(Bernd Debusmann is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In the summer of 2006, a Gallup poll of more than 1,000 Americans found that one out of four favoured forcing Muslims in the United States, including U.S. citizens, to carry special identification. About a third said Muslims living in the U.S. sympathized with al Qaeda.
Almost a quarter said they wouldn’t want a Muslim as a neighbour. Republicans, the poll said, saw Muslims in a more negative light than Democrats and independents, and were more opposed to having Muslim neighbours. Fewer than half those polled thought U.S. Muslims were loyal to the United States.
A few months after the poll, callers to a Washington area radio talk show suggested branding Muslims with crescent-shaped tattoos and special stamps in their identity papers, the better to spot potential terrorists.
Polls are snapshots of attitudes, and attitudes can change. But incidents during the U.S. presidential election campaign, now in its final sprint towards November 4, show that fear and suspicion of Muslims persist undiminished and are being used as a political weapon.
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell became the most prominent member of the U.S. establishment to highlight the problem when he broke with John McCain, the Republican candidate and a personal friend of decades, to endorse Barack Obama, target of a prolonged campaign by activists who portray him as a Muslim.
One of his reasons: “I’m troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the (Republican) party say,” he told a television interviewer this week. “And it is permitted to be said such things as ‘well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.’ Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian.
“But the really right answer is, what if he is?” Powell continued.
“Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no, that’s not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion ‘He (Obama) is a Muslim and might be associated with terrorists.’ This is not the way we should be doing it in America.”
It was the first time that a senior figure of the American establishment had countered suggestions that Obama adheres to Islam by saying “So What?”, a question that should not be surprising in a country of immigrants that prides itself of its diversity. But the association is so toxic that even Obama himself has never asked that question.
FEAR AND BIGOTRY
Obama routinely denies the false notion that he is Muslim and stresses his commitment to Christianity and his regular church attendance. The website Obama has set up to rebuff a wide range of rumours notes the fact that he was sworn into the Senate on his family bible. That he finds it necessary to spell this out speaks volumes about a climate of fear and bigotry.
And about Obama’s caution: the first Muslim to win a seat in the 435-member House of Representatives, Keith Ellison, caused a storm of cyberspace criticism when he carried a Koran to his 2007 swearing-in ceremony. The hubbub subsided when it emerged that the Koran he used was once owned by an American with impeccable credentials - Thomas Jefferson.
Ellison, a Democrat from Minnesota, was the only Muslim in the House until last March, when he was joined by Andre Carson, a fellow Democrat from Indianapolis. Estimates of the number of Muslims in the United States range from 1.8 to more than 5 million. (The U.S. Census Bureau does not cover religious affiliation).
As the long election campaign neared its end, an obscure New York-based non-profit group called the Clarion Fund provided a textbook example of how fear of Muslims can be used for political ends.
The fund paid 70 newspapers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Colorado, Iowa, Florida, Wisconsin, Nevada, New Hampshire and Virginia to deliver, as an advertising insert, 28 million copies of a documentary on radical Islam. These are all swing states where the Obama vs McCain fight is close.
The one-hour documentary, entitled Obsession - Radical Islam’s War against the West — was produced almost three years ago. It intersperses scenes of violence, including the September 11, 2001, attack on New York, with footage from Nazi rallies. The film found no traditional distributor and was first screened on college campuses last year, introduced by a right-wing activist, David Horowitz.
So why is the DVD mailed out now? Purely for educational purposes, according to a spokesman for the Clarion Fund. Nothing to do with fear-mongering.
The DVD’s sleeve, however, carries a slightly different message. “The threat of radical Islam is the most important issue facing us today. But it’s a topic that neither the presidential candidates nor the media are discussing openly. It’s our responsibility to ensure we can all make an informed vote in November.”
(You can contact the author at Debusmann@Reuters.com)
Am I the only one who can mentally replace the word 'Muslims' in the first three paragraphs with the word 'Jews' and see that we've got 1930's Germany happening here in 'Good ol America'??? Powell is probably the only person associated with the Bush Administration who is worthy of respect -- Listen up!
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Thomas Jefferson: if “impeccable” American credentials include owning slaves, then Jefferson was indeed “impeccable”, and all the bigots and racists in fact are, as they will tell you, the “real” Americans in the place. Never mind that the “real” Americans took the place away from the natives by dint of force, both military and social, and herded them onto the worst lands that no one else wanted. And how did all those black people get to what would become the US, anyway? Even with the victors writing the history, I don’t remember hearing anything about ships full of refugees…just miserable ships of slavers who went to another continent and took people away from their homes and families by force.
