A new report published by Georgetown University’s Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding has documented an upsurge in violence against Muslims in the United States coinciding with the 2016 election campaign.
The major uptick in hate crimes dates back toward the end of 2015, which corresponds with Donald Trump’s call for a ban on Muslims entering the United States — but also with other possibly inciting factors such as the San Bernardino shooting and intensified political debate over the Syrian refugee crisis.
“Our data suggests that acts and threats of anti-Muslim violence increased in 2015, and that it has escalated further during the presidential election season,” said Engy Abdelkader, a member of the U.S. State Department Religion and Foreign Policy Working Group and the author of the report.
The FBI has not released its own figures for anti-Muslim hate crimes in 2015. But in recent months a number of government officials and civil society leaders have raised the possibility that the incendiary tone of the election could lead to violence. In President Barack Obama’s first visit to a mosque earlier this year, he too cited the potential dangers posed by statements and proposals being made by many GOP presidential candidates. Referring to the “inexcusable political rhetoric” that has characterized the campaign, Obama said that it was no surprise that “threats and harassment of Muslim Americans have surged.”
The report cites 180 reported incidents of anti-Muslim violence during the period between March 2015 and March 2016. Among these were 12 murders; 34 physical assaults; 56 acts of vandalisms or destruction of property; nine arsons; and eight shootings and bombings. Among the incidents noted were the murders of three university students in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the murder of an Iranian-American in California by a white supremacist, and a road-rage incident in Houston in which a Palestinian-American man was killed by a man who told him to “go back to Islam.”
“Many thought that last year’s execution-style murders of three American Muslim youth in North Carolina was exceptional in nature, but there have been a spate of similar murders this past year, many of which have escaped the public’s attention,” Abdelkader said. “They speak directly to the increasingly violent nature of Islamophobia – it’s not just employment discrimination, it’s not just bullying in schools. Islamophobia now has lethal effects.”
Trump has only grown more comfortable engaging in anti-Muslim rhetoric as his popular support has risen. In a speech last week, he repeated a mythical anecdote about American soldiers executing Muslim prisoners using bullets dipped in pig’s blood during the Philippine-American War. The fictional war crime, which Trump cited as an example of effective counterterrorism policy, has become one of the presidential hopeful’s favorite talking points.
While Trump’s rhetoric has appalled many, his supporters have responded to it with enthusiasm. Polls have shown that large majorities of Republican primary voters endorse his plan to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States. His success also emboldened former rivals like Ted Cruz to put forth their own anti-Muslim policies.
“This report throws into sharper relief the relationship between anti-Muslim rhetoric and acts or threats of violence targeting the American Muslim community,” said Nathan Lean, a researcher on the report and author of the book The Islamophobia Industry. “It’s important to note, of course, that correlation does not necessarily equal causation. But in an election climate such as this, we must acknowledge the potential wide-ranging consequences of stigmatizing and politicizing an already-vulnerable minority group.”
Critics say Trump’s proposals to ban Muslims, deport undocumented immigrants, and build a wall along the border with Mexico are also laying the groundwork for eroding American democracy more broadly.
“This kind of rhetoric makes us all less safe and less free, because it feeds us fear,” said Dalia Mogahed, director of research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, a think tank. “Fear of imagined enemies within makes us more accepting of authoritarianism, conformity, and prejudice, and poses a real threat to our democracy in the long term.”
Some have also grown frustrated at the lack of attention paid to the violence that anti-Muslim rhetoric is fomenting in the United States. “I don’t see what the problem is. It’s not like Islam is a race,” Haroon Moghul, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Policy noted caustically. “Attacking people for the color of their skin — now that would be a problem. It’s a good thing we don’t have any of that in America.”
The report, titled “When Islamophobia Turns Violent: The 2016 Election Campaign,” was conducted by the Bridge Initiative, an academic research project at Georgetown focusing on Islamophobia.
Correction: Engy Abdelkader is the sole author of the report, Nathan Lean, who was previously indicated as a co-author, provided research assistance.
Top photo: Protesters gather outside of the Grand Hyatt Hotel during a demonstration against Donald Trump.
