A bit of what Muslim-American blogger Jehanzeb said at Muslim Reverie on the tenth anniversary of 9/11:
When my algebra teacher announced what happened to the World Trade Center, a classmate next to me shouted, “Is it those damn Palestinians again?! They should be wiped off the face of the earth!” I remember feeling my heart drop at that moment. Just as I was thinking about how horrible the attacks on the Twin Towers were, I felt attacked with racism.
I kept quiet and before I knew it, my mom came to pick me up from school. She was in tears and told me that the nation was “under attack.” When I asked her why she took me out of school, she told me that she didn’t want anyone to beat me up. I realized then that Muslims were already being blamed by the media for the attacks. In the following days, I heard racist, anti-Arab and anti-Muslim comments from students and teachers alike. Growing up in a predominately white non-Muslim American suburb, racism wasn’t anything new to me, but it seemed to get more hostile after 9/11. …
There were several occasions when I openly called classmates out on their racism and in all cases, except for one, the teacher scolded me. … When I told the school counselor that the Islamophobia after 9/11 was bothering me, she denied that such a thing was happening. She said, “I think people are learning more about your culture. I don’t think there’s hatred at all.” …
I lost friendships after 9/11. Many of these friends I grew up with and knew since elementary school. … When I tried to speak about Islamophobia, I was given a defensive “I’m-offended-that-you’re-offended” attitude. “Proof” was demanded about hate crimes committed against Muslims … “Colorblind” arguments were also made, claiming that they didn’t “see skin color” (despite the concurrent acknowledgment of me being a racialized and religious minority)….
It was as if talking about Islamophobia and racism meant to be “confrontational.” So, I had to forget I was Muslim and choose the “neutral” or “safe” topics… But Islamophobia wasn’t “politics” to me. It was/is my reality….
I thought Islamophobia would die down after a few years, but as I got older and as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq escalated, the anti-Muslim bigotry in the US got worse… hijab-wearing Muslim women having their hijabs pulled off and beaten on their walks home; … Sikh, Hindu, and Muslim fathers being shot and killed at their business stores …
My romanticized ideas of the “Muslim ummah” faded in time when I saw the problems that exist in our community, including the sell-out Muslims who “play the game,” …
I was introduced to the works of Cherokee feminist-activist Andrea Smith and African-American feminist bell hooks. … as Andrea Smith points out, when indigenous people try to escape economic exploitation, they join the military and become complicit in the colonization of other groups (Iraqis, Afghans). Understanding the interlocking nature of racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, ableism and other forms of oppression means that we all take responsibility and work towards a reciprocal commitment that values the liberation of all people. …
See also:
That period in time was nuts! I knew I’d dread a lot of what was coming out once the dust settled.
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Touching.
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Indeed, we cannot forget this part of history as well.
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I remember sitting in Spanish class and seeing the footage that morning and later the beatings and murders on the news it was all kinds of messed up, still is. I didn’t see some of my Trini, Jamaican, Guyanese friends at school for a good while.
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I was sitting in my second perion class when 9/11 happened.
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My worst memory of that day is talking to an ex-friend who told me that when he would go to war in Afghanistan he would rape women there. I was in sixth or seventh grade at the time and being a fairly sheltered girl even I knew that was beyond the pale. It was like an attack on my person. On women, on people just like me. That was probably the last time I ever talked to him. It was a very scary moment.
And just yesterday, the 10th, when I was going out with a friend and some acquaintances, we passed a Sikh man working at a toll booth and the guy sitting next to me yelled “Hey, are you an Iraqi?!”
I just grinned uncomfortably, but hoped the man didn’t hear him saying that. We are ten years past the event but honestly the nation as a whole has learned nothing and does not seem to have grown as an inclusive and accepting democratic power. We have to do more to make this nation right.
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The best point I have heard about the whole mess is this: we should remember that people do not go around accusing all the christians of what the KKK has done in the past.
Even though I am highly critical of any religion I am grown up enough to understand that what some fanatics do is not the representation of the whole religion, race or culture. Even when these fanatics claim to represent the whole religion, act in the name of it and act in the name of the whole population.
