Home arrow Writings arrow Stoking Hatred Towards Arabs & Muslims

Translate

Search

About

Pacific Free Press was launched in March 2007 by Dutch-Canadian Richard Kastelein of V.O.F. Expathos, in the Netherlands along with  Chris Cook - CFUV radio journalist and Editor in Chief of Pacific Free Press. Cook is based in , Victoria, British Columbia.

The site is a sister to Atlantic Free Press.

The mission of Pacific Free Press is simple: to dig out nuggets of truth from the slag-heap of lies, ignorance and witless diversion that has buried public discourse today. Pacific Free Press provides a new venue for disseminating hard news and insightful, fact-based analysis of the harsh realities too often ignored or distorted by the mainstream press.

 

Stoking Hatred Towards Arabs & Muslims Print E-mail
Written by Edward Strong   
Tuesday, 16 January 2007
by Edward Strong

The unwillingness of American and Western societies to confront naked Islamophobic incitement recalls so many pathological actions associated with the development of modern anti-Semitism in Central and Eastern Europe. It is an indication of the power of the Israel Lobby and the level of moral corruption to which America has sunk under the Bush Regime that Islamophobia has been normalized.

Islamophobia: The New Anti-Semitism

For several years the news media have reported increasing numbers of controversies involving Muslim communities throughout the USA as well as in Europe.

Recently, Representative Virgil Goode (R-VA) and US Holocaust Museum Memorial Museum Council member Dennis Prager objected to Representative Ellison's (D-MN) use of a Quran during a private swearing-in ceremony.

Since Ellison's election, Goode and many other politicians and pundits have been demanding changes in immigration law to decrease or to stop the immigration of Muslims to the USA, as if the Ellison's ancestors have not been residing in the territory of the USA since the eighteenth century.


Such proposals constitute an unsubtle statement that Muslims have no place in America. Muslims seem to us somewhat exotic, and are, therefore, easy to stereotype. Dumping on Muslims is fun, cheap, and easy.

The unwillingness of American and Western societies, in general, to confront naked Islamophobic incitement recalls so many pathological actions associated with the development of modern anti-Semitism in Central and Eastern Europe that we Americans must ask ourselves whether Islamophobia is the New Anti-Semitism.

Unabashed Islamophobe Robert Spencer, who has strong associations with neocon organizations and leaders, routinely mischaracterizes Islamic religion and cultures.

The title of his book, Islam Unveiled, is strongly reminiscent of Eisenmenger's classic anti-Jewish text, Entdecktes Judentum (Judaism Unmasked). [1]

Rampant Racism in America: This time it's Muslims who are the demonized enemy

Now that the Stalinist/Maoist regimes have collapsed or evolved toward capitalism and no fascist states with imperial ambitions exist (besides the United States and its few allies), the American Empire needed to find a new "enemy" to replace Stalinists and Nazis. Much of the soft power employed by the leaders of America’s "top down democracy" stems from psychological manipulation of "the mob".

Mobilization of the masses against a common enemy "threatening the very existence of the American Way" has long been a staple in the United States’ ruling elites’ ongoing push to monopolize the world’s wealth, power, and prestige.

And who better to vilify than Islamic people? Many are dark-skinned and live in developing nations, meaning their lives are inconsequential in the prevailing moral calculus of the West.

The Middle East is predominately Islamic, its sands are oozing with crude oil, and it is home to Israel. From the perspective of the Empire, what better region to target than the Middle East?



As for Western Imperialism...

Western exploiters and invaders are culpable of far more frequent and grievous war crimes than the Middle Easterners who are defending themselves, their resources, and their people.

If the majority of the people controlling the corporate media had a shred of moral decency they would focus their efforts on informing their viewers, listeners, and readers of the vast number of war crimes committed by Israel and the United States.

They would start portraying the "terrorists" as the resistors of oppression they truly are. They would make a distinction between the various Middle Eastern resistance groups’ legitimate attacks on their occupiers’ militaries and the war crimes they commit against civilians.

And they would devote most of their remaining substantial resources to the inundation of news consumers with stories, photos and video footage depicting the tragic and gruesome civilian suffering and death. As it is, the Western corporate media shamelessly serve the Neocons by perpetuating a virtually endless cycle of hatred and violence. They incite and feed Islamophobia and they fabricate a plethora of false justifications for the malevolent actions of Israel and the United States.

But then in a fascist nation, corporations are wedded with the state, militarism is the state’s primary focus, scapegoats and enemies are essential, and the function of the Fourth Estate is to provide the propaganda to control the masses. [2]

'Liberal' Writers Become Born-Again Neocons and Islamophobes

The British literary scene is dominated by three writers: Martin Amis, Salman Rushdie and Ian McEwan. They are the vanguard of British literary neocons. They believe Islam is the greatest threat to 'our' civilisation.

All three have considered the central dilemma of our time: terror. Indeed, Amis has issued something of a manifesto on the subject he terms "horrorism".

In their different styles, their approach and opinions define a coherent position. They are the vanguard of British literary neoconservatives - or, if you like, the "Blitcons".

Blitcons come with a ready-made nostrum for the human condition. They use their celebrity status to advance a clear global political agenda.

The Blitcon project is based on three one-dimensional conceits. The first is the absolute supremacy of American culture. Blitcon fiction is orientalism for the 21st century, shifting the emphasis from the supremacy of the west in general to the supremacy of American ideas of freedom.

The second Blitcon conceit is that Islam is the greatest threat to this idea of civilisation.

Rushdie's suspicion of and distaste for Islam is obvious in his novels Midnight's Children, Shame and The Satanic Verses.

In Shame, Rushdie describes Islam as a mythology that cannot survive close examination, but in The Satanic Verses it becomes an abomination.

