A bigoted bombshell was lobbed from Inside the Beltway last Thursday when the Senate Committee on Homeland Security under the "leadership" of Committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman and ranking Republican Susan Collins. The report, "Violent Islamist Extremism, the Internet, and the Homegrown Terrorism Threat," (PDF) combines Muslim bashing with suggestions that would further undermine Consitutional rights in the United States.
Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, summarized the ACLU response to the awful Lieberman/Collins Senate Committee report:
Though the need to prevent criminal acts of violence is unquestionable, targeting communities based on religious beliefs is unacceptable and unproductive. We will only end up stigmatizing the Islamic community and creating a nation of Islamophobes. We should not be legislating against thought and we should certainly not be regulating religious or unpopular thought. A dynamic debate can only make this country stronger and safer. (More here)
Is Islamophobia something to worry about? I think so. Islamophobia has been simmering of the back burner of Campaign 2008 for some time.
Take the case of Debbie Almontaser in New York. There are lots of statistics and studies, but sometimes a personal story is the best illustration of a problem.
Almontaser was removed as the principal of a new Arab language public school in New York City in 2007. She was thrown to the circling wolves by her own union and the NYC department of education.
Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, Almontaser explains that she began to "help safeguard my Arab, Muslim, and South Asian neighbors in Brooklyn." Aha! Typical! After all, Almontaser is an Arab Muslim immigrant from Yemen. What do you expect? Well, expect more, because Almontaser had already spent years working with a "group of Jews, Palestinians, Muslims, Christians, and others who meet on a monthly basis to talk about world issues and give each other a sense of hope and support. Immediately after September 11, some members of the dialogue called to check up on how my family and I were doing. Based on the concerns and issues I raised, I was invited by these members to go to their churches and synagogues and to speak on behalf of the Arab-American and Muslim communities in Brooklyn."
What got Almontaser fired? She became the target of right-wing media fanatics who used her to whip up fears of terrorist Muslims teaching children to become suicide bombers.
The New York Post and New York Sun led the attacks. Sun columnist Alicia Colon was especially nasty: "So whose insane idea was it to have an Arabic public school in Brooklyn open this September? Are they out of their minds? Have they learned nothing from the Netherlands about the danger of pandering to multiculturalism?"
When I first heard of this proposed school, I thought it was a joke. But then I read Daniel Pipes's column about this disguised 'madrassa' and discovered who the major principals were. Now I can't dispel this feeling of disbelief and outrage. This proposal is utter madness, considering that five years after September 11, ground zero is still a hole in the ground and we're bending over backwards to appease those sympathetic to individuals who would destroy us again. Smart, really smart.
In one online essay, Daniel Pipes, a scholar and anti-Islamic pundit, claimed that Almontaser said, "Arabs or Muslims...are innocent of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001."
The actual quote? Almontaser said "I don't recognize the people who committed the attacks as either Arabs or Muslims.... Those people who did it have stolen my identity as an Arab and have stolen my religion."
The bigoted media feeding frenzy was a disgrace. Months later the New York Times did the right thing and published a thoughtful article titled "Critics Cost Muslim Educator Her Dream School" (online here).
The Bush administration policies in the Middle East have been a disaster, and part of the blowback has been a tragic escalation of both Islamophobic and antisemitic rhetoric in volitile political debates. Muslims are portrayed as a barbarous, tribal force prompting a "Clash of Civiliaztions" in the analysis by Samuel Huntington. Jews loyal to Israel are said to be controlling U.S. foreign policy through the U.S. neoconservative movement and the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. The lurid and bigoted claims wash across the Internet. Such xenophobia and stereotyping has no place in a country that aspires to be a real democracy.
Debbie Almontaser was engaged in working in Christian, Jewish, and Muslim communities to challenge stereotypes and build bridges across communites. There are several initiatives across the country twinning the issues of Islamophobia and antisemitism. Almontaser, an early leader in such efforts has been slapped down by fanatics. Almontaser is still fighting to clear her name and regain her position in the courts. (Read more about Almontaser and an earlier Witch Hunt here)
It is into this target rich political environment of fear and xenophobia that Lieberman and Collins toss their bombshell report. And they promise more to come. More than fifty years ago, a lawyer representing another target of a political witch hunt confronted the head of an earlier Senate committee: "You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency?"