“‘“This report throws into sharper relief the relationship between anti-Muslim rhetoric and acts or threats of violence targeting the American Muslim community,”'”
It appears that such a relationship has not been established but simply asserted. It might just as well be that, anti-American rhetoric by the Left in general, and the associated party using race/class/religion-baiting as a political weapon, has instigated a native backlash.
God forbid the ppl supporting this start addressing their own problems instead of misdirecting the emotions caused by their guilt onto others they then think whose ends will alleviate such
Trump 2016
*…supports fearmongering even tho it’s…
And people wonder how those Germans could be persuaded to embrace the Fuehrer and approve sending all the Jews to concentration camps.
DON’T we have enough goddamned gods this country , that we have to increase their bloody numbers so that we have more & more murders caused by bigotry of all those foreign idiots? Were our ancestors stupid that they fought against the musulmans? Or are WE stupid giving them OUR countries in plunder and submitting our population to their slavery?
HUH?
Dishonest journalism is dishonest.
We already know the guy who shot those three Muslims did it because they were annoying as hell and were causing problems with the parking spots, thinking they were above the regulations.
And also, the classification of ‘hate crime’ is so vague and biased to where white males are the only ones allowed to be charged as such, that the basis of this entire article is thrown into question.
Not to mention, the Muslim holy book COMMANDS hate crimes from Allah, therefore this is a plea for victimization.
“We already know the guy who shot those three Muslims did it because they were annoying as hell and were causing problems with the parking spots, thinking they were above the regulations.”
That’s a rationale?!?
I feel like you’re in such a deep pool of hate you’ll literally take any excuse
You bicker like a bunch of bitches.
Can they provide data detailing anti-muslim attacks for Nov-Dec of 2014, 2013 etc? Perhaps the rise in anti-muslim attacks coincides with the holiday season for Christians and has less to do with the rise of Trump. Not a Trump fan by any means and I would not be shocked if there was indeed a correlation, but I feel like this trend may be affected by an outside factor.
I agree. I think the ‘rise of hate crimes’ is in response to the Muzzies rising crime rate in Europe, and especially after events like Cologne.
Oh, you mean the rising crime rate caused by entire countries fleeing western-birthed violence built up by decades of American-formed despotic governments and heavily-armed forces that can’t have magically apparated modern weapons into their own hands
What’s the proper slur for inexplicably violent Americans, or are we not allowed to have one?
Are people still trying to pass off the Chapel Hill shootings as a hate crime? There was no evidence that that guy was anti-muslim. He defended the ground zero mosque for allah’s sake. I don’t find it hard to believe that he could have killed over parking. One of the only times I’ve ever been threatened was over parking.
Let’s not forget that top Clinton donor Haim Saban also called for increased scrutiny of Muslims, and Clinton has pledged to support Israel’s ethnic cleansing efforts in the West Bank (i.e. the Netanyahu agenda). Clinton is also reaching out to Bush-era neocons for political support, and appears likely to continue regime change efforts in Muslim countries, which have killed hundreds of thousands of Muslims.
This, it’s an open question as to who is more likely to kill more Muslims, Clinton or Trump. Who is more likely to start a war with Iran? Hard to say, isn’t it? Either one would be a disaster.
I suppose you haven’t been listening to Donald Trump criticizing, time and again, the invasion of Iraq. On the other hand, Crooked has a bad track record of killing Muslims, as you are apparently aware of. There is little doubt that Muslims will be safe under Donald Trump. That is, all Muslims except perhaps the Saudis. He will expose them and get them to pay us for 9/11.
We all knew Obama wasn’t going to do it once we saw him double up before the Saudi king early in his presidency.
I don’t think cracking down on Obama is suddenly going to like-the-dawn blind ppl into swallowing the remainder of your inventions
I have no time for Trump, but there’s also a direct correlation between Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric and Muslim terrorism against western nations (France, Belgium, California, etc.).
“Islamophobia”, or anti-Muslim bigotry, is the direct, inevitable consequence of the virtual daily mass-murderous atrocities being carried out specifically in the name of Islam, and the refusal of most “moderate” Muslims to acknowledge it’s their religion that’s driving this violence.
Stating Islam is the primary motivating factor behind this terrorism is not bigotry, it’s reality. Anyone (Muslim or non-Muslim) who tries to obfuscate the fact Islamic scripture is driving this violence and attempts to blame it entirely (or even mostly) on western foreign policy is part of the problem and needs to be shunned.