The novel imagines a rival life of the Prophet Muhammad, complete with historical details and every orientalist stereotype imaginable.

As the product of the paranoid delusions of a violent, sexually perverted businessman, The Satanic Verses suggests, Islam runs contrary to every decent value known to man.

The third Blitcon conceit is that American ideas of freedom and democracy are not only right, but should be imposed on the rest of the world.

There is an exercise beyond the reach of any of the Blitcons. There are exotic creatures they cannot imagine in their fictions and diatribes: the generality of Muslims, people who believe in something other than the Blitcons' understanding of Islam. [3]
 
Comments (5)Add Comment
Read the Book Next Time
written by a guest, January 17, 2007
Robert Spencer's book is wrong because of the title? If the author of this superficial article would have bothered to open the book, he would have read these words:

"I do not mean to indict Muslims in general or Islam as a whole. Islam is not a monolith, and the culture it has inspired has bestowed great beauty on the world."

Of course, Spencer also goes on to document reasons to be wary of Islam, and I can only encourage the author of this shallow article to open his mind a bit and consider that this religion may actually play a role in the 7202 deadly Islamic terror attacks committed in the name of Allah since 9/11.
report abuse
vote down
vote up
Votes: +0
...
written by a guest, January 17, 2007
Gee, where can I get a copy of that list of 7202 deadly Islamic terror attacks committed in the name of Allah since 9/11? I'd like to compare it with the full list of deadly United States terror attacks committed in the name of filthy lucre since 9/11.
report abuse
vote down
vote up
Votes: +0
Tolerance
written by a guest, January 17, 2007
Actually, Islam is easily the most tolerant of the three ME religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Even when it appeared to be less tolerant, as at the end of the Ottoman Empire, this had more to do with the extreme provocations of the imperialist European Christian states and their backing of various violent Christian nationalisms among the Christian minorities within the empire.

This divide and conquer tactic of the European imperialists, playing on and exacerbating ethnic and religious differences, led to much suffering among all peoples in the empire at that time, much as we see among the Sunni and Shia in Iraq today at the hands of American imperialism.

Western imperialism is the problem (as it always has been), not Islam.
report abuse
vote down
vote up
Votes: +0
...
written by a guest, January 18, 2007
There is so much mis-information and mis-understanding about islam and muslims. People who say that they want to have dialoge with muslims, and they want muslims to intergrate into society. However when muslims have attempted to try and educate people it has fallen on deaf ears. the Amish community in america have not been forced to intergrate in society not have the jewish population in the US or in the UK. Why so much pressure on islam and muslims??? It's time for the spolight to be switched off and for communities to live together, we're human beings and should be classified as such. Now we are watching a civil war in iraq between sunnis and shia's which could spill into the neighbouring countries. Somalia, ethopia, sudan and many many more countries. HUMAN BEINGS are dying for what???? to prove to the west and us that muslims and islam is evil?????? isn't that what the greeks thought about christians how many christians were martyed before christianity was accepted by rome and the rest of the world????????
report abuse
vote down
vote up
Votes: +0
simplified
written by a guest, January 18, 2007
Your summary of Rushdie's work in uninformed, simplistic and mostly dumb. To refer to him as a neocon is at best misleading and at worst moronic.
report abuse
vote down
vote up
Votes: +0

Write comment
quote
bold
italicize
underline
strike
url
image
quote
quote
smaller | bigger

busy
 
Bookmark/Tag
digg
NewsVine
Delicious
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Furl it!
BlinkList
connotea
Fark
< Prev   Next >

More Author Articles

More Articles...
The Bush Regime's 'Bluff & Bluster' on Iran
Friday, 09 February 2007
Edward Strong
(417)
Read more
The Neocon Nasties: Are They Naive Idealists?
Wednesday, 07 February 2007
Edward Strong
(1332)
Read more
Race Hate Towards Muslims
Saturday, 03 February 2007
Edward Strong
(573)
Read more
Work & Exploitation: Same As It Ever Was
Monday, 29 January 2007
Edward Strong
(482)
Read more
American Ideology: Racism Welded to Capitalism
Friday, 26 January 2007
Edward Strong
(703)
Read more
Bush SOTU Speech: Pleading, Whiny Act of Desperation
Wednesday, 24 January 2007
Edward Strong
(630)
Read more
The White House Hillbillies [Clinton Reloaded]
Monday, 22 January 2007
Edward Strong
(695)
Read more
American Jingoism: The Patriot GameAmerican Jingoism: The Patriot Game
Friday, 19 January 2007
Edward Strong
(894)
Read more
Stoking Hatred Towards Arabs & Muslims
Tuesday, 16 January 2007
Edward Strong
(735)
Read more
The media will report on Bush's posture, tone of voice, tie color, and attitude - The trivial will be made into the gargantuan
Monday, 15 January 2007
Edward Strong
(739)
Read more
Chris Floyd

 

Amazon.com

Paul William Roberts



Amazon.com

Norman Solomon

Amazon.com

Heather Wokusch


Amazon.com

Andrew Bard Schmookler


Amazon.com

Shahid Alam


Amazon.com

Ramzy Baroud

Amazon.com
 

James Kunstler 

 

Amazon.com 

Joel Hirschhorn
 
Amazon.com

Jonathan Cook


Amazon.com

Jason Leopold



Amazon.com

Dennis Jett

Amazon.com


Dr. Walter Brasch



Amazon.com



Dave Lindorff

 

Amazon.com 

 

William A. Cook 



Amazon.com 


Rod Amis

 

Amazon.com 

 

Mickey Z

 

Amazon.com 


Mark
Crispin Miller


 

Amazon.com


Expathos
               No account yet?


              
            
Page was generated in 0.593817 seconds