Islamophobia is not only a simple attitude violence towards islam, but it is self-defining process of west. it defines itself by placing islam as 'other'. any current discourse about 'western civilization' wont be completed without mentioning 'islam'.
On Sat, Dec 6, 2008 at 7:50 AM, Bobby Kunhu <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > * http://www.islamicity.com/articles/Articles.asp?ref=IC0812-3743 > Rampant Islamophobia* > *12/3/2008 - Political Social - Article Ref: IC0812-3743 > Number of comments: 4 > Opinion Summary: > Agree<http://www.islamicity.com/comments/action.lasso.asp?-db=services&-lay=comments&-format=search.asp&-sortfield=Ref&-sortorder=Descending&-error=error.asp&-op=eq&SubjectID=IC0812-3743&-op=eq&PublishFlag=X&-op=eq&rating=F&-token=Agree&-max=10&-find>:1 > > Disagree<http://www.islamicity.com/comments/action.lasso.asp?-db=services&-lay=comments&-format=search.asp&-sortfield=Ref&-sortorder=Descending&-error=error.asp&-op=eq&SubjectID=IC0812-3743&-op=eq&PublishFlag=X&-op=eq&rating=A&-token=Disagree&-max=10&-find>:1 > > Neutral<http://www.islamicity.com/comments/action.lasso.asp?-db=services&-lay=comments&-format=search.asp&-sortfield=Ref&-sortorder=Descending&-error=error.asp&-op=eq&SubjectID=IC0812-3743&-op=eq&PublishFlag=X&-op=eq&rating=I&-token=Neutral&-max=10&-find> > :2 > By: Abukar Arman > IslamiCity* - * > > While each has its distinctive history; like Anti-Semitism and racism, > Islamophobia is a real phenomenon that cultivates hate among communities, > stereotypes a whole group for the acts of a few, and justifies transgression > against the innocent. And like the rest, Islamophobia was developed and is > fostered by special interest groups who often have access to power in order > to reach a political, social, or an economic end. > > With few exceptions, gone are the days when the perpetrators of hate would > march with banners explicitly expressing their bigoted perceptions and > attitudes. However, that is hardly an indication that the phenomenon has > ceased to exist. > > Today, hate speech and propaganda are often craftily camouflaged as talk > radio punditry, political lampooning, speeches, or political infomercial. > > Last year, in a bizarre outburst of bigotry that makes Islophobes such as > David Horowitz, Daniel Pipes and Robert Spencer as objective intellectuals, > radio talk show host Michael Savage of the Savage Nation had this ranting > and raving to share with his audience: "I'm not gonna put my wife in a > hijab. And I'm not gonna put my daughter in a burqa. And I'm not gettin on > my all-fours and braying to Mecca. And you could drop dead if you don't like > it." > > Ads by Google: > Advertisements not controlled by IslamiCitySpewing his hate via over 1200 > radio stations owned by a notoriously right-wing corporation Clear Channel, > he continued his provocative diatribe: "You can shove it up your pipe. I > don't wanna hear anymore about Islam. I don't wanna hear one more word about > Islam. Take your religion and shove it up your behind. I'm sick of you." > > Along the same path, albeit more artistically, the July 2008 issue of the > New Yorker Magazine had on its front page a political caricature of Barack > and Michelle Obama. The couple is standing in the middle of the Oval Office. > Obama is wearing a traditional Islamic dress with turban and sandals. He is > approvingly fist-bumping with a militant looking Michelle as his sinister > left eye gazes away. Michelle is wearing Angela Davis style afro and a > guerilla fatigue with an M-16 hanging from her back. Looking over them is an > Africa-American looking picture of Usama Bin Laden...hanging over the fire > place where the American flag is set on flames. > > Then came September 4, 2008-- the Republican Convention --where the > merchants of fear and paranoia found their ideal platform. Inadvertently or > otherwise, the underlying theme seemed to be to broaden the definition of > the enemy from a cult-like Al-Qaida to a much broader indeed more fluid > definition that indicts all those who practice Islam as suspect or worse. > > Rudolph Guiliani, the former New York City Mayor, condemned the democrats > for being "politically correct" and avoiding the use of the term 'Islamic > terrorism'" to describe the enemy. > > Taking the politically synthesized Anti-Islamic mantra to the next level by > directly speaking to the race-conscious voters, former congressional leader > Dick Army, who now leads one of the most powerful lobby groups in > Washington, had this to say. Barack Obama's "funny name" could "give people > concerns that he could be or has been too much influenced by Muslims, which > is a great threat now." Obama is Christian. > > It is a shame that the media is less interested in what Mr. Army and others > who routinely use more provocative and broadly condemning terms such as > "Islamo-fascism," "Islamic terrorism," and "Jihadism" to describe the enemy > send to the 7 million Muslims in United States and 1.2 billion around the > world. > > During the recent elections, many localities around the U.S. were hit by a > new "swift-boating" campaign. This one, targeting swing states, is aimed to > induce paranoia by distributing "28 million DVDs" of the propaganda film > Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West. > > The film, like any Goebbelian piece of propaganda, conveniently exploits > the human tendency to surrender their capacity to think critically when > their emotions are stirred or fear is instilled in their hearts. The film > does this successfully as it is made of selective footages from various > parts of the world of individuals expressing hate, training, and committing > acts of terror and the bloody scenes of their crimes. It is a dangerously > effective way of collectively demonizing Muslims as the so called experts > featured in the film use all the aforementioned hot button terminologies to > describe the terrorists and interlink all these cases with their subjective > narrative. > > This latest campaign is carried by an obscure New York based group named > The Clarion Fund whose funders are not known. > > In pursuit of their goal to effectively disseminate the DVDs and secure > subliminal legitimacy, this group has selectively targeted the newspaper > distribution apparatuses of various cities in critical states. Here in > central Ohio, the Columbus Dispatch has distributed 10,000 copies of the > DVDs through its most widely read issue- the Sunday Dispatch. The same was > done by the New York Times, the Miami Herald and a host of other newspapers. > > Venomous hyperbole aimed to stir fear and paranoia and indict all Muslims > continues despite the Department of Homeland Security Office for Civil > Rights and Civil Liberties' conclusion that*"Words matter"* and its > recommendation that U.S. officials and representatives should*"...avoid > inflating the religious bases and glamorous appeal of the extremists' > ideology."*According to a memo from the said department, the terminologies > used should depict the terrorists as the dangerous cult leaders they are. > > > > *Abukar Arman is a freelance writer who lives in Ohio. He maintains his > blog at FrogScorpia <http://frogscorpia.blogspot.com/>* > -- > Bobby Kunhu http://community.eldis.org/myshkin/Blog/ > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. 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