What is islamophbia?
A hatred or fear of Islam or Muslims, especially when feared as a political force (Oxford Dictionary). It is close-minded prejudice against or hatred of Islam and Muslims. It is not a new concept. It was present before 9/11, but it was intensified after 9/11.
The goal of this website is to define what Islamophobia is and to tell the world that it is real, to show the misconceptions of Muslims and show that Muslims in the U.S are being discriminated against while in reality they are good American citizens and residents.
In 2010, the Post-ABC News poll found that about 49 percent of Americans hold an unfavorable view of Islam. This percentage has increased considerably since 2002 where it was 39 percent. According to The Washington Post, "about a third of the country now believes that mainstream Islam encourages violence against non-Muslims, while 54 percent see the religion as peaceful. The percentage seeing it as peaceful has varied little over the past nine years, but the percentage saying they believe it encourages violence is about double what it was in 2002."
Such negative views on Islam coupled with fear of Muslims has lead to discrimination against Muslims, exclusion from mainstream political or social process. These include: stereotyping, the presumption of guilt by association and hate crimes, according to Parvez Ahmed.
An investigation by Center for American Progress Action Fund found that the rise of Islamophobia in the United states is done by small, tightly networkedgroup of misinformation experts guiding an effort that reaches millions of Americans through effective advocates, media partners,and grassroots organizing.
Five experts generate the false facts and materials used by political leaders, grassroots groups, and the media:
Of course not the Muslims. Islamophobia is no accident. It did not simply sprout into existence out of nowhere nor was it created by Muslims. Islamophobia was fabricated to complete a dogma of Muslims in the Middle East, calculated, and beneficial to those who help to create it. Many groups and organizations in the U.S, Europe and Israel benefit from vilifying Muslims and depicting them as the current era's terrorists. Some of these organizations are:
*source: Dr. Hatem Bazian lectures of ASAMST128/UC Berkeley.
The goal of this website is to define what Islamophobia is and to tell the world that it is real, to show the misconceptions of Muslims and show that Muslims in the U.S are being discriminated against while in reality they are good American citizens and residents.
In 2010, the Post-ABC News poll found that about 49 percent of Americans hold an unfavorable view of Islam. This percentage has increased considerably since 2002 where it was 39 percent. According to The Washington Post, "about a third of the country now believes that mainstream Islam encourages violence against non-Muslims, while 54 percent see the religion as peaceful. The percentage seeing it as peaceful has varied little over the past nine years, but the percentage saying they believe it encourages violence is about double what it was in 2002."
Such negative views on Islam coupled with fear of Muslims has lead to discrimination against Muslims, exclusion from mainstream political or social process. These include: stereotyping, the presumption of guilt by association and hate crimes, according to Parvez Ahmed.
An investigation by Center for American Progress Action Fund found that the rise of Islamophobia in the United states is done by small, tightly networkedgroup of misinformation experts guiding an effort that reaches millions of Americans through effective advocates, media partners,and grassroots organizing.
Five experts generate the false facts and materials used by political leaders, grassroots groups, and the media:
- Pamela Geller through her organization "Stop the Islamization of America (SIOA)" is the person behind anti-Islam public advertisements going up in cities nationwide.
- David Horowitz the founder of Islamo-Fascism campaign across many university campuses in the U.S where he compares Muslims to Nazis.
- Frank Gaffney at the Center for Security Policy
- David Yerushalmi at the Society of Americans for National Existence
- Daniel Pipes at the Middle East Forum
- Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch and Stop Islamization of America
- Steven Emerson of the Investigative Project on Terrorism
Of course not the Muslims. Islamophobia is no accident. It did not simply sprout into existence out of nowhere nor was it created by Muslims. Islamophobia was fabricated to complete a dogma of Muslims in the Middle East, calculated, and beneficial to those who help to create it. Many groups and organizations in the U.S, Europe and Israel benefit from vilifying Muslims and depicting them as the current era's terrorists. Some of these organizations are:
- Rightwing force in Western Society
- Military Industrial Complex: which only thrives in the existence and continuity of war. To start a war, the complex needed an enemy, so the Muslims were selected to be the new enemy and the terrorists and the war on terrorism was announced.
- Extreme Christian groups
- Israel advocates
- Anti-immigrants groups
- Tea party supported politicians.
*source: Dr. Hatem Bazian lectures of ASAMST128/UC Berkeley.