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2010: The Year of Islamophobia

By on December 31, 2010 in Feature, Loonwatch Updates

2010 has been an unbelievable year! Can we say that we are happy that it is finally over? Only if that means that the wacky anti-Muslim Islamophobia that reached unprecedented and at times demented levels will recede. However, it doesn’t appear as though that will be happening any time soon.

Looking at the year in review we see that right-leaning and populist anti-Muslim/xenophobic organizations and party’s increased their power/influence across Europe while also initiating and passing discriminatory legislation in their countries.

  1. Rise of Geert Wilders and the Freedom Party
  2. EDL (English Defense League)
  3. Sweden Democrats
  4. Switzerland’s banning of Minarets
  5. BZO Austria
  6. Pia Kjaersgaard (DF)
  7. France and the face veil controversy
  8. Belgium’s banning of the face veil
  9. Catalonia face veil proposal

In the United States we saw the convergence and solidifying of a network of Islamophobes across the nation who joined arms with their brethren across the Atlantic ocean. We were also treated to the Republican party’s instrumentalization and usage of Islam for purposes of fear-mongering during the the run-up to the 2010 elections; add to this mosque controversies, hate crimes, anti-Muslim rallies and your run of the mill nuke Mecca suggestion and you had 2010.

The beginning of the year saw a slew of hate crimes, it also saw our piece, “All Terrorists are Muslim…Except the 94% that Aren’t,” go viral and become one of our most popular pieces ever, getting picked up by various mainstream media outlets.

Joseph Stack’s attack

Events picked up shortly after that with Joseph Stack flying his plane into a IRS office kamikaze style and the failure of many, especially on the right to equate the act to terrorism.

Such double standards were consistently exposed by us throughout the year, particularly in our “What if they were Muslim?” segment. We documented the colossal double standards that exist both in media and popular perception when it comes to judging crimes committed by Muslims against those committed by individuals of other faiths. Invariably, when a Muslim commits a crime it is blamed or linked to Islam, whereas if someone else does it his or her faith is not mentioned — even if it was the motivation.

Of course we would be remiss if we did not mention the biggest story of the year; the Cordoba House, i.e. Park51 or as it has come to be known by many, “the Ground Zero Mosque controversy.” This was a story that raged for months and was “whipped up into a frenzy by a pair of bigoted anti-Muslim bloggers, Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, two individuals who should be summarily dismissed as loons that have zero influence in the mainstream media or amongst any of our politicians.”

The Republicans latched onto this story and attempted to make it the wedge issue that they could use to ride to victory during the elections. A dozen or more candidates incorporated this issue into their platform with some making it their sole selling point, (un)surpirsingly a handful actually came out victorious, most prominently the looniest of them all, Allen West.

This was also the issue that catapulted Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer into their 5 minutes of fame. We had been reporting on these two, their financiers, networks and supporters ever since we started Loonwatch, our pieces on both of these goons especially “Pamela Geller: The Looniest Blogger Ever” was picked up by mainstream media outlets including the New York Times, Salon.com, Christian Science Monitor and the Washington Post.

Both Geller and Spencer were irked to no end by this and though they attempted to play the silent game were forced at some point to respond to Loonwatch, but they did so only with ad hominem attack and zero interaction with the substance of our articles. Geller resorted to calling us a “Goebbels-style hate site” while Spencer wished to inflict “100-101 lashes” on Danios who he labeled a “slick liar” while continuing to run-away and evade Loonwatch’s open challenge to a radio debate.

Today the controversy over Park51 is still simmering though the rhetoric and verbiage on it has cooled down quite a bit to the chagrin of Spencer and Geller. The spill over from Park51 left a terrible residue and sparked controversies around the nation.

It seemed that the issue with mosques (i.e. Muslims) was not simply about proximity to “hallowed ground,” but the right to build and freely worship was being challenged all over the country.

  1. Murfreesboro, TN.
  2. Temecula, CA.
  3. Sheepshead Bay
  4. Sheboygan County, Wi
  5. Florence, KY
  6. Selden, LI
  7. Ohio

Ahmed H. Sharif

There are about six more places from our count where mosque controversies were raging, but the above sampling gives you an idea. The worst spillover of the mosque controversy undoubtedly manifested itself with the near fatal stabbing of New York City cab driver Ahmed H. Sharif. Passenger Michael Enright entered his cab, asked him “Are you a Muslim?” and when the cabdriver replied, “Yes,” slashed his throat.

There were other notable Islamophobiapalooza moments during the year as well. For instance Rima Fakih, the first Muslim Miss America drew the ire of right-wingers and Islamophobes who didn’t like seeing a brown lady with the crown, let alone a Mooslim. There was also the South Park/Revolution Muslim controversy and the resultant Everybody Draw Mohammed Day on Facebook which descended into an orgy of bigotry and hatred. Later this would reveal the epic double standards and failure of the moribund perception-makers in the media when contrasted with the way it dealt with the story of Pastor Terry Jones and his wacky Dove Outreach Church’s “International Burn the Koran Day on 9/11” (Read: Islam and the Media in the Age of Islamophobiapalooza).

The final focal point with which Islamophobes and their cynical cohorts in the Republican party attempted to garner populist support through anti-Muslim fear-mongering was surrounding the buzz word: Sharia’. Sharia’ is the boogey monster that Muslims, 1% of the population of America is going to impose. Forget the fact that most of those advocating this conspiracy theory are themselves woefully ignorant of the Constitution, a document that they subvert with every statement and move they make. It got so bad that Oklahoma overwhelmingly passed a measure banning Sharia’ which has (thankfully) been overturned for being unconstitutional, it should also have been overturned for being unbelievably stupid.

This leads us to consider the biggest Islamophobic conspiracies of the year, which could be a feature piece on its own:

  1. Sharia take over of the United States
  2. Park51 being a “victory mosque” for “Islamic supremacism”
  3. Barack “Hussein” Obama being a secret “Mooslim”
  4. Muslim Congressional Spy Interns
  5. Rep. Keith Ellison working for Hamas
  6. Google’s “e” as an Islamic crescent

At the end of the day, all hope was not lost. There were many whose eyes were opened and Loonwatch helped by being picked by prominent and diverse bloggers as well as media venues as varying as AlJazeera, NPR, Christian Science Monitor, The Independent, AlArabiya etc. Many concerned citizens spoke out eloquently to reject and counter Islamophobia, our segment “Anti-Loons” vividly  showcased the best of those who opposed bigotry and were sincerely and effectively working to counter hate and ignorance on all levels, especially against Islam and Muslims. Lesley Hazelton’s profound lecture describing her experience with the Quran left us with hope, that those who make an effort may come to see beyond the stereotypes, the ignorance that shackles us and fosters animosity between humanity.

“Part of the problem I think is we imagine that the Quran can be read as we usually read a book. As though we can curl up with it on a rainy day with a bowl of popcorn in reach, as though God, and the Quran is entirely in the voice of God speaking to Muhammad, were just another author on the best-sellers list. Yet it is precisely because so few people read the Quran that it is so easy to quote, that is to misquote, phrases and snippets taken out of context, in what I call the highlighter version, which is the one favored by Muslim fundamentalists and anti-Muslim Islamophobes.” —Lesley Hazelton

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    • Khushboo

      good piece! Let’s not forget Fox News for always showing the negative side of Muslims and being hypocrites no thanks to Bill O’Reilly, Beck and Hannity and his hateful guests such as Ann Coulter, Dennis Miller, Juan Williams, Gaffney,etc. etc.

      Bill Maher is also an Islamophobe worried about too many Muhammads being born and laughing at Orchard Park Muslim woman beheaded by her loony husband. I don’t recall him laughing at Nicole Simpson nearly beheaded by accused OJ.

    • muhammad ‘abd-al haqq

      LW. would you consider this story good for the “What if they were Muslim?” series:

      Albany, NY – Lawmakers Lobby Gov. Cuomo to Restore Kosher Law-Enforcement Division

      http://www.vosizneias.com/72465/2011/01/02/enforcement-division/

      Imagine a lobby of Muslims with the specific aim of installing a Sharia Law Enforcement Division in the governments State Department.

      Allahu A’lam

    • Mosizzle

      To be honest, I don’t like the way Sufis are treated like they are as some other sect, especially in Western media, as different from Sunnis and Shias. Not only does it make it look like the Ummah is more divided, but it doesn’t make much sense to consider Sufis as different from Sunnis or Shias in the same way that Catholicism is different from Protestantism.

    • Dawood

      The Qadiriyya is mainly a Sunni order, I have never met any Shi’a members of that tariqa, though I would imagine that they exist as it’s one of the oldest established. The founder, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani was actually a Hanbali in fiqh, although he was a sayyid (both Hasani and Husayni in lineage). One can be Sunni and Sufi at the same time – in fact, most well-known scholars were (al-Nawawi, al-Ghazali… the list is endless). Even Ibn Taymiyya himself took the Qadiri way and received the mantle of Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir!