Islamic terrorism is linked to the Wahhabi sect, which the Saudis use to help control their population and block democratic reforms. Ignoring this political factor is like claiming Catholic doctrine was the reason for IRA terrorism in Ireland and Britain.
Keep in mind that the USA is the top arms supplier to the Saudis, as well as to Israel. We also have to consider the effect of the drone war, as well as of Israeli repression of Palestinians, on terrorist recruitment efforts.
Then there was the Iraq debacle, which brought Al Qaeda and ISIS to Iraq, leading to dozens of terrorist attacks targeting mainly Shia Muslims in Iraq.
Taking all that into account, how about a little edit for your post:
““Americaphobia”, or anti-American bigotry, is the direct, inevitable consequence of the virtual daily mass-murderous atrocities being carried out specifically in the name of America, and the refusal of most “moderate” Americans to acknowledge it’s their country that’s driving this violence.”
Unfair? Perhaps – but Wahhabi Islamic radicals were backed for decades by the USA during the Cold War; this is a monster we helped create.
‘As ye sow, so shall ye reap.’
Well that’s not true, Iranian Supreme Leader has been open about funding enemies of the US.
Terrorism is most certainly not exclusive to Wahhabism or Sunni Islam. There are plenty of Shia terrorists in existence. As an example, most civilians who have been killed in the Syria conflict were killed by Assad’s (Shia) Alawite forces and his Shia allies (like the terrorist group Hezbollah). Shia terrorists and militant groups in Syria have killed more civilians than ISIS, Al-Qaeda and all other Wahhabi/Salafi groups operating in that country COMBINED.
If you want to talk about reaping what you have sown, Assad is a perfect example. He was one of Al-Qaeda in Iraq’s biggest supporters several years ago when they were targeting Americans and/or America’s allies in that country. They were “freedom fighters” to the likes of Assad back then. Now, these exact same Islamist groups with the exact same motivations and tactics have miraculously become “terrorists” to Assad as they have turned their attention on him. Funny how that works. Talk about chickens coming home to roost.
It’s true the U.S. supported mujahideen fighters against the Soviets, but these fighters were not the same Islamists we see today. They were focused solely on driving out Russians from Afghanistan, not on spreading some global caliphate at any cost including mass casualty attacks targeting civilians. If they had the same agenda and tactics back then as they do today, the U.S. would have never supported them.
I’m not disputing that western policies can HELP motivate terrorism, my only claim is these policies are not the main source that drives this kind of violence, which always seems to be the Intercept’s contention. The main source and motivator of the violence is found in the Quran.
I haven’t seen Hezbollah conducting suicide bombings in Europe, have you? They appear to focus on paramilitary engagements with Israel in southern Lebanon.
The Saudis and Qataris are the leading state sponsors of terrorism, I think – with Israel, Turkey and the CIA close behind.
Trump or Clinton? Not much of a choice. Good luck, guys.
Um…personal responsibility?
Not to mention the “upsurge in violence against Muslims in the United States coinciding with the” Zionist occupation of Palestine and the constant barrage of hate propaganda from the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, and all the other corporate media advocating the continuing Zionist Holocaust and election of Hillary Clinton, champion of that Holocaust.
You can always tell a nutter when ‘Zionism’ gets thrown on the table. Wanna talk about Illuminati next?
Oh, well thank you, nutter curator
Another flawed article, Murtaza. As others point out below, the US has been engaged in what George W. Bush called a “Crusade” in the Middle East since 2001. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are as culpable as Bush and Cheney, because they expanded the level of violence, both in terms of geography and technology. But you cite Trump as though he were the sole instigator.
The entire terrorism story is way overblown. If you count all the murders in the US committed against or by Muslims since Bush lite took office, the number would pale in comparison to the number of murders committed against or by Christians. I wonder, have you bothered to do a statistical analysis to see if there is any significant difference in the two murder rates? I thought not.
S1lver1ock is right: a crime is a crime. Applying a special label and special punishment is denial of equal justice under law.
Agree with you.
Muslim folks are really stupid and can’t distinguish between good enemies and fake friends. That’s why they are getting slaughtered everywhere like pigs.
I agree, But? It started well before Bush – before most of us were alive. The intercept in many ways is a typical democratic social justice rag. Murtaza Hussain has wrote some good articles. What is noteworthy is his silence here – comments. Though I am sure he is such a busy guy. Like 99% of all American reporters too good to engage after their story is written or just too busy – ‘Murica.
Almost since conception the FBI has been the worlds largest, most successful and best funded creators & information brokers of Islamaphobia. Not Trump, Bush or Regan.
I doubt Murtaza is too scared or uninformed to point this out. Possibly he was feeling lazy. Most likely he wad doing as told. The intercept is hell bent on making sure they are perceived as a social justice magazine with democratic appeal. While not helpful to the problems America causes in the world and will not fix our problems at home Murtaza’s article helps The Intercept to secure a place in this niche. Such a good employee. Let’s bake him a cake.
The name suggests Murtaza is a somewhat Muslim type of guy. These Muslims have big problems identifying their enemies. Usually they end up suicide-bombing their own kind of folks. When they can’t find enough of other Muslims they look for others on two legs.
We should begin with by banning all the Alahuakbar shouts. That’s what give them the misdirection to attack. I have trained my Labradors to attack the moment they hear this shout anywhere. Good luck to them attempting suicide-bombing in my vicinity!
If you look at the global terrorist body count it is mostly moderate Muslims being killed by the Wahhabis in suicide bombings. This is in accord with Saudi interests; moderate pro-democracy Muslims are the greatest threat to the Saudi Royal’s grip on power (see the Arab Spring).
In fact without extensive support from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Israel and the CIA, (c.2011-2015) ISIS would never have gained control of so much Syrian and Iraqi territory.
They were financed and supplied as part of another stupid ‘regime change’ effort targeting Assad and Iran.
So, because Islamic “random” terrorist acts are committed by Muslims in the West and all over the world, we need to protect muslims against “islamophobia.” Also, the 2016 attacks in Paris were “random” acts of violence, but a case where several muslim teenagers were killed in North Carolina is an “execution style” murder and is evidence of growing spate (not random).
And Trump is “obviously” at fault.
Another piece of a hypocritical radical agenda driven “journalism.” Good job, intercept. You have done it again.
Stick this one in your ear, bigot:
Zionism is to Judaism, as Islamism is to Islam.
Zionism is to Judaism, as Islamism is to Islam.
Zionism is to Judaism, as Islamism is to Islam.
Zionism is to Judaism, as Islamism is to Islam.
Zionism is to Judaism, as Islamism is to Islam.
Zionism is to Judaism, as Islamism is to Islam.
Zionism is to Judaism, as Islamism is to Islam.
Zionism is to Judaism, as Islamism is to Islam.
Zionism is to Judaism, as Islamism is to Islam.
Zionism is to Judaism, as Islamism is to Islam….
I didn’t know that Donald Trump was responsible for the last 15 years of assaults by America against Muslim countries. Why can’t he be more like Barack and Hillary, talking nice, while bombing the crap out them? Let’s get back to polite warmongering, folks!
Clinton would probably kill more Muslims as part of her regime change agenda than Trump would.
Well, if pool buddies believe it, who am I not to?
Did anyone associated with those studies suggest making this type of rhetoric illegal and using government force to limit free expression? Because then you’d have a story about a real threat to our democracy.
since free speech enables even dangerous lunatics to say what they think, it’s very important for other people to counter such assertions with speech of their own. nobody said anything about making rhetoric illegal.
Agreed, the solution to speech you don’t like is more speech.
“nobody said anything about making rhetoric illegal.”
After reviewing the links provided above, it appears that nearly everybody said something about making rhetoric illegal.
1. The Loretta Lynch link provides the following quote from our country’s AG:
“I think it’s important that as we again talk about the importance of free speech we make it clear that actions predicated on violent talk are not America. They are not who we are, they are not what we do, and they will be prosecuted,”
2. In TheHill.com’s piece, the CAIR executive director said:
“Donald Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric has crossed the line from spreading hatred to inciting violence,”
3. The study from Georgetown in the “Conclusion” section describes a protest following vandalism:
“In response, hundreds of non-Muslims stood shoulder-to-shoulder with ISNA officials to condemn the attack and to call for a state law criminalizing such bias attacks.”
