Arwa Alrikabi
“We can't kill all the Muslims!" said a well-known American TV host of one of the most viewed cable news shows a while back in 2009. Apparently, to his mind, that would be the first option, but since it's hardly achievable he believes the second option is “winning the Muslims' hearts and minds", but more to come on that later. The TV host? Bill O'Reilly of the Bill O'Reilly Factor on Fox News.
Now it is true that O'Reilly's views are widely considered "extreme" in the US and he is routinely criticized, still his remark is symptomatic of a rising trend in the United States media and political circles: that of Islamophobia or Anti-Islam.Islamophobia loosely refers to hostility toward Islam and Muslims, attributing to its followers an inherent set of negative traits (irrationality, intolerance, violence, plotting to dominate the West, etc), and also assigning the old "other" label which translates into this “other” being fundamentally different and unlike "Westerners" which is, of course, considered unacceptable. These prejudiced comments are almost everyday occurrences in the US media and political discourse, and the general attitude toward them is nowhere near that toward other forms of prejudice for example against African Americans, Jews, or homosexuals. As a FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting - US national media watch group) report put it in 2008:" There are many varieties of Muslim-bashing on display in the media. One strain holds that Islam is inherently evil or violent - a "bloody, brutal type of religion," as televangelist Pat Robertson put it (700 Club, 4/28/06). Robert Spencer, who has authored two New York Times bestsellers on Islam and is a frequent cable news guest, puts a scholarly face on Islamophobia, arguing that (Emory Wheel, 2/21/07) "jihad as warfare against non-believers in order to institute 'Shariah' worldwide . . . is a constant element of mainstream Islamic theology." These examples abound in the US , from David Horowitz's documentary Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West (2006) which was distributed as a paid insert by many major newspapers to tens of millions of subscribers in electoral swing states in September 2008 (Editor & Publisher, 9/13/08) , to Glenn Beck who warned the "silent" American Muslims on his syndicated radio show that "human beings are not strong enough, unfortunately, to restrain themselves from putting up razor wire and putting you on one side of it." The report goes on to show that:" Some strains of Muslim-bashing share a good deal in common with the racist pseudo-science of eugenics — most notably Mark Steyn's writings about the "demographic decline" manifest in Europe's growing Muslim population....and Daniel Pipes warning that "Western societies are unprepared for the massive immigration of brown-skinned people cooking strange foods and maintaining different standards of hygiene" and that “Muslim customs are more troublesome than most.”
There are even attempts to put a scholarly façade on this Islamophobic bigotry with publishers like Regnery unleashing a number of successful books that are inarguably Islamophobic: Mark Steyn's New York Times bestseller America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It (2006) and Robert Spencer's two Times bestsellers, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) (2005) join other Muslim-bashing books from overseas, including Melanie Phillips' Londonistan (2006) and Orianna Fallaci's The Force of Reason (2004), that have thrived in the US book market.
According to FAIR, the Islamophobia generated in these backwaters finds its way into the mainstream and accesses a national platform and audience through outlets such as Fox News and CNN. It also gets important institutional support through conservative newspapers such as the New York Post, which regularly publishes Pipes' columns.
Coincidence?
So what is the reality behind this synchronic wave of disinformation? A 2011 in-depth investigation conducted by the Center for American Progress Action Fund may have found part of the explanation. In their detailed report (Fear Inc. : the Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America) , they expose a " rather small, tightly networked group of misinformation experts guiding an effort that reaches millions of Americans through effective advocates, media partners, and grassroots organizing." The most important findings of this study are:
1) More than $40 million flowed from seven foundations over 10 years.
2) These foundations are: Donors Capital Fund; Richard Mellon Scaife Foundation; Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation; Newton and Rochelle Becker Foundation and Newton and Rochelle Becker Charitable Trust; Russell Berrie Foundation, Anchorage Charitable Fund and William Rosenwald Family Fund; Fairbrook Foundation.
3) Five experts generate the false facts and materials used by political leaders, grassroots groups, and the media, and they are : Frank Gaffney (Center for Security Policy); David Yerushalmi(Society of Americans for National Existence); Daniel Pipes (Middle East Forum); Robert Spencer ( Jihad Watch and Stop Islamization of America); Steven Emerson ( Investigative Project on Terrorism).
4) These experts travel the country and work with or testify before state legislatures calling for a ban on the nonexistent threat of Shariah law in America and proclaiming that the vast majority of mosques in America harbor Islamist terrorists or sympathizers.
5) This movement moves nationwide in more than 23 states - made possible by a combination of new, single-minded Islamophobia groups, exemplified by the Brigitte Gabriel's Act! For America; Pam Geller's Stop Islamization of America; David Horowitz's Freedom Center; and existing groups such as the American Family Association and the Eagle Forum.
6) These “experts” are broadcast around the country and the world, and are cited many times by (among others) confessed Norway terrorist Anders Breivik.
7) US politicians such as Reps. Peter King(R-NY), Allen West (R-FL), and Michele Bachmann (R-MN) repeat these anti-Muslim attacks giving credence to incorrect facts.
Moreover, the report notes that this “network of hate” is not a new presence in America, but rather that its ability to organize, coordinate, and disseminate its ideology has increased dramatically in the past 10 years. More importantly, its ability to influence politicians' talking points and wedge issues for elections has mainstreamed what was once considered fringe, extremist rhetoric.
It is worth mentioning that in September 2010 a Washington Post-ABC News poll showed that 49% of Americans held an unfavorable view of Islam, a significant increase from 39% in October 2002.This is curious since 2002 is obviously closer to the events of Sept. 11, but it seems like anti-Islam sentiments are counter-intuitively on the rise, and understandably so given the propaganda campaign so actively launched.
Is it just about Muslims? And can we really blame 9/11? But what about Islamophobia in Europe? We will explore that in the upcoming part two...
