Islamophobia

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Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Islamophobia is a pejorative term that was initially invented and promoted by left-wing and progressive activists to suppress, and if possible eradicate, criticism of Islam and/or Islamism. An ideological tool of left-wing "political correctness" and an argued form of Orwellian Newspeak, it is frequently used as a politically loaded epithet by members of academia, and may effectively enforce censorship by smearing critics with accusations of mental illness - or "phobia". It is modeled on terms such as "claustrophobia" and "hydrophobia", but, unlike those terms, it has no basis in clinical psychology. Almost exclusively used as a term of vague insult, this has not diminished its cultural and political effectiveness, as measured by its increased use by mainstream "conservatives",[1] who in turn are derided as cuckservatives by those further to the right.

Origin

The term entered into common English usage in 1997 with the publication of a report by the Runnymede Trust, a pro-mass immigration think tank in the United Kingdom, condemning negative emotions such as fear, hatred, and dread directed at Islam or Muslims, and entered into further usage following a speech by George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, in response to the September 11 attacks. While the term is now widely used, having drastically increased in its usage in association with the ongoing left-wing political evolution, both the term itself and the underlying concept of Islamophobia have been heavily disputed.

Cultural impact

The term Islamophobia is widely associated with accusations of racism, promulgating the fallacy that Islam is a race and that those who criticize it are motivated by racism. In fact, some of the most vocal critics of Islam are ex-Muslims and/or non-Islamist Muslims. Examples are Hamed Abdel-Samad, author of the book Islamic Fascism, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali-born political activist and feminist.[2] WikiIslam is a wiki critical of Islam that was founded by an ex-Muslim, Ali Sina, who is now an atheist.

Feminists and left-wingers who wish to support ex-Muslims may find themselves in an ideological tangle, as they attempt to signal their own superiority to the right-wingers whose criticisms of Islam they insist are unlike theirs, based only on racist prejudice. Their distinction between valid and invalid criticisms of Islam have been said to boil down to "you are only allowed to criticize Islam if you denounce all religion and join the Communist Party".

The supposed statistics on anti-Muslim attacks in the UK are generally derived from unreliable sources such as "Tell MAMA", a call centre where anonymous people may lodge unsupported allegations, and accusations of anti-Muslim language are lodged as "hate crimes".

Politically correct sources that use the word, and related "-phobia" words such as homophobia and transphobia, apply a double standard and do not use related "-phobia" words as labels for similar criticisms of Christianity (Christophobia) and heterosexuality (heterophobia).[3]

Examples

False reports of anti-Muslim hate crimes are rife in the mainstream media and on social media. Examples from 2017 include a bogus report of a hammer attack on Balsall Heath in Birmingham, which police investigated and found had never taken place. The images of victims were found to be deliberately faked. Police commented "“There are 2 images circulating of women who have been assaulted. One of the ladies in the red scarf is the victim of an assault, however this has occurred in Ohio, USA. The other of a lady in a green scarf is not a victim of an assault but the work of a Malaysian make up artist for a production. We urge anyone to exercise caution when sharing news/images particularly on social media."[4]

In 2016, a Muslim woman in New York claimed that she had been attacked by three Donald Trump supporters who had pulled off her hijab and racially abused her. But it later turned out that she had invented the whole attack. "Yasmin Seweid claimed the men chanted "Donald Trump!" as they tried to rip off her hijab on a subway train, but police say she made the whole thing up." [5]

It is noticeable that, on numerous occasions, claims about anti-Muslim hate crimes (that were later shown to be false) have followed quickly after genuine reports of Islamic terrorist attacks. This could be explained by the hypothesis that the false reports are meant to counter the impact of the news of the terrorist attack.

Islamist-sympathizing editors on Wikipedia tend to use the word in a derogatory manner against their political opponents.[6]

References


See also