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Tag Archive | "Stealth Jihad"

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Scary Sink Terrorizes Tennessee State Legislature

Posted on 26 March 2013 by Emperor

Scary_Terrorist_Sink

Oh noes, it appears the wily stealth Mooslims installed a terrorist sink in the Tennessee state legislature! Or so thought a couple of Tennessee House and Senate members, namely Republican Sen. Bill Kreton and Rep. Judd Matheny. These two lawmakers also happened to be the main sponsors of a 2011 anti-Sharia bill.

Apparently Bill and Judd believed the offending sink was a “Muslim foot bath,” it was actually just a “mop sink.”

(h/t: fxmatt4)

TN lawmakers confuse mop sink for Muslim foot-washing sink

(The Tennessean)

NASHVILLE — Sometimes a mop sink is just a mop sink.

Building managers and legislative staffers have sought to reassure some concerned Tennessee lawmakers that recent renovations at the state Capitol did not install special facilities for Muslims to wash their feet before praying.

“I confirmed with the facility administrator for the State Capitol Complex that the floor-level sink installed in the men’s restroom outside the House Chamber is for housekeeping use,” Legislative Administration Director Connie Ridley wrote in an email. “It is, in layman’s terms, a mop sink.”

The nearly $16 million renovation completed in December focused on upgrading electrical, mechanical and plumbing systems in the more than 150-year-old Capitol. Parts of the building also got new carpets, paint and security upgrades.

Senate Clerk Russell Humphrey said he had been approached by a House and Senate member to inquire about the sink, which replaced a utility sink that had been mounted higher on the wall and was used for filling and emptying buckets.

“There was concern about why it had been modified,” said Humphrey, who declined to identify the lawmakers or elaborate on their concerns.

“I certainly wouldn’t want to quote a member inaccurately about what they may or may not have said,” he said.

Republican Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, confirmed that he had spoken to Humphrey about whether there were religious reasons for the new sink after the issue was raised by Rep. Judd Matheny, R-Tullahoma.

“I just asked the question about what was the intent of that,” Ketron said. “And it satisfied my curiosity after it was presented to me.”

Matheny denied that he was involved in raising questions about the basin.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he told The Associated Press last week. “It’s not ringing a bell.”

While details of the practice vary by sect, Muslims are required to wash their faces, hands and feet before praying as an act of ablution, or ritual purification. Forms of ablution are practiced in almost all major faiths.

The ritual washing of others’ feet is practiced by some Christians as a sign of humility and emulating Jesus Christ, who was said to have washed the feet of his disciples before the Last Supper.

Matheny and Ketron were the main sponsors of a 2011 bill that sought to make it a felony to follow some versions of the Islamic code known as Shariah law.

Hundreds of Muslims came to the Legislature to express fears the measure would outlaw central tenets of Islam, such as praying five times a day toward Mecca, abstaining from alcohol or fasting for Ramadan.

A heavily watered-down law ultimately enacted by the Legislature bore little resemblance to the original proposal and references to any specific religion were removed.

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Looks Like “Fashion Jihad”: Islamization of So-Cal by Muhajababes?

Posted on 28 January 2013 by Mooneye

Muslim fashion

Oh no, what are those wily Mooslims up to again? Looks like they’re using the good ‘ole American entrepreneurial spirit to create stunning dresses, designed no doubt to Islamize what will soon be known as Caliphfornia.

Who is going to protect us from the Muhajababes when stealth Muslim president Barack Obama takes away our guns!? (h/t: CriticalDragon)

Islamic clothing is getting a bit more hip in Southern California.

Home to one of the largest Muslim communities in the nation, the Southland has become fertile ground for a new generation of designers crafting clothes for women who are limited by faith and conviction from flashing too much skin.

Although Muslim women have been dressing fashionably for years, many in the U.S. say they still face tricky challenges when getting dressed — and especially dressed up.

“We are Muslim and we can still express ourselves, be fashionable, as long as we do it in a halal way” or in keeping with Islamic law, said LaTanya Maassarani, 30, a postal carrier from Long Beach. “But unless you have lots of money or lots of time to shop, it’s been hard for years to find clothes in America that aren’t dowdy.”

Filling that void now are designers such as Afra Said-Ahmed and her sister Eiman Ahmed, both Muslims, who launched Irvine clothing company Mohajababes. The name is a mash up of the words “babe” and “Muhajiba,” or one who wears a hijab scarf.

“Trying to conform to Muslim dress codes, you get stuck in a rut of black, black, black all the time,” said Ahmed, 26. “It’s definitely very difficult, especially in the U.S. You want to fit in, but still be appropriately dressed.”

So she and her sister scraped together $2,000 and began selling caftans and rhinestone accessories for head scarves at the end of 2011. The line is modest — caftans sweep the floor and hang loosely on the body. Yet the jewel-colored clothing comes with feminine frills such as silky fabrics and metallic embroidery.

Said-Ahmed said their goal was to dress fashion-conscious shoppers who are faithful to Islamic mandates but want nothing to do with traditional black coverings such as abayas and burkas, which are too hot for the California sun.

“Our ultimate goal is to sell in a department store like Bloomingdales and Nordstrom,” she said. “Right now we are marketing toward our Muslim community because we know there’s a void, but many women would want a long-sleeved dress every now and then.”

Read the whole article

Did you hear that, freaking Bloomingdales and Nordstrom!!

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Homeland is brilliant drama. But does it present a crude image of Muslims?

Posted on 14 October 2012 by Emperor

Homeland is definitely an exciting series, one I like to tune into on Showtime, however, as Peter Beaumont notes there are some disturbing aspects to the portrayl of Islam and Muslims. I hope the series can develop Muslim characters in a more nuanced fashion.

What is your take, have any Loonwatchers been following the series?:

Homeland is brilliant drama. But does it present a crude image of Muslims?

by Peter Beaumont (Comment is Free)

Before I begin: a caveat. I know television drama is often fanciful and ridiculous. The West Country of Midsomer Murders would be the murder capital of Europe if you took it at face value; the London of Spooks a place of endless shootings, conspiracies and car chases.

But fictional drama tells us truths about ourselves in ways that can be as uncomfortable as they are unintended. The Emmy-winning Homeland onChannel 4 is a case in point. Its plotting is as ridiculous as it is exciting. But what makes it difficult to watch is its treatment of Muslims.

In the first episode of the new season we were confronted with a new character, a glamorous correspondent with a cutglass English accent, a Palestinian family and access to both the CIA and the US Congress. Like the Saudi prince from the last series and the academic, behind the scenes these high-profile Muslims living in the US share a secret: both willingly or otherwise they are covert helpers of Abu Nasir, the al-Qaida terrorist leader.

In other words, it does not matter whether they are rich, smart, discreetly enjoying a western lifestyle or attractive: all are to be suspected.

I admit I have no idea how the story arcs in Homeland will develop and what surprises are in store. What I do know is how both Arabs and Islamists have been portrayed thus far as violent fanatics, some of whom are powerful and influential infiltrators.

As someone who has spent much time in the Middle East, I find the depictions not only crude and childish but offensive. There is more to it than the portrayal of individuals. For Homeland presents an odd and unbelievable image of relationships between countries and identities in the region, where Palestinians, Iraqis, Saudis all share an agenda regardless of background, culture and history.

Should any of this matter in a fictional series? The answer is yes.

It has not only been Damian Lewis, the British actor who plays the character Brody, who has insisted that its appeal is that its “action is grounded in a political reality”. Reviewers have also praised the “credibility” of a programme whose fans include the president of the United States.

The reality is that what Homeland portrays is a peculiar view of the Islamic world, one rooted, perhaps, in its genesis as an Israeli drama, where the view of the surrounding neighbourhood is more paranoid and defensive. It matters for this reason. Popular culture both informs and echoes our prejudices.

How we portray the “other” – those whom we fear or are suspicious of – reinforces cultures of conflict. In some respects it has always been thus. The author and journalist Robert Winder detailed in his book Bloody Foreigners how Charles Dickens, in creating the character of Fagin forOliver Twist, refashioned a real social problem. The boys’ “rookeries” were run by Italian gangmasters in Clerkenwell’s Little Italy, but in keeping with contemporary suspicion and hostility to Jews Dickens made Fagin Jewish – something he later regretted.

