Islamophobia - Alarming statements - Part 3 - 2006

compiled by Sheila Musaji

updated 7/19/2007

INTRODUCTION

This is one of the difficult issues to dialogue about, but it is an issue that needs to be dealt with - What was the religious affiliation of:  - Those who enslaved and murdered the Native Americans; - Those who colonized most of what is now the “Third World”; - Those who dropped the atomic bomb; - Those who developed and participated in the political systems of Naziism and Fascism; - Those who carried out the Rwandan genocide?; - Those who participated in torture at Abu Ghraib; - Those who carried out ethnic cleansing against the Bosnian Muslims; - Those who were responsible for the death of millions in Germany’s death camps?  If the answer to any of these questions had been Islam then the criminals would have been identified as “Islamic” .......

“The leap from deviant Muslims perpetrating atrocities to a religion being impugned for the sins of its supposed adherents is breath-taking in its audacity. This distinction has become critical ever since the ‘’showdown with Saddam” transmuted into the ‘’war on terror.” With the daily mind-numbing imagery of maniacal Muslim ‘’insurgents” savaging troops and civilians alike, a transformation rapidly took place: The problem was just not Muslim terrorists but an ‘’evil” Islam itself. This is a theme broadcast with malevolent glee by talk shows on a daily basis thereby intensifying suspicion, fear, contempt, and hatred of Islam. Demonizing Islam makes it the enemy in the ‘’war on terror.” ... Ironically, it is us Muslims who have the greatest vested interest in eradicating terrorism. We need to do this to salvage our religion and our self-respect. As long as we are marginalized by the West and taunted by the extremists, we are made to feel as if we were part of the problem rather than of the solution, and our commitment becomes ambivalent. If the so-called war on terrorism has any chance of being won, there needs to be an immediate redefinition of the enemy.” Foe isn’t Islam, it’s Binladenism, Abdul Cader Asmal

Clearly we have free speech in the U.S., and the line between hate speech and free speech is difficult to draw.  My hope as an American Muslim is that we are able to learn to have respectful speech that does not close off the possibility of dialogue and alienate the very Muslims who could act as a bridge between cultures.

These quotes are being collected because to Muslims they represent Islamophobic statements that do damage to any possibility of dialogue.

2006

Australia First Party pamphlet condemns Muslims

Jed Babbin, Former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense, It is not the Israelis’ fault—I’m willing to kill as many people as it requires to take out Hezbollah. That’s the fact.  on the Paula Zahn program

Fred Barnes, In referring to the controversy surrounding the Danish cartoons that caricatured the prophet Mohammed, The Weekly Standard’s Fred Barnes said: “We see Muslims’ contempt for democracy, for freedom of speech, for freedom of the press, and particularly, for freedom of religion.”

Glenn Beck “[t]he world is on the brink of World War III” and that”Muslims who have sat on your frickin’ hands the whole time and have not been marching in the streets” will face dire consequences. Beck made his comments toward Muslims who he claimed ”have not been saying, ‘Hey, you know what? There are good Muslims and bad Muslims. We need to be the first ones in the recruitment office lining up to shoot the bad Muslims in the head.’ “ He predicted that the result will be that “[h]uman beings are not strong enough, unfortunately, to restrain themselves from putting up razor wire and putting you on one side of it,” adding that ”when people become hungry, when people see that their way of life is on the edge of being over, they will put razor wire up and just based on the way you look or just based on your religion, they will round you up.”

Gordon Bishop ”Yes, the world today lives in two different worlds. There is no common ground between the two ideologies. Citizens of Western Civilization do not go around blowing themselves up in order to kill innocent children, women and men. Terrorists don’t wear uniforms. They represent no nation-state. They represent an ideology based on the death of all Jews, Christians and infidels. Americans are classified as infidels.”

