Free Republic

Only two days after admitting that Barack Obama has a problem with his "frightening" birth control decision, Chris Matthews on Thursday was back on offense. He berated Rick Santorum as a "theocrat" and knocked Reverend Franklin Graham as a "disgrace." The Hardball host singled out Family Research Council President Tony Perkins as the representative of all those who would question Obama's faith. Matthews interrogated, "Tony, do you think this president is a Muslim?" He added, "Why [do] your people" make such allegations? An exasperated Perkins replied, "no" and shot back, "My people?...The things that we have said have always been...

The U.S. Military Academy pressured a retired U.S. lieutenant general to withdraw from speaking at a West Point prayer breakfast after Muslims and atheists complained, Fox News & Commentary has learned. Retired Lt. Gen. William Boykin was scheduled to deliver a speech at West Point on Feb. 8. But late Monday, the military academy released a statement saying he had decided to withdraw from speaking and would be replaced with another speaker. However, a source close to the controversy told Fox News & Commentary that Boykin was pressured to withdraw. “It was very clear they wanted General Boykin to withdraw,”...

The Council on American-Islamic Relations announced Monday night that it had successfully prevented retired Lieutenant General William G. “Jerry” Boykin from speaking at an upcoming prayer breakfast at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. “We welcome Mr. Boykin’s withdrawal from this event and hope that the speaker who replaces him will offer cadets a spiritual message that promotes tolerance and mutual understanding,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad in a statement. West Point initially balked at the calls to remove Boykin — a former military intelligence officer — from the event. Lt. Col. Sherri Reed of West Point...

JEDDAH: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Thursday expressed alarm over the anti-Islam rhetoric coming out as the US presidential elections race heats up as well as over the recent results of parliamentary elections in some European countries. “The rise in Islamophobia in Western politics is a great concern for the OIC,” said Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary-general of the OIC. The radical right-wing parties have won significant political weight in the parliaments in Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Hungary, the Netherlands, Sweden and France as well as the European Parliament; in addition, such groups as the English Defense League in Britain and...

The Center for American Progress is the extraordinarily well-funded hard-Left organization that published a highly deceptive and misleading report on the Muslim Brotherhood neologism "Islamophobia" last year. Now it is unmasked not only as an enabler of jihad and Islamic supremacism, but as -- surprise, surprise -- antisemitic as well.

The Obama administration is drawing fire for yielding what critics see as a huge propaganda victory to Islamist regimes seeking to curb American speech deemed "offensive" to Muslims. The State Department hosted a three-day, closed-door meeting last week with representatives of the Saudi Arabia-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on measures to fight religious "intolerance, negative stereotyping and stigmatization." In her closing remarks, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton portrayed the conference as a sign that Washington and the OIC are working together to protect religious freedom around the world. "We have to get past the idea that we can suppress...

Imagine the media attention that would be garnered if any non-Muslim in the U.S. did something as sensationalistically violent and dramatic as to dress as Santa Claus and commit a mass murder against his own family at a Christmas gathering. But this past weekend, a Muslim man in Texas who was reportedly angry at his family for becoming too westernized committed just such an egregious act, resulting in the deaths of seven people, as documented this morning by FNC's Fox and Friends.

The colors of the American flag are red, white and blue, but the colors of the Center for American Progress are red, white and green. Red for the left and green for Islam. The Center for American Progress is not just any organization. Headed up by John Podesta, a co-chairman of Obama’s transition team and backed by a 38 million dollar annual budget, it is George Soros’ most ambitious attempt to turn his Shadow Party into a shadow government. CAP is the organization with the single greatest influence on the Obama White House and its foreign and domestic policy. CAP...

The couple chose an idyllic resort in the Maldives as the perfect place to renew their marriage vows and pledge everlasting love. But their happiness has turned to humiliation after the wedding video was posted on YouTube and subtitles disclosed that their "Islamic blessing", which was conducted by a hotel employee in the native Dhivehi language, was in fact a stream of insults. "You are swine. The children that you bear from this marriage will all be bastard swine. Your marriage is not a valid one," he intoned as the couple held up their hands in prayer, blissfully unaware of...

