(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - A six month research project by the prominent think tank, Center for American Progress, has resulted in a 130-page report appropriately named Fear Inc.: The Roots Of the Islamophobia Network In America. This is the first in depth investigation into Islamophobia, and it sheds lights on how a small group of bigots linked to conservative and Zionist causes each play a role in the seemingly lucrative industry of Muslim hatred and bashing Islam.
Seven foundations donated £42 million over 10 years, which was filtered down to self styled 'experts' on Islam whose job it is to churn out Goebbles style propaganda against Muslims. Of these, eight of the most prominent are Robert Spencer and Daniel Pipes who claim to be scholars, Frank Gaffney who runs the Center for Security Policy, and Steve Emerson, founder of Investigative Project on Terrorism. A maronite Act for America and as an Fox News and the Christian Broadcasting Network.
More ominously, lucrative speaking engagements at civil and military institutions provide the credibility they crave, all duly reported in the print media including the National Review magazine and The Washington Times. Most of these media outlets have websites which increases the exposure.
Lending his legal expertise is Allen West. Yes, this is the same Allen West who was a recipient of the Saudi Arabia Kuwait Liberation Medal W/Palm Tree award.
Further down the hierarchy, an assortment of paid charlatans posing as ex-Muslims like Walid Shoebat (Christian Palestinian) and Wafa Sultan (Alawite Syrian) to Nonie Darwish (Egyptian convert to Evangelism) breath the 'we have lived through it' life to the otherwise dead lies these 'experts' produce.
Last but not least are the bloggers and their readers whose importance should not be underestimated in a world where Anders Breivik took his prime inspirations from the internet. Right wing blogs are littered with comments that dehumanize Palestinians, call for the genocide of Muslims and to end Islam by nuking Mecca and Medina. Cherry picked and distorted 'news' is regularly parroted by tea party activists and on the Zionist blogosphere assisted by the likes of Brigette Gabriel and her minions of Christian Right followers. Whilst promoting anti-Muslim hate, radical Zionism and Israel being a victim of Islam are presented as a fact.
Seven charitable foundations run by conservative heavyweights fund this phony Islamophobia campaign. A breakdown by the researchers of Fear Inc. shows that the major recipients include Middle East Forum (MEF), David Horowitz Freedom Center (Horowitz). What stands out in this report though is the fact that the largest sums came from Donors Capital Fund which tops the list of givers at a whopping $20 million. This is more than twice the amount Abu Dhabi Gallup Centre hold less prejudices against American Muslims than other religious groups do. Therefore, this is certainly not a 'Jewish' problem and should not be treated as such. Nor do liberal Jews follow the hard-line Zionist policies that right wing Zionists believe in.
Neither liked nor trusted by liberal Jews, right wing Christian Zionists tend to find their allies amongst Messianic, Kahanist and secular right wing Likud type Jews both in Israel and their counterparts in the USA. These two groups have formed an uneasy alliance where they use each other for their own agendas. The settler movement and the secular right wing Israelis need Christian Zionists to fund the settlements and for political support. The Christian Zionists hailing mainly from the least educated, impoverished echelons of American society, want to hasten the Armeggedon gladly reciprocate, seeing it as an opportunity for covert Evangelical missionising in Israel, often a source of tension since proselytising is forbidden in Israel.
This, then, is the picture of today's Republican Party in the USA, with its large base of Tea Party activists and religious right Bible belt, the latter having extremists numbering millions who believe in the Armeggedon and a war with Iran which is their reason for supporting radical Zionism, where bigotry is rife, in a nation where unemployment is growing, and the debt increasing. Palestinians are standing in the way of their end-time story in Israel and by extension their Arab and Muslim supporters are an enemy. Add to this unholy alliance, the rich resources of oil in the Caspian sea, Iraq and Iran for which a threat is needed to justify military intervention if and when needed, and you have an assortment of agendas concurring on the necessity of an 'Islam threat' for a variety of different reasons.
-- Farha Khaled is a columnist for the Saudi-based Arab News.
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