Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz is the latest victim of an intricate web of half-truths and outright lies woven for political profit and as part of a broad, well funded, Islamophobia network. The Congresswoman was slated to be the keynote speaker at an April 21 event for the group EMERGE USA, but backed off after a scathing blog post by Joe Kaufman, who happens to be running for a Congressional seat for Florida's District 20.
EMERGE USA is a non-profit committed to empowering minorities through increased civic engagement and education about the political process. The organization has strong roots in the community and has been publicly supported by one of Florida's senior statesmen, former Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham, an expert on terrorism and intelligence. However, the fact that EMERGE USA was founded and is run by Muslims seems to be the proverbial bee in Kaufman's bonnet. Ultimately, Kaufman's Glen Beck-esque acrobatics in trying to link EMERGE USA board members and staff to "questionable" organizations and associations can be easily dismissed because of factual errors and deliberate obfuscation.
The truly insidious aspect of this entire incident, however, is that it can be linked to a multi-pronged attack on Muslims nationwide through the creation of an Islamophobia network with deep pockets and an agenda to marginalize American Muslims at every turn. The Center for American Progress's 2011 report "Fear, Inc." thoroughly documents this network's funding, messengers and reach. Its efforts have manifested in anti-sharia legislation in dozens of states, bigoted trainings for law enforcement and intelligence communities, the character assassination of mainstream national Muslim organizations and even promotion of the idea that President Obama is a Muslim.
The nightmarish narrative disseminated by the numerous think tanks, pundits and self-appointed "experts" on Islam and terrorism has not only successfully influenced the American discourse on Islam and Muslims, but has had significant political impact. The Islamophobia network focuses much of its time and energy on influencing and supporting politicians who promulgate its world view. It provides politicians with talking points, platforms and agenda items to keep the suspicion and fear of Islam and Muslims in the news. Examples of such politicians cited by the "Fear, Inc." report include the following:
The politicians who continue to be used to spread or confirm the network's ugly narrative must realize something very important: while winning small battles, they are losing the war. History has proven that bigots, racists, xenophobes, anti-Semites and other variations on the same brand of fear and suspicion have never succeeded -- socially or politically. Even genocide, the extreme expression of bigotry, has left nothing but failed ideology in its wake.
A simple understanding of the human psyche tells us that people tire of living in fear, worn out from perpetually being "anti-other." Over time, we make up and move on. The battle of the Islamophobes will also eventually be lost because American Muslims and their allies will continue to push back against false narratives. The lifespan of Islamophobia in the United States will undoubtedly end up a sad blight on our history like other failed "anti" movements -- but politicians, both Republican and Democrat, should ask themselves on what side of history they wish to be.
Rabia Chaudry is an attorney, President of the Safe Nation Collaborative, and an Associate Fellow of the Truman National Security Project.
We have to be legitimately concerned if islamic leadership is asking for sharia and quite rightly be anti sharia.
Just slap a label on it. It's like calling someone a "racist." It's impossible to disprove a charge like that...true or not. The same is true with "Islamophobia." It's a clever little ruse to silence freedom of speech.
How can anyone believe these Islamist fantasies any more? 'Mostly progressive'? 68% of US Muslims oppose equal right for gay people & many want the death penalty for them, while over 70% of US Christians support those rights because of their faith.
Buddhism & Hinduism are growing much faster than Islam in the US yet Islam is always in the news - why? It is the only group that is always pushing for special rights, for silencing any criticism of its primitive tribal tenets, for eliminating the truth of its history from our school textbooks, etc. Buddhists & Hindus aren't trying to forcibly establish their religions around the world daily, as Islamists are doing nor have they committed acts of terror in the West.
She wants you to believe that the MB & its fronts, like CAIR, are just nice Muslim social orgs. Here's what an FBI captured doc from the US MB says is their goal in the West:
"The process of settlement is a "Civilization-Jihadist Process" with all the word means. The Ikhwan (brotherhood) must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and "sabotaging" its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions..." (http://www.investigativeproject.org/document/id/20)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Emerson#Criticism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Emerson
As we all know, Doug, Emerson's warnings about Al-Qaeda prior to 9/11 proved all too well justified:
"...just a few months before 9/11, he wrote on May 31, 2001: 'Al-Qaeda is ... planning new attacks on the US.... [It has] learned, for example, how to destroy large buildings.... Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups ... have silently declared war on the US; in turn, we must fight them as we would in a war.'"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Emerson#Voiced_concerns
Yes Doug, those of us who are "pro-humanity," "pro-free-speech" and "pro-human-rights" are likely to be "anti-Islam."
In the following article by the Investigative Project, we see how CAIR uses the same tactic used again and again by Islamic apologists, even on Huffington Post: denigrate any criticism of Islam as hateful "Islamophobia."
http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/292.pdf
The Prince of Peace is coming, we need to partner with him in the Gospel as he commanded if we want to pave the way.