Indeed, popular literature, plays, films and television have often been crude in their representation of perceived enemies – Jews, Germans, communists, Irish “terrorists” and now Muslims, amplifying concerns that may be based in some reality like the phenomenon of al-Qaida terrorism to represent it as some vague, universal truth.

In some respects the negative portrayal of Arabs in US film and TV dramas is not a new phenomenon, as documented by academic Jack Shaheen in his studies The TV Arab and Reel Bad Arabs where he has argued that historically Arabs in US dramas have, since the 1920s, been depicted as being one of the “three Bs… bombers, belly dancers or billionaires”.

The impact of television portrayals on perceptions of minorities is not a new issue. In the 1970s – in the aftermath of the US civil rights movement – there was sufficient concern for a presidentially appointed commission to study it. The subsequent report suggested strongly, as suspected, that both the “invisibility” of minority presentations on television as well as how minorities were portrayed when they did appear – for example, as criminal or lazy – did influence the way both whites and non-whites see minorities.

Research conducted by social scientists in the 1990s in the US examined how exposure to fictional portrayals of both stereotypes and counter-stereotypes influenced how credibly a study group of 400 students believed real and high-profile cases then in the news.

“[Exposure] to a stereotypic portrayal of a female,” wrote researcher Sheila Murphy in The Impact of Factual Versus Fictional Media Portrayals on Cultural Stereotypes, “led individuals to doubt the credibility of Anita Hill (the woman who accused supreme court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment) and Patricia Bowman (the woman who accused William Kennedy Smith of rape), whereas exposure to a counter-stereotypical portrayal increased the perceived credibility of these women”.

While many have pointed to the extraordinary success of The Cosby Show as a turning point in TV depiction of minorities, a study by Dana Mastro and Bradley Greenberg in 2000 into racial stereotyping on TV discovered that inherent biases continued, with only 3% of characters being black, and that of the three groups examined – Caucasian, Latino and African American – African Americans continued to be the most negatively stereotyped – representation and attitudes that barely changed almost a decade later when the exercise was repeated.

Indeed, when there are inherent biases in the way that TV portrays groups and individuals – as in Homeland – they seem to reflect widespread and widely held attitudes.

Stuart Hall, the cultural theorist who has examined the phenomenon of “reception theory” as applied to televisual media – building on the work of Hans Robert Jauss in the late 1960s – has argued, indeed, that the messages in television drama “intersect with the deep semantic codes of a culture and take on additional, more active ideological dimensions”.

In other words, television drama such as Homeland not only reflects cultural and social anxieties at any given time, it reflects back those anxieties, reinforcing and shaping them. Crucially there is strong evidence that counter-stereotypical fictional depictions in popular culture may have a positive impact, with some arguing that it can help turn around prejudicial attitudes.

What is intriguing is that Homeland seems out of step with trends in characterisation post-9/11, in US TV and film at least. After a period when – as even Howard Gordon, the executive producer of 24, admitted in 2009 – the trend for depicting Muslims as terrorists seemed to be in decline, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

Then, Howard described the reason for that change at least in terms of his own show’s development, not least as public attitudes began to alter in the wake of the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal in Iraq. “We began to realise,” he said in remarks to Souheila al-Jadda, co-producer of the American TV series Who Speaks for Islam?, “that by portraying Muslims strictly as terrorists on the show we were… unwittingly exploiting some of the fears of our audience members.” He added: “I think that the impact of our content or creative content is one of our greatest exports. It becomes a very powerful instrument for understanding each other in this terrible… divide we find ourselves in with the Muslim world.”

That coincided, too, with emerging criticism from both Muslim advocacy groups in the US over depiction of Muslims in drama as well as the refusal by actors to play “sinister” Arabs.

Perhaps, in the end, Homeland will surprise and conclude with a more challenging and nuanced picture of Islam and the Arab world that goes beyond the stereotypes.

I am not holding my breath.

ARABS THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY

Fatima Dances, 1897

One of the earliest of films, made by Thomas Edison, the short Fatima Dances played to one of what former television executive and author Jack Shaheen called the “three Bs” of depictions of Arabs in popular media – belly dancers, bombers and billionaires.

G.I. Jane, 1997

Directed by Ridley Scott and starring Demi Moore (pictured left), this film had all the stock elements of the negative portrayal of Arabs in film, including heroic Americans and gun-toting Libyans who are duly dispatched in a desert setting.

The Dictator, 2012

Sacha Baron Cohen has forged a lucrative career out of his mocking performances which are as much designed to provoke reactions among the bigoted as anything else. The Dictator, however, provoked complaints, not least from Arab Americans who found his depiction of a north African dictator offensive and a “modern-day minstrel show”.

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Forget Stealth: Bold, Brash Graffiti Jihad Comes to Boston

Posted on 18 August 2012 by Ilisha

Boston Jihad Mural

by Ilisha

There is probably a terrorist in your lunchbox right now. Seriously. Well, maybe not an actual terrorist, but a stealth jihad symbol or doohickey of some sort for sure. Trust me. They’re everywhere!

If you’re skeptical, just ask the citizens of the iconic American city of Boston, Massachusetts. When a 70-foot-tall mural  entitled, The Giant of Boston, was recently revealed in Dewey Square to promote a show at the Institute of Contemporary Art, some of the more keenly aware observers immediately recognized a “threat” to the public order:  Graffiti Jihad! 

In recent years, stealth jihads have been popping up hither and tither on a regular basis, but as you can see, there’s really nothing “stealth” about this bold, brash, in-your-face jihad-inspiring monument to terrorism. Apparently sensing a juicy opportunity for faux controversy, the local Fox News affiliate invited responses on Facebook, posing the question:

“This is a new mural on a Big Dig ventilation building. What does it look like to you?”

Some of the replies (here and here):

“Mooselim protected by Obama!”

“towel head”

“a Muslim woman in a head scarf holding an AK-47 in her hands”

“[It looks like] the wife of a terrorist”

“Taliban fighter”

“a tribute to [President Barack] Obama’s birthday”

“Finally a building worth crashing a plane into”

“a slap in the face to all those who lost someone on 9/11 & another slap in the face to our military who is over there risking there lives”.

“I’m going down there tonight and painting an American flag over it”

So far no one has painted an American flag over the mural, and secret Muslim US President Barak Obama is apparently remiss in sending a thank you note for his birthday tribute. Mr. President, Os Gêmeos are waiting!

Os Gemeos

Is there a bomb in that satchel?

Os Gêmeos (“The Twins” in Portuguese) are identical twin artists from São Paulo, Brazil. The twins claim their work is inspired, not by Osama Bin Laden, but by Brazil’s budding hip hop culture, and that their distinctive style of art is an outgrowth of street graffiti. Apologists have suggested the masked subjects they depict could be spray paint artists avoiding fumes and evading authorities, who tend to take a dim view of scrawling art, no matter how lovely, on the sides of public buildings.

Other artwork by the twins, Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo, may seem like peculiar fare for apparent “Islamists,” laced with nudity and other seemingly incongruent themes, but savvy “counter jihadists” will quickly recognize this as mere taqqiya. Check out the damning piece of “art” to the upper right: Spray paint bandit or keffiyeh-clad suicide bomber?

This apparent jihad-loving duo  isn’t content to keep their Graffiti Jihad confined to one place either:

As they build upon these monumental gallery projects across Brazil, Europe, and the rest of the world, Os Gêmeos takes their exhibitions in new directions that incorporate their love of theater, spectacle, musical performance, and sculpture. All the while, they continue their graffiti-based practice of murals and street painting, bringing that joy to people who will never visit one of their gallery or museum shows.

Then, as now, graffiti’s great strength was, is, and will hopefully remain, its ability to cross boundaries of culture and background like no other art form. For Os Gêmeos, that boundary crossing took the form of an art freely mixing the traditions of graffiti with their mutual fantasy world; all taking shaping since the mid-1980s amid the gut-wrenching pain and pants-melting bliss displayed on every São Paulo city block. As Os Gêmeos continue their ascent as the greatest artists the graffiti and street art movement has ever produced, the simple qualities of joy, caring, rage, and empathy ring through their work, rooted as ever in a love that began at conception. —Caleb Neelon

Rooted in love? Crossing the boundaries of culture and background? Clearly this Caleb Neelon is a fawning, leftist dhimmi. The twins themselves had this to say:

“…We believe that when you paint and put something in the street, museum, gallery, video—whatever—this touches somebody. People need time machines, they need to fly, to feel love, and we love to make that and give that to everyone for free. In exchange, we have so much to learn from life. We just bring back the way that we played when we were kids. When we were four or five, we were building things, destroying toys, and reconstructing them into others. What we do today is the same. Making sculptures is one way that makes people touch and feel in three dimensions, because everything we paint is a piece of the movement. It’s like a movie, everything is a frame from this one long film.

