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The
Real Agenda Behind the Push for "Islamophobia"
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Islamists have been successful in
building the Islamophobia industry: it diverts attention from activities
they would probably prefer not be noticed, such as promoting sharia law
in the West, stealth jihad, and a push to implement a global Islamic
caliphate, among many others.
What is ironic and hypocritical
about the Islamophobia hype from members of the OIC is their
double-standards when it comes to minorities in their own lands. Saudi
Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, Mauritania, Nigeria, Sudan, Bangladesh,
Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, the Palestinian Authority and Iran are among OIC
members that have appalling human rights violations against minorities.
Islamophobia has almost become a fad for a certain group of academics
and Muslims across North America. 2013 was a bumper year for Islamophobia
conferences in America and abroad.
- "Islam, Political Islam, and Islamophobia:
an International Conference" was held at Indiana University,
Bloomington on March 29-30, 2013.
- "Islam, Politics
and Islamophobia," an international conference of the
Ottoman and Modern Turkish Studies Chair, took place at the Indiana
Memorial Union Faculty.
- "International
Conference on Islamophobia: Law & Media", hosted in
Istanbul, was organized by the Directorate General of Press and
Information, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and under
the auspices of Mr. Bulent Arinc, the Deputy Prime Minister of
Turkey, and took place in September, 2013. The website starts off by
stating "Islamophobia, which is a term used to express the
groundless fear and intolerance of Islam and Muslims, has swept the
world, becoming detrimental to international peace especially in
recent years."
- The IWIC's 2013 conference on "Women in
Islam," in Atlanta, Georgia from November 22 to 24, used the
theme, "Eradicating Islamophobia."
One would think that four conferences in one year would be enough for
the International group of speakers to discuss, debate and hash out that,
in their view, there is an epidemic of Muslim-bashing taking place in
North America.
However it seems that these are not enough to complete the agenda of
the Islamists. Therefore this year the University of California, Berkeley
is hosting its fifth annual International
conference on the study of Islamophobia, from April 14 to 19, 2014.
It is frightening to realize that this is their fifth such
conference; the website states, "the obsessive pre-occupation of everything
related to Islam and Muslims, congressional and parliamentary hearings
criminalizing Muslims and violations of their civil liberties and rights,
domestic and international surveillance programs exclusively on Muslims
and Arabs, extra-judicial use of force on Muslims and Arabs,
interventions, military campaigns, and policies rationalizing its
exercise, are, in essence, what we see and bear witness in the Muslim
world. These are the direct effects of latent Islamophobia."
University of California, Berkeley is home to Professor Hatem Bazian,
who directs the school's "Islamophobia Research and Documentation
Project," and teaches a course titled, "Asian American Studies
132AC: Islamophobia."
Seriously? A course on Islamophobia? Recently, Professor Bazian
told 100 students in his class to tweet
about Islamophobia -- all being done to promote an agenda of
"victimhood."
Obviously the Islamophobia conferences, the courses and the tweeting
professor must find support for their self-serving propaganda somewhere.
Part of this support comes from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation
(OIC), an international organization consisting of 57 Arab and Muslim
member states, including the entity of the Palestinian Authority. The
organization states that it is "the collective voice of the Muslim
world" and works to "safeguard and protect the interests of the
Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony."
The term "Muslim world" is offensive: no one speaks for all
Muslims, and for the OIC to consider itself the "voice of the Muslim
world" is dictatorial in the extreme.
No surprise, then, that on their website they have an Islamophobia
Observatory, where they mention their support of Human Rights Council
Resolution 16/18,
adopted in 2011, on "Combating intolerance, negative stereotyping
and stigmatization of, and discrimination, incitement to violence, and
violence against persons based on religion or belief".
What is ironic and hypocritical about all the Islamophobia hype by
members of the OIC is their double standards when it comes to minorities
in their own lands. Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, Mauritania,
Nigeria, Sudan, Bangladesh, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, the Palestinian
Authority and Iran are among OIC members that have appalling human rights
violations against minorities, and are routinely ignored under UNHRC
Resolution 16/18.