Gordon Bishop, Are American Muslims with us or against us

BLOG POSTS
- We have several million Muslims in the US and all of them are terrorists, some use the tonque and the pen, not bombs, but all are scheming liars deceiving the naive infidels and our stupid leaders. Why don’t we BAN ISLAM and deport all Muslims? Political correctness and multiculturalism will destroy the West. http://pedestrianinfidel.blogspot.com/2006/06/ban-islam-deport-muslims-terrorism-in.html
- Comparing Hitler’s Mein Kampf to the Qur’an “Commenters have noted the remarkable similarities between the two, and indeed, the resemblances are more than skin deep and are worth examining in more detail.  A closer look at the facts reveals that Islam (not ‘Islamism’ and Nazism are two kindred ideologies with many, many commonalities.” http://pedestrianinfidel.blogspot.com/2006/05/koran-versus-mein-kampf.html
- objecting to mosques having tax exempt status http://alwaysonwatch.blogspot.com/2005/08/did-you-know.html
- Muslim assertiveness in owning a significant chunk of the world’s oil http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=509694&category=OPINION&newsdate=8/20/2006
- Here’s the truth: there is nothing positive about ISLAM. However, if you log onto some of the Islamic websites and you read information printed by Islamists, you will find yourself thinking - “This sounds good.” That is the snake trying to rope you in.  http://alwaysonwatch.blogspot.com/2005/08/did-you-know.html
- Islam has never been peaceful nor is it a religion http://americandaily.com/article/15107
- http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/article_17228.shtml The terror and death inflicted on humanity is not the work of radical Islam, neither the political Islam, nor the militant Islam. It is Islam, period. Get it?
- “We Need Muslim internment camps now.” http://www.danielpipes.org/comments/47920
- Kill all Muslim kids, starting now..  Blog pulled over this posting http://www.sptimes.com/2006/12/16/State/Blog_pulled_over_call.shtml

BOOKS, advertised with blurbs such as
-- REVEALED at long last: the whole “politically incorrect” truth about Islam’s violent teachings, bloody history, backward culture, and morally depraved founder
-- Why the Crusades were justified wars of Christian self-defense against centuries of Muslim aggression —Mohammed: the ugly truth about the founder of the world’s most violent religion (by a priest who lived and ministered among Muslims)

Sen. Barbara Boxer Recalls Award given to Muslim Activist Because of his Involvement With CAIR

Neal Boortz ”Islam is a deadly virus”, and on the August 10 broadcast of Cox Radio Syndication’s The Neal Boortz Show, during which he stated, ”It is perfectly safe to say all terrorists are Muslims. All of them. If it was not for the religion of Islam, this world would be a much, much, much more peaceful place today. If it were not for the religion of Islam, there would be many thousands, maybe tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of people alive today living peaceful, happy, and fulfilled lives than there are. Agony, misery, death is occurring all over this world, brought to us by the wonderful, peaceful religion of Islam.”

Neal Boortz claimed that “at its core,” Islam is a “violent, violent religion,” called “this Muhammad guy just a phony rag-picker,” and asserted that “it is perfectly legitimate, perhaps even praiseworthy, to recognize Islam as a religion of vicious, violent, bloodthirsty cretins.”

President George Bush used the term Islamic Fascists - Response to Pres. Bush’s Islamic Fascist remark (Senator Russ Feingold)

Phyllis Chesler Compares Tariq Ramadan to Hitler

Chick publications claim, Islam created by the Vatican

David Clippard of the Southern Baptist Convention, opened the event by linking Baptist history with the church’s mission: to conquer evil. Islam, he said, is an evil encroaching on the United States. ... ”The real threat we are facing today is that Islam has a strategic plan to conquer and occupy America,” he said. ... “They have a plan to take over,” he said. ”The first city is Detroit which has 600,000 people. Three hundred thousand are Muslims today.”

Commentator referred to a Muslim player at an Australian cricket match as a terrorist

Ann Coulter calls Islam a “car burning cult.”

Ann Coulter claimed that racially “profiling Muslims is more like profiling the Klan” than it is like profiling African-Americans, “because of the history of discrimination against blacks in this country.” Coulter added: “What did we do to the Arabs? I believe Americans are the victims in that relationship.”

Rev. O’Neal Dozier ’’The Islamic religion in my view is a cult,’’ Dozier said Friday, when asked to recap the controversial comments he made earlier on The Steve Kane Radio Show on WNN-AM 1470. ‘’On the show I said that Islam is a dangerous religion.’’

