Islamaphobia - a cultural cancer.

Since The View From Fez posted our story on the rise of Islamaphobia, we were inundated with emails from people who thought we had it all wrong. The common thread of most emails was that Islam is the problem. The hate expressed by those who felt the need to correct us appears to be little more than a mask for their own fears.

Sadly, the internet and the tabloid press have become the weapon of choice for those whose own Islamaphobia spurs them to communicate it to others. The headlines and posts tell the story.

EUROPE IS SICK OF MUSLIMS--OUT!

Free governments are coming to understand that one cannot dialogue with Muslims. They have their way or else. If it does not agree with Allah, then it is non existent. Treaties, United Nations sessions, trips from Washington to the Palestinian Authority�all this is a waste of time and energy. Muslims honor none of this. They only honor guns that praise Allah.

Free countries must deport all Muslims to Muslim countries. Free counties must see that no Muslims ever enter again. Free countries must teach the next generation the killing cultic truth about Islam. Free countries must stand together, for instance, regarding Hamas and snuff it out economically by not providing it with any funds.

The author of this little diatribe is one J Grant Swank and it is no surprise to find he is a member of the Christian Fundamentalist rightwing who believes ... "That's the state of the world right now. It's God verses Satan."

In a column commenting on the recent violence linked to cartoons in European newspapers that satirized the Muslim Prophet Muhammad, right-wing pundit Ann Coulter suggested that Islam is "a car-burning cult," and wrote that Muslims have "a predilection for violence."

From Coulter's February 8 column:

One [cartoon] showed Muhammad turning away suicide bombers from the gates of heaven, saying "Stop, stop -- we ran out of virgins!" -- which I believe was a commentary on Muslims' predilection for violence. Another was a cartoon of Muhammad with horns, which I believe was a commentary on Muslims' predilection for violence. The third showed Muhammad with a turban in the shape of a bomb, which I believe was an expression of post-industrial ennui in a secular -- oops, no, wait: It was more of a commentary on Muslims' predilection for violence.

[...]

Muslims are the only people who make feminists seem laid-back.

[...]

The belief that Islam forbids portrayals of Muhammad is recently acquired. Back when Muslims created things, rather than blowing them up, they made paintings, frescoes, miniatures and prints of Muhammad.

But apparently the Koran is like the Constitution: It's a "living document," capable of sprouting all-new provisions at will. Muslims ought to start claiming the Koran also prohibits indoor plumbing, to explain their lack of it.

[...]

Making the rash assumption for purposes of discussion that Islam is a religion and not a car-burning cult, even a real religion can't go bossing around other people like this.

Coulter's attacks on Muslims are nothing new. One day after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Coulter wrote of Muslims: "We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity." These comments resulted in her being fired by the conservative National Review. In her most recent book, How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must): The World According to Ann Coulter (Crown Publishing Group, 2004), Coulter wrote: "I am often asked if I still think we should invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity. The answer is: Now more than ever!" She reiterated this stance on the October 4, 2004, edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes:

COLMES: Would you like to convert these people all to Christianity?

COULTER: The ones that we haven't killed, yes.

COLMES: So no one should be Muslim. They should all be Christian?

COULTER: That would be a good start, yes.

And the problem is not confined to the USA,

In Great Britain the Sun Newspaper seems to think Islamaphobia is more acceptable than anti-semitism and is fanning the flames with stories like this:

The strict Islamic legal system — which in extreme cases involves punishments such as STONING and AMPUTATION — applies in hardline Muslim countries. NEARLY half of all Muslims living in Britain want harsh Sharia law in THIS country.

Yesterday an ICM poll found 40 per cent of UK Muslims would favour the laws in predominantly Muslim areas. And 20 per cent admitted “sympathy with the motives” of the London suicide bombers — even if they did not think the attack was justified.

Media ‘hate’ columnists feed Islamaphobia

A REPORT on Islamaphobia in the UK concludes prejudice against Muslims has grown over the last five years. The report, by a special commission on Islamaphobia set up by the Runnymede Trust charity, blames 9/11 and the emphasis on Muslim terrorism in the media for encouraging and spreading negative attitudes.

The report is short on fact and concentrates on the results of interview with Muslims in four cities including Manchester. It also draws heavily on articles - both pro and anti Muslim - published in the media noting that over 60 per cent of people who were asked said their attitudes towards Islam and Muslims were a product of media influence.

It says that the demonisation of refugees by the British tabloid press has also increased Islamaphobia, the word "asylum seeker" being seen as a coded attack on Muslims.

Of the many anti-Muslim passages quoted in the research perhaps the most typical is from The Sunday Times columnist Melanie Phillips who wrote: "We have a fifth column in our midst...Thousands of alienated young Muslims, most of then born here but who regard themselves as an army within, are waiting for an opportunity to help to destroy the society that sustains them. We are now staring into an abyss, aghast."

LINKS :

See our previous story Islamaphobia - a rising tide

The wisdom of Ann Coulter.

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