Muslim Prof. Ilyas ba Yunus did research & says 75% of US converts to Islam leave it w/in a few years, once they learn what it is really all about: ) http://youtu.be/v8EC8-aVlrE
An Al Jazeera TV interview with a rabid Muslim Sheikh says that 6million Muslims are leaving Islam each year, &, of course, the Sheikh is calling for them all to be killed: http://youtu.be/xdVnILalpeo
200,000 leave Islam in UK & 1000s must live in fear & hiding due to Muslim threats & violence: http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article510589.ece&date=2011-09-18
15,000 leave each year in France & face ostracism & death threats: http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://zeenews.india.com/Zee-Exclusive/2007-02-06/352375news.html&date=2011-09-18
35,000 Turks leave each year: http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://web.archive.org/web/20041214041028/http://www.beliefnet.com/story/139/story_13903_1.html&date=2011-09-18
Converts to Islam are often speaking out, but few converts FROM Islam dare to speak because Islam is the only religion that kills those who leave it.
http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Fastest_Growing_Religion
Muslims do believe Jesus will return, the just are confused about what that really means.
Penalizing Criticism of Islam Threatens Free Speech and Reforms
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ida-lichter-md/penalizing-criticism-of-islam-threatens-free-speech_b_1334590.html
It is interesting to compare the two articles in terms of biased language. But I won't spoil the fun for others here.
Rabia Chaudry Is not arguing that we should ban criticism of Islam. She's talking about bigotry against Muslims, which does involve distortions of Islam, but no where in her article is she even suggesting that we ban that. That story is not a logical response to what she wrote. Instead of addressing her valid concerns about anti Muslim bigotry you post a reply linking to a commentary about how people shouldn't be punished for criticizing Islam. While I support free speech, its not talking about the same thing.
Kuwait Mulls Death Penalty For Insulting God, Prophet
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/12/kuwait-mulls-death-penalty-for-insulting-god_n_1420492.html
And these
Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah, Saudi Islamic Leader, Says Churches Should Be Destroyed
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/02/sheikh-abdul-aziz-bin-abdullah-says-churches-should-be-destroyed_n_1398157.html
JEF
You're only Islamophobic if you hate or fear Muslims based on misinformation, and or spread such misinformation, yourself.
(Just as an arachnophobe is someone who irrationally fears spiders, based on misinformation about them, an Islamophobe is someone who hates, fears or distrusts Islam and/or Muslims, based on misinformation about them.)
That information about the Saudi Arabian mufti is factual, and you have every right to hold and express an opinion about it.
I hold exactly the same opinion you do.
Thankfully, the Saudis practice an ultra-conservative form of Islam that roughly 95% of all Muslims do not support.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahhabi
Some so-called 'christians' on the other hand (even alleged ministers), one's that have no idea what the Bible really teaches us in this regard, now that's something different.
Certainly not.
"In short, as a result of these conquests, destructions and imposition of Islamic tribal medievalism, societies under the Islamic Empire went further than any other in their total exclusion of women from political power and social influence. Islamic legislation went far beyond anything the prophet had originally dreamed of in his tribal religiosity in cheating women of their rightful place in society and in matters of inheritance. Where originally the Koran gave women the right of inheritance, the Islamic mullah invented the legalized institution of Waqf- the religious foundation, to exclude the daughters and their descendents from inheritance. Though the Koran does give the right of inheritance to women, she continued to be a minor; usually uneducated needing a guardian in father, husband or the son. Indeed, the status of women in Islam is theoretically exalted but utterly deplorable in practice."
http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Islam_and_Women_(Dr._Younis_Shaikh)
(Instead of clicking on it, you will need to copy and paste this url into your browser).
http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Women_in_Islam_-_From_Islam's_Sources
(Instead of clicking on it, you will need to copy and paste this url into your browser).
- On the contrary, he meant religion helped spread and deepen the tribal culture, as it was man made in the first place.
How can these despicable tenets be an "insinuation of tribal culture" when every school of islamic law and every country governed fully be islamic law - both Sunni AND Shia - get it wrong in exactly same way?
In one case, we have links to an anti-Muslim website with long lists of non-existent articles that have inflammatory titles. I suppose that the idea is that people won't actually try to go beyond the rhetoric in the title to find out if there's any real information there. The links that did work often went to more unverifiable or biased articles.
(I spent half an hour checking links over at "wikiislam". As much fun as swimming in a cesspool, and almost as informative. I'll pass on checking anything else over there. Once was quite enough.)
Most folks haven't had the opportunity to visit primarily Muslim countries. I have. In over twenty years active duty with the Navy, I visited Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.
Saudi Arabia wasn't my favorite country to visit, and there's no doubt that being a Christian there is uncomfortable at best and dangerous at worst.
In no other Muslim country did I feel unwelcome or uncomfortable being a Christian.
If you want to learn about Islam, and you're a church-goer, I suggest that your church's adult education program ask a representative from a local mosque to speak. Respectful dialog, rather than conversion, should be the order of the day.
That's also my experience. There are always people in any country whom the rest of the world could easily learn to live without, but my experience of Muslims is that they are generous, friendly, and open-handed.
There are many blogs, like this one, where people go on, and on, and on, about sharia law [sic], Muslims, etc., and I just don't recognise in their caricatures the people who I have met, and with whom I have worked.
http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Persecution_of_Non-Muslims#Pakistan
(Ever so sorry if the titles sound "infammatory!" Isn't it shocking that some people have the impoliteness to publish articles about atrocities, completely disregarding the sensitivities of those who commit them!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56ZelWdtYE4
http://clarifyingislam.com/2011/04/30/600-page-fatwa-condemning-terrorism-by-internationally-respected-islamic-legal-scholar/
http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Islam_and_Apostasy
http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Persecution_of_Ex-Muslims
Is it a "phobia" to oppose a religion that denies freedom of religion even to its own followers?
Of course not.
Maybe ask them about it, rather than simply posting anti-Islam links.