Rising racist Islamophobia in West-I

-Dr. Abdul Ruff

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The startling rise of Islamophobia in the West in recent years is defined by the promotion of deliberate media hatred for Islam, attacks on and terrorization of the faith of Muslims.

Time is over due to present an overall view of contemporary western Islamophobia, targeting global Muslims who are forced to be on perpetual run for a cover from anti-Muslim onslaught of US led western sources.

The western nations and their media claim to represent great civilization which the entire world needs to emulate. But they refuse to admit openly that their civilization smells hatred for Islam and the poor. In the name of “terror wars” the western military forces target Islam and Muslims, their resources. Compared to mainstream European countries that made little concerted effort to accommodate Muslim minorities, the USA apparently has the necessary, democratic means to overcome Islamophobia. But the governments are not keen to ensure genuine peace in the American and European societies.

They all want to “finish off” Islam once for all by appropriating all chances provided by the Sept-11 hoax- by the ongoing, seemingly  permanent war on Islam for the NATO military success and energy and route  resources.  

This series of 3 articles on the cruel subject is an attempt at comprehending the cynical Islamophobia issue.

Hatred for Islam and Muslims

Islamophobia (or anti-Muslim sentiment) is the prejudice against, hatred towards, or fear of the religion of Islam or Muslims. The term entered into common English usage in 1997 with the publication of a report by the Runnymede Trust condemning negative emotions such as fear, hatred, and dread directed at Islam and its adherents, i.e., global Muslims. Islamophobia advances "indiscriminate negative attitudes or emotions directed at Islam or Muslims.

While the term Islamophobia is now widely used, both the term itself and the underlying concept of Islamophobia have been heavily criticized.

The causes and characteristics of growing Islamophobia are still debated. Some scholars have defined it as a type of racism that treats them as “other” people with a distinct faith and life patterns.

Some commentators have posited an increase in Islamophobia resulting from the September 11 hoax, while others have associated it with the increased presence of Muslims in the USA, the European Union and other “secular nations” along with their business successes.

Since 9/11 hoax, notwithstanding Islamophobia attacks, Arab Americans have evolved from an invisible group in the USA/West into a highly visible community that directly or indirectly has an effect on the western culture wars, foreign policy, presidential elections and legislative tradition. True, they do not have the prowess of economically powerful Zionist lobbyists in Washington.

Racism and Islamophobia

Several scholars consider Islamophobia to be a form of racism. A 2007 article in Journal of Sociology defines Islamophobia as anti-Muslim racism and a continuation of anti-Asian and anti-Arab racism. John Denham has drawn parallels between modern Islamophobia and the anti-Semitism of the 1930s.

Academics are still debating the legitimacy of the term Islamophobia and questioning how it differs from other terms such as racism, anti-Islamism, anti-Muslimness, and anti-Semitism.  Some find that there is no consensus on the scope and content of the term and its relationship with concepts such as racism but on occasion race does come into play. Diane Frost defines Islamophobia as anti-Muslim feeling and violence based on "race" or religion.

Islamophobia may also target people who have Muslim names, or have a look that is associated with Muslims. According to Alan Johnson, Islamophobia sometimes can be nothing more than xenophobia or racism wrapped in religious terms.

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) defines Islamophobia as the fear of or prejudiced viewpoint towards Islam, Muslims and matters pertaining to them (ECRI 2006). Whether it takes the shape of daily forms of racism and discrimination or more violent forms, Islamophobia is a violation of human rights and a threat to social cohesion.  It has also been defined as "fear of Muslims and Islam; rejection of the Muslim religion; or a form of differentialist racism.

The concept of Islamophobia was criticized by saying that the target of hostility in the modern era is not Islam and its tenets as much as it is Muslims, suggesting that a more accurate term would be "Anti-Muslimism."  

The strains and types of prejudice against Islam and Muslims vary across different nations and cultures, which is not recognized in analyses, which was specifically about Muslims in Britain. Many Islamophobic discourses attack what they perceive to be Islam's tenets, while Miles and Brown write that Islamophobia is usually based upon negative stereotypes about Islam which are then translated into attacks on Muslims. They also argue that "the existence of different ‘Islamophobias’ does not invalidate the concept of Islamophobia any more than the existence of different racisms invalidates the concept of racism.  