History may be repeating itself. Time will tell, and history will judge our response.
Follow Chip Berlet on Twitter: www.twitter.com/cberlet
Fear is the weapon of idiots.
I thank god that everyone can acccess the internet and get facts about these idiots.
History shows us fear mongers lose in the end.
I am happy that the voters will see fear as an election issue put out of the arena.
:-)
Don't forget to vote.
:-)
Understand that evil and strong men (with their front individual as above) commonly and falsely throughout history wrapped themselves up in Flag and Religion, however only a fool or the seriously uninformed/misinformed would believe this as fact. Nor are individuals throughout history to be accredited or blamed for an entire nations actions or regime in control.
Hitler was not alone in Germany, Stalin was not alone in Russia, and certainly Bush is not alone and accomplished what has become known and continues with blessing of many citizen. History is written by the victorious Empire, still it is not all citizens that benefit from the operations of an Empire, instead it is by the strong men or regime and those citizens that did nothing but allow continue of Empire.
America today is an Empire by all definitions of the word, and although a godless few benefit most from the covert and Corp-Gov operations, the crumbs enjoyed by the general public should soon prove not worth the disaster that this will soon bring upon all of the nation.
Pipes will find it a whole lot less comfortable being the target of tactics like his own.
Pipes vends hate, not scholarship, using all the tactics familiar to any exploration of antisemitism, or indeed many other forms of racist propaganda.
Huff's article regarding John McCain's vote against Bush was picked up by major media and flashed all over the world. Great job Huff!
Now do the same with Lieberman vis McCarthy.
Thanks.
The world has always had radicals...and it always will. Unfortunately the most dangerous radicals the world has ever faced were elected here in America. An extreme right wing psudo-christian, in control of the most powerful military in history, bent on destroying Islamic countries to steal their oil is what has upset the world.
We need to pay very close attention to our elected officials and keep reminding them of their oath of office which REQUIRES them to uphold the Constitution.
Benjamin Franklin said, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
This means we must accept a certain amount of danger as a consequence of our freedoms and if we allow our freedoms to be eliminated for security, then we don't deserve those freedoms at all. You can't ask a soldier to die to protect a freedom then expect the rest of us to give up that same freedom at home. It disrespects every life lost in it's defense.
Many of those who oppose the school are simply bigoted and dumb. The smart and perceptive ones who oppose it do so because they understand that multi-cultural understanding increases peace, and that a pool of competent Arabic translators is a valuable means of evaluating intelligence and preventing terrorist attacks before they occur. The far right loves terrorism, because it gives them a chance to clamp down on civil liberties, and gear up the war machine to steal from US taxpayers and foreigners.
There is far more evidence to support the hypothesis that one or more of the WTC towers was felled by a controlled demolition than otherwise. Also, the Bush administration has always behaved as if 9/11 was at least partially an inside job. After all, they did not fire anyone for doing a bad job leading up to 9/11, so it is reasonable to believe they thought everyone did the job they wanted.
Iran is flooding Hamas and Hizbullah with weapons.
There is no evidence to support the hypothesis that the WTC was blown up just as hijacked airplanes hit the buildings.
"Stolen" my religion? Betcha. Legitimate to look at it that way. What religion core teaching authorizes slaughter? No really. Tell me, I got to know. Even infers it is JUST in any circumstance? Talking religion now, not tribal politics, territorial rights, oil rights, occupation rights, even human rights.
"Jews loyal to Israel are said to be controlling U.S. foreign policy through the U.S. neoconservative movement and the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad." Let's see. AMERICAN JEWS we are talking about, right? Into something else again aren't we? Touchy. American citizens spied and handed classified information to the Mossad, hasn't one or two? In prison right now. Let's talk Lieberman and his foreign policy attitude. Is there some question that AIPAC and Jewish lobby aren't aimed to protect ISRAEL? Course not. All of us, AMERICA is committed, pact with ISRAEL. How far do neocons go to protect Israel? Extent they suggest WAR with IRAN is essential? Lieberman infer this? Maybe forefront legislator of this attitude? Kristol, Feith, Wolfowitz, Pearl, Lieberman, these men will send their countrymen to their death to advance their neocon agenda. Like, what? We got this super military machine, don't let it rust, use it! Thing about Lieberman that is so dangerous, he is a United States Senator who can directly influence that this happens.