It’s not clear (to me, at least) what “bias attack” they would like to criminalize. The vandalism and destruction of private property is already a crime. Are they then referring to criminalizing the rhetoric that preceded the physical destruction of property?
4. In the POTUS speech, “And we have to reject a politics that seeks to manipulate prejudice or bias, and targets people because of religion. We’ve got to make sure that hate crimes are punished,”
Maybe it’s just coincidence to directly follow a critique of rhetoric with a call to punish “hate crimes”.
I do agree that Trump has helped feed into the notion of anti-Islamic rhetoric ( I don’t know who would be able to say otherwise), but I think we must also acknowledge that it was during November and December that Paris and San Bernardino were attacked. I realize there was mention of one of the attacks in the introduction but I think a greater effort has to be made to acknowledge Trump is able to exploit the fear of others because that fear is reactionary to televised events of terrorism. Obviously there is more to the story than that, I just feel it wasn’t appropriately addressed. Still a great article.
The chart of the rise in anti-Muslim hate crime big spike clearly corresponds with the Islamo-terrorist attack in San Bernadino….Yet you blame Trump…Wake up and smell the roses…..You need to restrain your terrorist dogs……
so you think the proper response to “islamo-terrorist” attacks is for people to commit hate crimes against other people who had literally nothing to do with the attacks?
The best paragraph in the whole article…
“This kind of rhetoric makes us all less safe and less free, because it feeds us fear,” said Dalia Mogahed, Director of Research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, a think tank. “Fear of imagined enemies within makes us more accepting of authoritarianism, conformity and prejudice, and poses a real threat to our democracy in the long-term.”
On an emotional intelligence level, when you continuously cycle a person into an angry state each cycle that begins before the previous cycle has been processed elevates the baseline. I am not surprised at all with this societal level change.
The problem with extreme Islam is that Sharia law is riddled with crimes. CRIMES. stoning adulteraters, killing gays, death to people that leave Islam, chopping of arms & feet for stealing equivalent of NZD $70. . . . when you TOLERANT to allowing crime to get a foot in the door, you are also giving potential criminals ability to commit much worse crimes.
No Muslim country , except America’s biggest Muslim ally Saudi Arabia, is governed by sharia law. The right wing moans about sharia without knowing any facts. Too much Fox News and right wing radio , has brainwashed these know nothings into ignorant mouth breathers. Pretty much explains the rise of an ignoramus like Trump into a potential presidential candidate.
I don’t like the whole idea of hate crimes. A crime is a crime. The judge can decide extenuating circumstances either for or against the defendant when sentencing the individual.
If two people are murdered, one in a robbery and one out of hateful spite, the crime is essentially the same, murder.
Let the anti – Trump propaganda BEGIN!
Dear author, please remember, that it was in November 2015 France was terror attacked. Please tell your brethren, to be civilized and human else there will be back lash in society, which will then take part of world back to stoneage
Donald Trump is not a racist. He is not a anti-islamic radical. He believes 100% in American values and understands the consequences of what dumya and the band of criminal republican politicians and operatives have done to America and Americans.
Dirty tricks – consider nixon’s criminal breakins and illegal use of the IRS, or cruz’s mailfraud, or dumya’s swidtboating and forging false documents.
Donald Trump speaks truth to power. He is NOT a part of the wallstreet criminal enterprise or the crooked military contract system.
But the msm want to paint him because they are afraid what he will find out and what he will do about what he discovers. The US is pretty much a criminal enterprise, spies on everyone. Guaranteed hillary wont touch it. Not sure if Bernie will dismantle it. Pretty sure Donald doesn’t like it because the spy operation is really bad for business.
get a clue.
Trump not part of the Wallstreet Criminal Enterprise? Man, what the hell are you smoking?
Whatever it is, I hope noone slips it to me as a mickey.
Trump is NOT a part of the Wallstreet Criminal Enterprise. He plays NO ROLE in any illegal trading, pricing, bond bundling, whatever.
Does he work with crooks? No.
Donald licenses his name and sometimes crooks take him for a ride. When you are such a business person, it is fairly impossible to weed out all the bad stuff because there are a lot of thieves out there. Jillions of them.
Numerous mental health professionals are getting ready to treat the previously undiagnosed mentally ill. It really helps that the pool of Trump supporters are volunteering and self identifying as needing help.