KEITH ELLISON INCIDENT - Glenn Beck CNN Headline News host to Rep.-elect Keith Ellison, D-Minn.: “OK. No offense, and I know Muslims. I like Muslims. … With that being said, you are a Democrat. You are saying, ‘Let’s cut and run.’ And I have to tell you, I have been nervous about this interview with you, because what I feel like saying is, ‘Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.’ ” - Sean Hannity Claimed that incoming Rep. Keith Ellison’s reported intention to use a copy of the Quran apparently during the ceremonial photo op on the day he is sworn in ”will embolden Islamic extremists and make new ones” and suggested that using the Quran for a swearing-in is comparable to using ”Hitler’s Mein Kampf, which is the Nazi bible.” - Cheri Jacobus On the December 21 edition of MSNBC News Live, said she thought it was ”a little bit strange” that “we’re focusing on” controversial remarks by Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) instead of Rep.-elect Keith Ellison (D-MN), whom Jacobus called ”a newly elected member of Congress trying to cause controversy.” - Judge Roy Moore On the issue of Keith Ellison Using the Qur’an for Swearing In Ceremony, “Can a true believer in the Islamic doctrine found in the Quran swear allegiance to our Constitution? Those who profess a sincere belief in Allah say “no! ... Enough evidence exists for Congress to question Ellison’s qualifications to be a member of Congress as well as his commitment to the Constitution in view of his apparent determination to embrace the Quran and an Islamic philosophy directly contrary to the principles of the Constitution. But common sense alone dictates that in the midst of a war with Islamic terrorists we should not place someone in a position of great power who shares their doctrine. In 1943, we would never have allowed a member of Congress to take their oath on “Mein Kampf,” or someone in the 1950s to swear allegiance to the “Communist Manifesto.” Congress has the authority and should act to prohibit Ellison from taking the congressional oath today!” - Dennis Prager said that Keith Ellison should not be allowed to take his oath on the Qur’an, and “he should not be allowed to do so—not because of any American hostility to the Koran, but because the act undermines American civilization.” and further “Insofar as a member of Congress taking an oath to serve America and uphold its values is concerned, America is interested in only one book, the Bible. If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don’t serve in Congress.” - Michael Savage Compared reports that incoming Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) ”won’t swear to uphold the oath of office on the Bible, but on the Quran instead” to “[a] witch get[ting] elected” and saying “she’s gonna only be sworn in with her hand over a pentagram.” Savage called Ellison’s reported decision to be sworn in with a Quran “the tyranny of the psycho, whacked-out minority.” - Celebrate Keith Ellison’s Oath on Qur’an as an All-American Moment
James Zogby http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-zogby/celebrate-ellisons-oath-_b_37790.html - Madelein Kunin, Governor of Vermont took oath on Jewish prayer books 1985 http://jwablog.jwa.org/node/76 - Linda Lingle, Governor of Hawaii took oath of office on Torah in 2002http://www.neshamah.net/reb_barrys_blog_neshamahn/2006/12/i_swearbut_by_w.html - Ellison Would Not Be First Not to Take Oath on Bible
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/08/AR2006120801482.html

Hugh Fitzgerald says converts to Islam are engaged in “civilizational slumming.”

Hugh Fitzgerald suggests collective punishment for Muslims in America

Hugh Fitzgerald of Jihad Watch—“But of course, Iran, as a Muslim state, cannot ever be permitted to acquire nuclear weaponry—not unless there is a mass apostasy, a return to Zoroastrianism, an embrace of Christianity, a willingness to contemplate free-thinking disbelief.”

Florida talk radio forum had a ‘serious’ online discussion about Muslim internment

Brigitte Gabriel America and the West are doomed to failure in this war unless they stand up and identify the real enemy. Islam.

Mike Gallagher a radio host, on Fox show advocated Muslims only check in lines at airports

Michael Graham a radio talk show host touched off complaints from an Islamic civil rights organization yesterday after repeatedly describing Islam on the air as “a terrorist organization” that is “at war with America.”

Franklin Graham said Islam teaches its followers to ”persecute” others until they convert, with the aim being ”total domination.”

Franklin Graham There is no escaping the unfortunate fact that Muslim government employees in law enforcement, the military and the diplomatic corps need to be watched for connections to terrorism.”

Franklin Graham - on Nightline “If people think Islam is such a wonderful religion, then go to Saudi Arabia and make it your home,” Graham said. “Just live there. If you think Islam is such a wonderful religion, go and live under the Taliban somewhere.”

J. Don George, senior pastor of Calvary Temple in Irving, TX, accompanied Benny Hinn on stage. He said: ”Our faith is in Jesus Christ, and the Muslim community does not accept Jesus and God, and therefore we’re at odds with Muslims....Any religion or ideology that refuses to acknowledge the lordship of Jesus Christ could be typified as a war against Satan.”

Pastor John Hagee believes Israel is doing God’s work in a war of good against evil http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/06/08/06/10058027.html

Bill Handel, radio host, makes fun of deaths of Muslim Hajj pilgrims

Sam Harris, Islam inspires terrorism

Victor Davis Hanson, It’s fascism and it’s Islamic

Warner Todd Huston “Islam has become the KKK of the 21st century. The sooner we awake to this truth and take steps to ban the religion, or somehow curtail its pernicious influence the better. The west is going to have to put severe restrictions on Islamic Mosques and public display of Islam. Further, devout Muslims should not be allowed to hold public office (though it certainly should not become a racial issue – sins of the father should not be visited upon the sons).”

Rev. Benny Hinn Proclaimed to thousands of Christians at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX that ”We are on God’s side. This is not a war between Arabs and Jews. It’s a war between God and the devil.”

Christopher Hitchens Vanity Fair editor, in a speech, “Of course, he’s not a prophet,” he said of Muhammad. “He’s an epileptic plagiarist.” He said the Quran — Islam’s holiest book — was full of “evil fairly tales” that were “unimaginably recycled.” “It’s a boring plagiarism of the worst parts of Christianity and Judaism,” he added.

Mary Ann Hogan, Florida Commissioners Wife said ”Islam is a “hateful, frightening religion.”

Rep. Peter King endorsed racial profiling

Raymond Kraft in an article Islam versus Civilization ”Islam today, as it is manifest in the “Islamic Resistance Movement,” which is merely a transparent euphemism for its religious war, its Jihad against everything but itself and everyone who is not Muslim, is a culture, and it is a religion, but it is not a Civilization.  It rejects the one core principle, the one irreducible principle, the one necessary element of Civilization, the one idea without which Civilization does not and cannot exist: treat others as you would like them to treat you.  Respect their freedom, their lives, their right to be different from yourself, to think and believe differently and live differently.  This, Civilization does.  This, Islam does not do.”

Rep. Frank Lassee sent out a newsletter ”The Pope’s comments were right on the mark. Islam is NOT a religion of peace. It doesn’t have a peaceful history of co-existence. And has created empires whose main goal was to convert or destroy all non-believers.  Islam IS a religion intent on conquering the world. This global domination is preached and encouraged by Imams in mosques. And it is a central theme in the Koran, the Islamic Bible, and is an important part of their history.”

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, “We wouldn’t transfer the title to the devil, and we’re not going to transfer it to Dubai,”

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
- 1 The last thing we need here is a country ruled by the Koran. And, if Muslims are allowed to infiltrate our Congress and local governments, this country will wilt into the lifestyle of a Uzbekistan or a Kazakhstan where only a few can read and write, and American sports and other entertainment will disappear. There will be no elected government representatives, because a Muslim cleric will be the dictator.
- 3 I also believe that Muslims should not be allowed to enter this country and that they should seek their political or economic aspirations in other countries. I advocate the forced removal of all Muslims, moving toward a Muslimless society.  We should set a five-year timeline for all Muslims to leave the United States. All those hundreds of thousands of Muslim engineers, doctors, scientists, educators, business owners and other high-level professionals will undoubtedly find jobs and peace in other countries or the country of their origin.
- 4 Come on, think about what you are printing. Freedom of religion is not absolute, and toleration of those who would destroy you is insanity. As has been said, the U.S. Constitution is not a suicide pact. Electing a professional wrestler governor of the state is one thing, but placing a Muslim in the U.S. House of Representatives is enough to make one wonder what is going on in the state of Minnesota.

