Because, you see, after the jihad massacre, they supposedly experienced “Islamophobia.” This is a tried-and-true tactic for the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). They deployed it successfully after 9/11, to the degree that by the time the twentieth anniversary of the attacks rolled around, the establishment media coverage was all about how much Muslims had […]
Do Factors Other Than Islam Explain the Violence in the Middle East?
Does the West have an Islamophobic obsession with Islam? A still relevant five-year old article asserts this:”Obsession with Islam blinds West to real problems,” by Omer Taspinar, Asia Times, March 13, 2019: Autocracy, radicalism and sectarianism in the Middle East are mostly to do with plain old politics and institutional failure. So if the West really wants […]
‘Nationalism’ is Not the Problem in the Islamic World
Some say that the West is “Islamophobic.” Such claims are made in an old article that is worth revisiting: “Obsession with Islam blinds West to real problems,” by Omer Taspinar, Asia Times, March 13, 2019: Take the Sunni-Shiite sectarian wars, for instance. Instead of an ancient Islamic rivalry rooted in theology, the sectarianized conflicts in Syria, Iraq, […]
Everything That Goes On In the Muslim Middle East Has to Do with Islam
Do people in the West have a negative view of Islam because of a campaign of “Islamophobia”? That’s the assumption of an old article that remains relevant, and that we have been accordingly revisiting: “Obsession with Islam blinds West to real problems,” by Omer Taspinar, Asia Times, March 13, 2019: The result has been to reinforce the […]
The ‘Dismal Perception’ in the West of Islam is Well Deserved
A five-year old but enduringly relevant article asserts that “Obsession with Islam blinds West to real problems,” by Omer Taspinar, Asia Times, March 13, 2019. The idea Taspinar is attempting to express is that anything and everything — except Islam itself — explains the growing “civilizational clash,” which in his telling seems to originate in the West, […]
UK: Sikh group campaigns against ‘flawed’ definition of ‘Islamophobia’
“If the government chooses to incorporate this definition into law, then discussing the history of the Indian subcontinent, and the persecution of religious minorities across the world today, in countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria will be absurdly equated to ‘racism.’” Indeed. This initiative is already well underway. I’m Exhibit A. “Boost for British […]
Is Islam an ‘Insurmountable Obstacle to Freedom, Democracy, Secularism, and Gender Equality’?
Some claim that the West has a ridiculous Islamophobic obsession with Islam. A five-year old but enduringly relevant article asserts this: “Obsession with Islam blinds West to real problems,” by Omer Taspinar, Asia Times, March 13, 2019. Taspinar deplores the fact that Islam is widely seen as an “insurmountable obstacle to freedom, democracy, secularism, and gender equality.” Taspinar claims […]
Australia appoints UN ‘Global Expert’ as ‘special envoy to combat Islamophobia’
Immigration and Multicultural Affairs Minister Tony Burke said: “Bigotry is always wrong. You should be able to live safely and freely in Australia, regardless of who you are or what you believe.” Sure. But the “Islamophobia” envoy won’t just crack down on vigilante attacks against innocent Muslims, which are never justified and already illegal. He […]
Who is to Blame for ‘Islamophobia’?
Does the West has a ridiculous Islamophobic obsession with Islam? We’re examining an old but enduringly relevant article that asserts this: “Obsession with Islam blinds West to real problems,” by Omer Taspinar, Asia Times, March 13, 2019: It is easy to blame anti-immigration politics and racism for the rise of Islamophobia. Yet the problem cannot be reduced to […]
Does the West Have an ‘Obsession With Islam’?
Some people believe that the West has a ridiculous Islamophobic obsession with Islam. Five years ago, this assertion was given a lapidary formulation by one Omer Taspinar. His claims are worth revisiting. “Obsession with Islam blinds West to real problems,” by Omer Taspinar, Asia Times, March 13, 2019: From Donald Trump’s alarmist speech in 2017 in Poland, […]