Skip to comments.
The "Islamophobes" That Aren't-Wahhabi lobby's targets anyone opposed to Islamist terrorism.
Tech Central Station | Frontpagemagazine ^
| April 28, 2005
| Stephen Schwartz
Posted on 04/28/2005 5:40:53 AM PDT by SJackson
The Wahhabi lobby's "profiling" targets anyone opposed to Islamist terrorism.
The "Islamophobes" That Aren't |
|
By Stephen Schwartz
Tech Central Station | April 28, 2005 A continuous propaganda of grievance emanates from the Wahhabi lobby in America - the range of organizations that make up the country's "Islamic" establishment. Backed by Saudi Arabia and its state cult, which is the most extreme form of the religion of Muhammad, as well as by the Muslim Brotherhood (based in Egypt), and the jihadist Jama'ati movement in Pakistan, these groups have benign names: the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Muslim Students' Association of the U.S. and Canada (MSA), the Arab American Institute (AAI), the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), the Muslim American Society (MAS), and the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA).
Such entities complain, above all, about "profiling" -- the alleged practice of selecting American Muslims for particular governmental scrutiny as potential terrorism suspects. "Profiling" has become a politically-correct cliché equated with stereotyping and discrimination, to such an absurd degree that in January, during the elections in Iraq, I was confronted by an Iraqi Sunni advocate who accused me of "profiling" Iraqis because I pointed out the differences between Sunnis and Shia Muslims over the future of the Baghdad government.
American governmental "profiling" of Arabs and Muslims has been a trivial phenomenon at worst. U.S. federal investigators have in most cases been extremely cautious, notwithstanding hysterical claims and rumors fostered by the Wahhabi lobby. This blather focuses on accusations of wholesale injustice and supposed preparation of internment for Arabs and Muslims, comparable to the wartime relocation of the ethnic Japanese in the Western U.S. during the second world war.
It is seldom noticed, however, that the Wahhabi lobby engages in its own forms of profiling, which mainly consist of branding every opponent of Islamist radicalism an "Islamophobe." In addition, the charge often includes labeling of such critics as Jews, Zionists, and Israeli agents.
Notwithstanding the arguments of some Westerners, Islamophobia exists; it is not a myth. Islamophobia consists of:
- attacking the entire religion of Islam as a problem for the world;
- condemning all of Islam and its history as extremist;
- denying the active existence, in the contemporary world, of a moderate Muslim majority;
- insisting that Muslims accede to the demands of non-Muslims (based on ignorance and arrogance) for various theological changes, in their religion;
- treating all conflicts involving Muslims (including, for example, that in Bosnia-Hercegovina a decade ago), as the fault of Muslims themselves;
- inciting war against Islam as a whole.
But some of the individuals most frequently assailed by the Wahhabi lobby as Islamophobes are nothing of the sort.
Doubtless, Daniel Pipes of the Middle East Forum has experienced more denunciation as an "Islamophobe" than any other individual in the West. Yet Pipes has never once criticized the religion of Islam per se; he has never argued that the faith of Muhammad represents any problem, but has only censured its politicization and ideologization. No sincere Muslim should be able to counter his analysis, because it has always been held within the faith that while Islam is good, Muslims act badly.
Second in the rank of targets for the charge of Islamophobia has been the terrorism expert Steven Emerson. Similarly, however, Emerson has never engaged or even commented on issues of Islam as a religion, or Muslims as a general community. He has done nothing more than carry out detailed, sustained, and irrefutable investigations of identifiable radicals within the Muslim community.
I and other Sufis have also been vilified as "Islamophobes," although the Jewish and Zionist allegation has been employed more frequently against us. But in any case, individuals like Pipes, Emerson, myself, and certain Sufis have been victims of "profiling," along with the other members of the institution I recently founded, the Center for Islamic Pluralism (see my TCS column on this topic [www.techcentralstation.com/033005D.html] and our website [www.islamicpluralism.org]). While the Wahhabi lobby expends tears and shouts over their "profiling," whom do we have, but ourselves, to take our side against such irresponsible agitation?
Beginning soon after September 11, 2001, I began accumulating a file of examples in which those who agreed with or supported me and other anti-extremist Muslims were "profiled" by the Wahhabi lobby and their Saudi backers:
- April 18, 2002: The so-called Australian Muslim Public Affairs Committee (AMPAC), a Wahhabi front, posted to its weblog an "exposure" of my work, consisting largely of a recycled Jew-baiting assault, first published in the Russian Communist-fascist website Pravda.