    • here is the wiki entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saladin As such, he is a notable figure in Kurdish, Arab, and Muslim culture. Saladin was a strict adherent of Sunni Islam and a mystical disciple of the Qadiri Sufi order.

      and NassirH, I didn’t say he was a Caliph, I said there have been Shia Caliphs, sorry, I write so fast and click “submit” often without checking, it sounded like i was saying Salah al Din al Ayoubi was a Caliph

    • Dawood, I don’t have a source to hand, but I always thought he was a Shia, certainly he was a Sufi?

      anyway, i just checked Wikipedia and it says he was a Sunni and followed the Qadri Sufi order, which sounds conflicting, was he both a Shia and a Sunni then? or didn’t he distinguish between the two? so he may have been both Sunni and Shia? interesting,..i’ll look into this,

      You may be correct though, as your sources look better than Wikpedia…

    • NassirH

      Saladin was definitely Sunni. And I’m pretty sure he ws never a Caliph either.

    • Dawood

      Halalpork: No one here claims to speak for anyone but themselves, so your attack on Zakariya due to his belief is moot. It is especially so considering the explicit designation of the Shi’a as Muslims found in such things as The Amman Message. I for one enjoy his contributions to the site, and welcome his perspective.

      Inspired by Muhammad: As a tangent to this discussion and a matter of history, I’ve never heard the claim that Saladin was Shi’a before. Do you have a source? All the sources I have checked mention that he was staunchly Sunni (Shafi’i/Ash’ari – some even mentioning that he memorised the famed Al-Iqna’, a major commentary on a foundational text of the Shafi’i madhhab, Matn Abi Shuja’), and that he was Qadiri in tariqa. He’s also Kurdish, who (besides a small number in Iran and Turkey) are staunchly Sunni, as far as I know.

    • Mosizzle

      I’m sorry I meant “Inspired by Muhammad”. Apologies.

    • Mosizzle

      Thanks, Imad.

      I will add to your comment with a modern example: some of the greatest leaders of Pakistan have been Shia– Muhhammad Ali Jinnah was born a Shia, so was Liaqat Ali Khan. Benazir Bhutto and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto were also Shia. Current dictator Asif Ali Zardari (backed by the US!) is Shia and so is the current Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.

      The fact is that Pakistan, despite being majority Sunni, has had many Shia leaders. So obviously Shias are not considered Kaafirs by most Sunnis because if they were then the conservative Sunni clerics would have objected. Even the extremist Sunni Taliban is currently taking support from Shia Iran.

      Also Shias are allowed in Mecca which is proof that they are Muslims and not Kaafirs. Obviously, Halal Pork you have no idea about Islam and have exposed your stupidity once again with your comment.

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Happy Holidays!

By on December 25, 2010 in Loon-at-large, Loonwatch Updates

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our Christian Loonwatchers.

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    • Lo

      Whoops, the above was still me without the userpic (posted from a different computer). Speaking of, how do I chose my userpic anyway?

  • Lo

    TheGhazzaliBlogger, I’m not implying Christians in Indonesia and Turkey don’t receive equal rights (quite the opposite, really). I was merely naming a couple of Muslim countries capable of proving Robert Spencer wrong. There are more than two, of course. After the Christmas trees of Malaysia and Dubai, the one down at Trafalgar Square kinda disappoints, even.

    For the record, I’ve been to Turkey and Indonesia several times and they are lovely

Glenn Beck: Ten Percent of Muslims are Terrorists

By on December 7, 2010 in Loon Radio

Glenn Beck

Glenn Beck puts forward the lie that ten percent of Muslims are terrorists.

Glenn Beck: Ten Percent Of Muslims Are Terrorists (AUDIO)

(Huffington Post)

Glenn Beck said he thinks ten percent of all Muslims are terrorists.

As ThinkProgress pointed out, Beck’s estimate would mean that roughly 157 million Muslims in the world are terrorists.

Speaking on his radio show Monday, Beck decried the relative lack of coverage that the news media is giving to the figures he discusses day after day on his radio and television shows.

“We have revolutionaries here in America speaking — American citizens speaking — about an open violent revolution and no one will cover it!” Beck said. “Would they cover it if you had tape of al Qaeda saying they’re going to get out in the streets, they want violence? Of course you would!”

Beck surmised that the media don’t think that the threats he describes are sufficient enough to cover seriously. However, he said, they should look at the havoc a relatively small number of “Islamic terrorists” had caused:

“What is the number of Islamic terrorists? One percent? I think it’s closer to ten percent but the rest of the PC world will tell you, ‘oh no, it’s minuscule.’ OK, well, let’s take you at your one percent. Look at the havoc one percent of Muslims causing in the rest of the world. You don’t think one percent, half a percent here in the United States of radicals, of people who want to violently overthrow the government, is a problem?”

UPDATE: As The Huffington Post’s Sebastian Howard pointed out on Twitter, Beck’s figure of ten percent is hardly new. In fact, Beck used the same statistic in his 2003 book, “The Real America.” In it, Beck says that he has concluded, after “reading and prayer,” that, while ninety percent of Islam is peaceful, “ten percent wants to see us dead.” The remaining ten percent, he writes, is “composed of extreme radicals who have taken Islam through a time tunnel and twisted it into something ugly and barbaric.”

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    • I said it

      This is totoal bullshit!

      Glen Beck says 10% Muslims are terrorists? Is he off his rocker or what?

      I thought only 10% Muslims are not terrorists

      Check your facts before you speak

    • Abdullah S

      This is also on one of those polls…

      * Support for attacking civilians who just happen to work in Islamic countries range from 6%-30%.

      But does that mean support for attacking people in just any of the Islamic countries in the polls? or does that reflect the sentiment towards civilians working in the countries occupied through force?

      Also on the counter argument that supports Beck the man wrote,

      ” Alright, now that we have the facts…let me articulate the lefts last ditch argument:

      ‘But those are only people who advocate terrorism! Not people who are terrorists!!’ ”

      …I know we are bordering on a very very fine line here, but advocating harm to civilians does not have to always mean terrorism, it could certainly mean retaliation and I could certainly be wrong but I’m sure if you polled some of these countries on whether or not they felt America was at war with Islam you’d probably get a quite large percentage who agree, those sentiments could have also been high when those polls were conducted.

      **Note to Loonwatch, sorry I unloaded all this here but I was so angry and I don’t have facebook to respond on those websites.

    • Abdullah S

      “In 10 years, Muslims and Arabs will be looking through a razor fence at the West.”

      The following comment, while I understand the intentions of others who might feel similar, scared the shit out of me and I can honestly say that it would make me feel threatened to the point I might want to go out and hurt anyone who “looks like” a Muslim.

      “You want the profiling to stop? Then, here’s an idea. Stop murdering innocent people. Stop excusing the people who do. You do that for a while, and I guarantee you won’t have any more problems at the airports. Stop blowing stuff up and the world just might be your oyster. Otherwise, it’s going to be like that movie, The Siege. You remember that movie?”

      Glenn Beck is a very dangerous hate mongerer. His program starts up with pictures of Martin Luther King and Ghandi but he sure isn’t no Martin Luther King or Ghandi. He also forgets that right wing militias and ‘patriot’ groups are on the rise and I’m sure they’re out there armed and ready to unload. Muslims might start becoming targets once they feel they have legit reasons to go after them. Was it not Beck’s rhetoric that caused Byron Williams admitted in his jail cell was the cause of his attempt to mass-murder the leaders of the Tides Foundation and the ACLU? I could be wrong about that though I don’t know to much about that situation.

    • Abdullah S

      http://www.glennbeck.com/content/blog/stu/?p=1182

      a response to that here

      http://www.mediaite.com/online/glenn-beck-and-radio-crew-repeat-muslim-terrorist-claims-this-time-with-proof/

      … Okay so there are polls showing that Muslims in these countries want to wish the US harm but I can’t imagine that there is absolutely no context to why they would feel that way. It seems like any context to why these places feel the way they do is completely thrown out and all that is shown to people are numbers to constantly drill the idea that these people savagely hate Americans to stir up emotions while of course having a valid point that needs to be discussed.

      Perhaps some of these people have a mindset that for some reason the US deserves retaliation for (whatever reason insert here) and hence they don’t look at it as terrorism? Perhaps there was a mix of both people who wish the US harm because they truly hate the US and perhaps others who believe in retaliation for some reason or another.

      What if they had a poll that simply asked, “Do you support terrorism? Do you support the killing of innocent people? Do you support x,y, or z as a war tactic?”

      There is the idea that if you support or cheer on attacks you support terrorism but I’m taking a guess that a lot of these people in these polls feel the same way towards people who support the occupation of Muslim countries? Or American’s who call for nuking Mecca. Of course it doesn’t mean these views (of the people in the polls) are okay but it’s easy for people to ignore all context and dismiss anything gruesome their side has ever done.

