Islamophobia

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Template:Discrimination2 Islamophobia is a controversial neologism defined as a prejudice against or demonization of Muslims. The term dates back to the late 1980s or early 90s, although its use has increased since the September 11, 2001 attacks. Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, told a UN conference in 2004: "hen the world is compelled to coin a new term to take account of increasingly widespread bigotry, that is a sad and troubling development. Such is the case with Islamophobia."

Anja Rudiger, Executive Coordinator of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia, argues that it is no longer acceptable to use skin color as an attribute to distinguish people, and that religion and culture have become the "markers of seemingly 'natural' kinds of differences." She writes that Islam has become "the new 'other' ..."

The British Runnymede Trust described Islamophobia in 1997 as the view that Islam has no values in common with other cultures; is inferior to the West; is a violent political ideology rather than a religion; that its criticisms of the West have no substance; and that discriminatory practices against Muslims are justified.

British writer and academic Kenan Malik has criticized the concept, calling it a "myth." Malik argues that it confuses discrimination against Muslims with criticism of Islam, and is used to silence critics of the religion, including Muslims who want to reform it. The novelist Salman Rushdie was among the signatories to a statement in March 2006 calling Islamophobia a "wretched concept that confuses criticism of Islam as a religion and stigmatisation of those who believe in it."

Defining the concept

In 1996, the Runnymede Trust, an independent anti-racist think tank in the UK, established the Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia, chaired by Professor Gordon Conway, the vice-chancellor of the University of Sussex. Their report, Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us All, was launched in November 1997 by the Home Secretary, Jack Straw. It described Islamophobia as involving eight distinctive features:

Islam is seen as a monolithic bloc, static and unresponsive to change.
It is seen as separate and "other". It does not have values in common with other cultures, is not affected by them and does not influence them.
It is seen as inferior to the West. It is seen as barbaric, irrational, primitive, and sexist.
It is seen as violent, aggressive, threatening, supportive of terrorism, and engaged in a clash of civilizations.
It is seen as a political ideology, used for political or military advantage.
Criticisms made of "the West" by Islam are rejected out of hand.
Hostility towards Islam is used to justify discriminatory practices towards Muslims and exclusion of Muslims from mainstream society.
Anti-Muslim hostility is seen as natural and normal.

Sociologists have argued that there was a shift in forms of prejudice during the 1990s from race-based prejudice to discrimination based on culture and religion. In 2004, Anja Rudiger, Executive Coordinator of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia, told an Oxford conference on Muslims in Europe that, since the 9/11 attacks, religion had surpassed race as the primary focus of conflict, and that a person's religion was now regarded as synonymous with their culture. In the case of Muslims, this opened up another dimension of prejudice, Rudiger argued, in that European Muslims were regarded as representing a unified culture quite different from European culture, one that is strongly linked to certain non-European countries. From Rudiger's viewpoint, such perceptions are part of the process of labeling Islam as Europe's "other." While Muslims do not constitute a race as such, the suggestion is that many Europeans and North Americans have an incorrect perception of Muslims as constituting a separate a race, in what Khyati Joshi has called the "racialization" of religion. Alternatively, Muslims may be confused with Arabs, although the majority of the world's Muslims are not Arabs.

Jeremy Seabrook writes in The Guardian that Islamophobia became the only form of prejudice to which the middle class would admit: "Officially, all right-thinking people have forsworn racism ... Islamophobia is the half-open door through which it makes its triumphal re-entry into respectable society." Seabrook argues that the perception of Islam as advocating the repression of women and gays makes Islamophobia an acceptable form of prejudice.

In 2004, the Runnymede's commission published a follow-up report suggesting that young British Muslims felt they did not belong in Britain, and that they were vulnerable to social exclusion and violence. Dr Abduljalil Sajid, an imam and adviser to the commission, said he believed that Islamophobia had become institutionalized, citing what he regarded as police harassment of Muslims since 9/11. "Even one of the country's Muslim peers, Lord Ahmed, has been stopped twice by police", Sajid told the BBC.

Criticism of the concept

The concept has been criticized on a number of grounds. Critics argue that Islamophobia is real but is just another form of racism and does not require its own category, while others argue that, unlike racism, Islam is a religion that people can choose to adopt or not, retain or apostatize from. Many argue that the term Islamophobia is used to censor criticism and that its use threatens free speech.

Alleged silencing of legitimate criticism of Islam

British writer and academic Kenan Malik has criticized the concept of Islamaphobia, calling it a "myth." Malik argues that it confuses discrimination against Muslims with criticism of Islam, and is used to silence critics of the religion, including Muslims who want to reform it. He states that the extent to which Muslims are more vulnerable to social exclusion and attacks than other groups is exaggerated. Malik writes that the concept allows politicians who may have supported the war in Iraq or the War against Terror to "reclaim the moral high ground" and "pitch for the Muslim vote." The result, he argues, is the creation of a culture of victimhood, allowing individual Muslims to attribute low achievement to Islamophobia, and not to themselves. Malik cites Yasmin Alibhai Brown, who writes: "It is not Islamophobia that makes parents take 14 year old bright girls out of school to marry illiterate men ..." Malik argues that Islamophobia is not a form of racism because Islam is a belief system. "I can be hateful about other beliefs, such as conservatism or communism. So why can't I be hateful about religion too?"

In March 2006, in the wake of the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy, a group of 12 prominent writers put their names to a statement in the French weekly satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, in which they warned against the use of the term Islamophobia to prevent criticism of what they called Islamic totalitarianism. The novelist Salman Rushdie was among these signatories. The statement alleged that "Islamism is a reactionary ideology that kills equality, freedom and secularism wherever it is present." It continued: "We refuse to renounce our critical spirit out of fear of being accused of "Islamophobia", a wretched concept that confuses criticism of Islam as a religion and stigmatisation of those who believe in it."

British columnist Josie Appleton argues that the Runnymede Trust's use of Islamophobia is an attempt to discourage criticism of Islam. "Rather than engage Muslims in debate, non-Muslims are supposed to tiptoe around them, for fear of causing offence." Afshin Ellian, a Dutch law professor, writes that the concept is used to delegitimize criticism by characterizing it as pathological, while civil-rights activist Bahram Soroush has called it "intellectual blackmail". French writer Robert Redeker argues that the history of the term demonstrates that the term Islamophobia was created by "radical islamists" to "tackle feminists".

Johann Hari of The Independent has criticized the use of the term by organizations like Islamophobia Watch, arguing that liberal Muslims interested in reform are left unsupported because people fear being accused of Islamophobia. He writes: "If Muslim women and Muslim gays are going to have any kind of decent life, the liberals need to receive solidarity and support – but slap-dash charges of Islamophobia intimidate people who could offer it ... While Islamophobia Watch talk about defending Muslims, they end up defending the nastiest and most right-wing part of the Muslim community – the ones who are oppressing and killing the rest."

Critics have cited the case of British journalist Polly Toynbee, who was nominated in May 2003 for the title of "Most Islamophobic Media Personality of the Year" at the Annual Islamophobia Awards overseen by the Islamic Human Rights Commission, who has argued that there is no such thing as Islamophobia. The nomination was based on her comments in The Guardian that "herever Islam either is the government or bears down upon the government, it imposes harsh regimes that deny the most basic human rights."

Reacting against a proposed UK law curtailing religious criticism, actor and comedian Rowan Atkinson drew the distinction between racism and criticism of religion: "To criticise a person for their race is manifestly irrational and ridiculous but to criticise their religion, that is a right... A law which attempts to say you can criticise and ridicule ideas as long as they are not religious ideas is a very peculiar law indeed."

Islamophobia-phobia

Writing in the New Humanist, philosopher Piers Benn suggests that people who fear the rise of Islamophobia foster an environment "not intellectually or morally healthy", to the point that what he calls "Islamophobia-phobia" can undermine "critical scrutiny of Islam as somehow impolite, or ignorant of the religion's true nature", encouraging "sentimental pretence that all claims to religious truth are somehow 'equal', or that critical scrutiny of Islam (or any belief system) is ignorant, prejudiced, or ‘phobic’".

The New Criterion editor Roger Kimball argues that the word "Islamophobia" is a misnomer. "A phobia describes an irrational fear, and it is axiomatic that fearing the effects of radical Islam is not irrational, but on the contrary very well-founded indeed, so that if you want to speak of a legitimate phobia — it’s a phobia I experience frequently — we should speak instead of Islamophobia-phobia, the fear of and revulsion towards Islamophobia."

Responses to criticism

File:JehanzebHasan.jpg

Jehanzeb Hasan argues that the conflation of "Osamaism" with Islam has given rise to Islamophobia.

Jehanzeb Hasan, a research assistant at California State University, argues that those he calls Islamophobes are actually reacting to "Osamaism," not Islam. Hasan argues that Islam is a religion of peace, not violence, and is misrepresented by its most vocal proponents and critics. "Osamaists and Islamophobes ignore the dynamic nature of the religion and deny the diversity of belief within Islam. Instead of constantly being pondered and contemplated for meanings, Islam is dumbed down by those who seek to essentialize it for the purpose of augmenting their own sociopolitical agendas." The aggressive behavior and beliefs of what he calls a "group of far-right individuals" claiming to follow a particular religion should not be conflated with the behavior and beliefs of every single other individual who practises that religion. Those he calls "mired in the conflation-prone school of thought" are unable or unwilling to differentiate Osamism from Islam, and with the deliberate or inadvertent erection of the "monolith" comes Islamophobia.

If there is any truth in the Osamaist/Islam conflation — that a violent and oppressive reading of Islam is the only true reading — it means there is no such thing as a good Muslim. Any Muslim claiming to be practising a peaceful religion is practising something other than Islam. "This is the problem we are confronted with when operating within the Islamophobe's self-constructed framework," he writes. "In this world, not unlike the world of the Osamaist, the Islamophobe acts as judge, jury, and executioner — dictating what Islam is and what Islam is not, who is Muslim and who is not."