(AP) COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Maldives has ordered hundreds of luxury resorts to close their spas after protesters demanded a halt to "anti-Islamic" activities. The Indian Ocean archipelago with 1,192 tiny coral islands is known for its exquisite resorts. A statement from the president's office said the government decided to close massage parlors and spas in the Maldives after an opposition-led religious protest last week called for their closure. Thousands at the protest called on the government to halt what they called "anti-Islamic" activities. Sunni Islam is the official religion in the Maldives and

As I noted here, Dean Obeidallah is making a film about the trumped-up concept of "Islamophobia," and he would really like to interview me for it. So after I wrote this yesterday, we had another exchange, and I thought there might be an opportunity for some honest dialogue. So I asked Obeidallah to answer these questions, and told him I'd be interviewed for his film if he did so: 1. True or false: No comedy show, no matter how clever or winning, is going to eradicate the suspicion that many Americans have of Muslims. This is because Americans are concerned...

The other day the New York Times invited a few contributors to answer the question “Is America’s religious freedom under threat?” The answer provided by Salam Al-Marayati, head of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), in an essay entitled “A Campaign Against Patriotic Muslims,” was a resounding yes – at least, that is, where his co-religionists are concerned. Among Al-Marayati’s assertions: “religious freedom for the Muslim American is under threat….Today’s anti-Muslim rhetoric is eerily similar to the pre-Nazi rhetoric against Jews….Hate against Muslim children in elementary and secondary schools is on the rise.” There is, insisted Al-Marayati, “an inquisition mentality...

“An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.” Sir Winston Churchill When Historians will look back to these times in the History of Contemporary America, they will certainly wonder, how come the Superpower of the World was conquered without a drop of blood running in the streets... Another major Muslim conquest, the one that took place in Spain between 711 and 718, entered History marked by bloody battles in different cities where revolts and resistance opposed the invasion and takeover by the Islamic invaders. They did not take it over smoothly as they are...

Paul Marshall of the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom Washington D.C., Dec 6, 2011 / 02:51 pm (CNA).- A religious liberty expert is concerned that the U.S. State Department appears to be collaborating with a group that has worked to outlaw criticism of Islam around the world.“The U.S. government should not be getting into the business of trying to shape what people say about religion,” said Paul Marshall, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom.Marshall made his remarks to CNA on Dec. 5, after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton invited the Saudi Arabia-based Organization of...

True democracy can no more take hold in Islamic soil than a rose can grow in a glass vase ... no matter how much water it contains. This is a true statement and many Islamists know that this is a true statement. Tell that to the politically correct segment of our society. This segment, whether it is the mainstream media or foreign policy makers, is afflicted with "opposite disorder ' or better described as "Islamophilia." "What is Islamophilia?," you ask. It is the irrational and self-destructive desire to show how enlightened and morally superior you are by bending over backwards...

Revolutions are known to devour their children, and popular uprisings driven by the promise of change for the better have been notorious for turning into nightmares. The so-called Arab Spring is another dark night unfolding across the Middle East. This was predictable, and inevitable. The Tunisian fruit-seller who sparked this Arab Spring by self-immolating was a man driven to despair by the very culture into which he was born, and from which he knew there was no escape. The act of self-immolation was a terrible display of despair of a desperate man. And so is the political drama in Arab...

A parliamentary group to tackle Islamophobia has been re-launched at Westminster, with the support of MPs from across the political divide. The group originally sparked controversy after it was revealed that an anti-Zionist organisation was to act as its secretariat. The newly reformed All-Party Parliamentary Group on Islamophobia was set up last week and will begin work immediately on an inquiry into the extent of anti-Muslim prejudice in Britain today. The APPG will be co-chaired by Liberal Democrat deputy leader Simon Hughes; Khalid Mahmood, Labour MP for Perry Barr, Birmingham; and Stuart Andrew, Conservative MP for Pudsey, Leeds. MPs voted...

