(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Dubbed as Fear, Inc. The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America, the report sheds light on the collective efforts of the Zionist groups funded by the United States in pedaling a hatred for and a fear of Islam in the form of books, reports, websites, blogs, and carefully crafted talking points. According to the report, these wealthy donors and foundations also provide direct funding to anti-Islam grassroots groups.
The project of Islamophobia which has cost more than $40 million over the past ten years has been funded by seven foundations in the United States: 1. Richard Mellon Scaife Foundation; 2. Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation; 3. Newton and Rochelle Becker; 4. Foundation and Newton and Rochelle Becker Charitable Trust; 5. Russell Berrie Foundation, Anchorage Charitable Fund and William Rosenwald; 6. Family Fund; 7. Fairbrook Foundation.
According to the report, there are five misinformation experts who have contributed to the spread of Islamophobia in spearheading this project through the effective vehicle of media partners and grassroots organizing. These notorious people include 1. Frank Gaffney at the Center for Security Policy; 2. David Yerushalmi at the Society of Americans for National Existence; 3. Daniel Pipes at the Middle East Forum; 4. Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch and Stop Islamization of America and 5. Steven Emerson of the Investigative Project on Terrorism.
The league of the despicable hate-mongers
These experts travel far and wide and inculcate the idea that most of the mosques in the United States harbor terrorists and sympathizers.
One of the major figures active in disseminating anti-Islamic sentiments in the United States is Walid Shoebat. A purported Palestinian Liberation Organization member, he claims he once bombed an Israeli site and spent some time in Israeli prisons. A Christian convert, Shoebat was born of an American mother and a Palestinian father and seems to be nothing more than a blatant liar and traitor to the Muslim community. Financially supported by anti-Islamic groups, he believes that “terrorism and Islam are inseparable” and that “All Islamic organizations in America should be the No. 1 enemy. All of them."
Daniel Pipes is another notorious Muslim hater who spares no effort in tarnishing the image of Islam in America. During his career, Pipes has displayed "a disturbing hostility to contemporary Muslims...he professes respect for Muslims but is frequently contemptuous of them" (The Washington Post).
Apart from his strong hatred for Islam, he also shows racial disrespect for Muslim immigrants who "wish to import the customs of the Middle East and South Asia" (Los Angeles Times). In 1990, he stated, "Western European societies are unprepared for the massive immigration of brown-skinned peoples cooking strange foods and maintaining different standards of hygiene...All immigrants bring exotic customs and attitudes, but Muslim customs are more troublesome than most" (National Review).
A barefaced liar and traducer, he vehemently extends his hatred to the person of the Holy Prophet of Islam and refutes the notion of the Night Journey, and the Holy Qur'an, and casts doubt even on the existence of the Holy Prophet of Islam.
To the gang of the haters also belongs Robert Spencer, the director of Jihad Watch. He is the author of eleven monographs and well over three hundred articles on jihad and 'Islamic terrorism'. While expressing intense animosity and hatred for Islam, he finds himself incapable of testifying to the many attractive qualities of Islam.
Asked once why so many people embrace Islam, he admitted against his will that “there are many attractive elements of the religion.” He even admitted that the amorality in the western world is one of the reasons why many embrace the glorious faith. It is interesting to note that he has been widely acclaimed by his cronies. Daniel Pipes calls him 'A top American analyst of Islam'. Frank Gaffney, Center for Security Policy describes him as 'a national treasure...The acclaimed scholar of Islam.'
David Yerushalmi, the founder of the think tank the Society of Americans for National Existence, is another influential Islamophobe. Without proper training in Islamic law, he claims to be an expert in the field. Yerushalmi introduces Islam as an inherent threat to the West because of its doctrinal goal of world rule via 'a caliphate that will impose Sharia law on all its subjects' (Forward.com). To this accusation, Mark Cohen, a professor of Near Eastern studies at Princeton University replied that historically, even in the areas where Muslims ruled, they did not seek to impose Sharia law on non-Muslims.
“Jews and Christians were granted communal autonomy, including the right to live according to their respective legal systems and to adjudicate in their own courts of law,” he said
One of David Yerushalmi's famous quotes is, “Muslim civilization is at war with Judeo-Christian civilization…the Muslim peoples, those committed to Islam as we know it today, are our enemies.” To sum up, he is a hate-mongering figure who has been described as 'anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant and anti-black.'
Also behind Islamophobia in the US is Frank Gaffney, the director of the hardline neoconservative Center for Security Policy (CSP), who advocates for controversial weapons programs and an expansive "war on terror" targeting "Islamofascists" (a term Gaffney frequently uses in reference to the Muslims). His bizarre ideas about Islam and the Muslims have placed him among the leading Islamophobes in the United States.
As Richard Allen Smith says, “Whenever there is an issue of bigotry directed at Muslims in America, it's a safe bet that you can find Frank Gaffney behind it.” Last year's opposition to the Ground Zero Mosque was actually organized by Frank Gaffney. With a mind contaminated by western teachings against Islam, Gaffney has memorized some verses from the Holy Quran and recites and interprets them in the flickering light of his crooked perceptions of the Holy Book.
Last but not least is smearcaster and defamer Steven Emerson, one of the leading Islamophobes who serves as the Executive Director of The Investigative Project on Terrorism. His specialty lies in linking any terrorist attacks to the Muslims in the US. This expertise can well serve the interests of the western media who seek to lay any blame on the Muslims in case of a terrorist attack.
He erroneously blamed the Oklahoma City bombing on Muslims. Speaking on CBS Evening News, he said, "This was done with the attempt to inflict as many casualties as possible. That is a Middle Eastern trait… it was a bomb that brought down TWA Flight 800." This clearly indicates a mind set at analyzing events and putting the blame on the Muslim society.
It is evident that these bloggers and think tanks work closely together and make concerted endeavors to promote their anti-Islamic campaign. Their outlandish ideas have unfortunately influenced some in the United States and in Europe as well. Just some time ago, the tragedy that took Norway by surprise and made Western media jump to the conclusion that the terrorist act was the work of the Muslims is a product of this flow of misinformation in the West.
Anders Behring Breivik who was responsible for the killing of 62 people was a byproduct of this macabre mis-teaching penetrating the European community as well. Breivik's 1,467-page document containing gruesome details of his terrorist act reveals that he was inspired by the network of Islamophobia in the United States as well as his links with the extremist neo-Nazi British EDL who share similar ideas concerning Islam.
Islamophobia practically started with 9/11. Although the main motive and the real identity of those responsible for the attacks have remained a secret since then, the US government has from the outset shifted the blame on the Muslim extremists. This provided a plentiful excuse for the US government to mount wars in Afghanistan and Iraq under the pretext of combating terrorism. The wars have incurred inconceivable human loss, and irretrievable destruction of infrastructures in the two countries. Besides, the US government has suffered billions of dollars in the military adventures it has pursued in the region. This crooked policy of the US government has augmented an anti-Islamic sentiment in the US and in the West. To crown it all, the US has been effectively conducive to the emergence of Islamophobia by funneling millions of dollars to Zionist groups and organizations in the US, thereby entangling it in the web it has woven. The US is now stuck in an economic and military quagmire which can eventually terminate in the collapse of the Empire.
The massive conspiracy project to defame Islam and all Muslims is but another source of shame for and another black stain on the history of US policies.
Ismail Salami is the author of dozens of books and articles. Many of his articles have been translated into more than ten languages.
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