As pointed out, some of the worst crimes against humanity, some of the worst terrorist activity, has taken place by white Christians. Hitler, McVeigh, the KKK…
Are we ever going to prove that as a race we can learn anything? Racism, that fear of the Other, of people Not Like You and Me, war itself…it’s all been with us from the beginning, but does that mean it has to be with us at the end?
Don’t blindly follow people who try to call to that fear inside you, that need we all have to feel more superior to someone else. When you’re a better person because you support a different sports team from someone else, you should realize you’re grasping at straws: it’s not much different when you feel you’re a better person because you support a different religion, or even a different church from that OTHER church that uses a different prayer book.
If someone is trying to get you to live your life based on your fears or your need to be superior, don’t follow where they lead. That is the reaction of the superior person.
I would encourage all the readers to go to an inter-faith dialogue. I used go to lots of them when I was a Baha’i.
People share their holy prayers and readings. As they someone spoke I would think, - hey my religion says a similar thing this way!
For instance, look at the 99 ways that the Qu’ran refers to the Divine. The most compassionate, the merciful, the forgiving, the just, the One… et cetera. These same terms are found in the Bible too! Look at Islam’s (and Baha’is) prophets, these include Adam, Moses, Solomon and Jesus.
My dad was raised a Jew. Three of his grandparents perished in the Holocaust. Dad is well aware of countless atrocities previously committed over the centuries, those committed by some who misused the name of Christ against the Jewish people. Yet he has been, and still is, happily married to my devoutly Catholic mum for fifty-six years. He allowed my mum to bring up the five kids as Catholic and attend Catholic schools.
I challenge every reader, to find out what other faiths think. attend an interfaith prayer meeting, discussion group, visit a shrine, temple, church, synagogue or mosque.
What you may discover is that other mob don’t actually have horns from their foreheads, or wear a red and black cape after all. Perhaps you will discover, as I did the paradox of faith that - more one learns about other people and their faiths, the closer one comes to truly understanding your own.
Timothy James McVeigh - Catholic
I’m surprised at those who are pointing the fingers at what Muslims do. Plenty of evidence has shown that 9/11 was orchestrated from the get go by the US government and wasn’t the doing of Muslims. Bin Laden even denied it was his doing when it first occured and he takes credit for all his actions. Do people forget what the US has done to Muslims around the world? Do you think the hatred that stems from Muslims is for no reason? The numerous civilian kilings of women and children in Iraq? The rape of young women in Iraq by American Soldiers? who don’t even spend anytime in jail but just get discharged? The thousands of Palestinian kids and women killed over the years, and the US funding to Israel to continue the ongoing massacre? Do people just look at what Muslims do when they retaliate, but not what caused this hatred to begin with? Palestinians were kicked out of their homes and are invaded, but people forget about that.. They believe the land originally belonged to the Israelis. And even with that the vast majority of Muslims still do not support suicide bombings or killing Israeli civilians or any civilian as a matter of fact.
How many civilians has the US killed in Afghanistan, Pakistan, among other countries cause they “suspected” the area was housing terrorists?
Islam means Peace, it’s built on Peace, the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful. The hatred and the terrorism currently occuring is the result of a continued foreign policy agenda made by the US. Just as the US caused the progaganda to spread about the Russians in the age of Communism, now they have a new name to play with “Arabs” and “Muslims” are terrorists. A movie being orchestrated and played for one goal only: acquire the oil from the region. The leaders on their beliefs, have a grown hatred to Islam and have aimed to demolish the religion out of fear for its growth and prosperity. Christians have for long waged wars on Muslims, but everyone seems to forget all those and focus on a couple of incidents that occured recently.
Just look at the Pallin rallies, she wants people to hate and wants people to fear. Isn’t that not clear enough of tactics used to further an agenda? Even if it makes a whole religion portrayed as terrorists.
If you think about it, how can the US justify going into Muslim countries to acquire their oil resources? They have to create an excuse don’t they? And play the mind games on the ignorant, to go through with such plans. How can they keep invading Iraq, plan to invade Iran, without giving the notion to the people that “Those countries and the people are evil, they pose a risk to your society and freedom”
I thought the Plan to go to Iraq is due weapons of mass destruction, yet they didn’t find any but are still there, occupying the lands. Then it was to remove Sadam Hussein yet he’s gone. How come they didn’t try to go to Africa to take out the horrific leaders there? cause those African countries provided no “resource” gains to the corporations.
For those, who merely listen to the news, without finding the truth, you are in for a long life of being toyed with and fooled for corporate gains and personal benefits of a few people controlling the world. If you think those leaders really care about their people, you’re in for a joke. They care about their well being and their agendas only.
Most unfortunate is their whole plan is succeeding, backed by those ignorants around the world. There is light at the end of the tunnel though, the masses are gaining the right knowledge, and soon enough the truth will be exposed, and all intensions will be clear and the real terrorists will be exposed. Islam will never be a religion of terrorism or hatred, but one of peace and love.
Monte Carlo is right. Islam is not just religion but idealogoy. It has mobilized muslim people from all over the world to fight non-muslims, principally christians.
Radical muslim led people are intensifying their fighting with non-muslims not just america but also in india and china. Some of their radical leaders want to talk over america - couldn’t wait to enter the white house as victors.
Basically all muslims i met want to see the downfall of America as a great state. Although the perception has found prominience with the Iraq war, the truth is, this feeling is deep within the community even without the issue of iraq.
I have read the Koran, it does have within it the words that insane people can use to justify their actions. I have read a couple of bibles and they too have the same justifications. The thoughts that God will support Genocide is in both. I know not the truth of any of this, but I do know that the Muslim extremists eat, sleep, live in houses, and do not work a job that would pay for these things on their own. So they are being funded and supported by someone. Some trust or some groups, We must unfund them we must follow the money back to the source to find the truth. We must not be afraid to tell the truth of what we find and not judge harshly those who may have unwittingly contributed. We must not become the new terrorists in the world to stop them. We can do this I have faith the insane ideas will not prevail.
Most people would agree that religion, at its very base, is rather a personal thing: principally to answer the question of the very meaning of life itself and its existence in the first place, besides the quest to get a handle on the eternal query that where all this what we see, experience and leave behind, is originating from. That is a different thing that, since times immemorial, it has has been constantly used to engineer a social order so that a vast majority could be effectively governed by a tiny minority. When we all continue to crib over who to side with on the basis of his or her religion, aren’t we playing into the hands of those whose only aim is to divert our attention from what they really want to do? And what they essentially want is to get us hooked into this age old discussion centered around our religious beliefs and divide us so that they get their jobs done( read assist in issuing more credit default swaps!) in a comparitive peace of mind!
Let us say once for all that religion is not something meant to be fought over and the only thing we need to worry about is how best to ensure equal life opportunities for all of us. That actually means sharing around the natural resources of this planet in a way that every human stays connected, wanted and emotionally satisfied with what he could possibly want to achieve in his or her life.I reckon America is the essence of attainment of such a lofty goal. And that’s something worth fighting for. Not a petty religious notion or belief of someone or the other. I am neither a Muslim nor a Christian. However, this is what I strongly care about. Hope I find a seconder.
Kanwal Chopra
Sydney Australia
people are only throwing this word “muslim” out there to distract us from the lies,killings, corruption, greed and robbery that is the underlying problem,this is what america is based on. Has anyone took the time to wonder why they have attacked us? have we stole from them? killed there families? Maybe we made a promise that we didnt keep. Have are representatives kept their promises to us? We only know what they tell us. they could tell us anything.What do we really know about anybody until we truly get to know them?
Please remember that there are many more American’s who have no problem living next door to, or working with, or talking to, or having coffee with a Muslim, than there are who do have a problem. Bill Maher has said that there are two America’s, one that is made up of this young, educated, Euro-America and another that is made up of red-necked hillbillies that won’t let the other grow. Perhaps we have finally hit the tipping point; perhaps the youth of America aren’t so young anymore. I have noticed several misconceptions by the Far Right during this campaign season that I hope are not seen as truth by too many more in the world.
First, the Far Right seems to think that Barack Obama’s policy of full disclosure, truth, openness and hope with the American people is some sort of gimmick, or catch, or line. This is just plain confusing to me, and obviously targets those people who lack the ability to think critically for themselves. Then there is the point which you illustrated, that the practice of attempting to incite fear and hatred of their opponent will sway the voters. They are counting on the majority of American people to be uneducated, racist, dogmatists. The truth is, for whatever reason, the currently strong generation of America seems to be made up of young, progressive thinkers who have, at the very least, some connection with the world outside of our boarders. (I have a vision of the ‘Old Far Right’ sending frilly pink sweaters to its 32-year-old granddaughter because she liked them when she was three.) I wonder if they really do see us as the “peanut gallery,” as a conservative announcer called some people expressing disapproval of his viewpoint.
After 9/11, America was in emotional turmoil. There is no other way of putting it. The majority of individuals in our nation felt violated in a way that most of us have never experienced. Many have said that the jolt was good for us, to see the way the “rest” of the world lives. Well, with every first-time there comes a period of adjustment to the new, and in our state of panic, we were lead by those whom we looked to for leadership. I think that it is safe to say that most now feel responsibility for the mistakes that have been made. More than a few of us have called them atrocities, for many of the actions taken since that day have been just that. But that day, and the days since have certainly woken America to the rest of the world once again. (All people are all in constant recovery from what has come before.) Our financial crisis, potentially a world crisis, has snapped everyone to attention, or is in the process of doing so. More and more people are looking for the truth and going to the source to get it. The old ploys are seen as just that as more people see through the same old B.S. (sorry, but there’s no better way to express it) that we have been handed for so long.