Also, it is very good to remember that absolute majority of the victims of these so-called islamistic terrorists, be they Al Qaida or taleban or any other, are muslims themselves. These fanatics are doing most of their terror attacks in muslim countries and kill mainly other muslims. And that should tell us all what this is all about: these guys are NOT what arabs, muslims or islam are.
They are bunch of vicious, hatemongering criminals, who make their living by killing their fellow men, they religious brethren, and they try to opress and terrorize majority in to their slaves out of fear, Just like the KKK tried to do in its heydays.
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When Timothy McVeigh was found out to be the bomber in Oklahoma City, I find it odd that white men were not singled out as terrorist. And we all know the history of some white men and terror in the United States – the KKK surely comes to mind. Looking at some of the tributes to 9-11 yesterday, if you are on the outside looking in, you would think only white people were the victims during 9-11 – not too many brown, black, red, or yellow people interviewed or their children.
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@Kendra McAlister
That reminds me of a conversation I had at a party a few years ago. A couple of boys I’d never met before let me know, after learning that I was muslim, that if it was up to them they’d sterilize all Muslim women so they can’t have more terrorist babies. Then they made some jokes involving raping Muslim women because they’re so used to being beat down by their men anyways, it doesn’t matter. They felt perfectly fine about basically threatening me, a teenage girl, with rape (but of course they were just kidding so that made it super ok!) and everyone around them was content to play it off as a joke or keep quiet.
Those jokes become even less funny once you consider that women of color used to be sterilized without consent and sometimes without their knowledge, only a few decades ago in the US. (You can google Elaine Riddick for an example)
It blew my mind how they were so easily able to take the idea that Muslim women are oppressed – which is sadly true in many cases, but the same goes for women of all religions – and then use that as an excuse for more violence against us. No wonder that throughout history, bigotry is always tied to sexual violence.
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http://somalilandpress.com/libya-rebels-execute-black-immigrants-while-forces-kidnap-others-20586
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/09/allen-west-ever-since-muhammad-left-mecca-and-took-his-hijrah-to-medina-there-was-a-violent-turn-to.html
Learn Arabic.
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This is part of the sickness of Whiteness. Those infected will blame races of color for the actions of a few while being too blind or too mentally insufficient to see their own actions for what they are.
It’s maddening.
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Whites are a lost cause. It’s the conclusion I’ve come to. I just focus on the rest of HUE-manity and people of color as our OWN vehicles of progress. It will happen whether or not “they” choose to join in. And we all know that they will not. I am saddened to hear these stories coming from the other posters, however, I am not surprised.
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I continue to be quite disgusted with the anti-Islam/anti-Muslim comments and rhetoric I hear on a daily basis. A woman who rides the same bus as I in the mornings was talking with another woman; I believe they were discussing Ramadan, and how someone else they knew was celebrating it because she was married to a Muslim-American man. They were both quite harsh in their discussion, and one mentioned how she couldn’t fathom why ANY woman would want to be involved with someone of that religion! I turned to both of them and said, “Yes – it’s mind-bobbling to me why any rational, thinking human being would belong to any religion, including Christianity, that subjugates the women in said religion – but, we can agree to disagree!” They both shut up quite promptly, LMAO 😎
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I meant to say “mind-BOGGLING” in the above post…those damned Twitter/Facebook/WordPress/Guest buttons get in my way! 😉
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When 9/11 happened I was in high school here in Kenya and I was 16 years old and when I went home during the holidays (school break) I watched and watched GW Bush decide to make war on Iraq and even at that age I saw the hate, anti-Muslim vitriol spilled across international news stations by some Americans. And I asked myself, how can people in this country be so blind? This was the time many Americans were asking “Why do they hate us?” At the age of 16 and as an avid reader of world history and news I was shocked that a grown person would ask this question. Had they not looked at the actions of their own governments in various countries across the world?
9/11 was a tragedy, the bombings in Nairobi and Tanzania was a tragedy (I am Kenyan we also felt the sting of terrorism) but what should have been a wake up call for Americans as a whole into actively understanding and participating in their government’s foreign policy (which is always the same regardless of which administration is in power) this did not happen. What i saw and continue to see is arrogance, ignorance, vapid and insular comments on the web and a STRONG anti-muslim sentiment.