We also believe in God and in [His] writing, and sometimes we represent that in our work. Brazil is a very spiritual country, around 89 percent are Christian, and most of that Catholic. This came from Portuguese colonists, and the Evangelists. There are also the African religions that we call Afro-Brasileiros, people from the northeast of Brazil. In Brazil you find all these religions and the mix of religions, people of faith. Sometimes we represent a small church in order to show the belief of the people and how they trust in God…

This is either sophisticated taqiyya, or we’re looking at a couple of leftist dhimmis. Which could it be? Perhaps we can glean evidence from another project, named–gasp!–The PigThe pig in question appears to have an distinct “down with the Empire” antiwar theme apparently loved by jihadists and their leftist dhimmi allies alike, but a pig is a curious choice for a jihad mascot. A closer look at the pig’s belly from the proper angle yields a clue: It reads, “Occupy USA.”

Lefist dhimmis it is, folks.

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Kim Kardashian and Kanye West: Celebrity Jihad?

Posted on 26 June 2012 by Ilisha

Star Jihad

Serial litigant and convicted felon Jonathan Lee Riches thinks he’s uncovered a star-studded stealth jihad in the hills of West Virginia. Sound crazy?

Well, Kardashian did sport a burqa on a shopping spree in Dubai last year. How much more “proof” do we need?

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Sued for (Alleged) Ties to Terrorists

by Louis Peitzman, Gawker

The thing about this lawsuit is that it hinges on the testimony of a man who might be more hungry for fame than Kim Kardashian and Kanye West combined.

Jonathan Lee Riches — Guinness World Record holder for “Most Litigious Man” after filing more than 5,000 suits over the past eight years — has a pretty compelling story about Kardashian’s and West’s un-American beliefs.

“On 6/17/2012 I was in West Virginia, deep in the hills and I stumbled upon the defendants who were all at a Al-Qaeda secret training camp.” He then went on to claim that Kanye and Kim pleaded their allegiance to Al-Qaeda, burned the U.S. flag and stomped their feet on Barack Obama’s picture, performed a concert for all Al-Qaeda members, and shot AK-47s in the air.

Honestly, the part of this story I can’t swallow is that Kanye and Kim would put that much effort into doing anything without cameras capturing the moment. These aren’t exactly people who shy away from the public eye.

Nevertheless, Riches is serious about his lawsuit — as he is about all his lawsuits. His concern is with protecting the American people, and not at all with further cementing his image as legal-minded crazy person.

If you were excited about the prospect of getting Kim Kardashian and Kanye West off the streets, you might want to look into other channels. I’ll go ahead and guess this lawsuit isn’t going anywhere.

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Debbie Schlussel Discovers “Boy Band Jihad”?

Posted on 12 June 2012 by Amago

Debbie Schlussel

Debbie Schlussel

Do we have to revise who the Looniest Blogger is? Debbie “Schwang Wang Wang” Schlussel gives Pamela Geller a run for her money.

For those who are unsure of the meaning behind “Schwang Wang Wang”, let Urban Dictionary enlighten you:

Debbie Schlussel Discovers “Boy Band Jihad”?

by Sheila Musaji

When I posted the article Islamophobes See “Jihad” Everywhere which included this summary, I thought the Islamophobes had run out of crazy “jihad” plots to warn Americans about:

An Eid Celebration for Muslim Special Needs Kids was described as a “stealth jihad”.   A children’s page in a newspaper focusing on Eid was described as a toxic propaganda plot,  A Muslim doctor had a heart attack and died at the wheel of his car which then crashed into a shopping mall and this was described as “vehicular jihad”.   A Muslim cab driver objected to what he considered pornographic ads on the roof of his cab, and that became a stealth-jihadplot to impose Sharia on America.  Any Muslim who has sued an employer for violation of their rights under the EEOC is engaged in employment jihad, or litigation jihad.  Muslim environmentalists are said to be actually engaged in “civilizational jihad”.  A cartoon series “The 99” aimed at young Muslims was described as “cultural jihad”.  The victims of the terrorist attack of 9/11 included Muslims, they were accused of dying as martyrs in an act of jihad.

The Islamophobes have uncovered countless examples of “shocking” Muslim jihad plots.  They have uncovered:  bumper sticker jihad,  Thanksgiving turkey jihad, an incredible paisley scarf jihadmarriage to important men jihadspit jihadfashion jihadspelling bee jihadrape jihaddefacing dollar bills jihad,   population jihadcreeping Sharia jihad,   mosque building jihad,terror baby jihad“creeping Sharia” jihad,  pedophilia jihad,  bus driver prayer jihadforehead bruise jihadpostage stamp jihadsoup jihad,  banning alcohol jihadfake hate crimes jihad,piggy bank jihad,  tv reality series jihadhandshake jihadprom jihadinterfaith jihadArabic language jihad,  public school jihadreligious accommodation jihadCrescent moon jihad,Christmas tree tax jihadoath of office jihadimmigration jihadcommunity fundraiser jihad.  Christina Abraham (a Muslim) has a name that is not recognizably Muslim enough and so we have stealth name jihad.

I was wrong, it seems that Debbie Schlussel has discovered yet another nefarious Muslim “jihad” plot.  Schlussel is the Islamophobe who outhates even Glenn Beck and Pamela Geller, so I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.

Nevertheless, it is difficult to believe that someone can be so hateful so consistently.  Schlussel just posted a story Boy Band Jihad: Mega Pop Star Pimping Islam on Your Daughters.

The band “One Direction” includes a Muslim, Zayn Malik.  According to Schlussel, the fact that he sometimes wears a keffiyeh is sinister, in fact she calls it “the official garb of Islamic terrorism.”  He also has Arabic tattoos.  As to the keffiyeh, you can read about the last time this became an issue, when Rachel Ray wore a paisley scarf.  That got the Islamophobes blood pressure up.  They couldn’t believe that she would wear “a symbol of murderous Palestinian Jihad”.  I wrote about this in the article The Subversive “Arab”, “Islamic” Donut Ad.  My comment on the Rachel Ray incident applies equally to the charges against Zayn Malik

An innocuous photo of Rachel Ray standing in front of a tree with pink blossoms, holding a cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee and wearing a paisley scarf with a fringe around the edges was recently turned into an incident in the war on terror.  The scarf might look a little like a keffiyah (a typical Arab scarf) although I am not certain which tribe is recognized by their wearing of a paisley keffiyah.  I have trouble seeing a connection between this scarf and a keffiyah at all, but some folks saw this as somehow threatening to the very fabric of America.  Even if if the scarf in question had been a keffiyah, so what.  Is everything Palestinian or Arab a legitimate target for stigmatization?  If so, we had better do something about all the kebab stands and possibly should consider purging the 10,000 words or so that have come into English directly from Arabic.  Actually, maybe Michelle Malikin and the others who saw this ad in such a negative light might be on to something as the very word “coffee” comes from the Arabic.  There may actually be a dangerous plot here that justifies the Islamophobes use of terms such as — “hate couture”, “symbolic support for terrorism”, “mainstreaming of terrorism”, “anti-semitic”, “jihadi chic”, “a symbol of jihad”, “an icon of genocide”, “a symbol for murdering Jews”, “part of a cultural jihad” to describe the obviously sinister use of a paisley scarf in this ad.  I’m certain I’ve seen some ads including men with beards, what might that mean?

Schlussel then posts some random tweets posted by Zayn Malik, although without the chain of tweets to see what went before and after, it is impossible to know context.  Malik says in one tweet “Translation la ila ha ill lalla ho muhammed door rasoolalah”.  Obviously, he is responding to someone with a “translation”.  In two other tweets that must have been from Ramadan last year, he said “Ramzaan mubarak to everyone that is” and “First rosa today, who’s fasting?”