      US also divides Muslims into groups based on their own terms and definitions while we have terms like Kharijite, Muslims who become Kuffar, Murtad and what not which usually non-Muslims pay no attention to while also ignoring the divide in ideologies in the Muslim world. A lot of the target audience of this sensationalism probably feels that “terrorism” is not something Islam recognizes and would punish and there are probably many of them who equate Jihad with terrorism or for some reason feel that there should be no Jihad period while simultaneously not knowing what the heck they’re talking about and really just wishing that problems with the Muslim world would end. For these people it probably becomes a headache, especially when they often get the idea in certain programs which constantly parrot the idea that Muslims never denounce terrorism.

      Even if you look at countries where the “Islamist” become the majority you still have to ask yourself what’s the possibility of “Islamist” becoming the majority in this country? What is the obsession with these haters thinking that all Muslims wish to tax the hell out of them? If anyone is going to tax the hell out of people and subjugate them in the US I don’t think it’s going to be Muslims or “Islamist” anytime soon. What pumps theories that it’s something in the Qur’an causing radicalization in the US and not a combination or religious propaganda, careful manipulation of individuals and a brain pumped full of war propaganda and ideas of unjust acts towards Muslims around the globe as well as the occupation of Muslim lands.

      There is also the idea that “left wing blogs” jump on stories like this to try and make Glenn Beck look bad but the question I’d have to ask is when you use sensational statements in your broadcast aren’t you asking for it? It’s like when O’Reilly said what he said on The View. Sure maybe he had a issue he supposedly wanted to discuss or a view on things he wanted to workout but his intention seemed aimless unless his intention was to invoke a strong reaction.

    • Beautiful Muslim Doll

      The Guardian mentioned Glen Beck’s paranoid assertions here too:

      ——— Time for FBI to stop spying on American MuslimsElaborate sting operations not only risk entrapment of bogus terrorist suspects, but worse, they wreck vital community trust

      http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/dec/07/islam-terrorism Recently, Glenn Beck delved into his hyperactive, paranoid imagination to produce the utterly baseless statistic that nearly 10% of Muslims are terrorists. Although many of Beck’s audience will not question the veracity of his “facts”, a comprehensive study undertaken by Duke University reveals that the number of radicalised Muslim-Americans remains very small. The study reports that “Muslim American communities have been active in preventing radicalisation… This is one reason that Muslim American terrorism has resulted in fewer than three dozen of the 136,000 murders committed in the United States since 9/11.”

      ———

      By the way,

      Who is the “The Inspector”?

      He and his website, seems to be known here, but where is the link to his website? he doesn’t link to it from his name,

    • Khushboo

      True American, I agree that we should defend ourselves but with WORDS only. We need more people to speak out against terrorism, propagandists like Beck who may incite violence against Muslims, and extremists of all faiths. We need a strong voice! Your “lock and load” talk sounds extreme.

    • Khushboo

      Ah, I think I know where Beck got this 10% from. Aren’t 10% of all Muslims Arabs? He’s generalizing again!

      oh wait…this just in! 99% of people think Beck is a loon!

    • Khushboo

      Inspector, we scold only Islamophobes/bigots/hatemongers for blaming the religion(taking words out of context in the Quran), insulting our prophet and generalizing instead of blaming just the crazy .01% Muslims. We also scold them for their irrational fear of Muslims taking over which has sadly incited violence against innocent Muslims and we scold those propogandists who have their own agenda (money and power) for fear and hate mongering.

    • Aamir

      Their Ringleader is hosting his infamous awards show ,exclusively for his Nuts audience.

    • muhammad ‘abd-al haqq

      Sorry Dawood my comment was meant towards you, don’t know why i typed Cynic

      Allahu A’lam

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Your Whacked Out Pamela Geller Rant of the Day

By on November 24, 2010 in Loon Blogs

Charles Johnson over at LGF launches into Pamela.

Your Whacked Out Pamela Geller Rant of the Day

A classically incoherent run-on title from the Shrieking Harpy introduces her latest outrageous outrage:

JIHADIST DEVELOPERS OF GROUND ZERO MOSQUE HIT UP 9/11 FUND TO REBUILD LOWER MANHATTAN FOR $5 MILLION JIZYA TO ERECT ISLAMIC SUPREMACIST MEGA-MOSQUE

Imagine the gall of these Islamic supremacists. The very idea that the infidels should finance the second wave of 911 attacks on the American people again exhibits the contempt Rauf and his gang have for the filthy kuffar.

Here’s what her latest asinine Crusade is about: the developers of Park51 have applied for funding from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, which was set up after the 9/11 attacks to help distribute federal funds to businesses, for the improvement of lower Manhattan. The fund was set up specifically for projects like the Cordoba House, which proposes to take an abandoned eyesore of a building and turn it into a world class community center open to all. I don’t know if they’ll receive the funding, but it certainly qualifies under the intent of the LMDC.

But Geller and her Bigot Brigade are raging out of control again, because in their universe it’s obvious that none of that money was ever intended to get into the hands of Muslims. In other words, you’re looking at pure naked bigotry, unashamed, ignorant, and proud of it.

A footnote: Geller is always claiming that she doesn’t hate Muslims, she’s not a bigot, etc., all while spewing the most disgusting slurs, insults and hate speech. For example, this post: BLIND GIRL SAVES FOR THREE YEARS TO BUY A GUIDE HORSE BECAUSE HER STRICT MUSLIM PARENTS CONSIDER DOGS UNCLEAN.

You can tell how much sympathy Geller has for this blind Muslim woman by her comment:

Why not a goat? Isn’t that cheaper? (/sarc)

Hurr hurr.

UPDATE at 11/23/10 6:55:20 pm:

Some facts about the plans for Cordoba House:

The majority of the center will be open to the general public and its proponents have said the center will promote interfaith dialogue. It will contain a Muslim prayer space that has controversially[7][8] been referred to as the “Ground Zero mosque”. It would replace an existing 1850s Italianate-style building that was being used as a Burlington Coat Factory before it was damaged in the September 11, 2001 attacks. The proposed multi-faith aspects of the design include a 500-seat auditorium, theater, a performing arts center, a fitness center, a swimming pool, a basketball court, a childcare area, a bookstore, a culinary school, an art studio, a food court, and a memorial to the victims of the September 11 attacks. The prayer space for the Muslim community will accommodate 1,000–2,000 people.

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    • Mendacity Exposed

      Moon-god Myth-maker Morey as seen by his fellow Christians (from the “Pakistan Christian Post”)

      “Robert A. Morey, treacherous thief, malicious person, third rate scholar, self appointed bishop, who is misleading the Christians and Pakistani Christians living in North America and with his spite, malice he has corrupted the Christianity. There is no doubt in my mind that Robert Morey is an Insane Monster misleading the Christians of North America. He claims to be a scholar and authority on Islam yet al he does or has done so far is nothing different that an “illiterate Mullah” of a remote village of Pakistan. He is a “fame hungry” person and will do any thing that could bring his name to lime light.”

    • Awesome

      @Halal Pork

      Jesus Christ is a Muslim, and his religion is Islam.

    • laila

      Mosizzle Says “Seems to me like its a still from a video. If your worried about your screen cracking due to her face, wait till you hear her voice, your speakers will commit suicide”

      lol thanks 4 da warning.

    • Mr Pork, I am appalled by both Saudi and the Taliban and condemn their actions, much as every Muslim I know is appalled by them. To try and compare 1.57billion Muslims to a handful of extremists is stupid and dumb. Not only is Saudi one nation, many of it’s own citizens disagree with it’s government policies. As for the Taliban, they are but a handful of people who are hated by all I can see. No, they do not represent Islam in any way, name, shape or form. I challenge you to show me how they do, you can add it to my list of challenges to you that you have failed to accomplish. Once again, I expect you will fail.

      As for Afghanistan, it is in a mess due to meddling, first by the British, then the Soviets and now the US. It was once a very stable area, not so know due to outside influence and colonialism. Islam cannot be blamed for that.

      Peace

    • @ Jack Cope :As a Muslim,I am commanded to take all knowledge without prejudice.Are you telling the whole truth?Are you a better Muslim than the Muslims from Saudi Arabia where 1400 years ago,Islam was forged.Try to take a copy of the Holy Bible into that country?It would be binned in front of your very eyes.Do you know what was done to the ancient Budha statues in Afghanistan by the Taliban?Do you not consider them to be Muslims?They in fact represent the true face of Islam.Afghanistan was once a Buddist country and you can see what state it is in today.Islam is a curse for humanity,Mr.Cope.

    • Sam Seed, I myself would rather correct false information or plain lies than leave them standing for some unknowing passer-by to believe them.

      A further benefit of responding is demonstrating where your average islamophobe stands in terms of intellect, and that such people are no match to anyone of us.

    • Sam Seed

      Please fellow loonwatchers ignore the pig that you may prosper. Is there really a need to respond to someone with the mental capacity of said animal. Please take note.

    • The irony is lost on you is it Mr Pork…

      As for the Book burning, debatable, the aforementioned library had been burned many many times before and what was left when Umar got there was probably not much, it certainly wasn’t the biggest. Your statement shows a lot of ignorance, one of the most blinding is the fact that the Muslim library in Baghdad *was* the biggest in the world. As for finding knowledge that contradicts the Qu’ran, pray share with us this ‘knowledge’ because, as a Muslim, I am commanded to take all knowledge without prejudice. The only enemy to knowledge are people like you who enforce ignorance on themselves and upon others, using it as a weapon. Ignorance is fine and understandable, we are *all* ignorant of some things, but enforced ignorance is inexcusable.

    • @ Sphinx:Seeking knowledge is mandatory for every Muslim and Muslimah as per Mohammad.You should have qualified that statement that as long as it did not cotradict the Quran.That is what happened in Egypt where you come from,when Umar burnt all the books in Alexandria library-the biggest in the world at that time,which did not agree with the Quran.Book burning is a hobby with Muslims.

    • Porkchops:

      “Knowledge is the worst enemy of ISLAM.”

      Prophet Mohammed (PBUH):

      “Seeking knowledge is mandatory for every Muslim and Muslimah”

    • Porky rambling about lunacy and ignorance. Irony of the highest order.

      Oh and no bacon post without a fact-based trashing:

      Porky:

      “LUNATIC.It is derived from the word LUNAR which means MOON and the Mad people were affected by the appearance of MOON”

      Wikipedia:

      “The word lunatic is borrowed from the Latin “lunacus”, in turns stemming from “luna” (moon), which denotes the traditional link made in folklore between madness and the phases of the moon. This probably refers to the symptoms of cyclic mood disorders such as bipolar disorder or cyclothymia, the symptoms of which may also go through phases. As yet there is no evidence whatsoever for any causal link between phases of the moon and the progression of mood disorder symptoms. Correlation has been observed in distant parts.”

    • The only word which can describe Muslims is :LUNATIC.It is derived from the word LUNAR which means MOON and the Mad people were affected by the appearance of MOON.No wonder you have MOON on evey Mosque which signifies where the Lunatics gather five times a day.The Muslims worship the pagan moon god and the STAR in front signifies MOHANNAD.The star of ISLAM.Ignorance,thy name is Islam.Knowledge is the worst enemy of ISLAM.

    • Don’t get too worried folks, just file Pammy under Future Darwin Award Winners. No one can drive while blogging/texting/podcasting/etc. that much & make it much longer. And that’s just the stuff I’m mentioning. Just have the fun. And cherish the screen captures (ALWAYS KEEP THE SCREEN CAPS!!!).

      Speaking of, I think I snagged that pic there from a vid she did, or did everyone just do that? Do it to Spencer though, throws him into a manic rage. A hilarious manic rage;)

    • Never fear folks, just file Pammy under Future Darwin Award Winners. No one can drive while blogging/texting/podcasting/etc. that much & make it much longer. And that’s just the stuff I’m mentioning. Just have the fun. And cherish the screen captures (ALWAYS KEEP THE SCREEN CAPS!!!).

      Speaking of, I think I snagged that pic there from a vid she did, or did everyone just do that? Do it to Spencer though, throws him into a manic rage. A hilarious manic rage;)

    • Mosizzle

      “I’m afraid ad-hominem attacks are the only way to deal with such garbage.”

      Sourin Mahbub, I still think we should abstain from attacking her weird looks and funny voice because then Islamophobes will accuse us of “ad hominem”. By the way, your description of her as “a grotesque specimen of a failed abortion” was epic.

    • Cynic

      Actually Abdullah, you can’t formally learn about the ‘truth’ of how evil Islam really is…because all of the Universities have been infiltrated and thoroughly dhimmified.

    • Sourin Mahbub

      Pamela Geller’s lunacy may have been overlooked if she was even slightly easy on the eyes. Unfortunately not only is she a vile, despicable woman on the inside, but she is also one grotesque specimen of a failed abortion.

      Now without giving any of her arguments even a sliver of consideration, all I can say to myself is “damn, that is one ugly broad.” Even with all the upgrades to her appearance she is one seriously vomit-inducing primate.

      I’m afraid ad-hominem attacks are the only way to deal with such garbage.

    • thisguy.

      totally unrelated; but evidently she posted a thread in defense of Lt. Michael Behenna, who got 25 years for the murder of an Iraqi, I posted a comment as I was at the same camp with the Law Enforcement element there; and because I strayed away from their party line, and included some facts that they happend to leave out, that made no doubt it was a pre-meditated murder-they hit me with “delete comment”…you know every so often I need to hop on one of their threads thinking well maybe they for once will listen to reason….guess not:)

    • Mosizzle

      I think it’s fair to say that HalalPork got ‘owned’ by the Prophet, peace be upon him.

    • Abdullah

      Why do you have to bring in people’s mothers into the conversation and dishonour them?

      “Narrated ‘Abdullah bin ‘Amr: Allah’s Apostle said. “It is one of the greatest sins that a man should curse his parents.” It was asked (by the people), “O Allah’s Apostle! How does a man curse his parents?” The Prophet said, “‘The man abuses the father of another man and the latter abuses the father of the former and abuses his mother.”

      Oh snap, such violent and terrorist speech from the founder of Islam. It’s clear that all he preached was violence and intolerance

      As for Ms. Geller. I find it sort of silly that apparently anyone can read a copy of a Quran with a really crappy ‘tafsir’ over the weekend and call themselves an ‘expert’. I can honestly say that I have more credentials than most of these people in terms of knowledge. Especially when they have little to no formal Arabic training.

      To give an example: students studying the Aeneid have to take Latin. They may have a translation with them to clarify things, but they HAVE to take Latin. They have 3 semesters of Latin, and then they begin to delve into it. Then they read the Aeneid, and the copies I’ve read have extensive footnotes to explain phrases, places, and people. And then there are other footnotes explaining the environment in which Virgil wrote the Aeneid, the culture of Romans, etc. If I just read the Aeneid’s translation and go into Princeton stating “I read the Aeneid and I am now an expert. Give me a job in your Classic’s Department” they’ll laugh you out. But for some reason, when it comes to Islam, you don’t need much. Biblical scholars aren’t “experts” because they read the Bible, they’ve taken history courses, theology courses, read papers and essays by numerous other theologans (Aquinas, et. al) and have (from my experience) a cursory knowledge of Semitic languages.

      If Islam is so violent, why don’t you study it thoroughly with teachers at an accredited institute so you can learn how evil it really is? Learning more about it from learned scholars shouldn’t change your opinion if it is so evil. Or does that studying get in the way of “make the quick buck, and then fade away”?

    • Mosizzle

      “@ Cynic :You talk about Pamel Geller{Whoah Mosizzle,Stroking her dog in what way?}Let me politely answer you.The same way as your MOTHER stroked her DOG when she conceived you!!!Would you like me to elaborate more for other people ?”

      HalalPork, so you admit she had sexual intercourse with that dog…

      I wasn’t even implying anything sexual, just that she was stroking a dog in the evil woman kinda way or the crazy cat lady from The Simpsons, but thanks for clearing that up, HalalPork.

    • Cynic

      Great gradeschool comeback there Halal Pork, to something that doesn’t even concern you. Touchy much? But seriously, I don’t know how I’ll ever recover from that. Well, at least you confirmed my suspicions lmfao!

    • @ Cynic :You talk about Pamel Geller{Whoah Mosizzle,Stroking her dog in what way?}Let me politely answer you.The same way as your MOTHER stroked her DOG when she conceived you!!!Would you like me to elaborate more for other people ?

  • Cynic

    Whoah Mossizle, stroking her dog in what way

Joyce Kaufman: Islamophobe Inspires Follower to Violence

By on November 24, 2010 in Loon Radio, Loon-at-large

Islamophobes like to distance themselves from the actions of those they influence, but this story is a chilling reminder of the fall out of bigotry.

Woman Arrested for Threatening School Violence: FBI

The FBI’s Domestic Terrorism Group in Miami arrested a Florida woman Tuesday in connection with the November 10 violent email threat that lead to a massive lockdown of all Broward County schools for much of a day.

The US Attorney’s Criminal Complaint suggests the woman, Elissa Martinez, was inspired by Tea Party radio talk show host Joyce Kaufman of Fort Lauderdale and conservative GOP leader Sarah Palin.

In the complaint, the FBI says it traced the e-mail, sent to Kaufman vowing to use violence against schools and government buildings in Broward County to “make headlines” and “teach all the government hacks working there what the 2nd amendment is all about,” from Martinez’ computer at her home in New Port Richey, Florida. The FBI also traced a subsequent phone call to Kaufman’s radio station from Martinez’ cell phone.

Kaufman has told political rallies previously that “if ballots don’t work, bullets will,” and that individual citizens should become armed militias. The video clip of her rant has been broadcast widely. Kaufman claims her words were misrepresented, and that she was only trying to inspire people to vote.

But, the FBI says the e-mail, only portions of which have been released until now, began “dear ms. kaufman, i was so thrilled to see you speak in person for congressman elect west. i was especially exited to hear you encourage us to exercise our second amendment gun rights. i felt your plan to organize people with guns in the hills of Kentucky and else where was a great idea. i know that you know one election is not enough to take our country back from the illegal aliens, jews, muslims, and illuminati who are running the show. i am so glad you support people who think like me. I’m planning something big around a government building here in Broward County, maybe a post office, maybe even a school, i’m going to walk in and teach all the government hacks working there what the 2nd amendment is all about. Can I count on your help?”

The day before the incident, Kaufman was hired by newly-elected Congressman Allen West as Chief of Staff. Kaufman and West parted ways immediately after the incident.

The threatening e-mail also quoted Sarah Palin’s often used line, “what does Sarah say, don’t retreat, reload! Let’s make headlines girl!”

After the e-mail was received by Kaufman, her radio station got a call from a woman claiming her husband was going to shoot up a school in Plantation, Florida. The woman asked the station to air a plea to stop him. Police were called and school officials eventually locked down the entire school district, affecting tens of thousands of school kids and their anxious parents.

The Criminal Complaint says the FBI and other law enforcement went to Martinez’ home in New Port Richey and questioned her outside her home. She refused to let authorities into her home or to see her computer. She told them she knew nothing about the threats. She conceded she owned a cell phone with the number in question, but that she had left it in a restroom during the time in question while she was at a New Port Richey café called Starz.

Martinez was not taken into custody at that point and, somehow, managed to leave her home without police noticing. The FBI reviewed security camera video at the Starz Café and did not see Martinez during the crucial time frame.

Martinez, 48, was arrested Tuesday in Los Angeles. She may also own a home in Santa Monica, CA.

The e-mail also said near the end “we’ll end this year of 2010 in a blaze of glory for sure. thanks for your support mrs kaufman.”

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    • Sir David ( Illuminati membership number 5:32) Warning Contains Irony

      Nice one cynic my thoughts exactly Thank goodness for european gun laws. I have never had a gun but then the loons cannot get them either

    • Cynic

      Cheryl/Miss Manners anyone?

    • HGG

      “illegal aliens, jews, muslims, and illuminati”

      I see she’s an all around bigot who doesn’t doesn’t limit her hatred to a particular race or ethnicity. And she has enough hate left for fictional organizations.

    • Nur Alia

      Of course…She threatened Jews.

      Got to jump on that.

    • Robaby1984

      “dear ms. kaufman, i was so thrilled to see you speak in person for congressman elect west. i was especially exited to hear you encourage us to exercise our second amendment gun rights. i felt your plan to organize people with guns in the hills of Kentucky and else where was a great idea. i know that you know one election is not enough to take our country back from the illegal aliens, jews, muslims, and illuminati who are running the show…”

      Doesn’t that martinez women know that Kaufman is a jew?

    • Justin

      Direct evidence that violent rhetoric from talk-show hosts and celebrity politicians leads to real violence.

    • NassirH

      Like all Islamophobes, this woman is a tremendous failure when it comes to comprehending the Constitution.

    • mindy1

      The second amendment was not supposed to be used for random violence, what is wrong with this woman

Dennis Prager at War with Muslims

By on November 23, 2010 in Feature, Loon Radio

Dennis Prager is at war with leftists, secularists, labor unions, civil rights organizations, Big Government, academics, atheists, Europeans, internationalists, “moral relativists” — and Muslims. Nothing personal, it’s just his worldview — that and the fact that not one Muslim in the entire world is a moderate:

There are a billion Muslims in the world. How is it possible that essentially none have demonstrated against evils perpetrated by Muslims in the name of Islam? This is true even of the millions of Muslims living in free Western societies. What are non-Muslims of goodwill supposed to conclude?

Long before it was fashionable to burn Qu’rans, Prager, a Republican convert, began trash-talking them:

In 2006 he wrote that “America, not Keith Ellison, decides what book a congressman takes his oath on,” in taking great offense that the first Muslim elected to Congress had decided to take his oath of office on a Qu’ran and not on a Christian bible. The ADL noted the bigotry of Prager’s remarks and conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson pointed out the irony that “here we have a Jew pushing a Muslim to use the Christian Bible.”

In Moment Magazine, which features articles of contemporary Jewish interest, Prager awkwardly (and self-contradictorily) defended his views, even after it was pointed out that many politicians had sworn their oath of office on books other than the bible or on none at all:

America has no state religion, nor should it ever be allowed to have one. But it has always been a Judeo-Christian country. Jews—and America itself—will suffer if we cease to be one. Just ask the Jews of secular Europe how their secular societies treat them and Israel. For that matter, just think about how our secular universities have become anti-Israel hate centers.

On the one hand Prager says America should be secular. But on the other hand he says it should privilege Jews and Christians. This is vintage Prager — a new believer in Kulturkampf between Islam and the West.

Despite his own advanced case, Prager denies that Islamophobia actually exists. As the co-author of a book on anti-Semitism himself, Prager should know better, but he wrote:

The fact remains that the term “Islamophobia” has one purpose — to suppress any criticism, legitimate or not, of Islam. And given the cowardice of the Western media, and the collusion of the left in banning any such criticism (while piling it on Christianity and Christians), it is working.

When it comes to anti-Semitism, however, Prager rejects identical arguments and in fact argues that Zionism is part of Judaism — so any criticism of Israel or Jewry amounts to the same thing:

Among the many lies that permeate the modern world, none is greater — or easier to refute — than the claim that Zionism is not an integral part of Judaism or the claim that anti-Zionism is unrelated to anti-Semitism.

Thus, anyone who challenges Zionism — for example, Palestinians who are in conflict with Israel or the legions of academics, NGOs, international organizations, or human rights groups, even many Jews — is by definition an anti-Semite.

The Middle East conflict? Bah! That’s just anti-Semitism he writes in a piece, “The Middle East conflict is hard to solve but easy to explain:”

Those who deny this and ascribe the conflict to other reasons, such as “Israeli occupation,” “Jewish settlements,” a “cycle of violence,” “the Zionist lobby” and the like, do so despite the fact that Israel’s enemies regularly announce the reason for the conflict. The Iranian regime, Hizbollah, Hamas and the Palestinians — in their public opinion polls, in their anti-Semitic school curricula and media, in their election of Hamas, in their support for terror against Israeli civilians in pre-1967 borders — as well as their Muslim supporters around the world, all want the Jewish state annihilated.

Thus Prager completely dismisses any geopolitical causes or “trivial issues” like land theft or ethnic cleansing. No, there is just one reason for all this hostility and it can only be Islam. And it’s clear that Prager is not just talking about a few fanatical winguts when he lumps all of the world’s Muslims into this denunciation, in an article entitled “The Islamic threat is greater than German and Soviet threats were:”

A far larger number of people believe in Islamic authoritarianism than ever believed in Marxism. Virtually no one living in Marxist countries believed in Marxism or communism. Likewise, far fewer people believed in Nazism, an ideology confined largely to one country for less than one generation. This is one enormous difference between the radical Islamic threat to our civilization and the two previous ones. But there is yet a second difference that is at least as significant and at least as frightening: Nazis and Communists wanted to live and feared death; Islamic authoritarians love death and loathe life.

But in fact, for Prager, who participated in one of David Horowitz’s “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week” events, “Islam is identical to “Islamofascism:

So once one acknowledges the obvious, that there is fascistic behavior among a core of Muslims — specifically, a cult of violence and the wanton use of physical force to impose an ideology on others — the term “Islamo-Fascism” is entirely appropriate.

Dennis Prager’s attitudes toward Muslims are echoed in his views on immigrants in America. A Tea Party supporter, Prager supports Arizona Law SB1070 and believes in American Exceptionalism or Judeo-Christian Dominionism. In this clip at a Tea Party event in Colorado, sitting next to Sarah Palin, Prager describes his revulsion for internationalism and European morality, praising something rather like an American version of Zionism. His is a world view common to the Tea Party, Likudniks, and neoconservatives.

As for Islamophobia — it’s just one of Prager’s many hobbies — but integral to this worldview.

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    • AirForce101HD

      Can’t forgets such Prager Univeristy classics as “Carbon Dioxide is harmless”

    • Neotropic

      Thank you Gefilte for a much needed rational analysis of Dennis Prager and his biased, fear-mongering propaganda. Far too many otherwise seemingly rational Jews have supported his unbalanced and falsehood-riddled philosophy. His “Prager University” isn’t a university at all. It’s simply a vehicle to spread his own twisted version of the right-wing agenda. Makes sense that he’d be pals with Sarah Palin.

    • JD

      Ctl+D

      Ty

    • Garo

      Beautiful Muslim Doll,

      My knowledge about integrityonline is limited. Hence,I feel unconfortable answering a question about something I do not know much about. Sorry for that.

      However,I can provide you with the following information as sent to me by integrityonline via Google and perhaps you would be able to take it from there to find out more about integrityonline. I just have no time to pursue the matter any further. The following is the exact text I received:

      Quote =====

      IntegrityOnLine 1.800.INTEGRITY ————————————————————————–

      PAGE BLOCKED

      The requested document will not be shown

      Reason Found in Denied List

      If you feel that the site you requested should not be blocked,please click “REQUEST SITE REVIEW” To fill out a Site Rview request

      We will respond to you via email

      Thanks for being part of our Safe Internet

      Unquote ========

      Beautiful Muslim Doll,

      The last statement in the above quote,specifically,”Thanks for being part of our Safe Internet family” reminds me that two years ago I was bombarded by unwanted and uncalled for pornography. As a result,I contacted my servicer and demanded to block it since my nine year old grandchild uses my computer once in a while and I did not want him to see what I was bombarded with. My servicer did what I had requested. Since then I have not seen a single pornography on my computer screen. Perhaps,just perhaps,the reason integrityonline has not allowed me to make comments on the article about the Spanish Priest has to do with my request made to my servicer two years ago. I do not know for sure.

      I hope that all of the above may be helpful in answering your question: “What is Integrity On Line?”

    • Beautiful Muslim Doll

      What is this,

      Garo

      “I have just finished trying to post the following comments on the articles about the Spanish Priest etc,but my attempts were blocked by Integrity On Line.And ”

      What is Integrity On Line?

      and rob

      “tinkle”

      I don’t know why you’re leaving your droppings and nonsensical rantings and one line “tinkles”. Your garbage in the Spanish Priest threads was bad enough, and now you’re here

      If you have nothing of value to offer, go away. This is not a place for juvenile pea brains to show their spectacular inability to debate in a rational manner.

    • rob

      tinkle

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Allen West Defends Selection of Joyce Kaufman

By on November 15, 2010 in Loon Politics, Loon Radio

The political insane asylum in this country just gets larger and larger.

Allen West Defends Joyce Kaufman (Via Huffington Post)

Tea Party-backed Congressman-elect Allen West (R-Fla.) broke his silence over a controversial chief of staff pick this weekend, aggressively defending his selection of radio show host Joyce Kaufman despite the fact that the decision failed to come to fruition.

Here’s CNN’s report on their discussion with West:

“I was not hiring a talk radio host; I was hiring a very brilliant political mind, someone that has been in South Florida politics for 20 plus years. But unfortunately the liberal left showed that I guess they are threatened and intimidated by me, and so they went into the attack dog mode, which is something that they did the entire time in our campaign,” West told CNN Sunday in an interview at a downtown hotel where incoming freshmen were gathering for orientation.

Reports by the “attack dog” media turned upnumerous incidents in which Kaufman had spoken with incendiary rhetoric against illegal immigrants and Muslims. Soon after the reports, she turned down West’s chief of staff offer.

According to one such glance back at her past of public speaking, Kaufman reportedly said: “If you commit a crime while you’re here, we should hang you and send your body back to where you came from, and your family should pay for it.”

Oddly enough, West seemed to contend that the examination of Kaufman’s past of extreme speech was a sign that liberals had “issues with racism” against him.

“I think the American people are sick of, and that despicable, disgusting action and the way that they went after Joyce Kaufman shows that not only this liberal left has some issues with racism,” West told CNN. “I guarantee you, if I was a black Democratic Congressman-elect, they would not be doing these type of actions, and the fact that they’re attacking a woman like this, that shows me something about sexism and misogynist behavior.”

Kaufman reportedly addressed the incident herself over the weekend, as well. This from theBroward Palm Beach New Times.

“This is not about me,” she said of the threats. “This is the first attack on this man [Allen West].” She called the incident, “an attempt to try to make us look bad,” adding, “We didn’t fall into the trap!” She said she is remembering the individuals who have “demonized” her in the last few days, the columnists, the bloggers, and that she will call them out by name soon. She said she’s already received an offer to write a book about her ordeal.

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    • It’s rather amazing to see the West/Kaufman propaganda play out. Kaufman advocates lynching people en mass and when criticized for it claims that the verbal disagreements constitute a form of lynching against her. West takes an issue where there’s zero aspect of race and “plays the race card.”

      West is right about one point. If he were a liberal Democrat he would not be criticized for picking Kaufman … because as a liberal Democrat he would never have picked her.

    • Mosizzle

      I was talking to Eternel.

    • Mosizzle

      He wasn’t called a monkey for being black but for his loony views. Therefore, you must be racist to assume that “monkey” must mean “black person”.

    • Khushboo

      calling a black man “monkey” is racist people. Be careful!

    • Eternel

      “This will be a hilarious couple of years with this paranoid monkey” A black man disliking islam is a monkey but a black muslim man is a brother, isn’t he ?

  • I know Justin, but it’s best not to leave them unchallenged so they can’t run to their little friends and ‘prove’ how right they are

“Facts, Schmacts!”: Michael Medved on Islam

By on October 22, 2010 in Feature, Loon People, Loon Radio

In his latest, as of this writing, blog post on his “Police Blotter,” Robert Spencer highlights a piece by Michael Medved entitled, “Disapproval of Islam is No Indication of Bigotry.” Medved writes:

The real question raised by all such expressions of public opinion should confront the nearly 40% of Americans who say they feel positively impressed by Islam and its influence.

What aspect of Muslim teaching and achievement most inspires such respondents? The daily reports of suicidal violence from every corner of the globe, with fellow-Muslims (invariably) as the primary victims? Or the well-known association of Islamic piety with open-hearted respect for the rights of women, homosexuals and infidels? Or is it the sterling record of economic progress, cutting age technology and social justice achieved by precisely those societies (like Saudi Arabia, Iran or Afghanistan) that take Shariah law most seriously? Or would Islam’s American admirers cite the record of Muslim charities in the U.S., the most prominent of which (remember the Holy Land Foundation?) have been shut down by the government for their lavish support of murderous terrorist groups like Hamas?

Quite naturally, the people who look favorably on Islam feel unconcerned over its ancient teachings or loathsome perversions in benighted corners of the globe, and focus instead on the law-abiding, patriotic, family-loving Muslims who have established benign communities throughout the United States. But even the decent people who reside in those communities rightly worry that their impressionable off-spring may become too religious, too zealous in their fervent commitment to The Prophet and his teachings.

Notice how, in a few short paragraphs, Medved cites such things as suicide terrorists, countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Afghanistan, and Islam’s “ancient teachings” and infers that, therefore, Islam itself is bad.

Funny how Medved doesn’t mention all those “ancient teachings” of the Bible that demand stoning to death? Or, the fact that suicide terrorism is not a uniquely Islamic phenomenon? Moreover, Medved says:

There is no real parallel to this fear in Christian or Jewish homes. Christian parents may feel embarrassed by their religiously reborn children suddenly studying the Gospels obsessively, or witnessing obnoxiously to family or friends, but they needn’t worry about wayward kids blowing up themselves or others in the name of Jesus.

Really? What about the “Christian Bin Laden” who was arrested for plotting to blow up a women’s clinic? Or Timothy McVeigh? He was a known Christian. What about the Lord’s Resistance Army? Oh, but these are not Muslims, so they don’t count.

Medved goes on:

Jewish mothers and fathers may hate the scraggly beards and black hats adopted by a suddenly Orthodox generation, or resent the refusal to eat non-kosher food at home, but even the most fanatical of their kids feel scant temptation to travel to remote mountain hideouts as part of an international terror conspiracy.

Wow. Then, Mr. Medved must not have heard about the recent book Jewish Terrorism in Israel, written by two Israeli scholars, that documents Jewish terrorist activity dating from before the creation of the Jewish State. This is from the conclusion of the book:

It is true that radical Islamists to a certain extent justify their terrorism with their aspiration to help the Palestinian nation realize its nationalist goals and by claiming they are responding to the ongoing harm to Palestinians. However, even a movement such as Fatah, all the more so Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and al-Qaeda, openly declare that they will not rest until the complete liberation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque is achieved [the Al-Aqsa Mosque is located on the same site in Old Jerusalem as the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism].

On the other hand, although in much smaller numbers, there are Jews who regard the very presence of the mosques as an obstacle to the redemption of the people of Israel. A larger number hold a Kahanist worldview, according to which—irrespective of the conflict with the Palestinians—the Jewish state should cast out the Arab minority from within. Some of them are willing to try to implement this goal in a violent way or by means designed to bring about a violent escalation in the relations between Jews and Arabs.