To any American on this blog, do you feel safer after 9/11? Do you think the actions of your governments especially starting from the Cold War has made your country safe?
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^ I don’t agree with a LOT of the hobbesian skullduggery that the US (and it’s allies—and it’s business interests) have been pulling off all around the world since WWII. Some of it is pure evil!
But then, the reality is that there has never been a great world power, much less a superpower, that wears a halo. They have ALL been bloodthirsty when it was in their interest to be so. Many were even worse than the U.S. Do you want to talk about the Spanish? How about the Brits? The French in Africa? Or how about Rome? Or my favorite antique bastards, the Persian Empire?
ALL powers have ruled by fang and claw. It didn’t begin with the U.S,. and it bloody isn’t going to end when the U.S, is gone.
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@ malkia:
Most Americans are profoundly morally blind.
They have morally broken ways of thinking, like “Everyone does it”. They think like bullies, as if most of them had narcissistic, abusive personality disorders or something.
They believe in stuff like racism or Islamophobia because it allows them to go on thinking they are Basically Good – which is ironic since the racism and Islamophobia makes them even more evil than they already were.
They know shockingly little news or history, especially from overseas, and what little they do know is largely self-glorying and self-serving.
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@ Malkia
No to both of your questions.
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@ Malkia:
Definitely no to both of your questions. The laughable inception of the so-called “Homeland Security” Department, here in the USA, is seen by many as a complete and utter waste of time, money and resources – it’s done nothing but make a fearful, paranoid people even more so, and even caused those people to gladly give up their individual rights in the “war against terror”. Reminds me of the useless “war on drugs” and the idiotic profiling that goes on against certain groups in its name…
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Below are several eye opening comments posted by an American Muslim, Hasan Mahmud, in response to Huffington Post’s John L. Esposito’s (Professor of Religion and International Affairs) article, “Islamophobia:A Threat to American Values?”
HASAN MAHMUDS COMMENTS:
-I am a Muslim. I believe that accepting our (Muslims’) share in creating “Islamophobia” in the West will help eliminate it.
-Dr. John Esposito’s recent article in the Huffington Post, “Islamophobia: A threat to American Values?” puts the entire blame on Western “media commentators, hard-line Christian Zionists and politicians.”
-He even neglects to mention the huge contribution Muslim societies have had on the issue.
-Esposito ignores that in our global village the West is regularly flooded by violence coming from Muslim societies; violence which is perpetrated in the name of Islam while citing Quranic verses and the Prophet’s examples. The list is long.
-Here are some examples:
1. A Sharia court stoned to death a gang-raped girl, who was a minor at the time.
2. A Sharia court flogged another girl to death for having an affair.
3. Punishing raped girls/women by Sharia courts is continuing.
4. Wife-beating is openly preached.
5. Child-marriage is openly preached.
6. “No rape in marriage” is openly preached.
7. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is supported by many clergics including some of Al Azhar University.
8. Women are instantly divorced – there is no maintenance in such cases.
9. A woman appealed to a Sharia court to order her husband to beat her not every day but once a week.
10. Sharia-police (Hisba) are invading people’s lives.
11. The persecution of Muslims with different ideas is reaching a frightening level.
12. Non-Muslims are arrested for carrying their holy books.
13. The persecution of non-Muslims is continuous and reaching a disturbing level.
14. Hate preaching against non-Muslims in media is common.
15. Indoctrination of children with such hate is open and alarming.
16. School syllabi are full of hatred directed at “The Other.”
17. Non-Muslim places of worship are destroyed regularly.
18. Lying and deceiving are supported.
19. Civil rights are violently suppressed by “Islamic” governments — often by hanging.
-With such phenomena and experience, what else does Dr. Esposito expect from the West except “Islamophobia”?
-He also blames the West for resisting the Ground Zero Mosque. I wish he knew how many Muslims around the world are opposed to the proposed Islamic center, not because we don’t want mosques, but because before its construction, the notion of the center created “fitna” (division) and violently divided the whole nation.
-I wish Esposito mentioned the hate-tsunami against Jews and the West that roars in the media and throughout the pulpits of the Muslim world, constantly in Himalayan magnitude.
-One cartoon against our Prophet (SA) caused chaos to break loose, but during my long years in the Middle East, I saw many dozens of worse cartoons in the media about Jews and their holy book. No government contained that, nor was there a sane Muslim voice against these cartoons.
-Esposito also states that “all Muslims have been reduced to stereotypes of Islam against the West, Islam’s war with modernity, and Muslim rage, extremism, fanaticism, and terrorism” and “all leaders of that [American] society look at all Muslims with suspicion and prejudice.”
-These are hyperbolic overstatements. I am a Muslim; I live in Canada and often travel to the US – there is a general sense of concern, but in general, Muslims are doing well, living well and are treated well.
-The overwhelming support and protection of Muslims by common North Americans and churches after 9/11 is on record, but is sadly overlooked.
-Yes, “We all [governments, policymakers, the media, educational institutions, religious and corporate leaders] have a critical role to play in countering the voices of hate, the exclusionary theologies and ideologies.” Esposito should give the same advice to the leaders of Muslims world.
-Once again, in our global village, the West is continuously bombarded by the news of serious violence from the Muslim world against women, non-Muslims and Muslims of different Islamic ideas, in the name of Islam.
-This is the main reason for “Islamophobia” — and a logical one.
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LINK TO PROFESSOR JOHN L. ESPOSITO’S ARTICLE:
“Islamophobia:A Threat to American Values?”
http://frontpagemag.com/2011/08/22/john-espositos-deceptions-on-islamophobia/
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And let’s not forget the massacres of Black African people in Libya, north AFRICA!
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Abagond:
I sympathize with those who are god-fearing, peace-loving muslims, but, the religion has a serious problem that many want to ignore. Islam wants to force itself onto others at any cost. A lot of muslims want to sweep this ugly truth under the rug, but it’s funky…It Smells! All of the senseless killing of innocent human beings, and we’re told that it’s just a small number of radicals who are causing trouble, BS! As black people, radical islam is a major concern, as it relates to our kin in Africa…Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Sudan, Somalia, Chad, Algeria, Kenya, Nigeria, etc. I’m not gonna be fake and pretend to be tolerant, I want the religion out of Africa, Period! It’s not native to the continent, it was forced upon black people against their will. I don’t care how it’s achieved, as long as it becomes a reality. That’s how I view the issue, wrong or right. Muslims need to chill with the victim crap, What they need to do is push back against evil, Bottomline!
Tyrone
PS…The fight against radical islam is WWIII, Believe It!
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This Daily Show clip says it all…jump to 9:48 on the video. (The whole episode is great, but the clip I refer to sticks to the topic at hand)
http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/mon-september-12-2011-mike-mullen
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@King-While i agree with you i must ask you do you think that if there was SOME not total but some equality, fair distribution, justice of world resources (which ironically Africa has in spades) do you think the issue of third-world “invaders” a.k.a immigrants would be an issue in the western world, if there wasn’t such “bloodthirsteness” by 1st world governments? For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Its the 21st century we should begin demanding better of our governments that way history does not repeat itself over and over and over ad infinitum.
@Abagond, mocha sister and sepultura 13 thanks for answering my queries.
@ Tyrone-I have always had an issue with the introduction of both Islam and Christianity in Africa both religions played a role in the enslavement and colonization of African peoples throughout the centuries and still continues to do so in so many obvious and subtle ways. Religion I believe is one of the biggest things holding back the continent it makes us insular and intolerant of our fellow brothers and sisters and pushes other agendas that are anti-Africa think Uganda (the homosexuality thing) and any other country which has a predominant Muslim population (Nigeria, Somalia).
All in all I think 9/11 was an event that changed the world in my opinion for the worse. But mostly I think it was a missed opportunity by the US people and citizens to really ask pertinent questions of their role in the socio-economic and political structure in the world and whether your government (which is BY the people OF the people and FOR the people) properly represents your moral values when they interfere in foreign matters.