Let us take a moment to look at Islamophobia. According to a 1997
report by the UK's Runnymede Trust, the term has existed since the 1980s
and was first used in print in 1991. Runnymede defined Islamophobia as
the "dread or hatred of Islam -- and, therefore, to the fear or
dislike of all Muslims," adding that "[w]ithin Britain it means
that Muslims are frequently excluded from the economic, social and public
life of the nation ... and are frequently victims of discrimination and
harassment."
Are majority of Muslims really excluded from the economic, social and
public life in the USA and Canada? There are no statistics to verify such
a statement. To the contrary, most North American Muslims live with full
freedom as part of their social networks unless they ghettoize themselves
by choice -- as many do.
Many Muslims in the West use "Islamophobia" as a penalty
card against free speech whenever there is criticism of Muslims. This
knee-jerk and reactionary response stifles dialogue, debate and
discussion -- all signs of a healthy thriving democracy -- as
increasingly seems a primary objective. North America is a region where
freedom of expression is a cherished value. That includes the freedom to criticize
the followers of a faith if they are indulging in violence, intolerance
and radicalization.
How did this Islamophobia theory become mainstream and so popular? In
North America there is already an existing sense of guilt – one might
call this "white liberal guilt." It is a guilt that Christians
have already built into their faith, and that other North Americans have
been made aware of from their treatment of Natives; Canadians have guilt
about residential schools and wartime internment of the Japanese; and the
Europeans have guilt about having mistreated people in their colonies, as
well as the complicity of many of their grandparents had with the Nazis
in rounding up and sending Jews and others to their death during the
German Third Reich.
The Islamists readily and eagerly build on this guilt when they play
the "victimhood" card and join with some academics, who buy
into that concept to build an highly profitable industry of the
supposedly aggrieved called "Islamophobia."
Islamists have been successful in building the Islamophobia industry:
it diverts attention from activities they would probably prefer not be
noticed, such promoting sharia law in the West, stealth jihad and a push
to implement a global Islamic Caliphate, among many others. Any non-Muslim
who questions the Islamists' intentions to promote the agenda of the
Muslim Brotherhood is immediately slapped with an Islamophobia fatwa
[religious opinion], thus rendering most well behaved and civil
Westerners, silenced and apologetic.
This is not only racist but, for the most part, a form of emotional
extortion intended to extract special concessions from well-meaning but
gullible people the West.
Islamophobia is also a convenient pseudo-cause around which to whip up
young followers: they are informed, whether true or not, that they have
much to be aggrieved about and that the only solution is to close down
free speech, demonize all who might have an opinion that differs from
theirs or who ask "inconvenient" questions, and to start creating
an authoritarian political movement in which they might feel a meaningful
participant.
But in the long run it can only numb the minds and hearts of young
Muslims growing up in the West, and destroy all spirit of enquiry and
independent thinking -- as increasingly seems to be another of its
objectives.
France
in Free Fall
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The European Commission asked
France to avoid new tax hikes, and repeated that France had to bring its
public deficit down. Soon France will have to do what needs to be done --
cut taxes and spending; reform the job market and the welfare system, and
give entrepreneurs breathing space -- or the consequences could be worse
than the strikes and scenes of insurrection.
French President François Hollande was all smiles during his three-day
state visit in the United States. Now he is back home, and he does not
smile anymore. He cannot escape the reality that France is in extremely
bad shape.
On January 26, thousands of people marched
through Paris, chanting "Jews, France does not belong to
you." Some demonstrators were members of the extreme right. Most of
them belonged to the so-called "black white Arab France": young
Muslims coming from suburban slums, leftist students and urban
professionals imbued with politically correct ideas. Anti-Semitism in
France has become so commonplace that it is now a part of the cultural
landscape. The event was called "Day of Wrath," a truism,
considering that wrath now runs rampant through French society.
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Police charge a
crowd of rioters at the January 26 "Day of Wrath" protests.
(Image source: YouTube "Jour de Colère" screenshot)
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On February 2, another protest took place. It brought together a
different group of people: Catholic conservatives wanting to defend the
traditional family and reaffirm their opposition to gay marriage.
A few weeks earlier, a rebellion against taxes on trucks using French
roads mobilized crowds in Brittany's main cities : the rebels wore red
caps, the symbol of revolts in the region since an anti-tax uprising in
1675. Some of them were workers furious at factory closures, others were
Breton separatists. Several toll booths and cameras designed to monitor
the trucks were destroyed. Manure was dumped at official buildings.
Although no large-scale riot has occurred since last fall, every
weekend, dozens of cars are burned throughout the country, and violent
attacks take place daily.
In October, a report
prepared by the Ministry of the Interior spoke of a "widespread and
multidimensional frustration" that had not yet crystallized, but
could "ignite" anytime soon and lead to "sudden eruptions
of fury" or even to a "full scale uprising."
Surveys conducted by the government were recently published in
the magazine Valeurs actuelles. They show that
"frustration" is reaching an unprecedented level, and directed
at a multitude of targets such as "European construction,"
"globalization," "capitalism," "finance,"
politics in general, and even democracy, which is rejected by more than
50% of the French. They report a sense of national decline (76% of the
French think the country is "terminally ill"), and a growing
xenophobic hatred against Muslims, as well as against Jews. They also
report a strong desire to see a "strong person" emerge who
would restore "order." Twelve percent of respondents explicitly
say they want a military dictatorship.
Various economists describe France as the "new sick man of
Europe," and they have good reasons to say so. In 2013, 62,000
businesses have closed their doors, and their employees have
virtually no hope of finding a new job. Growth has been close to zero for
almost a decade. The number of poor now exceeds 9,000,000, more than 15%
of the population. The official unemployment
rate is higher than 10%, and does not include 2,200,000 beneficiaries
of the guaranteed minimum income (RSA)
that any adult over twenty-five has the right to collect. Public spending
accounts for 57%
of GDP, an absolute record in the developed world. Compulsory levies
are up to 46% of GDP and are the highest in Europe. Foreign investments fell
77% in 2013. The country's debt is growing at an ever faster pace,
and nothing for the moment seems able to stop a movement resembling a
free fall.
On January 14, François Hollande spoke of "supply-side
reforms": while requesting that companies create jobs now, he
promised to lower the costs that now preventing job creation -- but not
sooner than 2017.
Economic difficulties are associated with social problems : there are
now over 750 "no-go zones" that police dare not enter.
Officially, they are called "sensitive urban zones"
but the name is not fooling anyone. Crime rates are exploding: a book
published last year, France: A Clockwork Orange, explained in
detail how the statistical counting rules for recorded crimes were
distorted and did not reflect reality.
Social problems go hand-in-hand with a lack of political perspectives.
François Hollande was elected President because his predecessor, Nicolas
Sarkozy, had reached an unprecedented level of unpopularity (in April
2012, Sarkozy's job approval rating had fallen at 36%), yet Mr. Hollande
has now broken that record and is now the most unpopular president in
French history. Before his sexual escapades were revealed, his approval
rating stood a little over 20%; since then, it has sunk to 19%. During
the past eighteen months, the government he formed has increased taxes,
multiplied useless regulations, and enacted societal reforms widely
rejected by the population, such as the introduction of gay marriage, and
removal of mandatory minimum sentences for recidivist criminals. The
moderate right stagnates and does not offer proposals that meet with
popular approval, either.
One political movement, and only one, seems to escape the general
disenchantment: the National Front. When Marine Le Pen, its president,
took over the party, she claimed she wanted to conduct an operation of
"de-demonization" and she was successful. Municipal elections
in March and European elections in May will probably show that the
National Front is now the first party of France. Unlike her father, Jean
Marie Le Pen, Marine Le Pen does not publicly utter anti-Semitic remarks,
but neither does she ever condemn anti-Semitism. She has criticized Islam
in the past, but does not do it anymore. She intends to build on the
"widespread and multidimensional frustration," and not alienate
anyone.
She says she is resolutely hostile to the "European
construction," "globalization," "capitalism,"
"finance" and politics as practiced by all other parties: she
calls them "members of the system." She does not say she is
hostile to democracy, but uses words used decades ago by the rightist
anti-parliamentarist Charles Maurras, such as describing herself as
embodying the "real country" [pays réel].
She recognizes that the present mindset of the population is
socialist, and she has an economic program that could be accepted by the
far-left if it did not include nationalist and xenophobic dimensions. She
is an ardent defender of the French welfare system, but wants to reserve
welfare benefits for French citizens. She also wants to shut the borders
and stop non-white immigration. Her chief economic advisor,
Florian Philippot, now number two in the party, comes from the
"souverainist" anti-capitalist wing of the Socialist Party.
Her foreign policy orientations show an inclination for authoritarian
governments and she seems to favor closer ties with Putin's Russia and
Iran's mullahs: Aymeric Chauprade, her foreign policy mentor, was a
professor at the French Military College in Paris until he was let go in
2009 after publishing a book "explaining" how the 9/11 attacks
were an "orchestrated American-Israeli conspiracy."
She knows that France is ailing. She waits. She thinks her time will
come, perhaps in the next presidential elections, which will be held in
France three years from now. The rejection of François Hollande is
currently such that his chances of being reelected seem nil. The right
wing candidate will most likely be Nicolas Sarkozy, the man François
Hollande defeated in 2012.
Widespread frustration does not appear to be subsiding -- and changing
that would require a dramatic turnaround which will almost certainly not
happen.
The most widely read economic books in France are the works of
unrepentant Marxists.
The main nonfiction best seller of the last ten years is called Indignez-vous
[Time for Outrage]. It is short -- a dozen pages. It is a
"call to the spirit of resistance" and a denunciation of the
power of "money," "free markets," America and Israel.
Its author, Stéphane Hessel, who died in February 2013 at the age of
ninety-five, had become a media star. He never was a soldier, but he was
buried with military honors. Another book that became a best seller a few
months ago, L'identité Malheureuse [The Unhappy Identity] by Alain
Finkielkraut, describes a "France that is crumbling before our very
eyes." The book offers no solution; Finkielkraut was harshly
criticized by those who still admire Stéphane Hessel.
In 2013, 285,000 people left
France -- twice as many as the previous year. They include many Jews
who discern that the social climate is unhealthy; entrepreneurs who
consider the situation hopeless, and young graduates who think they have
no future in France.
The largest number of European jihadists in Syria -- more than 380,
according to police documents -- come from France. Most of them are
recent converts to Islam. Some will die, some will return home.
In November of 2013, Standard & Poor's cut France's sovereign debt
rating from AA+ to AA. A few days later, Moody's also also stripped
France of its AAA, cutting it to AA1. And the next day, the OECD weighed
in, saying that France was falling behind southern European countries.
At the same time, the European Commission asked France to avoid new
tax hikes, and repeated that France had to bring its public deficit down
to the EU threshold of 3% of GDP before January 1, 2015.
Soon, therefore, the French government will have no choice, and will
have to do what needs to be done -- cut taxes and spending; reform the
job market and the welfare system, and give entrepreneurs breathing space
-- even if it means strikes and scenes of insurrection -- or face the
consequences, which could be even worse than strikes and insurrection.
Unstable
Neighborhood: Terrorist Groups Encircle Israel
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Smaller Gazan terror groups have
taken to "sub-contracting jobs" to terrorists in the
neighboring Sinai Peninsula, to avoid exposing Hamas in Gaza to Israeli
retaliation. Hamas and Islamic Jihad use the she same "trick".
It also allows them to build up their own rocket arsenals to prepare for
a future clash with Israel.
A breakdown in state sovereignty among Arab countries bordering Israel
has created a vacuum eagerly filled by radical non-state actors.
In lawless areas around Israel, both Sunni and Shi'ite terrorist
organizations are reaching out across borders and moving personnel and
weapons. This means that an eruption of violence in one area carries the
potential to ignite other arenas around Israel.
To Israel's south and west, Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist networks are
growing. They operate in both the Gaza Strip and in Egypt's Sinai
Peninsula, and maintain a relationship with Gaza's rulers – Hamas – as
well as with Islamic Jihad.
Smaller Gazan terror groups, such as the Popular Resistance Committees
(which are heavily involved in firing rockets at Israel) have taken to
"sub-contracting jobs" to terrorists in the neighboring Sinai
Peninsula, to avoid exposing Hamas in Gaza to Israeli retaliation.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad use the same "trick" when they wish
to attempt low signature terror attacks. It also allows them to build up
their own rocket arsenals to prepare for a future clash with Israel.
The transnational terror networks in Gaza and Sinai will likely soon
link up with extremist jihadi groups in Syria and Lebanon, meaning that
pro-Al-Qaeda elements can be expected to pose a tactical threat to four
of Israel's borders: Egypt, Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon.
To Israel's north, Shi'ite Hezbollah has sent large numbers of
fighters to Syria: at the moment, in addition to its traditional bases in
southern Lebanon, the Iranian-backed terror organization, armed with some
100,000 rockets and missiles, can use Syria as a staging ground for
future attacks on Israel. In the same vein, terror networks link the Gaza
Strip to the West Bank.
Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad are actively trying to construct terror
cells in the West Bank and east Jerusalem; so far, these efforts have
been successfully stopped by Israel's domestic intelligence agency, the
Shin Bet .
Even if efforts by Gazan terrorists to orchestrate attacks in the West
Bank fail, however, a future flare-up in Gaza will likely lead to a rise
in spontaneous violent disturbances in the Palestinian territories of the
West Bank, as already occurred during a 2012 conflict in Gaza between
Hamas and Israel.
Egypt's ongoing lack of stability has made it difficult for Cairo to
exercise control over the Sinai Peninsula, despite the best efforts of
the Egyptian military to combat the threat. Under the leadership of its
military chief, Field Marshal Mohamed Fattah Al-Sisi, Egypt, like Israel,
views the Gaza Strip as a national security threat, due to the movement
of hundreds of Salafi jihadi terrorists and weapons between Gaza and
Sinai through underground tunnels. It is these terrorists who are now
frequently attacking Egyptian security forces there.
Meanwhile, to Israel's north, Syria has, to all intents and purposes,
imploded, with the Assad regime controlling, according to some estimates,
no more than 40% percent of the country. Syria has also become the
world's top recruitment area for Al-Qaeda-affiliated groups; some 30,000
jihadi fighters are thought now to be active there.
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The IDF's Rimon
special-forces unit conducts a training exercise in the Golan, near the
Syrian border, on Feb. 2. (Image source: IDF)
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Lebanon, which has hinged its existence as a state on a delicate
sectarian balance, is reeling from the war exploding in next door Syria
-- a conflict that has seen over a million Syrian refugees, as well as
radical Sunni groups, move into Lebanon.
It is this uncertain reality for which the IDF is preparing. These
initiatives include enhanced intelligence, strengthened border security,
improved surveillance capabilities, and swift responses to any sudden
eruption of conflict on multiple fronts.
The dramatic changes in the region have prompted the Israel Defense
Forces to put a special focus on its intelligence and precision-fire capabilities.
Hi-tech intelligence-gathering techniques give Israel a superior
chance of receiving a prior warning before threats materialize, while
precision-guided weapons, which can be deployed by the air force or from
ground-based platforms, enable the IDF to strike targets both near and
far at a moment's notice.
Israel is prepared, even if it hopes that these preparations will not
be necessary.
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