Again, they don’t talk about Muslims, so it doesn’t count. Medved also failed to mention the comments of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the head of Shas’s Council of Torah Sages and a senior Sephardi adjudicator, who said that Gentiles are meant to serve Jews:

“Goyim were born only to serve us. Without that, they have no place in the world – only to serve the People of Israel,” he said in his weekly Saturday night sermon on the laws regarding the actions non-Jews are permitted to perform on Shabbat.

In Israel, death has no dominion over them… With gentiles, it will be like any person – they need to die, but [God] will give them longevity. Why? Imagine that one’s donkey would die, they’d lose their money.

This is his servant… That’s why he gets a long life, to work well for this Jew,” Yosef said.

“Why are gentiles needed? They will work, they will plow, they will reap. We will sit like an effendi and eat.

That is why gentiles were created,” he added.

You remember Rabbi Yosef…he called for a plague on the Palestinian people. Isn’t that, like, genocide?

But, wait! Medved exposes more of his worldview:

The spiritual leader of the proposed Islamic Cultural Center near Ground Zero insists that the true problem is extremism, not Islam itself. “The real battlefront today is not between Muslims and non-Muslims,” declared Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf to the Council on Foreign Relations, “but between moderates of all faith traditions against the extremists of all faith traditions.”

This ignores the huge differences –both quantitative (Islamic radicals are vastly more numerous) and qualitative (Muslim fanatics endorse uniquely murderous rhetoric and deeds) – between extremists in one faith tradition and all others.

A Christian fundamentalist may talk about burning Korans; Muslim crazies regularly burn buildings- and people. Even after Pastor Terry Jones called off his idiotic barbeque of the Islamic holy book, Muslims reacted with deadly riots in Kashmir that killed 16 and wounded sixty, while burning several schools and other government buildings.

Some Americans may dislike the style of worship in Pentecostal or Catholic churches, but the faithful (no matter how tackily dressed) never surge out of their sanctuaries on Sundays with fury and blood-lust, looking for non-believers to stone and property to destroy. Every Friday, however, somewhere in the vast Muslim world, some congregations of the devout react to their uplifting prayer services by going directly from their mosques to rousing orgies of rage and violence.

This last statement is an over-reaching exaggeration at best. And, once again, Medved says these things while seeming to ignore all the atrocities committed by Christians and Jews in the name of their religion. It is all documented on the website: www.whatiftheyweremuslim.com. It goes to show that extremists are all the same – namely, extreme – and come from all walks of spiritual life.

But, that doesn’t fit into the neat little world of people like “Scholar” Robert Spencer and Michael Medved, and so they ingore the facts and continue on with their assertions about Islam.

Medved concludes:

This observation isn’t an expression of bigotry; it’s a factual product of reading the newspaper, and regularly monitoring international news. The lame-brained insistence that all faith traditions deserve equal respect (or equal condemnation) doesn’t demonstrate tolerance or broad-mindedness; it expresses, rather, a refusal to take any religion seriously enough for honest evaluation of its virtues and flaws.

Reservations about Islam, and even fears of the Muslim faith’s influence on the world at large, don’t constitute paranoia or intolerance. These concerns represent an honest and reasonable response on the part of a significant segment of the public to a serious global challenge to the values that Americans hold most dear.

No, Mr. Medved, your “observation” is nothing more than a repeating of the Muslim “Police Blotter,” citing the crimes of those who are Muslim and then projecting their criminality to all of Islam. It is as unfair as judging a town by its own police blotter. Now, I’m not saying that Mr. Medved is a bigot because he, obviously, has a negative view of Islam. I am only showing that the facts are not on his side.

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    • art

      @JihadBob

      Hey, every1, christians and jews in Europe dont need to organize underground military ogr because THE SECULAR ARMIES OF THEIR COUNTRIES DO THE JOB FOR THEM, American state supports Israel with weapons and technology, american troops go to kill muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan, Russian army goes to fight in Chechnya, Arab states around Israel protect its borders;

      If Muslim States obeyed muslim voice, there wouldnt be occupide Palestine today, ther wouldnt be Mubaraks, or Saudis of todays ruling them, —Thats why muslims organize themselves !!!

    • Garo

      Anyone who is interested in visiting Israel can do so by joining Michael Medved and his wife in their GROUP YEARLY tour of their beloved Israel!!

      When he invites people,on his Radio-Talk-Show,to join him in such a tour to Israel,he sounds like a true believer in the “virtues?” of his beloved Israel.

      But,for a critical listener like myself,Michael Medved sounds nothing more than a cheap propagandist for a foreign power.Period.

    • Garo

      Michael Medved is nothing more than a hard core Zionist who would not miss an opportunity that would come in his way to demonize Islam. I listen to his Radio-Talk-Show almost daily,just to see how far he can go in his silly prejudice against Islam.

      Hizbullah and Hamas drive him crazy. And as a result,he bombards his listeners with a parade of incoherent,contradictary and irrational views about Islam,especially about the Shari’a law.

      He has never missed a chance not to bring the suicide bombers in his rants,as Islam/Shari’a laws is the topic of the dialogue with his listeners.

    • Hmmm… since my image didn’t post, follow this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_majority_countries.

      Yes, it is wikipedia, but it includes a map by percentage, along with a list of Muslim-majority countries, their populations, the percentage practicing Islam, the dominant sect and school of jurisprudence, the legal status of Islam, the national GDP, and the type of government. I know you probably won’t read it, but its rather educational.

    • Hahaha, wow. It looks like Cheryl (or Miss Manners, or wanna-be Pam Geller, or post-op jihad robbie… I can’t tell them apart these days) is really on a roll here. It’s hilarious.

      You claim that Islam isn’t a religion and that there’s no such such as ‘anti-Islam,’ yet you don’t even see your own bigotry as you spew this crap. I can only imagine that you aren’t very well traveled and have never met or known a Muslim in person, so what gives? Where does all this blind hatred come from, because it seems FAR too passionate for someone with no personal involvement.

      Where to start? Okay… lets start with the fact that you paint all Muslims with the same broad brush. You DO know how big the Muslim world is, right? All of those countries could be considered ‘Muslim majority,’ and many are not ‘Arab’ or in the ‘Middle East’ either. Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, the Maldives, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Chad, Niger….

      So how are we all part of some HUGE political movement when we live in different countries, speak different languages, and believe in different things? Do we Shi’a ‘belong to the same political conspiracy’ as Sunnis, because if we do that’s news to me! I guess I should expect to see more people mourning during Achoura and putting up pictures of the Imams in their homes. Considering there are only a couple of Shi’a masjid in my immediate area, that’ll be good news for me!

      And how many masjid preach ‘anti-America’ stuff? The ones I go to are mostly apolitical, and I know of a Sunni mosque in my area that is actually pretty conservative. Sure, I know some fellow Muslims who criticize America, but then I also know lots of non-Muslims who do. I think that there are plenty of things to criticize about our government… MY government, in fact. Foreign policy would certainly be one them, but the growing influence of the evangelical minority would be another one.

      Yes, I think that we have far, far more to fear from you than the other way around. You are the one posting your fantasies about the American people ‘rising up’ and carrying out genocide against fellow Americans! I’m not making this up or exaggerating. I can see the posts RIGHT HERE with my very own eyes! So you apparently don’t believe in freedom of religion, or rather, you believe in freedom for people to believe exactly as you do… or else.

      I’m going to guess that you aren’t much for gay rights either? Or equality for men and women? Or even multi-culturalism and tolerance between races? And to think we Muslims are called bigoted. The fact is, you fantasy about a non-existent past where America was ‘white’ and ‘Christian’ and we minorities were kept out of sight and out of power. The scary thing is that you evangelicals have the motivation, desire and even ability to seize power in this country, despite being a relatively small minority yourself. It’s just that politicians are more than willing to court evangelicals and baptists…

      Anyway, I am a Muslim. I am proud to be a Muslim, and will cling to my beliefs because I WANT to. I believe in Islam, as it was passed down by the Ahl al-Bay’t. I am more than happy to elucidate my philosophy too. Why should I be afraid or try and please people who hate me anyway? I’m not trying to earn your approval, and you have NOTHING that I want or need.

    • NassirH

      Surprising.

      JihadBob has been reduced to making more childish comments.

    • Syed

      JihadBob said, “Please, make that mean, wild-eyed, blood thirsty Christian bigot go away!”

      Amen to that!

    • JihadBob

      Translation: “Mommy, mean Christian JihadBob is terrorizing us innocent Muslims with his arguments. Please, make that mean, wild-eyed, blood thirsty Christian bigot go away!”

    • NassirH

      Your above comments are a perfect example of your dishonesty. I made my point and you proved it.

      Game. Set. Match.

      Anyways, thanks for at least admitting you’re a liar.