Please note that I am in no way abdicating our role as citizens in our own countries to ask better from our governments but unlike you Americans and Europeans we do not have the open and democratic spaces that you have to change our governments. And sometimes the forces outside us e.g. take the case of Africa (look at the news this year on foreign involvement in Africa) is greater than we are.
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Abagond – Thank you for sharing my post on your wonderful blog! I really appreciate your posts and learn a lot here! 🙂
Tyrone – Your Islamophobia and Orientalism is disgusting. Islam is the most racially diverse religious group in the United States, and most Muslims here are African American.
It’s repulsive how you’re accusing Muslims of victimizing themselves when there are so many horrible cases of racism, discrimination, hate crimes, profiling, detainment, etc. committed against them. When the NYPD and CIA target Muslim communities, they specifically target black Muslims more (google it).
You hate my religion, which is part of my identity. You’ve collectively cast us all as “threatening dark Others” who want to take over the world. You’re so quick to point fingers at Muslims, but you don’t seem to see the way white supremacy and western imperialism has exploited nations in Africa. Did you forget Malcolm X was Muslim?
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According to Islam, Christians are People of the Book, Ahl-ul-Kitab, and therefore natural allies against ‘Idolators’, or Mushrikoon, like the Indigenous People of Turtle Island and Africa.
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Jehanzeb, could you substantiate your claim about Islam in the USA?
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Teddy
I’m glad you asked. Here’s 2009 Gallup Poll:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/116260/muslim-americans-exemplify-diversity-potential.aspx
What saddens me more than white supremacy is seeing people of color internalize that racism and bigotry. We need to be united, not fighting against each other.
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Why would Muslims be automatically people of color? Islam is a religion, not a race.
Are zionist jews automatically people of color?
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Columnist
I swear I am going to write a post on this. Far too often I hear people dismiss Islamophobia by saying “Islam is a religion, not a race.”
Yes, Islam is a religion and you can be of any race to be a Muslim, including white. However, white supremacy and Orientalism RACIALIZES Islam and Muslims. That is why you hear about hate crimes and discrimination against Christian Arabs and South Asian Sikhs, Hindus, and others. These individuals have been targeted in hate crimes, bullying, profiling and vandalism because they’re perceived to be Muslim. It’s because Islamophobia racializes anyone who has brown skin, a beard, wears a turban or headscarf, as “Muslim.”
Not to mention that the majority of Muslims are people of color. When I spoke at an Islamophobia event with another speaker, non-Muslim students were asked to write the first thing that came to mind when they thought of a “Muslim man.” The words they came up with were: “Arabic,” “Dark-skinned,” “beard,” “turban,” “extremist,” “terrorist.” When they thought of “Muslim women,” they used words like, “oppressed,” “veiled,” “exotic,” “shy,” “obedient,” “Arab,” etc.
It’s impossible to not see how racialized Muslims are.
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Hello,
Being a Assyrian Christian, my people have been persecuted, raped and murdered by Muslims such as Jehanzeb even since their accursed prophet saw fit to spread his ‘religion’.
I consider myself white, even though most americans probably wont. But I don’t live in America so it don’t matter.
I guess the only thing bad about this is that we peaceful people gets lump in together with the bad ones who will try to corrupt and destroy the west. Whatever xenophobic/racist things people might do to us in the west, it pales in what they have already done to us. And I’m happy he’s getting a taste of what it is like being a minority in a Muslim country.
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Osroene
Wow, that was such a disgusting and insulting comment. You basically characterized me as someone who “persecutes, rapes, and murders your people.” If you take the time to read even one post on my blog, you’ll see that I constantly speak out against racism, sexual violence, genocide, and other forms of oppression.
You’re also pulling the flying carpet fallacy when you try to transport the conversation way from Islamophobia in the US. Read about it on my blog:
You’re essentially saying that you’re happy Muslims are getting harassed, beaten, detained, and profiled in the U.S. Shame on you.
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@ Jehanzeb:
It saddens me to see you being attacked here. The attacks being used against you are quite similar to the ones that racists use against PoC, and I find it sickening – you’re basically being told to “quit being so sensitive” and to “accept what you people do as facts” – just like I’m expected to do if I speak out against racism.