- September 26, 2002: Randall "Ismail" Royer, later sentenced to 20 years in U.S. federal custody for his role in armed jihadist activities, attacked my friend Ali al-Ahmed, dissident and human rights monitor from Saudi Arabia, for joining a "Kosher Nostra" purportedly including Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz, as well as myself.
- March 2003: A barely-literate Muslim who calls himself Haneef James Oliver published a hoax pamphlet titled The Wahhabi Myth, including, among other absurdities, the claim that Osama bin Laden is a Sufi!
- July 21, 2003: In response to a book review I published in the Los Angeles Times, Jihad al-Khazen, a columnist for the Saudi daily al-Hayat known for his racism and vulgarity, referred to me as "another American Jew" allegedly promoting Israeli control of Iraq.
- April 8, 2004: Based on documents purloined from Daniel Pipes, a "journalist" named Jim Lobe, representing a shadowy "news service" called Inter Press, accused Pipes and myself of attempting to create a "neoconservative Islam." Lobe repeated the libel that Pipes is an Islamophobe, and portrayed efforts to organize moderate Muslims as Israeli-controlled.
- April 17, 2004: Amr Butler, collaborator of Randall Royer and originator of the AMPAC blog in Australia, resumed his Wahhabi apologetics in the form of new personal attacks on the blog www.atrueword.com.
- February 24, 2005: Having again violated the privacy of Pipes' private communications, and clearly disturbed by the impending inauguration of the Center for Islamic Pluralism, Jim Lobe returned to the fray, accusing Pipes and myself of participating in a "crusade" against "Islamists" who, in the Lobean universe, do not exist.
- March 4, 2005: Lobe found an echo in the Saudi news site Arab News. There an American woman named Adrienne MacPhail, a previously unknown apologist for Wahhabism living in Japan, portrayed the new Center for Islamic Pluralism as the creation and property of Daniel Pipes. Pipes was predictably described, in an outright lie, as "instilling a combination of fear and prejudice in the American public." I was accused of "preaching a doctrine that is based on very limited fact."
- March 8, 2005: With the foundation of CIP approaching, the heat turned up. A "Federation of Australian Muslim Students and Youth" issued a hate manifesto headed "Dangerous Reprobates Who Claim to be Muslims," and offering a feature titled "Know Thy Enemies" at www.sahib.londoners.ca, a Canadian blog, libeling me and other Sufis.
- March 9, 2005: Jihad al-Khazen weighed in again, using his al-Hayat column to blast me as someone who "claimed jokingly that he was an expert in Balkans (sic) affairs" -- something about which I have never joked. Al-Khazen's rage led him to describe me as a "clown," a "fundamentalist," and, since I am a contributor to The Weekly Standard, as a henchman of "the Israeli cabal" and "Israeli apologist" once I returned from the Balkans.
- March 19, 2005: An Arab-American writer, Abdus Sattar Ghazali, who appropriated the name of the famous Arab television network to create a blog called "Al-Jazeerah.info" -- with no connection to said TV broadcaster -- falsely claimed that I have propounded "the promotion of Sufism in Islam for U.S. policy objectives" -- the exact opposite of the position I have taken, in which I have called for Sufism to remain independent of political and similar interests (see my TCS column at www.techcentralstation.com/021005C.html).
- March 26, 2005: Islamonline.net, a radical Islamist blog, posted a text by an Egyptian writer living in the U.S., Salwa Rashad, accusing me and Pipes as "Islamophobes
aggressively organizing propaganda," and guilty of bigotry and "anti-Muslim hate."
- April 9, 2005: A blog run by "Manal and Alaa" recycled an allegation by a notorious Egyptian extremist, Fahmi Huwaidy, accusing the Center for Islamic Pluralism of seeking to "fragment Islam" and attempting "to shove aside the elected leaders of the American Muslim community." Sorry, the American Muslim community has no "elected leaders," least of all in the form of the Wahhabi lobby, whose only votes consist of Saudi funds. The founders of CIP were "profiled" as "shady personalities with no constituencies."
- March 31, 2005: Another blog, mistitled "ihsan-net.blogspot.com" (ihsan is Arabic for "benevolence") published a dossier targeting me and the other founders of CIP, regurgitating the fantasies of Amr Butler and sundry extremists. The blog included an anti-Jewish cartoon of a Satanic-appearing Pipes declaring "CIP is very diverse: so far we have three Zionist Jews, two Evangelical Christians, and one agnostic!" In reality, CIP includes none of the above, and no such individuals in CIP can be so identified, unless the term "Zionist Jew" in the cartoon referred to me.