What makes Trump a success is that he is a team builder. It’s really simple, put a team together of people who do stuff to get paid while you, OWN THE THING.
Trump will create a national railroad system. Wanna bet? He will protect the parks and national resources. He is a lot like Teddy Roosevelt IMO.
@Barabbas –
Sorry, but that is nonsense.
I think the article is very good.
I especially thin the comments of Dalia Mogahed were excellent.
Why don’t we talk about the very ugly climate that is circulating? Why don’t we just start turning away from such hateful rhetoric and start just condemning acts of hatred, especially violent ones.
This is a good start, Mr. Hussein; we need to know problems. NOW we need to work toward some solutions. So to everyone: DON’T SUPPORT HATE – from whoever, whenever!!!
hello.
the repubs are very much afraid of Donald.
Mark my words.
the rpublican criminal enterprise is preparing to offer that teef, Romney.
Mark my words.
@Barabbas –
Romney might not be the best choice, but —– please, that dangerous, narcissistic nutjob would be probably the worst possible choice.
I don’t buy any excuses for him and his hateful tantrums and rhetoric. Nope. And the mindset shown by too many supporters is extremely concerning to me. It’s ugly, and not at all open to any sort of diversity, or even basic civil liberties.
This stain on our politics needs to be and must be rejected. We MUST find a better path.
The better path is an upgrade to the US Declaration of Independence and Constitution which can only be done by a popular adhoc convention. Even you could do this.
Just announce that you want to upgrade our rights and hold a convention. Very doable.
thanks for listening.
When Donald Trump becomes US president, global economic level sure will be uncertain.
This is very weak journalism Murtaza. In presenting a “report published by Georgetown University’s Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding,” you might have mentioned the fact the the Saudi government is a heavy funding source for the Jesuit run center. In fact the full name of the center is the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding.
Again, the Bridge Initiative describes its mission as a “’crossover’ initiative {that] brings faculty, subject-matter experts, and researchers together to examine attitudes and behaviors towards Muslims: to dissect public discourses on Islam; to uncover the operational mechanisms of engineered Islamophobia; to develop and disseminate alternative narratives that raise public awareness and enrich public discourse on this dangerous form of prejudice.” Sounds very progressive, does it not? A Saudi funded initiative to promote pluralism within American society? Really?
The director of the Bridge Initiative is John L. Esposito. A quick review of Espisito’s bio provides some interesting insights into the nature of those who are aiding Saudi/American efforts to re-engineer public discourse. Among many activities, Espositio is a “member of the World Economic Forum’s Council of 100 Leaders, and member of the E. C. European Network of Experts on De-Radicalisation and Board of Directors of the C-1 World Dialogue.” The World Economic Forum alone ought to ring some alarm bells. The WEF was the target of anti-globilization activists during the 1990s because the organization was rightfully perceived as a global partner of the G7, World Bank, World Trade Organization, and International Monetary Fund. Chomsky describes the WEF as an establishment-defined pro-globalization organization comprised of “extremely narrow highly privileged elites.”
Now, why would the intercept be embracing the anti-Trump rhetoric of a Saudi funded initiative of the global elites?
most interesting and informative.
thank you
Thank you for your well researched reply. I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s noticed the Intercept becoming more and more comfortable pushing the establishment pov and more and more its it’s been the progressive establishment pov that’s being pushed. I found the most honest part of this report was that the author acknowledged the FBI’s statistics weren’t included. The only thing Trump is guilty of is demanding that immigrants be properly vetted before coming to America and after Paris, Belgium and San Bernardino that is something I would think any American could agree to. I’m not going to go into the fact that our public schools are being forced to teach the pillars of Islam after Christianity was run out of our schools or the fact that if a Christian moved to a majority Muslim country he would be at best a second class citizen or the percentage of Muslim Americans who want to see sharia law enacted in America or the number of times Muslims have faked crimes and cried that their being targeted by bigots or the murders in Jersey and Seattle committed by Muslims waging jihad and TOTALLY ignored by the media that’s a reply for another day.