Hasan is equally critical of attempts to dismiss Islamophobia as a myth. He asks: "ho could seriously argue that fear, hatred, or prejudice towards Muslims doesn't exist?" In reality, those critics are not denying that Islamophobia exists. They are critical of the way it is used. But while accusations of racism can indeed be misused, that does not mean they are always misused, Hasan argues. Dismissal of the concept because of its misuse is simply a "convenient justification to pooh-pooh the problem away."

Hasan also attacks the argument that Islamophobia is not racism, given that Islam is a religion and adherence to it a matter of choice. That Islam is not a race is a "tired catchphrase," he argues. "Both forms of prejudice are founded upon a monolithic and stereotypical presupposition. For example, while a racist would assume all or most African-Americans think or behave a certain way, an Islamophobe, too, would believe that all or most Muslims think or behave a certain way." Islamophobia and racism are, he writes, conceptually very much the same thing.

American writer Stephen Schwartz, director of the Center for Islamic Pluralism, has cautioned against what he sees as a tendency to accuse all opponents of Islamic radicalism of Islamophobia, but writes that it is nevertheless a real phenomenon. He defines it as the condemnation of the entirety of Islam and its history as extremist; "denying" the existence of a moderate Muslim majority; regarding Islam as a problem for the world; treating conflicts involving Muslims as necessarily their own fault; insisting that Muslims make changes to their religion; and inciting war against Islam as a whole.

Alleged Islamophobia in Europe

The clash between European liberal culture and that culture's perception of Islam gives rise to allegations of Islamophobia in a number of areas. Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's statement that Western civilization is "superior" to Islam was regarded as an example of Islamophobic. In Germany, the state of Baden-Württemberg requires citizenship applicants from the member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference to answer questions about their attitudes on homosexuality and domestic violence.. Clothing has become a flashpoint. France, which has a strong secular tradition separating church and state, was accused of Islamophobia when girls who wear Muslim headscarfs were expelled from school under a new law. The French policy extends to all visible religious paraphernalia, including large Christian crosses and Jewish scullcaps, although small symbols such as crucifixes, stars of David, and Hand of Fatimas are still allowed. In January 2006, the Dutch parliament voted in favour of a proposal to ban the burqa in public, which led to similar accusations. Filip Dewinter, the leader of the nationalist Flemish "Vlaams Belang" has said his party is "Islamophobic." He said: "Yes, we are afraid of Islam. The Islamisation of Europe is a frightening thing."

EUMC report

The largest monitoring project to be commissioned into Islamophobia was undertaken following 9/11 by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC). Their May 2002 report "Summary report on Islamophobia in the EU after 11 September 2001", written Chris Allen (UK) and Jorgen S. Nielsen of the University of Birmingham, was based on 75 reports — 15 from each EU member nation.

The report highlighted the regularity with which ordinary Muslims became targets for abusive and sometimes violent retaliatory attacks after 9/11. Despite localized differences within each member nation, the recurrence of attacks on recognizable and visible traits of Islam and Muslims was the report's most significant finding. The attacks took the form of verbal abuse; blaming all Muslims for terrorist attacks; women having their hijab torn from their heads; male and female Muslims being spat at; children being called "Usama"; and random assaults, which left victims hospitalized, and on one occasion, left a victim paralysed.

The report also discussed the representation of Muslims in the media. Inherent negativity, stereotypical images, fantastical representations, and exaggerated caricatures were all identified. The report concluded that "a greater receptivity towards anti-Muslim and other xenophobic ideas and sentiments has, and may well continue, to become more tolerated."

Country-specific polls and surveys

Germany

In 2006 a survey of Germans by the Allensbach Institute commissioned by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung revealed that 56% of those surveyed wanted the government to ban the building of mosques, 62% believed that there would always be ‘major conflicts’ between Islam and Christianity. 91% linked Islam to the "oppression of women" while 71% believed Islam was "intolerant". 40% of the participants believed that "tough limits should be imposed on the practice of Islam in Germany". The Allensbach Institute concluded that "The clash of civilizations has already begun in the minds of (German) citizens".

United Kingdom

File:AgainstIslamophobiaRally.jpg

Photograph of a rally against Islamophobia in London's Trafalgar Square on February 11, 2006, in the wake of the Muhammad cartoons controversy. Image by eyetopic.co.uk.

A BBC survey taken in the summer of 2004 found that employment applicants with Muslim names were far less likely to be called for an interview than applicants whose names did not appear to be Muslim. This study was taken by using fictitious applications to jobs using candidate descriptions that were similar in qualification and education, but under different names. The survey found that while a quarter of 'nonmuslim applicants' were invited to an interview, only 9% of the applications with Muslim names were responded to with invitations. Groups, such as the Muslim Council of Britain have cited this as further evidence for the widespread existence of Islamophobia.

In 2005, The Guardian commissioned an ICM poll which indicated an increase in Islamophobic incidents, particularly after the London bombings in July 2005. Another survey of Muslims, this by the Open Society Institute, found that of those polled 32% believed they had suffered religious descrimination at airports, and 80% said they had experienced Islamophobia.

In 2006, a YouGov poll indicated that 53% of those people polled felt threatened by Islam, as distinct from fundamentalist Islamists; 18% believed that "a large proportion of British Muslims feel no sense of loyalty to this country and are prepared to condone or even carry out acts of terrorism", while 16% believe "practically all British Muslims are peaceful, law-abiding citizens who deplore terrorist acts as much as anyone else." However, a YouGov poll of Muslims themselves, resulted in very different findings, ironically, far less optimistic than the wider public's views of Muslims:

6% of British Muslims think the July 7 bombers were "on balance" justified.
16% have little or no loyalty towards Britain.
17% think no action should be taken, either by the law or the Muslim community, against any British citizen, trying to "radicalise" young Muslims by preaching hatred against the West.
24% have some sympathy with the "feelings and motives" of those who carried out the attacks.
32% think Western society is "decadent and immoral" and should be ended (though the vast majority think only non-violent means should be used).

United States

File:StoptheHateBanner2.jpg

The Islamic Political Party of America launched its "Stop the Hate" campaign against what they perceived as "Islamophobia" to coincide with the United Nations conference on the subject, "Unlearning Intolerance", on December 7, 2004.

Arabs and Muslims immigrated and assimilated in American society without great difficulty until the 1970s when stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims became more negative. Immediately after 9/11, American attitudes toward Islam were generally positive, with 47% favorable and 39% unfavorable, whereas Catholicism polled at 48% favorable, 37% unfavorable. )

Since then, public opinion in the U.S. has moved from neutrality towards apparent fear of Arabs and Muslims, with Islam polling between 19-41% favorable, despite the fact that most Arab Americans have Christian backgrounds.

A 2006 Gallup survey of American public opinion found that "many Americans harbor strong bias against U.S. Muslims".

22% say they would not like to have a Muslim as a neighbor.
34% believe U.S. Muslims support al-Qaeda.
49% believe U.S. Muslims are loyal to the United States.
39% advocate that U.S. Muslims should carry special ID

A poll of Americans, commissioned by CAIR, suggested that one in four Americans believe Muslims value human life less than others and teach their children to hate. Another poll by CAIR found that for one in three Americans, "the word Islam triggers negative connotations such as 'war,' 'hatred' and 'terrorist.'"

Use in public discourse and examples

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Efforts against perceived Islamophobia

There have been efforts against perceived Islamophobia by many organizations in many countries; some of these are detailed below.

A radio talk show host from 630 WMAL on November 26, 2006 exposed the prevalence of Islamophobia by seeming to advocate a government program to force all Muslims to wear "identifying markers." The hoax was revealed at the end of the program. Main article: Jerry Klein’s 2006 Islamophobia Radio Experiment
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) states that throughout the 2000s, it has been active in defending American Muslims against Islamophobia.
In 2006, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) set up an observatory on Islamophobia which will monitor and document all anti-Islamic activities around the world.
During the ascession talks regarding Turkeys possible entry to the EU, then Prime Minister of Holland, Jan Peter Balkenende, said Islamophobia must not affect the possibility of Turkey's entry to the European Union.
50,000 people signed a petition urging the President of France, Jacques Chirac to "consider Islamophobia as a new form of racism, punishable by law. The statement reads that the publishing of insulting cartoons of the prophet Mohammed by the French press hurt and offended the feelings of French- Muslims."
In the UK, a number of methods aimed at curbing Islamophobia have been set up. In Tower Hamlets, a densely populated area with a large Muslim community, a crime reporting scheme called "Islamophobia - Don't Suffer in Silence" has been set up which police hope will raise awareness of Islamophobia and help them to understand the extent of the problem. The British National Union of Teachers (NUT) has issued guidance to teachers in the union advising that teachers have to "Challenge Islamophobia", and that they have a "crucial role" to play in helping to "dispel myths about Muslim communities".
Following an Islamist demonstration outside the Danish Embassy in London organized by the Al Ghurabaa organization in response to the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy, the Muslim Association of Britain organized a peaceful rally in Trafalgar Square attended by over three thousand people, many came by bus from towns and cities throughout the UK. Organizers made available placards and T-shirts bearing the rally's official slogan, the phrase, "United against Islamophobia, united against incitement."
Following the July 7 bombings, the British government set up a number of initiatives aimed at combatting Islamophobia, including the "National Forum against extremism and Islamophobia". There was also plans by the British government to ban incitement to "religious hatred", however, this failed to get through the House of Commons.
The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, said that the Media bore some responsibility for the apparent rise in Islamophobia, and said that a "rising tide of Islamophobia" in the media must be challenged. He compared the reporting of Muslims in contemporary Britain to the way the flight of Jews from Russia had been covered 100 years ago.
In 2006 the Catholic Mission Austria and the Islamic Demonination Austria created a platform called Christians and Muslims, which works against stereotypes and hostility and aims to increase tolerance and respect. As of July 25, 2006 the platform has 1452 supporters.
In 1991 the Islamic Culture Foundation (FUNCI) organised, in collaboration with UNESCO and the Institut du Monde Arabe of Paris, an International Conference about the Contribution of Islamic Civilization in European Culture. In March 13 2003 they created a Manifesto against Islamophobia.
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan issued a call in 1999 to world leaders to combat Islamophobia. Abdel-Elah Khatib, the Jordanian foreign minister said "The international community must consider how to confront this phenomenon of Islamophobia in order to prevent its proliferation".

Acts attributed to Islamophobia

Template:Muslims and controversies

Dr Amanda Wise and Ghali Hassan from GlobalResearch.ca have alleged that the 2005 Cronulla riots were the result of a climate of "Islamophobia" in Australia.
Dalil Boubakeur, a director of a Paris mosque described the vandalism on a Mosque in Paris, France as Islamophobic.
Attack on a Mosque in Brisbane, Australia.
Giles Tremlett of The Guardian referred to the burning of a Muslim Sanctuary in the Spanish city of Ceuta, as an instance of Islamophobia.
Halima Mautbur, from the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations called an attack on a hijabi Muslim woman "an Islamophobic incident".
Doudou Diène in a report prepared by the UN Commission on Human Rights released on March 7, 2006 mentioned the publishing of the cartoons at the heart of the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy regarding, "The development of Islamophobia or any racism and racial discrimination ..."
In a February 10, 2004 report by Al Jazeera the head of the Party of France's Muslims, Muhammad Latreche in discussing the French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools was quoted as saying that the legislation would, "institutionalise Islamophobia".
On March 8, 2006 the Islamic Human Rights Commission made a press release entitled, "Islamophobia in Prisons stretches far beyond Belmarsh" concerning prisons in Britain.
Destruction and vandalism of Muslim graves in France were seen as Islamophobic by a report of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia.
Vandalism of Muslim Graves in Charlton cemetery in Plumstead, London.
Muslim protesters alleged that the Forest Gate anti terror raid in London was Islamophobic.
France, which has a strong secular tradition separating church from State, was accused of Islamophobia when the law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools was passed, which bans the wearing of conspicuous religious symbols in public schools. The policy extends to Muslim headscarves, large Christian crosses, Jewish skullcaps, and other visible signs of religion, although the display of small religious symbols (such as the Star of David, crosses, and Hand of Fatimas) is permitted.
In Germany, the state of Baden-Württemberg has proposed regulations that require citizenship applicants from the member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference to answer questions about their attitudes on homosexuality, domestic violence and other religious issues.

Views cited as examples of Islamophobia

The United American Committee has often been charged with being an Islamophobic organization.
Carl Ernst, an academic scholar of Islamic studies, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations include those who assert that Robert Spencer is an Islamophobe.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations has stated that the views of Ann Coulter are Islamophobic
Oliver Duff of The Independent has claimed that the British National Party has attempted to use increasing Islamophobia to make gains in local elections. In previous decades, the BNP was also deemed anti-semitic by Jewish groups.
Oriana Fallaci, an Italian journalist and author of "The Force of Reason", was also accused of outright racism towards Mexicans and Arabs
The Islamic Human Rights Commission gave U.S Attorney General John Ashcroft a nomination for their 2003 "Islamophobe of the year" award for publicly saying: "Islam is a religion in which God requires you to send your son to die for him. Christianity is a faith in which God sends his son to die for you"
The Islamic Human Rights Commission made Daniel Pipes a nominee for their 2004 and 2005 "Islamophobe of the year" awards.
The self-labelled political views of ultranationalist Flemish politician Filip Dewinter.
The UK Minister Peter Hain's statement that Britain's Muslim community is "isolationist" was met with accusations of Islamophobia, as well as Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's public claim that Western civilization is superior to Islam.
Some suggestions in the United Kingdom debate over veils (which concerned the circumstances in which Muslim women should be required to remove the Niqab) were considered Islamophobic by MP John McDonnell.
CAIR and the Associated Press called United States Rep. Virgil H. Goode, Jr. (R-VA) islamophobic for his Dec. 2006 letter stating that Rep-elect Keith Ellison’s desire to use the Quran during the swearing in ceremonies was a threat to "the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America” and for saying “I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies”.
Concerning the US state of North Carolina’s position (as expressed by their attorney general’s office) in the ongoing case of ACLU of N.C. & Syidah Matteen v. State of North Carolina that the only swearing-in for testimony in court that was valid had to be on a Christian Bible (and that all others must choose to affirm), CAIR's Legal Director in Washington D.C, Arsalan Iftikhar, said “This shows there's a lot of anti-Muslim sentiment, especially here in the United States.”

General references to Islamophobia

While in Kazakhstan, the former Pontiff, Pope John Paul II, prayed for "both Christian and Muslims to raise an intense prayer to the one almighty God", and begged "God to keep the world in peace". He won praise from the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, for "protecting the world from Islamophobia".
In March 2005, Queen Noor of Jordan, while on the BBC television programme "Breakfast with Frost", said, "What grieves me today, truly, is the fact that not only in the United States but also in Europe we've seen the rise, over the last few years, of Islamophobia" adding, "Muslim populations and the Muslim world has been increasingly, not decreasingly, viewed as a menace, as alien, as, perhaps, incompatible with Western societies and values. And I passionately believe that that is not true and that we have a great deal of work to do there.".

Publications and publishers alleged to be Islamophobic

Carl Ernst, an academic scholar of Islamic studies, states that particular publications are promoted and supported by right-wing organizations that perpetuate Islamophobia and publish books written by Islamophobics. Ernst lists Regnery Publishing Inc, Encounter Books and The Free Congress Foundation, and makes some remarks on their funding sources. For example, Ernst writes that Encounter Books has been funded with $4,635,000 for its publications over the past ten years from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, and that the Free Congress Foundation has received almost $24 million in funding from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation and other conservative sources in the past twenty years.

Incidents on aircraft

Main article: Flying Imams controversy

On 16 August 2006, British passengers onboard a flight from Malaga to Manchester requested the removal of two men of Asian descent from a plane. According to a spokesman for the Civil Guard in Malaga, "These men had aroused suspicion because of their appearance and the fact that they were speaking in a foreign language thought to be an Arabic language, and the pilot was refusing to take off until they were escorted off the plane." A security sweep of the plane found no explosives or any item of a terrorist nature. Monarch Airlines booked the men, who were Urdu speakers, into a hotel room, gave them a free meal and sent them home on a later plane. The men later responded: "Just because we're Muslim, does not mean we are suicide bombers". The Islamic Human Rights Commission blamed "ever-increasing Islamophobia" related to the "war on terror" for the incident.

A passenger travelling to the British Virgin Islands on a plane bound for the United States from Manchester in the UK was forced off the plane prior to takeoff. The man, a British-born Muslim residing in the U.S., said he was singled out because he was a Muslim pilot and was left feeling "demoralised and humiliated". "I must have met the profile on the day. I have an Arabic name, I am a Muslim, I'm from Britain and I know how to fly."

On 21 November 2006, six imams were forcefully removed from a US Airways flight at Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport on suspicions of terrorism. The event led to an outcry from Muslim organizations in America saying that what happened showed the growing prejudice against Muslims in America. Details of the accusations made against the imams can be found in the official police report on the incident (currently exclusively hosted here), which includes written witness testimony of the imams' extremely suspicious activity, such as praising terrorism, praying unnecessarily loudly, asking for seat-belt extensions that were obviously not needed (then putting said extensions under their seats), not sitting in their assigned seats (having someone near each exit in a pattern shared by hijackers of the past), and getting up to move around and confer with each other repeatedly.

Notes

Sandra Fredman , Discrimination and Human Rights, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0199246033, p.121.
Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, Muslims in the West: From Sojourners to Citizens, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0195148061, p.19
Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us All, Runnymede Trust, 1997, p. 1, cited in Quraishi, Muzammil. Muslims and Crime: A Comparative Study, Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 2005, p. 60. ISBN 075464233X. Early in 1997, the Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia, at that time part of the Runnymede Trust, issued a consultative document on Islamophobia under the chairmanship of Professor Gordon Conway, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex. The final report, Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us All, was launched in November 1997 by the Home Secretary, Jack Straw. The word "Islamophobia" is formed with the Greek suffix -phobia 'fear of -' in a similar way to xenophobia or homophobia.
Edward Kessler, Neil Wenborn, A Dictionary of Jewish-Christian Relations, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521826926 p.429
Runnymede 1997, p. 1, cited in Quraishi 2005, p. 60.
^ Annan, Kofi. "Secretary-General, addressing headquarters seminar on confronting Islamophobia", United Nations press release, December 7, 2004.
^ Casciani, Dominic. "Islamophobia pervades UK - report", BBC News, June 2, 2004.
Rima Berns McGowan writes in Muslims in the Diaspora (University of Toronto Press, 1991, p. 268) that the term "Islamophobia" was first used in an unnamed American periodical in 1991.
Muzammil Quraishi, senior lecturer in Criminology at the University of Salford, writes that "whether we refer to behaviour as 'anti-Muslimism' or 'Islamophobia' seems a moot point. If we are agreed that either term refers to behaviour encapsulating hatred, and/or dislike to the extent of social and economic exclusion of Muslims, we must move to discover the extent of such behaviour and to evaluate how this influences crime and victimization ..." (Quraishi, Muzammil. Muslims and Crime: A Comparative Study, Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 2005, p. 60).
^ Rudiger, Anja. "Discrimination and Legislation," session 5, Conference on "Muslims in Europe post 9/11," St. Antony's-Princeton Conference, St Antony's College, Oxford, April 26, 2004.
Also see the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia report, "Summary report on Islamophobia in the EU after 11 September 2001" by Chris Allen and Jorgen S. Nielsen of the University of Birmingham, May 2002, the largest monitoring project on Islamophobia to have been commissioned to date.
Runnymede 1997, p. 5, cited in Quraishi 2005, p. 60.
^ Malik, Kenan. "Islamophobia Myth", Prospect, February 2005. Cite error: The named reference "Malik" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
^ Rushdie, Salman et al. "Writers' statement on cartoons", BBC News, March 1, 2006.
Template:PDFlink, Runnymede Trust, 1997.
^ Seabrook, Jeremy. "Religion as a fig leaf for racism", The Guardian, July 23, 2004.
^ Joshi, Khyati. "The Racialization of Hinduism, Islam, and Sikhism in the United States," Equity & Excellence in Education, Volume 39, Number 3, August 2006, pp. 211-226(16).
^ Appleton, Josie. '"Who's afraid of Islamophobia", 'Spiked Online, July 2, 2004.
Ellian, Afshin. "Stop Capitulating to Threats", February 2006.
TV International Interview with Bahram Soroush, June 7, 2004.
" L'islamophobie, l'arme des islamistes contre la laïcité."
Hari, Johann. "Don't call me an Islamophobe", June 6, 2006.
^ Toynbee, Polly. "Behind the burka", The Guardian, September 28, 2001. Cite error: The named reference "Toynbee" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
"On Islamophobia-phobia".
Kimball, Roger. "After the suicide of the West", January 2006.
^ Hasan, Jehanzeb. "Confronting the Monolith: The Struggle against Islamophobia and Osamaism", Media Monitors Network, August 7, 2006.
Schwartz, Stephen. "The 'Islamophobes' That Aren't", FrontPage Magazine, April 28, 2005.
Failing the tolerance test, Expatica, January 11, 2006
German naturalisation officials given list of questions to ask Muslim citizenship applicants in Baden -Wurtenberg, Militant Islam Monitor, January 7, 2006
France to Ban Pupils' Religious Dress, YaleGlobal Online, December 12, 2003
Madell, Mark. "Dutch MPs to decide on burqa ban", BBC News, January 16, 2006.
"Belgian Establishment Fears Crack-Up", The Flemish Republic.org newsletter, April-June 2006.
^ Allen, Chris and Nielsen, Jorgen S. "Summary report on Islamophobia in the EU after 11 September 2001", EUMC, May, 2002.
Islamophobia on the rise in Germany – Poll - Islam Online, May 22, 2006
Five Live survey suggests ethnic minority applicants still discriminated against in UK job market - BBC News Press Office. July 12, 2004.
Is Islamophobia a myth? - Prospect (magazine). January 2005.
Two-thirds of Muslims consider leaving UK The Guardian - Tuesday July 26, 2005
ICM-Guardian poll Poll of Muslims in the UK. The Guardian - Tuesday July 26, 2005
Spiraling Islamophobia Alienating British Muslims: Report Islam Online - Nov 22 2004
... And why we urgently need new answers Sarfraz Manzoor - The Guardian - November 30, 2004
Islam poses a threat to the West, say 53pc in poll - Daily Telegraph. 25 August, 2006
YouGov Poll of Muslims in the UK YouGov Poll of Muslims in the UK - published Wednesday, July 27, 2005
The Muslim Experience in the United States by: Yvonne Y. Haddad. - The Link, via Americans for Middle East Understanding. September - October 1979.
Lebanese Americans - by Paula Hajar and J. Sydney Jones. Via Every Culture.com.
^ "Prospects for Inter-Religious Understanding: Will Views Toward Muslims and Islam Follow Historical Trends?", Template:PDFlink, Forum on Religion and Public Life.
"Poll: Sinking Perceptions Of Islam", CBS News, April 12, 2006.
Stone, Andrea. "Many in Islamic world doubt Arabs behind 9/11", USA Today, February 27, 2002.
CBS News 4 April, 2006
"Arab Americans, Editor and Publisher, July 11, 2005.
[http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002984956 "Gallup: Many Americans Harbor Strong Bias Against U.S. Muslims", Editor and Publisher, August 10, 2006.
"Poll reveals US Islamophobia", Al-Jazeera, October 05, 2004.
Debusmann, Bernd. "In U.S., fear and distrust of Muslims runs deep"], Reuters, December 1, 2006.
Bernd Debusmann (Dec 1, 9:05). "In U.S., fear and distrust of Muslims runs deep". Reuters. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) Retrieved on Dec. 16, 2006
The Council on American-Islamic Relations - CAIR: Core Principles CAIR
"OIC set up observatory on Islamophobia" IslamOnline, May 9, 2006.
Islam 'must not cloud Turkey bid' BBC -Wednesday, 21 July, 2004
FRANCE: 50,000 SIGN UP AGAINST ISLAMOPHOBIA - ADN Kronos - June 2, 2006
Scheme to fight faith hate crimes BBC - Wednesday, 17 November, 2004
Teaching tolerance amid tension BBC - Friday, 15 July, 2005
Prayer mats lined the pavements BBC - Saturday, 11 February 2006
Muslims fly flag for peaceful protest against cartoons The Guardian - Sunday February 12, 2006
Call for Muslim scholars to tour BBC - Thursday, 10 November 2005
Racial and Religious Hatred Bill BBC - Friday, 27 January 2006
Religious hatred: How MPs voted BBC - Wednesday, 1 February 2006
Muslim media image 'must change' BBC - Wednesday, 31 August 2005
Jordan: Stop attacking Islam BBC - Tuesday, September 21, 1999
Racial unrest offers opportunity for discussion, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, December 20, 2005
The Rise of Islamophobia in ‘White Australia’, Global Research, December 14, 2005
Vandals target Paris mosque The Guardian - Tuesday February 22, 2005
Annual Report 2001-02 for the Anti-Discrimination Commission Queensland, Anti-Discrimination Commission Queensland, October 30, 2002
Burning of sanctuary stokes fears of Islamophobia in Spain, The Guardian, April 18, 2006
Muslim groups want action from U of T, University of Toronto News, March 16, 2006
Racism and racial discrimination on rise around the world, UN expert warns, UN NEWS CENTRE, March 7, 2006
French parliament approves hijab ban, Al Jazeera, February 10, 2004
Islamophobia in Prisons stretches far beyond Belmarsh, Islamic Human Rights Commission, March 8, 2006
EU reports post-Sept. 11 racism CNN - May 24, 2002
Appalling Desecration of Muslim Graves in Plumstead Mulsim Council of Britain - 19 Mar 2004
MAB Horrified at Forest Gate Security Blunder, The Muslim Association of Britain, June 7, 2006
Muslims call on Police chief to resign over Forest Gate terror raid, RINF, June 11, 2006
France to Ban Pupils' Religious Dress, YaleGlobal, December 12, 2003
‘German loyalty tests are Islamophobic’ - The Muslim News - Friday 27 January 2006
Socialist Worker Online: UAC Displays Prophet Muhammad Cartoons, March 10, 2006
CA Synagogue That Hosted Islamophobe Urged to Invite Muslim Speaker, CAIR News Releases, November 08, 2005
^ Notes on the Ideological Patrons of an Islamophobe, Robert Spencer by Carl W. Ernst - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2004
Ann Coulter says Muslims 'Smell Bad', Council on American-Islamic Relations, March 10, 2004
Rising Islamophobia makes Birmingham fertile ground for BNP, The Independent, April 8, 2006
Obituary of Oriana Fallaci - The Guardian, 16 September, 2006. "Controversial Italian journalist famed for her interviews and war reports but notorious for her Islamaphobia"
Bible of the Muslim haters, The Guardian, June 11, 2002
Institutionalised Hatred and Instigating Murder, Z Magazine, December 20, 2005
Annual Islamophobia Awards, 2003
"The gospel according to John (Ashcroft)" San Francisco Chronicle
Winners of Islamophobia Awards 2004, Islamic Human Rights Commission, June 26, 2004. *Winners of the Islamophobia Awards 2005, Islamic Human Rights Commission, December 17, 2005.
Filip Dewinter interview, Jewish Week, December 9, 2006
Who's afraid of Islamophobia?, Spiked, July 2, 2002
See, e.g., "Wave of Islamophobia", a blog post by John McDonnell MP from October 6, 2006.
Erika Howsare (12/19/2006). "Anti-Muslim letter goes out to hundreds - not all are amused". {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) Retrieved Dec. 20, 2006
"Congressman Will Not Apologize for IslamophobiaBy The Associated Press". Associated Press. Dec. 21, 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) Retrieved on Dec. 21, 2006
Patrik Jonsson (July 20, 2005). "Raise your right hand and swear to tell the truth ... on the Koran?". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved on Jan. 22, 2007
Pope prays for peace CNN - September 23, 2001
Jordan's Queen BBC Transcript of Breakfast with Frost. Sunday, 20 March.
Mutiny as passengers refuse to fly until Asians are removed - Mail on Sunday. 20 August, 2006
Exclusive: Malaga Jet mutiny pair's shock at plane ejection - The Daily Mirror. 23 August,2006.
Removal of men from holiday flight condemned The Guardian. 21 August 2006
Muslim pilot kicked off jet in terror alert - Manchester Evening News. 11 August, 2006
Muslim pilot reveals shock at being ordered off flight - The Independent. 22 August, 2006
"U.S. Muslims outraged after imams kicked off plane", The Washington Post, 22 November, 2006.

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