"In this scene from "Islamophobia," Tommy Robinson of the English Defence League takes "Vanguard" correspondent on a tour of the neighborhood where he grew up, which he says has been taken over by radical Islamists. The drive quickly turns into a heated argument with a Muslim man passing by who recognizes Tommy." http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ae5_1320786379

There’s a longstanding joke, around since young people first started dabbling in New Age spirituality, that the “faith” of rebellious youth who call themselves “spiritual but not religious” is A.B.C. — Anything But Christianity. It’s hard not to see that concept underlying most mainstream discussions of religious issues these days, most notably in recent public discussions of Islam. Richard Landes writes in London’s Telegraph (Aug. 24) about an “elite that controls much of the discussion in the public sphere (journalists, academics, talking heads, mainstream politicians) and who fear being called Islamo­phobes and racists more than they fear Islamist racists.” This...

Islamic bigotry is a term that has been used to describe radical Islam, Islamic intolerance.Already used, at least as early as 1895, to describe the 1453 Turkish-Islamic massacre of Christians.[1].In 1924, an Islamic magazine defined it to differentiate it from moderate Islam.[2]It was used (in a 1967 book) vis-a-vis Pakistani Islamic motivated bigotry against the Ahmadiya, since at least 1953.[3] In 1971 on anti-Indian Islamic bigotry.[4] In a 1979 book on Iran, on anti-Bahai bigotry.[5] In a 2002 book on Pakistan anti-Christian rampage, Afghanistan and Indonesia.[6] In 1997, on Islamic bigotry being "progressive movement of history."[7] In 1998 author used...

From a purely academic point of view, this translation is superior to anything produced by orientalists in the way of translations of major Islamic works.” Taha Jabir al-Alwani was writing about Reliance of the Traveller, the English version of Umdat al-Salik, the classic manual of sharia (“Islamic Sacred Law,” as the cover of Reliance puts it). Alwani is no lightweight in these matters. His specialty is fiqh — Islamic jurisprudence. In fact, he has been a member of the Islamic Fiqh Academy in Saudi Arabia and is renowned among orientalist scholars in the West as president of the Fiqh Council...

<p>The workers drive the company's rental cars to and from the airport for cleaning and refueling. They are among 34 Hertz employees suspended Sept. 30 for failing to clock out before breaks.</p> <p>The Seattle Times reports that Hertz says nine of the 34 signed the agreement and have returned to their jobs.</p>

The recently released report "Fear, Inc.: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America," from the George Soros-funded Center for American Progress (CAP), purports to expose a sinister network of American "Islamophobes" funded by a "flood of cash" who manufacture conspiracy theories about Islam, spread hate and bigotry against all Muslim-Americans, and inspire violence toward them, all for financial and political gain. But in fact, the very concept of Islamophobia is manufactured propaganda used by the subversive Muslim Brotherhood and their leftist support network to demonize and silence critics of Islamic fundamentalism. The authors of "Fear, Inc." are counting on...

Iran’s Khomeinist news agency, Press TV – long recognized for its Jihadist-supporting broadcasts – has published what is being referred to as a veritable “hit piece” against many leading U.S. media companies, commentators, antiterrorism experts, legislators, and at least one presidential candidate – calling several by name – in what the news agency considers to be “The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America.” And what observers fear may reveal a more sinister motive.

It has been just about a decade since Islamophobia exploded in this country. That was of moment that the World Trade Center and Pentagon were hit by al Qaeda terrorists. It existed prior to 9/11, but the losses that day and the general terror it inflicted upon this country made many, many Americans much more wary of Arabs and, fairly quickly, fearful of the religion the terrorists professed. The first sign that 9/11 would be exploited to advance various agendas came from Binyamin Netanyahu, who was quoted in the New York Times as saying the attacks would be good for...

