allows for little room for compromises or debate because she accuses all Muslims of using violence or by practicing "Deception" (Taqiyya) in order to take control of Western Countries. Therefore whatever a Muslim says in the defense of Islam is suspect because all Muslims she claims are liars and deceivers.
She has called Muhammad a pedophile , pervert, degenerate, sex-addict and hater of women and of all non-Muslims.
So of course she and her ilk of pro-Israel and anti-Muslim, anti-Arab extremist are trying to foment protests , civil disobedience and violence against all Muslims including Muslim Americans who they believe should be kept under very strict surveillance and all be put on the No-Fly lists.
Their newest Cause célèbre & Faux Outrage is focused on the plans of Muslim Americans for building a Community Center/ Mosque near Ground Zero in New York.
Last year the Cause célèbre of the month was the Apostate Rifqa Bary.
CNN: Pamela Geller Schooled by Imam, reg Cordoba Mosque near WTC, 1 of 2
June 06, 2010
Pamela Geller's been given free range to express her bigotry against the entirety of the Muslim population in the US all through her campaign to block the building of a mosque in downtown Manhattan, two blocks from the 9-11 attacks. She's constantly accused Muslims collectively of engaging in "deception" and trying to somehow secretly undermine the US and bring about Islamic Shariah.
For ONCE, a news host doesn't just give her speaking space to rant against Islam and Muslims (as Fox News did), but contrasted her statements with the expressed statements of the Imam of the proposed mosque, and offers her own experiences that show Pamela's presumptions of Muslims are inaccurate. Furthermore they have an actual Muslim, Ahmed Soliman, who articulately and clearly points out the obvious - that the vast majority of Muslims abhor terrorism, and that Muslims have been productive and patriotic Americans for decades.
CNN: Pamela Geller Schooled by Imam, reg Cordoba Mosque near WTC, 2 of 2
Pam Geller in her numerous interviews tends to repeat her well rehearsed "Talking Points"
FOX News - Pamela Geller vs CAIR,Mosque,Taqiyya,Deception.flv
and at the CBC : Canadian broadcasting Corporation Pam Geller again proclaims the Qur'an & Islam as being violent causing millions of deaths from 632 til the present.
(she of course assumes Christians and Jews never commit violent acts or engage in wars of revenge or Aggression) for political reasons Geller wants to strengthen relations between American Jews & American Christians to give more support to Israel -she even refers to the Flotilla carrying Humanitarian aid to Gaza as being controlled by Jihadist Genocidal Muslims who are out to kill all Jews and Christians. She doesn't mention that there are Arab Jews in Israel who are treated in a shameful manner by the Israeli government or that the Settlers' movement is alo jihadist who want all non-Jews out of Eratz Israel.
She again mentions expunging & destroying the Qur'an what other religious texts of Islam or other religions does she want to expunge the texts of Hindus, Taoist, Shinto, Sikhs,Zoroastrians or Mazdians or so-called Pagans or Wiccan's etc.
Round 2: Ground Zero Mosque Debate, Pamela Geller vs Ibrahim Ramey, MAS aka Muslim Brotherhood
Brokering a peace treaty or a cease fire is now a crime in America.
Isn't this also the Israeli view and policy.
Blessed Are the Peacemakers ... But Not in America by: James E. Jennings, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed July 16, 2010
Last month's 6-3 Supreme Court decision in the case of Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project found that humanitarian groups can be judged guilty of aiding and abetting terrorism merely by holding peaceful dialog and engaging in political discussions with proscribed organizations. Those convicted may be sentenced to up 15 years in prison.
On its face, this is an infringement of the constitutional right of free speech. It means that people engaged in such contacts can be jailed for meeting with, providing humanitarian aid to or discussing political goals and activities with groups that are on the terror list. The decision also affects Americans' rights of freedom of travel, association, conscience and religion when dealing with banned or so-called "terrorist" organizations. This ruling disallows such contacts, even if the intent is peaceful. Blessed are the peacemakers, but not in America!
The decision is a serious infringement on the Bill of Rights. But so is torture - and so is the court's decision some time ago that money equals speech, awarding those with monumental wealth permanent domination over the political process. It tramples freedom of speech, of conscience, of religion and of the right to travel. As such, it is in conflict with other Supreme Court decisions. Only three Justices dissented, led by Stephen Breyer and joined by Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader-Ginsberg.
It now appears that the Obama neocon "Justice" Department is worse than the Bush-Cheney one because it is less obvious, but follows the same track - while Obama himself in his rhetoric and troop deployments imitates every aspect of the specious war on terror.
This is change, all right - but not in the direction we had hoped.
And in related news Child Soldiers Canadian Citizen Khadr who has been in prison for over eight years at infamous Guantanamo prison where he has been abused & tortured by his American guards & interrogators he now refuses to cooperate with US Authorities because he says the Americans want him to make a deal by which they can be excused for their mistreatment of him and other detainees.
As it turns out the Obama administration is no more interested in real justice than was the previous Bush/Cheney Regime.
Obama even now appears to also be covering up the abuse and torture of so-called "detainees"
Obama wants a meaningless reconciliation in which the real victims are left out and forgotten.
Obama is not interested like most Americans in discovering the extent of the abuse and torture of POWs at Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, Bagram and dozens of other American run facilities in Iraq, Afghanistan & other countries.
Guantanamo Inmate Khadr Refuses Plea Deal, Says Would Give US Government Excuse for Torture Commondreams.org, July 13, 2010
Liberty University Dean Demoted After AlterNet Investigation
Ergun Caner, dean of a religious right seminary, claimed to be a former jihadist whose heart was changed by Jesus. But he never was, and now he's no longer dean. JUly 17 2010 Alternet.org.
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