Nathan Lewin, deter suicide bombers by executing their families

Keith Lunceford, Pastor of Park Avenue Baptist Church in Searcy - “If you are trying to find reason in the world of Islam, be assured that even God warned us that there is no sense to be found in the actions of these descendants of Ishmael. They are what they have been throughout history. Sadly, every indication suggests that they will continue to pursue a course of brutality and chaos. It appears that we will either have to fight them or surrender to them. The eventual outcome of these inevitable choices is yet to be determined.” 6/07

Michael Medved, radio host “Islam has a special violence problem.”

Albert Mohler expands on Rev. Pat Robertson’s statements

Ken Murray, Mayor of Redding, California said ‘Either the Judeo-Christian philosophy will survive or the Islamic philosophy will survive’ He also claimed Shia Muslims “believe it’s acceptable to lie, cheat, steal and kill as long as it ultimately glorifies Allah.” “Folks, they’re not like us.” said Murray. 

Oliver North Fox News host in a discussion on the February 6 edition of Fox News’ Hannity & Colmes, said, “There is no such thing as an Islamic moderate.” Earlier in the discussion, North asserted that “the words ‘Islamic moderates’ are—that’s an oxymoron.”

Bill O’Reilly - On the November 29, 2006, broadcast of his radio show, O’Reilly denied that Iraq is in a “civil war as NBC News wants you to think” and asserted that “they’re all Muslims, and they’re doing what they do. They’re killing each other. And they’re killing Americans.”
- On the August 16, 2006, edition of The O’Reilly Factor, O’Reilly argued extensively for “profiling of Muslims” at airports, arguing that detaining all “Muslims between the ages of 16 and 45” for questioning “isn’t racial profiling,” but “criminal profiling.”

Adam Taiichi Oshida on The Reality Check.org “Many have noted in recent months that I’ve spent an increasing amount of time discussing the broader Islamic threat as opposed to merely the Islamist threat. That’s because I’ve come to a simple conclusion: if Western Civilization is to survive, Islam must be destroyed. The two are not compatible and cannot co-exist on a single planet.” http://www.therealitycheck.org/GuestColumnist/ayoshida121304.htm

adam Taiichi Oshida ”Well, let me say two things right now. First: I agree with Mr. Griffin that Islam is a, “wicked, vicious faith.” There can be, and are, good Moslems but that does not change the obvious and fundamental fact that Islam itself is, in general, a bad thing and that we’d all be better off had it never been created. Second: I agree that Moslems are a threat to Britain, to Canada, to America and to free people everywhere.”

Bill O’Reilly said recognizing a Muslim holiday in public schools is ”absurd in a Judeo-Christian country”

Pastor Rod Parsley said about Islam: “I do not believe that our country can truly fulfill its divine purpose until we understand America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed.”

POLLS
Gallup Poll found that 39% of Americans think Muslims should carry special ID cards

Burt Prelutsky, World Net Daily, “But here on planet Earth, Islam is a religion whose mullahs preach sermons of death to the infidels. And just in case you haven’t noticed, that includes everybody who doesn’t spend several minutes every day bowing down to Mecca.”

Pat Robertson On the Christian Broadcasting Corp.’s 700 Club, host expressed concern that Americans, “especially the American left,” need to “wake up” to the “danger” that Islam presents. Robertson continued: “Who ever heard of such a bloody, bloody, brutal type of religion? But that’s what it is. It is not a religion of peace.”
- Pat Robertson said “Islam is essentially a Christian heresy” that “picked up snippets of the gospels,” and other Biblical texts and is now taking “everything that Jesus said” and “transport[ing it] into this fictional Mahdi.” Robertson also perpetuated Jewish stereotypes in a discussion about the need for Israeli soup kitchens, stating that “When you think of Jewish people, you think of successful businessmen” who are “very wise in finance and who are prosperous.”

Michael Savage declared that in order to “save the United States,” lawmakers should institute ”an outright ban on Muslim immigration” into the country. Savage also recommended making “the construction of mosques illegal in America, and the speaking of English only in the streets of the United States the law.”
- Michael Savage On April 17, nationally syndicated radio host Michael Savage called for ”kill[ing] 100 million” Muslims. . .  Savage told listeners that ”intelligent people, wealthy people ... are very depressed by the weakness that America is showing to these psychotics in the Muslim world. They say, ‘Oh, there’s a billion of them.’ ” Savage continued: ”I said, ‘So, kill 100 million of them, then there’d be 900 million of them.’ I mean ... would you rather us die than them?
- On the October 23, 2006, edition of his radio show, Savage said of Ethiopians: “The people down there have flies around their eyes,” adding, “I never went into an Ethiopian restaurant. The Ethiopians come here to eat American food.” Earlier in the broadcast, while discussing Ramadan and the continued violence in Iraq, Savage suggested that Islam is “a bloodthirsty religion that’s practiced over there by a bunch of throwbacks, and we’re gonna to kill ‘em.” Savage called for the United States to say: “That’s it, we’re leaving them; we’re killing them.”

Debbie Schlussel In a December 18 column headlined ”Barack Hussein Obama: Once a Muslim, Always A Muslim” and posted on her website, right-wing pundit Schlussel argued that because Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) middle name is Hussein, his late, estranged father was of Muslim descent, and he has shown interest in his father’s Kenyan heritage, Obama’s ”loyalties” must be called into question as he emerges as a possible Democratic presidential candidate.

Robert Spencer “I hope there will be some who have the courage to point out that no American official should be taking an oath on the Qur’an, since—as we have been pointing out here for over three years now—there are so many elements of traditional and mainstream Islam that are at variance with our system of government, our Constitution, and our entire way of life. But since that is blandly denied and unexamined by the mainstream media and government officials, it is much more likely that Qur’anic oath-taking will be allowed without any discussion at all.”

Robert Spencer Islam itself is an incomplete, misleading, and often downright false revelation which, in many ways, directly contradicts what God has revealed through the prophets of the Old Testament and through his Son Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh… For several reasons… Islam constitutes a threat to the world at large.

Barbara J. Stock in an article The Threat of Quiet Islam, “Islam is a shell game. Assisted by the “if it bleeds, it leads” motto of the media, Islam is able to keep the world’s attention on the terrorist attacks while “peaceful Islam” quietly goes about the business of taking over entire countries and working its way into the fabric of the legal and governmental systems of others. American Muslims are now petitioning that the call to prayer be blasted over loud speakers five times a day in quiet neighborhoods and towns. This is Islam’s next step in using democracy to destroy democracy. Always on the move, the quiet side of Islam is every bit as dangerous as the terrorists. The goals are the same, only the method varies”.

J. Grant Swank The fact is that Islam is not a religion among religions. Christianity, Judaism, Shintoism, Confucianism, Buddhism and Hinduism do not advocate killing off all those who do not agree with their tenets. Islam advocates that all non-Muslims, being “infidels,” must be slain. Cowardly Muslims who do not enter into the slaughter are to be slain by zealot Muslims.” J.

The American Jihad website had an article “The only good Muslim is a dead Muslim”

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo.,—In an interview with WND, said he believes the chickens are coming home to roost in France because, for years, the country with the largest Islamic population in Europe has ignored rising Muslim tensions within its own borders. The real issue the French “are now dealing with,” he said, ”is [that] you cannot integrate some people into your society.”

Srdja Trifkovic “Winning” is impossible unless 1.3 billion Muslims are either secularized or else converted to something other than Islam. To put it crudely, “winning” means either that Muslims have been “westernized”—that is to say, made as willing as Christians to see their religion first relativized, then mocked, and its commandments misrepresented or ignored—or else Christianized, which of course cannot happen unless there is a belated, massive, and unexpected recovery of Western spiritual and moral strength.  News & Views,

U.S. government officials refer to specter of “the caliphate”

American Muslim Resources - collections of articles and references b6y topic