As I have mentioned previously, one of major goals of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is to stop “Islamophobia”, which is its preferred term for the criticism of or opposition to Islam by non-Muslims. The word “Islamophobia” is of relatively recent coinage. I never encountered it until after 9-11, and it was subjected to widespread ridicule, at least among non-Muslims and non-leftists, when it first became widely known. However, after the OIC and the UN harped on it for a few years, and the progressive media solemnly repeated the Muslim party line, “Islamophobia” gained general currency as a serious,...

Moving rapidly to criminalize telling the truth about how Islamic jihadists use the texts and teachings of Islam to encourage violence and supremacism. Free Speech Death Watch Alert, and an update on this story: "OIC/Islamophobia: OIC Observatory warned since 2009 against the growth of the extreme right in Europe, Washington plans to host a meeting on resolution opposing defamation of religions," from the International Islamic News Agency, August 1 (thanks to all who sent this in): JEDDAH, Ramadan 1/Aug 1 (IINA)-During the next few months, Washington plans to host a coordination meeting to discuss with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation...

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) uses Press TV, the biased English-language channel run by the Iranian government, as a platform to peddle its favored meme of "Islamophobia" in the U.S. One clip spotlighted last month by the Investigative Project (IPT) features CAIR communications director Ibrahim Hooper lamenting "a cottage industry of Muslim bashers," "Islamophobic groups," and "right-wing politicians and commentators pushing anti-Muslim sentiment in our society." However, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

I have been away from the Internet for the weekend, and return to find myself being fitted out for a supporting role in Friday’s evil slaughter in Norway. The mass murderer Breivik published a 1,500-page “manifesto.” It quotes me, as well as several friends of NR — Theodore Dalrymple, Daniel Pipes, Roger Scruton, Melanie Phillips, Daniel Hannan (plus various pieces from NR by Rod Dreher and others) — and many other people, including Churchill, Gandhi, Orwell, Jefferson, John Locke, Edmund Burke, Bernard Shaw, Mark Twain, not to mention the U.S. Declaration of Independence.* Those new “hate speech” codes the Left...

The newest threat to the eurozone may be coming from the North. This morning, Denmark reintroduced customs checkpoints on its borders with Germany and Sweden, in a move that threatens the integrity of passport-free travel within the EU. The European Commission is up in arms over Denmark's actions, saying that it will "take all necessary steps" to enforce EU law. Since its adoption in 1995, the Schengen accord has allowed people and goods to move freely among most European countries. Proponents of the treaty tout its positive influence on trade: According to FT columnist Andrew Hall: "Among the first beneficiaries...

WASHINGTON, June 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the University of California, Berkeley's Center for Race and Gender today released a report based on available data and interviews with experts that documents growing Islamophobia in the United States and offers recommendations about how to challenge the troubling phenomenon. [Dr. Hatem Bazian, founder of the Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project at UC Berkeley, spoke at the Washington, D.C., news conference held this morning at CAIR's Capitol Hill headquarters to announce the release of the report.] The groundbreaking report –- titled "Same Hate, New Target: Islamophobia and...

Islamophobia is back on the rise in the U.S. despite cautious optimism in 2008 that post-Sept. 11 anti-Muslim sentiments had begun to decline, according to a report released today by the University of California at Berkeley and a national Islamic rights group. The authors of "Same Hate, New Target: Islamophobia and Its Impact in the United States 2009-10" found that Americans' favorable rating of Islam is only 30 percent -- down 10 percentage points from November 2001, according to a Pew Research Center study. "Same Hate, New Target," which was co-sponsored by UC Berkeley's Center for Race and Gender and...

Islamic Group Asks Napolitano To Investigate ‘Islamophobic’ Trainers Tuesday, May 24, 2011 By Penny Starr (CNSNews.com) – An Islamic civil rights group has sent a letter to the Secretary of Homeland Security asking her to investigate whether “outside trainers” in charge of training national security personnel are “Islamophobic.” On Monday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, distributed a press release about the letter, of the same date, addressed to Janet Napolitano. CAIR charges in the letter that an “agency-wide” probe should be launched to determine if trainers “offer hostile, stereotypical and grossly inaccurate information about Muslims and Islam” as...