      * insulting remark

      Easy there. You’re not helping you’re argument when you’re proving me right consistently.

    • JihadBob

      * insulting remark

    • JihadBob

      That’s because you, like most Muslims, are supporters of Islamo-fascism.

      That’s where my definition of Islamo-fascism includes curbing free speech.

      I really don’t think any Islamo-fascist would take such a comment negatively.

      But try it for yourself, will a Klan member mind it you call them a racist?

      The last two ‘quotes’ are taken out of context. My response to Zakariya was a typo – I went on to clarify that I mean emerge, not submerge from his cesspool.

      Submerge doesn’t even make sense.

      Pointing out that Danios operates a well oiled and obviously well funded site does not seem to have been an insulting compliment to me – only if you think taking money from shady players is an insult, I suppose.

      They think suicide bombing is okay

      So does Qaradawi.

      Neither al-Qaeda nor Qaradawi view martyrdom operations as acts of suicide.

      I agree with them, and it’s besides the point, the Koran says in more than one verse that Muslims who die fighting for Allah will be rewarded with Paradise.

      It’s not my fault that these verses are logical inconsistencies with other passages in the Koran and hadith.

      Sorry, just wrong, why do you think so many Muslims speak out against them and disagree with them?

      Because they’ve recently managed to kill tens of thousands of Muslims in the past few years???

    • Sorry, is he *still* arguing that Al-Queda share stuff? Oh dear…

      Yes Bob, they share stuff like they pray fast and so on, correct. That’s it though, they stray massively on the other stuff.

      “Guessing that the Jihadist discourse has monopolized and dominated any other opposing viewpoints in the Muslim world, I’m going to guess their argument and logic is much more solid than the members here would like to admit in front of the Kuffar.”

      Sorry, just wrong, why do you think so many Muslims speak out against them and disagree with them? I’ve never met a single Muslim who agrees with them, not one and I get around a lot. Not that you’d know, having never spoken to us… If you want a nice long detailed look into it, I recommend this Fatwa:

      http://www.minhajbooks.com/english/bookid/376/Fatwa:-Suicide-Bombing-and-Terrorism-by-Shaykh-ul-Islam-Dr-Muhammad-Tahir-ul-Qadri.html

      And Mosizzle has repeatedly hit the nail on the head regarding your ’cause’… as has been stated to you many times, if you really care etc then why do you continue to alienate your greatest allies, i.e. the majority of Muslims? It really brings into doubt your true aims, I think we all know what they *really* are…

    • Khushboo

      *reads Nassir’s comment* Oh Bob, I believe you just got owned!

    • Khushboo

      You don’t think comparing Al Qaeda with mainstream Islam (meaning us followers) is insulting? They might be Muslim but most of us certainly don’t agree with their views and it’s certainly not Islamic. They think suicide bombing is okay, there will be 72 virgins in heaven which I have yet to find in the Quran, and killing of innocents is okay when it’s really a sin.

      Book 23 vol. 2 #446: The Prophet said, “He who commits suicide by throttling shall keep on throttling himself in the Hellfire (forever)”

      An-Nisa 4:29 And do not kill yourselves (nor kill one another) Surely Allah (swt) is most merciful.

    • NassirH

      Please quote my comment where you think I insulted a single individual.

      Sure.

      That’s because you, like most Muslims, are supporters of Islamo-fascism.

      I was kind of half expecting for Zakariya to submerge from the cesspool he resides in and respond to my comments directed to him.

      Surely not idiots like Danios and the rest of the morons at his well funded site ?

      LoL

      What a shameless liar. I can bring some more quotes if you like kind JihadBob.

    • JihadBob

      but Bob, is Al Quaeda really going by the Quran?

      They are offering their own interpretation of the texts and teachings of Islam.

      You’ll have to ask Jihadists how they are justifying their violence.

      Guessing that the Jihadist discourse has monopolized and dominated any other opposing viewpoints in the Muslim world, I’m going to guess their argument and logic is much more solid than the members here would like to admit in front of the Kuffar.

      I frankly don’t care if you insult terrorists but please,enough of insulting our religion and the majority of the good moderate Muslims. Peace!

      I haven’t insulted anyone, including ‘terrorists’ and Saladin, etc.

      Please quote my comment where you think I insulted a single individual.

    • Khushboo

      but Bob, is Al Quaeda really going by the Quran? Killing of innocents is a sin and I know I’m not the first one telling you this. I’m sure You’ve heard all the explanations before. I’m kinda new here so I guess I still have a little patience left but please don’t push it. I frankly don’t care if you insult terrorists but please,enough of insulting our religion and the majority of the good moderate Muslims. Peace!

    • Mosizzle

      Truly lame. One question for Jihadbob. I assume your aim with all this Islamophobia is to eliminate jihad/terrorism so does saying that terrorism is an essential part of Islam make Muslims more or less likely to take part in terrorism.

      Jihadwatch basically is defeating all the moderate Muslims that are painstakingly trying to convince young Muslims that they should be good members of society rather than terrorists. But all that spencer does is accuse them of lying and makes sure that young Muslims get the opposite message. Wouldn’t it actualy help your cause if you said that terrorism was forbidden by Islam (which it is) so that everyone could get along? This proves that Spencer does not care about the welfare of humanity but is trying to defeat Islam by making it seem impossible to reform and then he can spread his extreme intpretationf of Catholicism.

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LoonWatch Calling all Bloggers

By on October 12, 2010 in Feature, Loonwatch Updates

Over the past few months LoonWatch has grown phenomenoly and this has led to an expansion of our efforts. We have launched two new websites, Spencerwatch.com and WhatIfTheyWereMuslim.com. We have assembled a great team of bloggers but this expansion requires us to scour the net and find those gems of talent willing to expose Islamophobia and the anti-Muslim Movement.

In light of this we are making a general casting call for individuals who would like to participate, mainly for WhatIfTheyWereMuslim.com and Spencerwatch.com but depending on our evaluation of your abilities also LoonWatch!

Are you a LoonWatcher who has been following our site for quite some time, have you left comments with the thought that “I should write for LoonWatch?” Well, this is your opportunity!

Email us at: info@loonwatch.com

Include your name, how you learned about LoonWatch, why you would like to write for LoonWatch and any samples of your writing. If you are a frequent commenter on LoonWatch or any of the other sites mention that as well.

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    • SKhan

      I think Muhaddith.org would be a good choice for this site. Muhaddith.org includes refutations to Islamophobes in his videos, and provides sh*tloads of citations. He is also calm, relaxed, and refrains from slurs. I vote for him for LW.

    • Beautiful Muslim Doll

      Yahya, without meaning to push you, you don’t have to do it full time, an article now and then would be OK. You don’t even have to do it specially for Loon Watch, when you post one yourself at your own blog, send it in.

      Just took a look your blog, it’s superb stuff, your material is great. you’re an ideal candidate, as is Stephen Parker.

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WhatIfTheyWereMuslim.com is Here

By on October 8, 2010 in Feature, Loonwatch Updates

Loonwatchers make the Loonwatch world go round. Your comments, tips, suggestions and critiques help make our site better. One of the types of articles that you guys have responded to favorably and for which we get the most tips has been the running segment “What if they were Muslim.” It is a segment where we bring to light the double standards and hypocrisy of both media and popular culture in the way Islam and Muslims are portrayed.

In the segment we highlight the absurd hypocrisy of those who attempt to link every misstep, misdeed or crime committed by a Muslim to his or her faith. Would the same crime, if committed by a Christian, be treated in a similar fashion if the perpetrator were Muslim? The preponderance of the evidence would suggests otherwise.

Now we have created a website, WhatiftheywereMuslim.com, that compiles and publishes all the “what if they were Muslim” stories in one place.

From the website,

Here at What if they were Muslim we question what would happen if a Jewish, Christian, Hindu, ______(insert religion of choice) were to commit a crime in the name of their faith. Would it be treated the same way if a Muslim committed the exact same crime? Would very little emphasis be put on the perpetrators religion? Would it be stressed that the act is an aberration, a misrepresentation of the religion? Would the religion be mentioned at all?

WITWM is not a site that opines on the “what if” scenario of your favorite Hollywood star being a Muslim. It has nothing to do with Angelina Jolie or Johnny Depp, etc. It has everything to do with the double standards in both media and pop culture that perpetuate the myth that Islam is inherently more violent than other religions or the root cause of misdeeds by Muslims.

We hope that our faithful Loonwatchers who have made this site such a success will continue to provide their support by also visiting WITWM and commenting and sharing the pieces.

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    • Robert

      A question we don’t have to ask very often…most of them are.

    • Robaby1984

      Jihad Bob you are still using the weak argument that since many muslims are intolerant and violent it is justified that some non-muslims can be intolerant and violent. No matter what you say, two wrongs never make a right and I say this of muslims too, for instance that muslims can’t respond to violent israeli occupation with terrorism.

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