Just remember that there are so many of us who hate NO race, NO religion, and NO country. Remember that many of us have a full and deep understanding that we all want our children to live in a better world no matter who we are or what we call our God. We ALL want to live in peace and not be bothered with hatred or war or hunger. As long as we listen to the people who tell us that we are different, we will never have that peace. I know it’s not news, but sometimes remember to point out our sameness, our relationships, friendships, and kinships. These things are so important to remember if we are to banish hatred.
Interesting article. The Muslims have done more harm to Indians than Christians. This is why Hindus hate Muslims. Muslims should be feared. Their mentality is extremist. They are not tolerant. This is from my own personal life experience and not from readings books or articles.
QUOTE:’Did you somehow forget about all the atrocities under Christianity’s belt? Did you forget about the Crusades? All nine of them? What about all the times European nations have occupied the Arabian Caliphate?
If you really think about it, the western world has given the Islamic world plenty of reasons to feel xenophobic towards us. Our ancestors have committed atrocities ten times the scale of 9/11′
So since our ancestors commtted atrocities 1500 years ago that somehow makes it OK for radical Muslim extremists to commit atrocities now? Wrong.
QUOTE’The Kuran and the Bible say to kill the non-believers’
The Bible says no such thing. This is what the Bible says:
Thou shall not kill.
Exodus 20:13
It was Jews in WW2, it was communists during the “Red Scare”, and now it’s “terrorists”. We don’t even know how to define our “out-group” de jour necessarily, but we’ve always had out-groups. The reason is that we can pin all of our fears on these people and then when we destroy them, our fears are symbolically destroyed too. This of course, is much easier than dealing with reality by using logic and and reason to dissect our paranoia.
It’s staggering that so many people think terrorists fight for fun. Hard for small minds to believe, but terrorists are people too. People reacting to appalling treatment by the governments they fight back against. Terrorism has long been some people’s last resort, when they’re so p*ssed off that other methods don’t seem to be making any difference and they refuse to stand for it anymore. Sure, Ghandi’s and Martin Luther King’s way are better, but that’s long and painful so some get impatient and want to try to use force.
Perhaps if the US actually thought about it for half a second, they might see there’s a reason these things keep happening that they, too, can fix. Instead most seem to think “they’re bombing us because we’re so wonderful and free and Christian, and they’re so Muslim and uncivilised and evil…”
Self-centred as always.
Many Americans are afraid of radical Muslim groups. These fears were fueled not only by September 11 and all the other terror attacks on European countries, but also by the blunt rhetoric of Muslim leaders in the middle east.
Instead of hearing biased populist nonsense like in the above article I want to know if can we openly talk about these fears and still be respectful to all peaceful Muslim living in and fighting for this country !
Divide and Conquer.
Just who is going to conquer the world?
While we are witnessing fear and bigotry surface, we might be grateful in the end to the smear tactics which have shown a dark underbelly, like a shadow self lurking in American back waters. The hysteria is no where more apparent than at McCain/Palin rally. This insidious brand of McCarthyism angles to prey on misinformed and to garner votes. Our saving grace is the Internet and improved communication, exposure, and an ability to navigate past this morass of hate-mongering that feeds on paranoia and fear. We are singing to the choir on forums such as these. What is needed is to shine some light on the infected areas of our society who define this hatred and bigotry as “real America.”
Re “In September 1970 three jet aircraft bound for New York City were hijacked by radical Muslims extremists and later blown up at a remote airstrip in Jordan.”
The group that carried out this hijacking was the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a secular left-wing organization. Its leader, George Habash, was Christian
In case anyone wondered what Powell was talking about when he talked about the grave of a Muslim American soldier killed in Iraq, you can see it at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/19 /colin-powell-invokes-imag_n_135977.htm l
They say a picture is worth 1,000 words
From reading all the prejudice blather on a more intellectual comment board like this it really gives you chills to wonder what the ignorant majority in this country feel. The Kuran and the Bible say to kill the non-believers, what’s the difference? For people to feel they’re more intellectually or morally superior just simply because of the arbitrary notion of where they’re born (which determines your religion 90% of the time) is probably the dumbest train of thought anyone could imagine.
Hmmm…
General Powell wasn’t such a darling of the left when he was making the case for WMD in Iraq in front of the UN. Why does he have such prestige now?
As for Muslims, I judge each person I meet by how we interact and converse. All of us should. I try to live my life by the golden rule.