Also, I am certain that he has many twitter followers who are young Muslim girls.  Acknowledging that he is a Muslim, and that he is fasting during Ramadan is not exactly a criminal action.

This is pretty innocuous, but not for Schlussel, who says that the Muslim statement of faith is the militant statement Muslims say in their prayers every day”.

There is no God but God, and Muhammed is the prophet of God.  How is that “militant”.

Schlussel goes on to say that ” It’s part of the “Shehadah,” the Muslim oath of martyrdom that comprises conversion to Islam.  Muslims constantly chant the sentence at anti-Israel, pro-HAMAS, and pro-Hezbollah rallies. I’ve heard them chant it, for example, at almost every such rally I’ve attended undercover in the Detroit and Dearbornistan areas.”

The Shahada or Muslim statement of faith is said in all of a Muslims prayers.  It is also recited when someone converts to Islam.  And, even extremist Muslims might also recite this, but reciting the Shahada is not what makes them extremists.  It is not an “oath of martyrdom” or an expression of any kind of hate.

Now Schlussel comes to her main theme, which is that this is “pimping Islam to your daughters”, which she calls a “scary thing”, “an enticing jihad”,  and “dangerous”.

What I find most fascinating is her next leap of logic.  She says that this teenage boy is “no dummy” and “knows the power he has over these mindless girls and is using that influence to preach the Islamic faith to them…”.  How is it that female teenagers are “mindless” and a male teenager of the same age is “no dummy”.

I seriously doubt that he is trying to convert anyone.  At his age, he’s figuring out who he is, and it’s good to see that he is proud of his religion.

Pat Boone of “Blue Suede Shoes” fame certainly wore his Christianity on his sleeve.  Elvis also sang gospel songs.  Both of these were certainly “teen hearthrobs” for my generation.  Madonna talks about Kabbala.

A contemporary “mega pop star”, Justin Bieber is proudly Christian.  Bieber’s new film “Never Say Never” is packed with Christian themes, and he has a tattoo that says Jeshua (Jesus) in Hebrew.  I don’t know if he has sent out any Christian tweets, but he has certainly spoken publically about his faith.

According to USA Today “People will walk away (from the movie) knowing faith is very important to him,” said Scooter Braun, Bieber’s manager and one of the film’s producers. “As a Christian, he’s someone to look up to. … When (fans) are getting the real person is when they can connect to that person.”  …  “I believe that Jesus died on a cross for my sins,” Bieber told Billboard last November. “He’s the reason that I’m here.”

Would Schlussel call this a “pop star pimping Christianity on your daughters”, or a “scary thing” and an “enticing Crusade”?  Would she also find this “dangerous”.

As a Muslim, I have no problem with a Christian pop star being proud of their Christianity, or with a Jewish pop star being proud of their Judaism.  Why is it that a Jew sees a Muslim pop star being proud of their Islam as a sinister jihad plot?

I believe it’s because she is a bigot, and an Islamophobe.  This is pure hate speech.

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A Journey Out of Islamophobic Darkness

Posted on 23 April 2012 by Ilisha

islamophobia-drfus

Leaving the Islamophobia nightmare

The Islamophobia propaganda machine has its roots in years of concerted online, media and marketing campaigns. This well oiled machine of hate has attracted many followers, and they can be broken up into several groups (there may be considerable overlap):

1.) Those who were ripe for the picking. These individuals already had a hate for Islam and Muslims or Arabs, they were already racist in one way or another, and easily attached themselves to Islamophobia.

2.) Opportunists. These individuals are always looking for a way to make a buck, to line their pockets. Real, honest work doesn’t suit their tastes and so they’ve devoted themselves to that centuries old money-maker, hate.

3.) True believers. They may come from various ends of the ideological spectrum, most of them are very afraid, fear courses through their every waking moment, they are made even more afraid by modern interpretations of say Biblical prophecies, or fears about the existential threat of the end of Western society.

4.) The gullible or the naive. These individuals read and believe the Islamophobic propaganda because they perceive the arguments as objective, factual, honest, and fitting with their worldview, or answering their confusion and incomprehension of world events or history.

There may be a few other groups not identified here, but those in the last category, the “gullible or the naive,” are usually individuals who later become enlightened and realize the true nature of Islamophobia. They start to question the poor “analysis,” the skewing of “facts,” the blindly subjective and hateful methodology employed by those they once respected as honest brokers on the issues of Islam and Muslims.

One such individual is Charles Johnson. Loonwatch documented his groundbreaking and public quarrel with his former allies, JihadWatch’s Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller of AtlasShrugs. For Johnson it was their too easy comfort and alliance with fascists like Geert Wilders that broke the proverbial camel’s back, and ever since, he has been outspoken in his criticism of Islamophobes.

Their have been many like Johnson, some who have changed their minds because of our site or their own introspection. One such individual is regular Loonwatch commenter and tipster CriticalDragon. CriticalDragon was quite involved with right-wing anti-Muslim sites, respected the leading lights of Islamophobia, and even commented (under a different screen name) on Jihad Watch amongst other blogs.

We asked CriticalDragon to tell us about how he at one time embraced Islamophobia, and how and why he eventually left the quagmire of hate:

LW: What first attracted you to the “counter-jihadists?”

CD: Prior to 9/11, I was naive and had an overly simplistic and overly positive view of my country and the world. It’s not that I thought that America had done no wrong, but I believed that in every war since World War II, its intentions were noble.

I always considered myself an anti-bigot, which was ironic since I would become a bigot myself. Although I wasn’t as bad as some of the Islamophobes out there, I said and supported some things that I’m now really ashamed of. One of the reasons why I fell for the “counter jihadists” may have been in part because prior to 9/11, I didn’t hear much about anti-Muslim bigotry.

I did however have a very black and white view of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. I got most of my information on that from people like Rush Limbaugh. Although I wouldn’t call Rush an Islamophobe, he always portrayed the Palestinian side as evil. However, he did not make a connection between the conflict and Islam.

Right after 9/11 occurred, I wanted to find out why we were attacked. What had America done to deserve such an attack in their eyes, and why were they so willing to die to hurt us?

I knew about suicide bombers in Israel, but I really knew that I didn’t understand what motivated them either, but I didn’t think much about it, because I was not involved in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. It didn’t affect me much, or anyone I knew, but now I felt that my country was in danger of being attacked again at any moment. I became aware shortly after the event of the fact that the 9/11 hijackers were Muslims, but I did not connect the two until later.

Searching for answers I came across the “counter Jihad blogs.” I can’t remember if the first one I came across was Jihad Watch or another one, but at some point I reached Jihad Watch. I read it and some other relatively moderate “Counter Jihad” blogs and basically believed everything I read without doing enough research to determine if they were true or not. For a while I assumed that what they were saying did not apply to most Muslims, and tried, but not hard enough, to find some peaceful liberal Muslims who denounced terrorism.

Even after visiting those sites I probably wouldn’t have bought into the Stealth Jihad or Population Jihad conspiracies if not for two events.

First, I assumed that after we overthrew the Taliban, the government in Afghanistan would be a genuine liberal democracy with religious freedom. At the time, and even though I believed people like Spencer in regards to what they presented as the “teachings of Islam” (death to the infidels, lying to the infidels, oppressive theocracy), I assumed most Muslims did not follow such “teachings.” But after the war was over, I remember an Afghan man who was set to be put to death for converting from Islam to Christianity, and it not only disappointed me, it kind of shocked me.

I literally believed what George W. Bush said about people wanting to live in freedom, and the Afghan people had chosen to install a government without freedom of religion, even after living under a brutal theocracy, and it seemed to me that we had even encouraged it to some degree.

Second was the cartoon riots, which really scared me, because it looked like large numbers of Muslims around the world spontaneously erupted over harmless cartoons, and I saw what looked like Western governments caving-in to their demands.

LW: Which Islamophobic blogs did you frequent?

CD: Mostly The Infidel Blogger’s Alliance, Bosch Fawstin, Citizen Warrior, FrontpageMag, Culturism, and Religion of Peace, which is the worst of them all. It literally scared me, every time I visited it.

They’re really deceptive in how they cherry pick news stories and post hundreds of terrifying stories about Islam and Muslims to support their agenda.