Hi Robin,
There is an awful lot of ignorance surrounding the issue of Muslim immigration. I agree that a standardized vetting process of all immigrants is absolutely necessary at this stage. It is deeply ironic that the longstanding birth control agenda of the progressive left has resulted in a level of negative population growth that necessitates elevated levels of immigration in the first place. Secondly, high minded buzzwords like pluralism, democracy, and multiculturalism are being used to provide cover for the underlying agenda that is attempting to reshape the world around us. I see people like Soros espousing the virtues of democracy and open society while simultaneously holding to the view that global change requires an elite class of “educated” change agents to construct a future for the uneducated, unwashed masses (the remaining 99.99 %). Although I agree with Chomsky’s perception that there are discernible ethical differences between self-identified advocates of globalization, they all seem to harbor the end-justifies-the-means belief that noble lies are essential to herding the masses toward an elite constructed fate of globalized values. While speaking of the empowerment of the individual through the democratization of societies, socially progressive elites are advancing a postmodern social agenda that is anathema to the very concept of individual sovereignty. It is understood that the masses must be inculcated with an ever evolving set of common beliefs (manufactured reality) that best facilitates their assimilation into the emerging global order. Teaching the five pillars of Islam is only the latest in a series of public educational initiatives that are intended to deemphasize the traditional Judaeo-christian belief that every human being is born with the innate potential (Mandate?) to exist as a morally sovereign individual. Absent the moral dimension of the self-realized sovereign individual, freedom of choice (and the capacity for dissent that arises from it) is little more than a manipulated form of illusion.
This Georgetown outfit doesn’t seem to have any interest in the separation of church and state in the Middle East, or in the replacement of hereditary dictatorships with democracies . . .
This Georgetown outfit doesn’t seem to have any interest in the separation of church and state in the Middle East, or in the replacement of hereditary dictatorships with democracies . . .
Yes, rather curious, is it not? The spread of Saudi Wahhabism has led to the rise of state sponsored terror throughout the Muslim world. Nothing has contributed more to the “fear of imagined enemies” throughout the Muslim world than the ideas generated by the politico-religious alliance of the British created house of Saud and the ultraconservative branch of Sunni Islam. Armed with the Ottaman claim that the right to rule is derived from agnatic seniority, the oil rich house of Saud has aspired to spread the Muslim faith at the point of a sword in concert with the overarching Anglo-American aim of secretly harnessing and shaping pan-Arab aspirations to it own ends. The Bush doctrine of preemptive regime change has very much in common with the spreading of one’s faith at the end of a sword.
So, this is completely accurate: Trump’s legitimately hateful campaign has inspired legitimate hate. This should be documented and disseminated.
However, here’s the problem: this article cites Nathan Lean, who graduated from Saudi Arabia’s propaganda mill of a department, and Dalia Mogahed, who you can actually find video of calling secularism a mirror image of Islamist terrorism. In the past year.
The second paragraph should make anyone question articles like this. The fact the first paragraph is so important is why we should take extra care to separate it from boring, lying religious apologists.
How about, The Georgetown Center for Understanding why the fuck you would want to be Muslim or Christian, being that both of these religions combined have probably set human kind back 2000 years. What with their human oppression , quests for world domination, oh don’t forget that both are rife with pedophiles. Yes, yes I understand there are millions of “good” Christians & Muslims but quiet frankly your belief in a man made organization of human control disturbs me. Allah Akbar, God is Great , oh yes it,he,she is when your not a brainwashed fucking idiot, but i digress.
This is a totally fallacious conclusion. Hate has become a global phenomenon, and it is only Donald Trump who has repeatedly criticized the invasion of Iraq that, in fact, is the genesis of most of the hate.
spot on.
Hmmm… I thought that it was an Independent from Vermont that actually lead the charge against the fabricated war in Iraq.
If you notice Bernie has a Social Worker as a wife and life partner. I can tell you from experience that his behaviors and attitude are scrutinized with 10x the rigor of the common man.
This is misleading as an article because the headline suggests casualty when there is none.
The Georgetown Center for Christian Muslim Understanding was founded with money from the Saudi Royal family.
No one knows hate crimes better than the Saudis, who preside over a fascist religious state that openly mistreats and despises religious minorities and women. Therefore, they should know that Muslims in the United States are treated with remarkable tolerance in spite of the repeated, bloody attacks by certain Muslims on US citizens.
Like seriously, it’s The Intercept, they should know people can actually look these individuals and organizations up. The point about a rise in hate crime is relevant; why bring in these propagandists?