Corporate media promotes Islamophobia

In order to differentiate between prejudiced views of Islam and secularly motivated criticism of Islam, Roland Imhoff and Julia Recker formulated the concept "Islamoprejudice", which they subsequently operationalized in an experiment. The experiment showed that their definition provided a tool for accurate differentiation.

According to Elizabeth Poole in the Encyclopedia of Race and Ethnic Studies, the media has been criticized for perpetrating Islamophobia. She cites a case study examining a sample of articles in the British press from between 1994 and 2004, which concluded that Muslim viewpoints were underrepresented and that issues involving Muslims usually depicted them in a negative light. Such portrayals include the depiction of Islam and Muslims as a threat to Western security and values. Benn and Jawad write that hostility towards Islam and Muslims are closely linked to media portrayals of Islam as barbaric, irrational and primitive.

A 2012 study indicates that Muslims across different European countries, such as France, Germany and the United Kingdom, experience the highest degree of Islamophobia in the media.

Islamophobia has become a topic of increasing sociological and political importance. According to Benn and Jawad, Islamophobia has increased since Ayatollah Khomeini's 1989 fatwa inciting Muslims to attempt to murder Salman Rushdie, the author of essentially anti-Islamic and anti-Prophet,  the Satanic Verses, and since the September 11 attacks in 2001).

Concept of emerging Western secular democracy

It appears Islamophobia is about politics rather than religion per se and that modern-day demonization of Arabs and Muslims by US politicians and others is racist and Islamophobic, and employed in support of an unjust war. The consequences of the relentless attacks on Islam and Muslims by politicians and the media are that Islamophobic sentiment is on the rise.

Europe is post-colonial, but ambivalent. USA leads imperialist wars for oil and profits.  Minorities are regarded as acceptable as an underclass of menial workers, but if they want to be upwardly mobile anti-Muslim prejudice rises to the surface.

Islamophobia has always been present in Western countries and cultures. In the last two decades, it has become accentuated, explicit and extreme.  Islamophobias" have existed in varying strains throughout history, with each version possessing its own distinct features as well as similarities or adaptations from others… each country has anti-Muslim political figures.

The purported growth in Islamophobia may be associated with increased Muslim presence in society and successes. Anthropologists  suggests  a  circular model, where increased hostility towards Islam and Muslims results in governmental countermeasures such as institutional guidelines and changes to legislation, which itself may fuel further Islamophobia due to increased accommodation for Muslims in public life. As the public sphere shifts to provide a more prominent place for Muslims, Islamophobic tendencies may amplify.

Enemies of Islam eager want a holocaust against Muslims so that world could  rid of Muslims and Islam. In 2006 ABC News reported that public views of Islam are one casualty of the post-Sept- 11, 2001 hoax and  resultant cruel conflict: Nearly six in 10 Americans think the religion is prone to violent extremism, nearly half regard it unfavorably, and a remarkable one in four admits to prejudicial feelings against Muslims and Arabs alike." They also report that 47 percent of Americans admit feelings of prejudice against Muslims. Gallup polls in 2006 found that 60 percent of Americans admit to prejudice against Muslims, and 39 percent believe Muslims should carry special identification.

Even people on the left are using the same Islamophobic logic as the Bush regime.  Stephen Sheehi conceptualizes Islamophobia as an ideological formation within the context of the American empire. The scholar on religion Reza Aslan has said that Islamophobia has become so mainstream in USA that Americans have been trained to expect violence against Muslims — not excuse it, but expect it.. the British public is far more likely to hold negative views of Muslims than of any other religious group, with "just one in four" feeling "positively about Islam," and a "majority of the country would be concerned if a mosque was built in their area, while only 5 per cent expressed similar qualms about the opening of a church.

That is the concept of emerging secular democracy of Western nations.  The data show that recorded anti-Islamic hate crimes in the USA jumped dramatically in 2001. Anti-Islamic hate crimes then subsided, but continued at a significantly higher pace than in pre-2001 years. The step up is in contrast to decreases in total hate crimes and to the decline in overall crime in the US since the 1990s.

(More to follow>)