The Neo-Cons aren't doing the bidding of Israel or of American Jews. They are acting in their own best interest to do what their nasty little minds think is necessary for the preservation of America, and they're using Israel and AIPAC's support as a partner to do so. If AIPAC didn't exist, the NeoCons (they have their own acronym, PNAC) would still be out advocating for war with Iran, because they think it's in America's best interest to, by any means necessary, overthrow any and all unfriendly regimes in the Middle East. It's not about religion as much as it is about the preservation of American prosperity, and the fear of Islam.
http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/neocon/index.html
Irving Kristol
Norman Podhoretz
Paul Wolfowitz
Richard Perle
Douglas Feith
Lewis "Scooter" Libby
Elliott Abrams
Robert Kagan
Michael Ledeen
William Kristol
Frank Gaffney Jr.
LOL, that's HYSTERICAL!
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/2007/11/feinstein_again_breaks_ranks_w.html
Is Feinstein the Democrats' Next Lieberman?
For the second time in recent months, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) on Friday confirmed that she will break ranks with a majority of her Democratic colleagues on the Judiciary Committee, in this case to confirm President Bush's nominee for attorney general.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein
Sen. Feinstein's support for the Mukasey nomination is a big victory for the White House. (Getty Images)
Feinstein, along with Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), announced that she will support Michael B. Mukasey's nomination, virtually assuring his confirmation despite the nominee's controversial refusal to declare an interrogation technique called waterboarding to be an illegal form of torture.
This remark was in response to a Dutch politician, Geert Willems, who is a ULTRA-conservative (one might even label him 'Nazi") who is almost isolationist in his views. Many Dutch people view him as an embarrassment, if not a danger.
As an native Californian who has migrated to Holland, I find the Dutch to be the most tolerant and humane people I have ever met. They live in harmony with all races, religions and nationalities. They actively encourage immigrants to learn the language and culture. The open paranoia and prejudice of one such as Geert Willems is, in my opinion, a threat to the national harmony of The Netherlands. America SHOULD take a lesson from the Dutch and become more tolerant of people of all religions, ethnicities, nationalities and sexual orientations. America is very narrow-minded in its view of the word 'freedom'. I never realized this till I moved here and got a little perspective.
interpretation, you deliberately left out the key element that lead to Almontaser's removal. What we both probably find noteworthy (and depressing) is, out of the very few responses to this article, the unfortunately significant % of loony, creepy responses-- the same stereotyping of Jews from the left that facists historically have done from the right, the "one or more of the WTC towers was felled by a controlled demolition" conspiracy theorist wackos, etc. I saw the planes smash into the twin towers. Friends died. It is sickening.
I don't know about you, but I find true believers on the left as creepy as those on the right. In the end, they are both the same.
Jews have always only been a historical and numerical minority of any society.
And I wish I could say that Muslims would be more rational, but the truth is that they are extremely emotional in their reactions to events. Note the cartoon controversy of 2 years ago.
Does America (or anyone) really want to mess with 1.6 billion people who are not afraid to die for what they believe in?
Um... this is America. I really think that we should be teaching immigrants - all of them - English, because English is still our national language. Never mind that we're too lazy to learn other languages - that's another issue. We wouldn't like it much if there was a public Jew school (for Jews who speak Hebrew and Yiddish), would we? Howzabout a public Spanish school? ("Bilingual" education is often a sad joke, with neither English nor other subjects in the native tongue taught well). What about a public Korean school? Maybe a public Black school? Oops, we have those, and they're bastions of poor funding and poor education.
It was wrong to run Almontaser out of town on a rail. It's wrong - and stupid - to consider all Arabs and/or all muslims to be terrorists. But we shouldn't start kids out by segregating them into their own little language-based or religion-based or race-based school communities, either.
I'm not sure exactly how their "poor funding and poor education" are relevant at all here. The argument has nothing to do with whether or not the Arabic language schools were well funded or properly administrated, supposedly we're talking about the appropriateness of them. So why do you feel the need to bring this up?