If I were a Zionist Jew, I would have nothing to be ashamed of. I am a Sufi and Sunni Muslim from a mixed Jewish and Christian background, and have always advocated for peace in the Middle East. The question remains: who is doing the "profiling" here, and what, aside from incitement, is intended? Further, what other than panic in the Wahhabi lobby could elicit such a feverish reaction?
Stephen Schwartz, an author and journalist, is author of The Two Faces of Islam: The House of Sa'ud from Tradition to Terror. A vociferous critic of Wahhabism, Schwartz is a frequent contributor to National Review, The Weekly Standard, and other publications.
TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: cair; crushislam; islam; jihadinamerica; muslim; saudiarabia; stephenschwartz; wahhabi; wahhabilobby; wot
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-53 next last
1
posted on
04/28/2005 5:40:54 AM PDT
by
SJackson
To: dennisw; Cachelot; Yehuda; Nix 2; veronica; Catspaw; knighthawk; Alouette; Optimist; weikel; ...
If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.
2
posted on
04/28/2005 5:41:44 AM PDT
by
SJackson
(The first duty of a leader is to make himself be loved without courting love, Andre Malraux)
To: Valin
3
posted on
04/28/2005 5:47:16 AM PDT
by
nuconvert
(No More Axis of Evil by Christmas ! TLR)
To: SJackson
Notwithstanding the arguments of some Westerners, Islamophobia exists; it is not a myth. Islamophobia consists of: * attacking the entire religion of Islam as a problem for the world;
Islam IS THE MAJOR PROBLEM in the world today.
* condemning all of Islam and its history as extremist;
Which part of their history is not extremist by an reasonable standards of civility?
* denying the active existence, in the contemporary world, of a moderate Muslim majority;
If they were truly a majority they would do something about the minority; their inaction leads to the conclusion that while they may not want to join the Jihadists themselves, they are supportive of the cause -- this is not moderation (this is also the same argument that Germans tried to make after WW II when they said that they didn't really know what was becoming of the trainloads of Jews being brought to the concentration camps).
* insisting that Muslims accede to the demands of non-Muslims (based on ignorance and arrogance) for various theological changes, in their religion;
The only real "theological" change anyone is looking for from them is their "theology" of murdering all non-Muslims.
* treating all conflicts involving Muslims (including, for example, that in Bosnia-Hercegovina a decade ago), as the fault of Muslims themselves;
When someone starts a war without any provocation, IT'S THEIR FAULT!
* inciting war against Islam as a whole.
Islam started the war, we just intend to finish it.
4
posted on
04/28/2005 5:55:30 AM PDT
by
wagglebee
("We are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom." -- President Bush, 1/20/05)
To: SJackson
* attacking the entire religion of Islam as a problem for the world;
* condemning all of Islam and its history as extremist;
* denying the active existence, in the contemporary world, of a moderate Muslim majority;
* insisting that Muslims accede to the demands of non-Muslims (based on ignorance and arrogance) for various theological changes, in their religion;
* treating all conflicts involving Muslims (including, for example, that in Bosnia-Hercegovina a decade ago), as the fault of Muslims themselves;
* inciting war against Islam as a whole.
By all of the above, I'm a proud Islamophobe.
5
posted on
04/28/2005 6:00:47 AM PDT
by
William Terrell
(Individuals can exist without government but government can't exist without individuals.)
To: SJackson
Instead of whining and playing the victim, Islam should clean up its vicious, hate filled, murderous act.
6
posted on
04/28/2005 6:11:47 AM PDT
by
tkathy
(Tyranny breeds terrorism. Freedom breeds peace.)
To: William Terrell
There is no moon god but Allah aka Baal and Mohammed (May Bacon Grease Be Upon Him) is his child molester.
7
posted on
04/28/2005 6:16:32 AM PDT
by
Stormcrow
("It's not that liberals are ignorant. It's just that they know so much that isn't so.")
To: SJackson
I must admit, I am, by my own definition, an Islamophobe.
I don't trust them, because I have been listening to them, and because I have been listening to them, I fear them.
8
posted on
04/28/2005 6:23:48 AM PDT
by
Kenton
("Life is tough, and it's really tough when you're stupid" - Damon Runyon)
To: William Terrell
"If they were truly a majority they would do something about the minority"
Exactly, and until they do, I guess I'm on their list.
9
posted on
04/28/2005 6:48:54 AM PDT
by
sageb1
To: nuconvert
10
posted on
04/28/2005 6:54:01 AM PDT
by
Valin
(There is no sense in being pessimistic. It would not work anyway.)
