Iran Chosen As Official Poster of Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week

The far right is taking its favorite catchphrase on tour. Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week is coming to a campus near you.

According to FrontPage magazine's David Horowitz, the event was designed to "confront the two Big Lies of the political left: that George Bush created the 'war on terror' and that global warming is a greater danger to Americans than global jihad and Islamic supremacism." The week's events will include "awareness" speeches by Michael Ledeen, Rick Santorum, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter as well as Horowitz himself. With such a fair and balanced list, Islamo-Fascism Week will be the perfect environment to proselytize anti-Islamic propaganda to the under 30 crowd.

According to Horowitz, the official poster of Islamo-Fascism week shows a photo of a teenage girl being stoned to death in Iran (disclosure: my country of birth) and will also feature speeches from Iranians who were victims of persecution. As an Iranian-American, I appreciate that they're spreading the word about human rights abuses in my native country. Unfortunately, I think their goal has less to do with spreading awareness than it does with fostering fear, suspicion and bigotry. Case in point: the poster is not a photo of a teenage girl being stoned to death, but a still taken from the 1994 Dutch indie film De Steen, directed by Mahnaz Tamizi and featuring an actress, Smadar Monsinos. FrontPage describes the posters as follows: "The photo accompanying this article, which shows a teenage girl buried before being stoned to death for alleged sexual offenses, will serve as the poster for the protest Week. The stoning took place in Iran." They have since removed the widely circulated photo, but have left the language in place. While there should be no doubt about the barbaric punishments Sharia law imposes on women who have been charged with "immoral" acts, raising awareness about the plight of these women is not Horowitz and company's foremost concern.

Islamo-Fascism Awareness week is about telling you that Islam is evil and that Muslims are out to get you. When in fact, some crazy and violent people have hijacked the religion of billions of peaceful people.

As part of the festivities, the event will feature a series of one-sided films including Islam: What the West Needs to Know, which extols the worldview of good (Christianity) versus evil (Islam). According to FrontPage, the movie is designed to reveal the "violent, expansionary ideology of the so called 'religion of peace' that seeks the destruction or subjugation of other faiths, cultures, and systems of government."

The event will also include a petition drive designed to force "students and faculty to declare their allegiances: either to fighting our terrorist adversaries or failing to take action to stop our enemies." Students will be instructed to urge their classmates to sign and to call attention to those who don't -- reminiscent of the same public pressure to side with "us" or "them" that defined the McCarthy era. The program notably encourages confronting groups "who might be least likely to sign" the petition. Examples include school administrators and the Muslim Students Association.

So much for higher education.

Comments

[Qbear]

Azadeh Ensha,

Funny the line up of the speakers is like Western FASCISTS meet Eastern FASCISTS.

The images of teen boys hanged for being gay in Iran, doesn't make me too impressed with Iranian society.

[Aroon]

Terrorism problems are not make-believe, they are real. But terrorists are criminals and should be treated as such. You should capture them, try them, hang them or simply kill them. But you don't punish an entire population because some of them are criminals. Considering the terrorist students involved in school shootings in USA, should we say that all americans are terrorists?

[whomung]

They are beating the drums for another war

* war is VERY profitable....Look at the stock market... and the market for very high end luxery housing

Particularly if you are an arms investor, or a mercenary.... not a front line US soldier

But to go to war, and make all that money, you need to CREATE AN ENEMY

Hence... "Islamic Fascism"

as opposed to RightWingN­utCretinCh­ristian Fascism"

[OldKnute]

YEP!!!!

If we factor out Boeing, Halliburton, KBR, Blackwater, Lockheed/Martin and a bunch of others, I bet the Dow would be around 11,000.

Am I close?

Ok,,, Ok,,,,??? Umm?

11,500. ?????

All the best

Knute (Neo-Lib)

PS I was thinking, it was about 1972 that the Dow broke 1,000.

There abouts.

BUT,,,, BUT,,,, It only cost about 1.8 Average Annual Incomes to buy the average new, 4 bedroom, 2 bath home.

NOW, it cost 12 Annual Salaries,,,,,, NOT for a NEW HOME,,, but for that SAME, OLD,,,, 35 Year old house!

Humm???

ODD!

Even Nixon did it better!

[whomung]

Nixon had the grace to eventually resign.... Bush doesn't have the Brain, Integrity, Grace or Class

[gnorrfa]

the neoclunks are obsessed with hatred of others who do not march to their band. "newunderground" got it right. "they're everywhere, they're everywhere! scream and shout, they're everywhere!"
no army. no navy. no airforce. but they want to kill all americans. maybe "they" do, but how the hell are they gonna do it? the neoclunks seem to want EVERYBODY to hate the u.s. that way you always know who your enemies are and where to find them.

[newunderground]

Did you know this is also cristo-fascist awareness week. Beat up a bigot near you!

[OldKnute]

Hahaha!

The FOX NEWS team is at it again!

Fear, fear, fear!!!!!!!

What, no Nancy Grace, No Diane Dimond, No Bill O` Really, No Limbaugh?

WAIT!

What about Mark Fuhrman, Ted Haggart and Gloria Allred,????

Spin, Spin, Spin,, FEAR,,, FEAR,,,, FEAR!

Rupert*s Troopers!

Smear, smear, smear,,, FEAR, FEAR, FEAR!

Hahahaha!!!!!!

Oh GOSH,,,, this is getting SOOOOOO Old!

And sooo obvious!!!!!

Hey Rupert,,, YOU ARE AN ARSE!

Bashing Abos not good enough for ya????

An old, bigoted, racist, shriveled up ARSE!

JMO

All the best

Knute (Neo-LIB)

PS, I canceled my subscription to the Wall Street Journal.

So there!!!!

[realitytrumpsbull]

I'm a heathen, I don't go to church, don't support organized religion, and I am highly
suspicious of politicall­y-motivate­d religious
groups of ANY stripe, islam, christian, or
other. Beware highly motivated people bearing
religious literature, firearms, money, and a
manic gleam in their eyes...religion's a good
manipulation tool...

[Plowboy]

Nobody could have said it better! What I think we should be looking at is the driving forces behind this hate Islam movement. It is high on disinformation and propagandistic tricks of (phony!) identifications followed by "us" against "them." Those responsible for such efforts to mislead are our worst enemies.

[Seafoam]

I find these right wing demagogues who stir up hatred..especially against Islam to be the lowest of the low. I am not a muslim, I do not tolerate religious hatred hatred stirred up by religious extremists but the greatest filth is hatred stirred up by political demagogues against religions. like Islam. David Horowitz, Michael Ledeen, Rick Santorum, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, etc. - what scum. And it doesn't work to coin a word like "Christo-facists" Just fuels it more.

[livesimply]

This is pitiful. What kind of educational institution would allow this kind of propaganda?

[Senzasord]

I categorically detest the term "Islamo-Fascism" because it is a term coined by the right to cast aspersions on the Islamic faith and give a smoke screen to those in the administration who are the true fascists. A fascist country, like Hitler's Germany or Franco's Spain where the dictator is in bed with the corporations and everything is run to benefit big business, has nothing to do with Islam. It seems to have everything to do with George Bush and Dick Cheney. I would encourage all progressives to eschew the term "Islamo-Fascism" entirely since it has no meaning. The fascists are in the White House.

[BamaRainbow]

Interesting that you mentioned Franco's Spain. Guess what institution was a strong supporter of Franco from his initial coup all the way until his death? If you guessed the Roman Catholic Church, you get a (metaphorical) gold star.
Incidentally, in every Latin American country where right-wing quasi-fascist or actual fascist regimes have been in control, the Roman Catholic Church has been a strong supporter. Whether Peronist Argentina, Stroessner's Paraguay, Pinochet's Chile or Somoza's Nicaragua, the RCC has been firmly on the government's side--even to the point of Rome's formal denunciation of "liberation theology", a popular, and populist, combination of Marxism and Christ's actual social advocacy teachings from the New Testament. (Also, the RCC, following the 1929 Lateran Treaty with Mussolini, became deeply entangled with the Italian government, an entanglement that has only begun unravelling in the last couple of decades. Witness, for instance, formal Papal denunciations--even threats of excommunication--of Italian politicians advocating divorce, legal abortions, or gay rights. While a Papal denunciation might be less effective among average Italians now than in earlier years, the fact that many local priests and bishops are issuing the same condemnations from their pulpits is seen as having a greater effect on politicians, most of whom resent the religious interference but are reluctant to speak out against a local priest or bishop.)

[altohone]

I was dismayed to see Tavis Smiley give John Bolton a platform to air his propaganda in the bomb Iran media blitz that includes the program you mention, and Condi's claims yesterday about Iran lying...

... Condi's parroting of the "There is no doubt" Cheney line should send shudders through the bones of anybody who can remember the months leading up to war in Iraq.

Putin deserves credit for stating plainly that no proof about a weapons program exists, and the neocons clearly reacted to his reality based approach that skewered their efforts to push for a bombing campaign.

The doubts raised by Smiley about the information Bolton spewed were too mild... he cut Bolton too much slack when allowing the framing to his questions to be ignored in favor of the neocon spin.

It's hard to believe the lessons so clearly laid out by Bill Moyers in the Iraq war sales job are being tolerated once again by corporate media "journalists" and pundits, and even PBS viewers.

[akoop]

Come on Azadeh, would you have us believe that there are Muslims who would exploit a religious concept to a fanatical limit? Are you suggesting that there are 'some' Muslims who actually might 'practice' their religion without the overlying concept of world domination.

Thank goodness we don't have people in the U.S.of A. that think eveyone should believe the same way they do....oh, never mind.

[BenMurphyNYC]

I'm not a fan of Iran's leadership but why is the same criticism never leveled at Saudi Arabia?

[jrockbg]

Because the danger comes from a different source.
Iran's government is a hostile entity. Determined to gain power in the region using their military and oil assets. However, the people of Iran, are on the brink of revolution. They do not want to be behind the rest of the world in advancements and opportunity. The govt of Iran is seen by its people as suppressing those ideas.
Saudi Arabia has a friendly govt. Relatively. While they appease some Islamic hardliners in their country, the govt is primarily focused on maximizing its oil resources and improving trade relations throughout the world. The people of Saudi Arabia does however have its share of anti-Western fanatics. They wish to participate in the Jihad against the west regardless of how far back it sets their country. Examples of those would be most of the 9/11 hijackers.
It's difficult to point to what is basically a subculture within a country and state a gripe. A govt, actively going against our interests, is more easily held accountable on a world stage.

[LITU]

Someone needs to edumacate these right-wing idiots. Moussolini, father of modern fascism, stated that a more apt name for the cause would be corporatism. Therefore, fascism is corporatism, with all the adjuncts that go along with it.

I fail to see how a theocracy can be labeled corporatism? The ONLY country that seems to fit the definition of fascism is the United States.

[TRUE BLUE AMERICAN]

Every time I turn around some lefty is stating that the terrorism problem is just make-believe stuff to scare Americans.Pull your head out people the threat is real.Nobody high-jacked the religion,they have been following the same text from the start.You can talk to them until your blue in the face, but don't be surprised that your face turned blue because someone cut your head off.

[altohone]

True Red-

Al Quaida attacked us.

Not Islam, not Iraq, not Iran, not Hamas, not Hezbollah.

Sending the dogcatcher after Lassie when Cujo eats your baby makes about as much sense.

[newunderground]

They're pipsqueaks in caves. Compared to the Russians or Nazi's these terroerists are NOTHING. How many divisions do they have? What industrial capacity do they have. I read a couple of daye ago that the official secrets act was invoked 6 times between 1945 and 2000. It's been invoked 39 times since 2001, most recently in the supreme court case with that German citizen illegally 'renditioned' (brutally kidnapped and tortured). Go see what Merle Haggard has to say about the climate of fear you pussies have engendered. They're weak. They may be able to kill a few of us, or maybe a lot of us. But they can't take us over and they can't take our freedom, Only we can do that. To quote another musician," I'd rather be a free man in my grave, than livin as a puppet or a slave!!!

[shockmagog]

TRUE BLUE AMERICAN says:

"Every time I turn around some lefty is stating that the terrorism problem is just make-believe stuff to scare Americans."

Then stop turning around. Just look straight ahead with blinders on, just like the plow horse you normally are.