I might suggest that Loonwatch take the “Religion of Peace” website to task more often, except most of the stuff on there isn’t written by them. Most of it is just links to articles on other websites.

Although I read at least two of Robert Spencer’s books I did not spend a lot of time at Jihad Watch. I may have admired him at the time but I didn’t spend much time on his blog. The same is true for Pamela Geller and her Atlas Shrugs blog. One of the reasons why I didn’t realize how nuts she was may well have been because I didn’t spend much time there.

If you are going to take on one of the Islamophobic bloggers whose blog I used to follow I would recommend laying the smack down on Citizen Warrior. He’s kind of like Robert Spencer, but maybe a bit more sophisticated, although he hasn’t written any books that I’m aware of.  You might also want to take on John Kenneth Press (AKA Culturist John) who wrote the book Culturism, and runs the blog by the same name, and eviscerate some of his arguments, although he usually doesn’t deal with Islam or Muslims.

LW: You’ve mentioned in your comments that you truly believed in the threat of “stealth jihad.” Were there any other major themes that seemed to make sense to you at the time?

CD: I’m really embarrassed to say this, but after reading Marks Steyn‘s America Alone, I actually became convinced that Muslims in Europe were having far more children than non-Muslims, and given enough time, they would become the majority. I believed they would most likely turn those countries into Islamic theocracies, because at the time, that’s what I thought most of them wanted, or they wouldn’t be willing to resist when the fanatics started taking over.

I thought it might take centuries but still it scared me, the idea that these people with such an alien worldview might destroy Western culture and eventually replace it with Sharia’. I know its stupid, but I wasn’t thinking too hard at the time unfortunately.

Note that I never saw this in racial terms, always cultural terms. I was Islamophobic, but I was not a racist. I believed that Muslims in the West were raising their children in such a way that they would not share our values. It was not something genetic, but rather how I thought they were raising their children.

I also believed that the West was at war with Islam, yet simultaneously did not believe that all Muslims were evil, or even our enemies. I know that’s a contradiction, but I didn’t think about it too much at the time. On the occasions when other people would bring that up, I just rationalized it away. However, the fact that I realized that not all Muslims could be evil, would eventually help bring me out of the Islamophobic nightmare.

LW: For how long were you a regular visitor to the “counter-jihadist” blogs?

CD: Sadly, I was a follower and supporter of “counter jihad” blogs for about ten years following 9/11. I only really stopped being an Islamophobe some time in late September of 2011, and even then it would be another month or two before I completely rejected all their nonsense. For example I was still somewhat suspicious of CAIR until I realized that just about every blog that suspected them of being connected to terrorist groups like Hamas, recommended Jihad Watch and by that time I had come to see Robert Spencer as the bigot and liar that he really is.

LW: About Ten Years? Why did it take you so long to see the light?

CD: I got scared and I did not do a very good job of questioning what I was told. I was terrified, and I wanted to stop Jihadists from destroying our freedom. It seemed so obvious to me, because I was getting such a distorted picture of reality.

Early on when I joined the counter jihad movement, most of the information I was getting on what was going on in the world involving Islam and Muslims was incredibly biased to say the least, and I did not try very hard to critique it, because all the evidence seemed so overwhelming at the time. Most of the blogs I frequented outside of the “Counter Jihad Movement” rarely mentioned Islam or Muslims. I occasionally, though rarely, visited left wing political blogs.

One of the few exceptions was American United for the Separation Of Church and State, but I don’t even think they talked about Islam until people in the states started trying to pass anti-Shariah legislation. I spent the vast majority of my time on right-wing Islamophobic blogs, and my preferred news channel was Fox News, which rarely debunked Islamophobes. For those reasons, I almost always saw what left wing bloggers wrote refuting Islamophobic claims through the eyes of Islamophobes, and I rarely heard about Muslims protesting evil done in the name of their faith.

However, if I had been willing to do a bit more research to see what groups like Act For America really based their opposition on, outside of the Islamophobic blogs I frequented I would have seen just how wrong they were. In addition I was too quick to dismiss arguments against their positions.

There were some skeptical science blogs and YouTube channels that I really enjoyed, and they tended to be rather left wing, but they rarely mentioned Islam, that is until the idea of Everybody Draw Muhammad day and the issue of the “Ground Zero Mosque” came up, which was years after 9/11 and the cartoon riots.

Even then, too often, I tended to just dismiss them unless I already agreed with them. I got to the point where I really did not want to admit I was wrong. Maybe I didn’t want to admit I was being a bigot.

Case in point, when atheist YouTuber and foe of creationists everywhere, “Thunderf00t” came out in support for Everybody Draw Muhammad day, and made at least one anti “Ground Zero Mosque” video, I tended to dismiss the arguments that other, better, Youtuber skeptics made against him.

I admired “ThunderF00t,” for his strong stance for science and reason and against the “backwardness of Islam.” Ironically I would eventually come to respect and admire the people on YouTube who opposed him like Coughlin 666 (now Coughlin 616 and Coughlin 000) and Ujames1978 (now Ujames1978Forever and Pirus The God Slayer).

I was a horrible skeptic to say the least. For a long time I fell for just about every single prominent Loon.

I believed most of the things that they said, and it seemed like there were just so many “former Muslims” out there talking about how “evil” Islam is, and how the West was destined to be Islamized if we did not do anything to stop it, because there were just so many fanatical Muslims out there determined to force us to convert or submit. I used to really admire Wafa Sultan and, although I thought Walid Shoebat‘s fundamentalist Christian beliefs were a bit nonsensical to say the least, I never doubted that he really was a “former Muslim terrorist” until much later.

I had managed to entrap myself in my own nightmarish digital web of Islamophobia.

LW: What effect, if any did self-proclaimed Muslim supporters of Robert Spencer, such as Zuhdi Jasser have on you?

CD: They actually encouraged me to support the “counter jihad movement” early on and likely contributed to my own Islamophobia, but ironically and counter-intuitively they also were one of the factors that prevented me from seeing all Muslims as the enemy.

Let me explain.

By doing the things that he did, such as being the host of the Clarion Fund‘s anti-Muslim propaganda film, “The Third Jihad,”Jasser likely convinced a lot of people that there really was a conspiracy among American Muslims to “Islamize” the country. Some Islamophobic websites link to his organization, the “American Islamic Forum for Democracy,” and they use it as a way of claiming that they’re not really bigoted against Muslims because some Muslims support them and vice versa.

This certainly reinforced all of my fears, but at the same time, since I couldn’t come up with what I thought would be a good reason for him to be lying about this, it encouraged me to think that not all Muslims were bad. In fact, he was one of the few Muslims that I was certain was not lying to me.

Ironically, I didn’t lose respect for Jasser even while other anti-Muslim bigots tried to convince me that he was really a Stealth Jihadist as well. The only thing that made me completely lose respect for him was something he did after I left the “anti-jihad” movement, when he made a video defending Lowes at the moment they gave into intimidation and pressure from anti-Muslim bigots to drop support for the show “All American Muslim.” I was no longer an Islamophobe at that point and was in fact trying to fight anti-Muslim bigotry.

I’m not sure if Jasser is a “self hating Muslim” for lack of a better term, but he may be a useful idiot for Islamophobes. I have come across multiple instances where Islamophobes accused him of being a Stealth Jihadist as well, just because he’s a Muslim, they think he is lying to them and that he really supports groups like AlQaeda. What he and his organization are doing is perpetuating baseless conspiracy theories about Muslims, and he won’t convince Islamophobes who are already convinced that he’s the enemy that he’s a friend.

In fact, if he ever comes to see how baseless the Stealth Jihad conspiracy really is, and turns around and stops supporting “counter jihadists,” then a bunch of people who used to support him will become  convinced that he really was a stealth Jihadist all along.

LW: What changed your mind? Was it a single event or a process over time?

CD: It was a process, but there were some definite events.

I recall these events not in any particular order:

Even before 9/11, I considered myself a conservative, but I had some views that were not stereotypical of a conservative. For one thing I was a supporter of the separation of Church and State. I considered myself a secularist and a skeptic. I may have rightfully rejected things like scientific creationism, but a good skeptic would never have fallen for someone like Spencer or Geller, or if they had, they would have had too many doubts as soon as they started talking about things like the Stealth Jihad, or learned that they had their “scholarly” work published in the same series of books that promoted creationism and other forms of pseudoscience.

When I learned that Spencer’s, “the Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades,” had been published by the same people who published “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design,” it should have set off some red flags, but I had allowed myself to become too convinced that he was correct by then, and that he was a “real scholar.”

I was shocked when secularist groups like American’s United For the Separation of Church and State actually came out against the anti-Sharia’ legislation. I assumed they would support such laws, because in my mind it was fighting for secularism. The problem was that since I believed in those nonsensical anti-Muslim conspiracy theories, I actually believed that Muslim fanatics were a greater threat to our freedom than the religious right.

Like all bigots I was closed minded, but maybe not as closed minded as some. Part of the problem was that I was getting most of my information on Islam and Muslims from right-wing sources and they were incredibly biased. It made it look like there was a large number of Muslims out to take over the world. While I’m certain there are some blogs out there run by genuine right wing anti-loons, I didn’t come across too many. When I happened to come across a video debunking the claim that Muslims were likely to become the majority through immigration I began to doubt it for the first time.

Earlier, I came across another more “moderate critic” of Islam who went by the user name, “Klingschor.”  He started out as a supporter of Robert Spencer and at one time had favorited the ridiculous “Three Things You Probably Don’t Know About Islam” video on his YouTube channel.  However, as Klingschor got more educated, he eventually turned against Spencer. He created a video supporting the “Ground Zero Mosque,” and Imam Rauf, where he viciously attacked Spencer and Geller for being bigots.  (The video is no longer on his channel, although now I wish he’d repost the original or remake it).  I admired Spencer and Geller and I was convinced that Rauf was a “stealth jihadist,” so this shocked me, since I admired Klingschor as well and he didn’t seem pro-Islam to me. I wondered why he wasn’t convinced as I was that Rauf was up to no good and why he had suddenly turned on Spencer and Geller.  I had trouble explaining it.

In addition, I began to realize that if things did not change, a lot of innocent people were going to get hurt, and not by Muslim jihadists. I knew that not all Muslims were our enemies, and I would sometimes get into arguments with other people who held worse views than I did; people who wanted to nuke Mecca and kill every single Muslim on the planet.

Even when I pointed out to them how innocent people would be killed, it did not phase them. These nuke Mecca/kill all Muslims people were so bad that I saw them as anti-Muslim bigots even when I was an anti-Muslim bigot. That’s how bad they were.

Then something else happened, something that was somewhat of a watershed moment.

Most people in the “counter Jihad movement” assumed Anders Breivik was a Muslim when news of his rampage first came out. I was not really that shocked by the fact that he was not a Muslim, since I knew non-Muslim terrorists existed, but I was shocked by his motive.

He went on his rampage and murdered innocent people including many children, believing it was necessary to stop the Islamization of Europe. Of course excuses were made for Spencer and Geller not being responsible, and I bought into them at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that their rhetoric did nothing to discourage a Breivik.

Even if Breivik got his beliefs from somewhere else, he idolized Spencer and Geller and was an avid supporter, not to mention other prominent figures in the “counter Jihad Movement.” If anything, they encouraged his behavior even if they did not specifically tell him to commit violent acts.

It was also about this time that I found out that a couple of the lesser known Islamophobes that I admired were racists.  No one you’ve probably heard of, just a couple of nobodies really, but I had admired them and thought they were smarter than they actually were. This was another shock to my system because I had really respected them, and I had always regarded racism as abhorrent and stupid. I instantly lost respect for them.

Plus I saw a video by Coughlin 616, called “Pamela Geller Busted.” Although at the time I thought he was wrong to oppose Geller and believed he was far too concerned with neo-Nazis as compared to Jihadists, I decided to watch the video. After watching it, and checking Coughlin’s sources, I realized that he had proven that Geller was a liar. What’s more she might have been covering for Breivik or someone like him. I suddenly had a lot more respect for Coughlin and a lot less respect for Geller.

In the meantime, I saw more videos by Klingscor, and another Youtube atheist critic of Islam, CEMBadmins, that actually debunked some common Islamophobic claims. One of them was taqiya, both of them made videos on the subject thoroughly debunking the claim that taqiya is lying for Islam and that Muslims are more likely to lie than non Muslims.

CEMBadmins really made it hard for me to continue to believe in the taqiya conspiracy since he was not only a critic of Islam, but an ex-Muslim. In his video, he talked about a poll taken of members of the Council of Ex-Muslims (his organization) and it turned out that most of them had never even heard of taqiya, and those that had regarded it as a defensive mechanism to protect themselves from persecution, not lying to promote Islam like I had been taught by others in the “counter jihad movement.”

I thought to myself, “Why would ex-Muslims lie for Islam?” It slowly began to hit me just how wrong people like Spencer were on the subject.

Soon, I saw a couple of videos on Muslims who helped save Jews during the Holocaust. At least one of them I came across on Loonwatch. Although I always knew there were at least some rare instances when Muslims helped non Muslims, I had no idea that so many Muslims had done so much at one time to help a large group of non-Muslims. I was slowly realizing just how much the evil done by Muslims to non Muslims like myself in the name of Islam was exaggerated by people in the “counter jihad movement,” and how much they ignored the good done by Muslims in the name of Islam.

The final nail in the coffin for my support for those “counter jihad” blogs and Spencer and Geller was when I realized that Islam has not traditionally endorsed terrorism.  When I found Loonwatch and looked at the actual statistics for the first time I realized that very few terrorists in the United States and Europe were even Muslims.

I came to realize just how wrong I was, and I felt an odd combination of happiness and relief as well as guilt and shame, simultaneously.

LW: Why do you spend so much time trying to help fight anti-Muslim bigotry now?

CD: For one thing, ever since I allowed myself to see the light, I have come to realize just how wrong I was. I’ve come to see that the people I once admired and supported like Geert Wilders are actually a greater threat to our freedom than the threat they claim to be fighting.

Since Stealth Jihad and Islamization are myths, there’s no need for any legislation to fight them. If anything, a lot of innocent people are going to be hurt by “counter jihadists” including innocent Muslims and non-Muslims alike, and for what? To fight imaginary conspiracy theories?

Also, the Christian religious right is more likely to turn America into a theocracy. With Muslims at less than one percent of the American population, they don’t have the numbers to do so, even if they all wanted to. In fact, I now understand that as someone who normally wouldn’t support the religious right, by trying so hard to fight the imaginary threat of Islamization, I made myself a useful idiot of the religious right. The same is true for any secularist who supports them out of fear of Jihadists taking over and turning the West into an Islamic theocracy.

Finally, I want to make up for the mistake of supporting the “counter jihadists.” The only way I can clear my conscious now is to actively oppose the people and organizations I once endorsed. I feel a lot of guilt, I did and said a lot of things that I regret now.

LW: Do you have any suggestions for those who still admire bloggers like Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller?

CD: If you want to hear people criticize Islam, look for people who are not bigots, and do not believe in nonsensical conspiracy theories, like “the stealth Jihad.” Make sure they reject the idea that Islam teaches Muslims to lie to promote their faith and that Muslims are more likely to lie than non Muslims. Find people who are at least trying to be objective and who avoid making sweeping generalizations about Muslims.

Also listen to what Muslims have to say about themselves, their politics, their philosophy and their faith. In many cases it will be completely counter to the negative stereotypes. Let me use someone who appears on Loonwatch from time to time as an example.

When I first saw “Dawah Films”  respond to “Thunderf00t,” I saw it only through the eyes of “Thunderf00t.” I thought he was threatening to kill him for criticizing his religion, but when I actually watched other videos he made, and talked to him about it, years later, I realized how radically different his motives actually were. Contrary to the way “Thunderf00t” portrayed him, he supported free speech and he even defended another YouTuber, “ZOMGitscriss,” against death threats from genuine Muslim extremists, when she made some minor criticisms of Islam.

In addition to listening to Muslims and moderate, rational critics of Islam, you should also take an Islamic Studies course at an accredited university, if you have the time. I’m hoping to do that, since contrary to what I used to believe, I don’t know much about Islam, and if I’m going to fight anti-Muslim bigotry, I’m going to have to know more about Islam and its history. If you can’t do that, or even if you can do that, in addition, try to find a few books about Islam written by genuine scholars who studied Islam within academia.

LW: How did you find Loonwatch?