To: SJackson
11
posted on
04/28/2005 6:54:18 AM PDT
by
Luigi Vasellini
("Its for my brother he's got a nose like a vacuum cleaner" My favorite Roger Clinton quote.)
To: William Terrell
Being a bigot, now there's something to be really proud of.
" Anybody can become angry, that is easy; but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time, and for the right purpose, and in the right way, that is not within everybody's power, that is not easy."
Aristotle
12
posted on
04/28/2005 7:00:16 AM PDT
by
Valin
(There is no sense in being pessimistic. It would not work anyway.)
To: sheik yerbouty; D-Generation X; Evolution; M 91 u2 K
To: Former Dodger; Fred Nerks; jan in Colorado; ariamne; yer gonna put yer eye out; ...
14
posted on
04/28/2005 8:36:32 AM PDT
by
swordfish71
(PRAYERS for TEXAS COWBOY!!!)
To: William Terrell
Hmmmm...check, check, check, check, check, and check!
Whew! There for a minute, I was afraid I might miss one!
(Hey Mom, I passed another test! I scored 100%!)
Guess I join the folks at the head of the class, but when do I receive my valedictory fatwa?
A.A.C.
15
posted on
04/28/2005 10:52:48 AM PDT
by
AmericanArchConservative
(Armour on, Lances high, Swords out, Bows drawn, Shields front ... Eagles UP!)
To: Kenton
To sit back hoping that someday, someway, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last--but eat you he will.
Ronald Reagan
To: swordfish71
Another example of Islamophobia? (snip)
1,400 Years of Islamic Aggression: An Analysis
http://www.cbn.com/CBNNews/Commentary/IslamHistory0212.asp?option=print
"Consider the Ottoman invasion of Christian Eastern Europe in which the Ottoman Empire invaded the west and conquered and colonized Greece, all of the Balkans, Romania, Bessarabia, and Hungary, and was stopped only at the outskirts of Vienna in 1529. Consider also the Muhgal conquest of Northern India in the early 1600s. But today? Of course! In the 20th century alone:
1. Muslim Turkey has expelled approximately 1,500,000 Greeks from its empire in the east and replaced them with Turks. They have massacred approximately 2 million Armenians and replaced them with Turks in the west.
2. Muslim Turkey has invaded and occupied northern Cyprus, displacing the Greeks living there.
3. Muslim northern Sudan has conquered much of southern Sudan, literally enslaving its Christian and pagan population.
4. Indonesian imperialism has occupied all of non-Islamic western New Guinea and incorporated into Indonesia.
5. Muslim Indonesia has invaded and conquered Christian East Timor with horrible loss of life.
6. This very day, Muslim Indonesia is attempting to destroy Christianity in what used to be called the Celebes.
7. A half-dozen Arab countries have fought two to four wars (depending how you count) in an attempt to destroy Israel and occupy its territory, and is currently continuing the attempt this very day with the publicly voted consent of 55 of the world's 57 Islamic nations.
8. For no good reason, Muslim Libya has blown up western aircraft, killing many civilians.
9. Muslim Iraq, in an imperialist war of aggression, invaded and occupied Muslim Kuwait.
10. Muslim Iraq, in an imperialist act of aggression, invaded Muslim Iran with a resulting (some estimates say) death of 2 million people.
11. Muslim Albania, this very minute, is attempting to enlarge its borders at Christian Macedonia's expense.
12. Muslim Northern Nigeria has been (and is currently) an aggressor against the Christian south.
13. Muslims expelled approximately 800,000 Jews from their homelands between 1947 and 1955.
14. During Jordan's occupation of the West Bank, the kingdom undertook an unsuccessful attempt to make Jerusalem a Muslim city by forcing out approximately 10,000 Christian inhabitants
17
posted on
04/28/2005 3:05:31 PM PDT
by
Fred Nerks
(Understand Islam. Understand Evil. Read THE LIFE OF MUHAMMAD link My Page.)
To: SJackson
Oh, this is too rich. I will reply tomorrow. ;7p
18
posted on
04/28/2005 3:27:17 PM PDT
by
BayouCoyote
(The 1st victim of islam is the person who practices the lie.)
To: wagglebee
Couldn't have said it better myself. Thank you!
19
posted on
04/28/2005 6:01:51 PM PDT
by
lancer
(If you are not with us, you are against us!)
To: lancer
I had to go back and re-read what I wrote this morning, and yeah it still sounds right to me.
Thanks
20
posted on
04/28/2005 6:04:33 PM PDT
by
wagglebee
("We are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom." -- President Bush, 1/20/05)
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-53 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson