islamophobia Archives - Page 7 of 17 - Foreign Policy In Focus

Arab Islamists Are Here to Stay

by Adil E. Shamoo | Dec 16, 2011

The hysteria of the West about the Arab awakening turning into an Arab Islamist nightmare is reaching full-blown proportions. The United States and Israel, self-appointed referees of democracy in the region despite their long-running support for the Middle East’s most corrupt and authoritarian regimes, are crying foul.

The incitement? A series of victories by Islamist parties in Tunisia, Morocco, and Egypt. Yet, given the history of Western support for governments that simultaneously quashed secular opposition movements and persecuted Islamists, the popularity of moderate Islamist parties should come as little surprise—nor should it be cause for concern.

Review: Patriot Acts

by Fatima Al-zeheri | Oct 17, 2011

The world started to make sense to Zac Reed when he accepted a new religion into his life. As he describes his story in the new book of oral histories titled Patriot Acts, assembled by Alia Malek, Reed’s conversion to Islam erased everything he had done for his country. He’d served in the military, volunteered for Desert Storm as part of the National Guard, and worked as a firefighter. But his life of service didn’t protect him from being detained and interrogated as part of the religious profiling that took place in the United States after 9/11.

Fear of an Islamic Planet

by John Feffer | Oct 4, 2011

It’s easy to make fun of Michele Bachmann: her history gaffes, her Christian extremism, her ludicrous political positions. Journalists, though, would be sad to see her leave the Republican primary race, since she can be reliably counted on to make an outrageous statement to enliven a slow news day. Last week, for instance, she blamed the Arab Spring on the Obama administration. “You want to know why we have an Arab Spring?” she asked her audience at a Republican Party fundraiser in New Hampshire. “Barack Obama has laid the table for an Arab Spring by demonstrating weakness from the United States of America.”

9/11 is No Excuse for Bashing Muslims

by J. Richard Cohen | Sep 5, 2011

On the 10th anniversary of 9/11, we’ll be transfixed once more by images of the planes ramming into the World Trade Center and people, caught in the flames, leaping to their deaths. We’ll see pictures of the burning Pentagon and hear stories of the heroic firefighters and police officers who sacrificed their lives to save others.

Islamophobia’s Poisoned Wellsprings

by Russ Wellen | Aug 29, 2011

The right has been conducting a campaign with deep pockets to instill fear and hatred of Islam in Americans.

The Paranoid Style of Anti-Islamism

by Jack Ross | Aug 4, 2011

There is no denying that Anders Behring Breivik’s manifesto and beliefs are rooted in a distinctly post-9/11 ideology of anti-Islamism.

Pamela Geller’s, uh, Ill-Timed Rants Malign Memory of Utoya Victims

by Paul Mutter | Aug 2, 2011

To Pamela Geller, the youths at Utoya were elitist anti-Semites, Hitler youth, not to mention race-mixers.

Islamophobes Insinuate Their Way Into U.S. Intelligence

by Paul Mutter | Aug 1, 2011

Nonprofit groups and former intelligence analysts – most of whom have zero to no training in Islamic matters – have been raking in millions of dollars from their work outlining the supposed “Islamic” threat to America.

Norway: The Enemy Within

by John Feffer | Jul 26, 2011

Scandinavians have a dual reputation for tolerance and homogeneity: a population of pale, polite people who speak English perfectly. But that’s your grandfather’s Scandinavia. Over the last several decades, the region has become a great deal more diverse after a steady influx of immigrants from the east and south. And the tolerance has become considerably frayed with the more recent rise of several right-wing xenophobic parties.

The Geopolitics of Stupid

by John Feffer | Apr 5, 2011

He’s an activist who has used the Internet to fight for what he believes in. He is a member of civil society committed to living in truth. He doesn’t live in Cairo or Tunis or Damascus. He doesn’t live in an oppressive society at all, unless you consider Gainesville, Florida an oppressive place. Instead of setting himself on fire, like Mohamed Bouazizi in Tunisia, the preacher Terry Jones has set fire to a book, the Qur’an. It wasn’t a very original idea – the first emperor of China burned books and so did the Nazis – but then, neither is self-immolation.