‘Divide and conquer’ – it’s an old trick that works wonders, even in this modern era…
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@Jehanzeb
The racialization comes from both sides. Why don’t “brown” (Turkish, Berber, Pakistani, Arabic, etc.) men have to wear beards to be accepted as Muslims?
Why do many self-professed Muslims refer to kuffar as whites?
Stormfront is an excellent example of ‘people’ who racialize Islam.
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@Osroene
Christianity was the ideology that was used to invade Turtle Island and to enslave Africa. If anything, Muslims are way to soft on Christians.
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@ Osroene
Thanks for your support! It is sad to see people of color internalize those white racist tactics. It only divides us.
@ Columnist
What are you talking about? I’m not following you. Refer to kuffar as whites? Where are you getting your information from?
Do you have Muslim friends? I’m talking about non-superficial friendships – have you been to their homes, have you met their families, do you know any Muslim artists and singers (like Senegal’s Youssou N’Dour or Mali’s Salif Keita?), have you read any books by Muslim authors and writers (like “The Muslim Next Door” by Sumbul Ali-Karamali), have you even heard about Muslim feminist movements (see Muslimah Media Watch and AltMuslimah)? If you read anything on my blog or anything by these Muslims I just mentioned, you’d see that we are not only self-critical (and that includes challenging racism, sexism, classism, etc. in our own communities), but also oppose the demonization of our faith.
Please stop resorting to Orientalist thinking and pretending like you can speak for Muslims. I am Muslim – *I* speak for my Faith, not you.
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Orientalist thinking is a bad thing; Moderate Islam does exist.
None of my observations are found in Orientalist literature, neither the Jihad Watch or the Stormfront variety. I visit online forums of Muslims, like http://www.maroc.nl, and have books by Sayyed Qutb.
It is very funny how some people claiming to be Muslims on the one hand state that race doesn’t matter, on the other hand playing a race card that doesn’t belong to them.
You use divide and conquer tactics against non-Muslims.
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Columnist
Can you not see my profile picture? I am a person of color. The rest of your comment is so utterly absurd and dismissive that it doesn’t deserve a reply. This will be my last response to you.
Peace.
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You really need to read my blog! I made my last prediction was October 20, 2011. The next on is December 5, 2011. 7 days before 12-5-2011 or 7 days after 12-5-2011. After December, I will not make another one about what country will receive a 9-11. October 20, 2011 was Libya 9-11. Read my blog.
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I find it weird that white supremist are not categorized as domestic terrorist??? When ever they are shown on t.v it’s only to show that racism is still alive…but nothing much else!
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This is truly bizarre. I am a white Southerner (wooooohooooo) writing a paper on why African American vernacular art hasn’t been accepted by the 21st century American fine art museum. I’m currently eating the 20th century fine art museum (as an institution) alive for this. One of the questions I pose to this lily-white, northeastern elitist group is: Why do some people in the the northeast (and the rest of the country, but esp. the NE) seem to have such blind inordinate (bigoted) hatred for the South? I Googled “perceived bias” and the search page led me here. Your discussion has been fascinating, so let me check myself on the bias factor: Honestly, in all honesty, how many of you hate or dislike the South? Where are you from?
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@ Jehanzeb on Sat 1 Oct 2011 at 18:47:22
@ Osroene
“Thanks for your support! It is sad to see people of color internalize those white racist tactics. It only divides us.”
This is total nonsense. It is Arab Christians who tell “white racists” that Islam sucks, not the other way around.
I cannot “see” that you are a person of color, as race is a scoi
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.. as race is a social construct. You construct yourself as Muslim, hence you construct yourself as raceless.
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This just goes to show how dangerous ignorance and fear is.This is very sad indeed.
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Reblogged this on newoozs and commented:
Something most of us don’t speak about
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The obvious answer is to leave the West and return to your own ancestors ons. Of course, most politicians are far too cowardly to suggest that these days.
What if we gave them a taste of their own medicine?
We should migrate en masse to their countries, become the majority in their major cities, refuse to assimilate in anything but the most superficial way (learning the local language while still speaking Arabic to your family is hardly assimilation, even when the males dress western, the females rarely do), get involved in politics in opposition to the will of the actual ethnic groups that created the country, etc…
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