CD: I believe I first heard about Loonwatch on a conservative blog that I used to visit from time to time.

The person behind the blog wrote a story critiquing something you wrote, but I don’t remember if I read it or not, but either way, I didn’t check his sources, so I didn’t find out what Loonwatch was until much later, after I left the “counter Jihad” movement.

After I stopped being an Islamophobe, I wanted to fight anti-Muslim bigotry and I started looking around and I came across Loonwatch and its sister site, SpencerWatch. However, I did notice that “Dawah Films” recommends you guys on his channel, but I can’t remember if I clicked on his link before or after I did a Google search.

LW: Do you regularly visit any other anti-bigotry sites, and if so, which ones?

CD: I really think the Southern Poverty Law Center is an excellent resource, especially if you include their blog “HateWatch.” The anti-Defamation League is also generally a good anti-bigotry organization. I know the American Civil Liberties Union does not specialize in fighting bigotry, but they do a very good job of protecting civil liberties including the civil liberties of minorities. More recently I started exploring Sheila Musaji’s “The American Muslim,” which also does a good job debunking anti Muslim myths as well.

I’d also recommend more than a few Youtube channels that have done a lot to fight irrational hatred and bigotry. I’ve already mentioned Coughlan and Ujames1978Forever’s channels, and would like to add EvoGenVideos and HannibaltheVictor13. EvoGenVideos is a genetics student who sometimes uses his scientific knowledge to debunk racists. HannibaltheVictor13 is an anthropologist who has also debunked racists.

LW: Is there any meaning behind your nickname, Critical Dragon1177, that you’d like to share?

CD: When I realized how wrong I was to support the “counter Jihad” movement, I also realized that I had said some incredibly stupid and often bigoted things that I was ashamed of. Plus I wanted to disassociate from those bigoted anti-Muslim blogs that I used to visit.

In order to do what I wanted to do, I needed a new user name. I made a new years resolution to be a better skeptic.

I realized that the biggest reason that I fell for what Islamophobes were telling me, and continued to believe them for so long, despite the overwhelming evidence against what they were saying was my lack of critical thinking on the matter. My story is really about the danger of not thinking critically, and of giving into your emotions.

That’s where the first part of my user name comes from. I added ‘Dragon’ because I like fantasy, and I love fantasy creatures. The numbers were added just in case someone else had that name.

LW: In conclusion is there anything else you would like to share with the LW audience?

CD: I’ve read a book called A World Without Islam that I highly recommend. It’s by Graham E. Fuller.

According to his biography over at Amazon.com,

“Graham E. Fuller is a former vice chairman of the National Intelligence Council at the CIA, a former senior political scientist at RAND, and a current adjunct professor of history at Simon Fraser University. He is the author of numerous books about the Middle East, including The Future of Political Islam. He has lived and worked in the Muslim world for nearly two decades.”

In his book, “A World without Islam,” Fuller goes a long way to debunk the claim that we are at war with Islam, and that Islam is the cause of terrorism and our problems involving Muslims and Muslim majority societies.

I haven’t read any of his other books, but based on this one, he’s largely anti Robert Spencer, and he has far better credentials than him. In fact if I had read something like this book just after 9/11 instead of going to all those bigoted “counter jihad” sites, I don’t think I would have taken people like Spencer seriously at all.

It was recommended to me by my friend, Klingschor, along with another book by Tamim Ansary called “Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes,” which I’ve started reading as well.

I also have a friend on Youtube that I would like to introduce, he goes by the user name, Ramio1983. He’s made at least one video fighting anti-Muslim bigotry, and I think he’s working on another one, maybe someone here could help him.

LW: Thank you, CriticalDragon, for sharing your story here on Loonwatch, and for joining the fight against bigotry.

CD: You’re Welcome.  I’m pleased to be able to share my story.  My hope  is that it will help someone else to see the truth.

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Latest Conspiracy Theory: ‘In Allah We Trust’

Posted on 03 March 2012 by Ilisha

In God We Trust

Just when you thought the loons couldn’t get any loonier…

Latest Conspiracy Theory: Muslims Altering US Dollars to Read ‘In Allah We Trust’

Cross-posted from Right Wing Watch (H/T Believing Atheist)

Self-proclaimed “ex-terrorist” Kamal Saleem tells quite a story about his life, claiming that he worked for late Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, Hamas, the Palestine Liberation Organization, and fought with Al Qaeda in Tora Bora, all before coming to the United States in order to carry out the “culture jihad.” Sure his entire story is a fabrication, but that hasn’t stopped this descendent of the imaginary “Grand Wazir of Islam” from getting speaking gigs across the country where he criticizes Islam and warns of impending Sharia law in the United States. Yesterday, Saleem sat down again with fellow anti-Muslim activists Jerry Boykin and Rick Joyner on Prophetic Perspectives where he warned that as part of the effort of Muslim-Americans to usher in an Islamic theocracy, they are replacing the words “In God We Trust” on the dollar with “In Allah We Trust”:

Watch:

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Move Over Zagat: The NYPD Guide to Newark’s Best Muslim Restaurants

Posted on 26 February 2012 by Ilisha

Restaurant Jihad

Tasty Eats or Stealth Jihad?

Lots of tasty stakeouts…and there’s even a Dunkin Donuts!

The NYPD Zagat Guide to Newark’s Best (and Most Threatening) Muslim Restaurants

Cross-posted from Gawker

Last night, the AP broke the news that the New York Police Department had spent months spying on Muslims in Newark, N.J. “The result was a 60-page report,” AP reporter Adam Goldman writes, “containing brief summaries of businesses and their clientele.” But was it a surveillance file… or just a guide to Newark’s best Muslim restaurants?

“Such surveillance has become commonplace in New York City in the decade since the 2001 terrorist attacks,” Goldman rightly points out. “The documents obtained by the AP show, for the first time in any detail, how those efforts stretched outside the NYPD’s jurisdiction.”

But as he himself acknowledges, “[t]he report cited no evidence of terrorism or criminal behavior.” Indeed, it’s just “a guide to Newark’s Muslims.” Nothing creepy about NYPD spending months monitoring Muslims outside their jurisdiction, at all. And what could be more helpful to the aspiring gourmand than a handbook of the best Halal joints in Newark? With that in mind, we’ve re-arranged some of the dry NYPD “notes,” Zagat-style, to bring you: The NYPD Guide to Newark’s Best Muslim Restaurants.

Newark Fried Chicken
942 Broad St., (973) 824-1780
Yelp Rating: No rating.

NYPD says: A “medium size fast food restaurant” with “fried chicken, pizza and cold drinks” on its menu, Newark Fried Chicken is said to be “in good condition,” with “seating for 10 to 15 customers.”

*****

Kansas Fried Chicken
183 Market St., (973) 242-8844
Yelp Rating: No rating.

NYPD says: This “medium size takeout restaurant” is known for its “fried chicken, pizza and cold drinks.” “Location is owned by persons of Afghani descent,” notes one reviewer.

*****

Mecca’s Halal Restaurant
4 Branford Pl., (973) 824-5600
Yelp Rating: Four stars. (“Shockingly good,” writes Andrew B. of Evanston, Ill.)

NYPD says: A “small restaurant” “in close proximity of Islamic Cultural center” “owned and operated by African-Americans,” Mecca’s Halal Restaurant gets another thumbs-up from our reviewers. It “has seating for 10-15 customers” and “serves Halal food.”

*****

Amin’s Halal Restaurant
57 William St., (973) 621-1111
Yelp Rating: Three and a half stars. (“Very clean,” says Jeff M. of Jersey City, N.J.)

NYPD says: Our reviewers say Amin’s Halal Restaurant, “location below the former Muhammads Mosque” (now closed), is “medium sized” and “owned and operated by Muslims of Chinese descent.” “During visit 3 African Muslim males and an Egyptian male customer were observed dining within,” writes one reviewer. Wild!

*****

Dunkin Donuts
806 South Orange Ave., no phone number
Yelp Rating: No rating. (Average rating of Newark Dunkin Donuts: Three and a half stars.)

NYPD says: “Good condition,” observes one reviewer, who notes that the “store… has a capacity for 15 to 20 customers.”

*****

Utah Fried Chicken
653 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., (973) 792-1993
Yelp Rating: No rating.

NYPD says: Convenience is the name of the game at Utah Fried Chicken, which our reviewers note is “in close proximity of Masjid Rahman.” One drawback: the restaurant is “small.”

*****

Detroit Fried Chicken and Pizza
685 Springfield Ave., (931) 375-0013
Yelp Rating: No rating.

NYPD says: Come to Detroit Fried Chicken and you might be welcomed by its owner, “Egyptian male,” who’s set up “seating for approximately ten customers” right “next door to Masjid Al-Haqq.” “Fast food restaurant,” writes one reviewer, with what we imagine to be enthusiasm.

*****

West Indian American Halal Restaurant
347 Sandford Ave., (973) 373-7333
Yelp Rating: No rating.

NYPD says: “Poor condition” at this restaurant “owned and operated by persons of West Indian descent,” lament our reviewers. Nevertheless, it “has seating for 8-10 customers” and “is in close proximity of Masjid Fallahee… and Al Muslimaat academy.”

*****

Jordan Halal Restaurant
1008 South Orange Ave., (973) 399-7980
Yelp Rating: Four and a half stars. (“Great breakfasts,” writes Karol R. “OMG I would come here everyday if I could!!!!” adds Candy B. of Newark.)

NYPD says: Options for “takeout and dining in” at this “small restaurant” “owned and operated by persons of Jordanian descent.” But be aware that it is “small.”

*****

Chicken Holiday
1036 South Orange Ave., (973) 373-2009
Yelp Rating: No rating.

NYPD says: Reviewers didn’t have much to say about this “small size takeout location” “owned and operated by persons of Pakistani descent” “that serves Halal food” — but their affection was clear nonetheless.

*****

Crown Fried Chicken and Deli
231 Lyons Ave., (973) 923-4466
Yelp Rating: No rating.

NYPD says: Watch out at this “small fast food restaurant” serving “fried chicken and deli sandwiches”: “Location does not have any chairs or tables inside for customers.” Hope you like standing!

*****

Amin’s Halal Restaurant
430 Chancellor Ave., (973) 926-6150
Yelp Rating: No rating.

NYPD says: Get ready for some food after prayers at this “medium sized Chinese Halal restaurant” “located across the street from Masjid Ibrahim”! “Owned and operated by Muslims of Chinese descent,” Amin’s “has approximately three tables.”

*****

Kings Family Restaurant Inc.
327 Lyons Ave., (973) 926-2177
Yelp Rating: Three and a half stars. (“Sizeable portions,” says Ron B. of Denver.)

NYPD says: How about a party at Kings Family Restaurant Inc., “a large restaurant with seating for 45-50 customers”? This “traditional Halal diner” is “owned by persons of Turkish descent” — and don’t forget to bring some extra change: “location has a donation box inside for unknown Masjid.”

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Lowe’s Pulls Ad from “All American Muslim” Due to Pressure From Islamophobes

Posted on 09 December 2011 by Garibaldi

It is interesting to note the strange things Islamophobes take umbrage at. For instance think about the google doodle they thought hid the ulterior motives of Islamic stealth jihad, don’t you see the crescent hiding under the US flag:

or who can forget the crusade launched by Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer against Campbell’s Soup:

or casting Ms.USA Rima Fakih as Hezbollah’s secret Muslamic ray-gun weapon who would secretly spell the doom of the West:

then recently there were the calls to boycott Butterball Turkey for being certified as halal, according to Islamophobes the halal certification was evidence of the Islamization of America!

There are other instances of such stupidity, (just check out our archives) but one has reared its ugly head anew and this one can’t be so easily laughed off. Far right Christians and anti-Muslim bigots hate a new show on TLC called All American Muslim. According to them it humanizes Muslims, and we can’t have that! Robert Spencer for instance wanted to see a “terrorist Muslim family” included.

The hate brigade has been campaigning advertisers to withdraw their ads from the program. Now one company, Lowe’s has supposedly taken the bait (hat tip: H.). According to the campaigners, the “show riskily hides the Islamic agenda’s clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values” and they are claiming success:

Supporters’ emails to advertisers make a difference.Florida Family Association sent out a third email alert on December 6th which reported The Learning Channel’s new program called All-American Muslim.  All-American Muslim is propaganda that riskily hides the Islamic agenda’s clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values.  The email alert encouraged supporters to send emails to the companies (including Lowes) that advertised during the December 4th and 5th episodes.   

Lowes sent the following email to Florida Family Association stating that All-American Muslim “does not meet Lowe’s advertising guidelines.”  If you have not sent your email to All-American Muslim advertisers click here.

—– Original Message —– 
From:
 Andrew
To:
 davidcaton@floridafamily.org 
Sent:
 Tuesday, December 06, 2011 12:57 PM 
Subject:
 RE: Lowe’s Home Centers, Inc. advertised during All-American Muslim

Hello David,

Thank you for contacting Lowe’s.  We work hard to listen to our customers and respond to their concerns.  Lowe’s has strict guidelines that govern the placement of our advertising. Our company advertises primarily in national, network prime-time television programs and on a variety of cable outlets.  Lowe’s constantly reviews advertising buys to make certain they are consistent with its policy guidelines.

While we continue to advertise on various cable networks, including TLC, there are certain programs that do not meet Lowe’s advertising guidelines, including the show you brought to our attention.  Lowe’s will no longer be advertising on that program.

Our goal is to provide the best service, products and shopping environment in the home improvement industry.  We appreciate your feedback and will share your comments with our advertising department as they evaluate future advertising opportunities.

If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to call 1-866-900-4650, or email execustservice@lowes.com.  You may also contact us by mailing your correspondence to Lowe’s Companies, Mail Code CON8, 1605 Curtis Bridge Rd., Wilkesboro, North Carolina 28697.

Thank you,

Andrew
Lowe’s Executive Support

Update (h/t JD):

Here is a list of companies that they claim to have succeeded in convincing to cancel their advertising based on this bigoted, hateful, anti-Muslim reasoning:

3M (Command, Scotchbrand tape),
Airborne Vitamin,
Amway,
Anheuser Busch Inbev (Select55),
Art Instruction Schools,
Bamboozles,
Bank of America (Cash Rewards),
Bare Escentuals,
Brother International (Ptouch),
Campbell’s Soup,
Capital One,
Church & Dwight (Oxi Clean, Arm & Hammer),
City Furniture,
Conagra (Hunt’s Diced Tomatoes),
Corinthian Colleges (Everst411),
Cotton, Inc.,
Cumberland Packing (Sweet’N Low),
Dell computers,
Diamond Foods (Kettlebrand Chips),
Estee Lauder (Clinique),
ET Browe (Palmer’s Cocoa butter),
Gap,
General Motors (Chevy Runs Deep),
Good Year,
Green Mountain Coffee,
Guthy Renker (Proactiv),
Hershey kisses,
Home Depot,
Honda North America,
HTC Phones,
Ikea,
JC Penney,
JP Morgan Chase (Chase Sapphire),
Kayak.com, Kellogg (Special K),
Koa Brands (John Frieda),
Leapfrog Enterprise (Leapster Explorer),
Lowe’s
Mars (Dove Chocolate),
McDonald’s,
Nationwide Insurance,
News Corp (We bought a zoo movie),
Nintendo (Mariokartz.com),
Novartis (Theraflu),
Old Navy,
Pernod Ricard (Kahlua),
Petsmart,
Pier One,
Pfizer (Centrum vitamin),
Procter & Gamble (Align Probiotic, Crest, Febreze, Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, Pur, Tide),
Progressive Insurance,
Prudential Financial,
Radio Shack,
Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse,
SC Johnson (Drano, Glade, Scrubbing Bubbles),
Sears ,
Signet (Kay Jewelers),
Sonic Drive-ins,
Subaru, T
HQ (uDraw),
T-Mobil,
Toyota (Camry),
Volkswagen,
Vtech (Mobi Go, V Reader),
Wal-Mart
Whirlpool (Maytag)

Did this program not meet Lowe’s advertising guidelines because it showed a Muslim policeman who self-identifies as an American? Was it because Muslims and Arabs were not portrayed as evil villains who are not “real Americans” and have no right to act as if they are normal human beings with families, mortgages, jobs, etc. From here it looks like the MuslimPhobes are winning the undermine anything Islamic and Muslim as evil PR war.

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