"Governor Daniels showed us he was a man of his word and has stood by the commitments he made during the 2004 pre-election Iftar," stated Alia Shah, Executive Director of MAI. Local Muslims say such political connections are important if their concerns are to be heard in government. But faith, rather than politics, was the key topic Monday night -- the first iftar held at an Indiana governor's home. Several Muslim leaders called it historic. "To be blessed to make prayer at the governor's residence is significant," said Michael Saahir, an imam from the Nur-Allah Islamic Center on the Northside....

“Islamophobic!  Ignorant!”  cried two Imams recently on their way to an Islamophobia conference.  Two Memphis clerics, dressed in Muslim garb were removed from a flight because, according to the pilot, the passengers were “uncomfortable.”  Forty- eight hours later, dozens of news stories decried the injustice of it all while only one reported that a cleric had gone into the airplane bathroom for an extended period of time and departed leaving apparent damage.   No news report reminded readers that Osama Bin Laden had been killed less than a week before or that the cry for vengeance was subsequently ringing out.  None of...

There’s no page for Christophobia on Wikipedia. Uniquely, the “free encyclopedia” feels more comfortable with the milder term, Anti-Christian sentiment. As well, readers are informed: “This article is about negative attitudes towards Christians. For criticism of the doctrines and practices of Christianity, see Criticism of Christianity.” Just in case you didn’t know! Furthermore, the linked “criticism” looks, oddly enough, like anti-Christian mythology masquerading as history. Some would call this an example of Christophobia. The authors (leftwing Democrats in pajamas my guess) also list the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, and Israel as examples “of anti-Christian sentiment in politics and culture” as...

... The Western punishments [for speaking out against Islamism] are as follows: One loses one's left, liberal, and feminist friends. One is not invited to their parties, funerals, or conferences. One is not invited to lecture. One's past contribution is written out of their history. Meanwhile, one is forced to debate vicious liars and propagandists in order to be "heard" at all. One is shouted out of classrooms and lecture halls or forced to speak under hostile, tense, oppressive, and potentially dangerous working conditions. One requires bodyguards on campus. ...

New York City About 1,000 Muslims and Leftist anti-war activists met at Union Square in New York City on Saturday for a “Stop War/Terrorism/Islamophobia” rally. The rally was organized by a coalition of leftist anti-war activists and Muslim groups, including the Islamic Circle of North America and the Muslim Peace Coalition USA.Most of the protesters for this well-organized event had arrived in a long line of yellow school busses. Most protest signs were professionally made and bore the stamp of the group being represented. Speakers called for revolution world wide against war and Islamophobia

Pavlov had a dog. The Organization of the Islamic Conference has the United Nations and President Obama. The OIC, the largest voting bloc at the UN, has an agenda. Their agenda is a one-two punch. First, don't say anything negative about Islam. Second, blame all of the world's problems on Israel, specifically the Jewish communities called "settlements." The UN's and Obama's conditional responses to all things Islam and Israel are helping throw the OIC's one-two punch at the world hard and fast.For over a decade, the OIC has systematically worked to criminalize the "defamation of Islam" and to protect Islam...

The Islamophobia panic, heightened by Peter King’s congressional hearings on radicalization, has spilled over into Canada. Leftist media outlets like CNN have substantial influence on public discourse, and now, the publicly funded Canadian broadcaster CBC has decided to make the hearings a top item on its daily program “As it Happens.” The program’s approach seeks to undermine the credibility of the hearings and add to the Islamophobia hysteria spurred on by the Muslim Brotherhood. First, the CBC omitted a statement from King’s opening words that: “the overwhelming majority of Muslim-Americans are outstanding Americans and make enormous contributions to our country.”...

Islamophobia was invented to silence those Muslims who question the Koran and who demand equality of the sexes. By Pascal Bruckner At the end of the 1970s, Iranian fundamentalists invented the term "Islamophobia" formed in analogy to "xenophobia". The aim of this word was to declare Islam inviolate. Whoever crosses this border is deemed a racist. This term, which is worthy of totalitarian propaganda, is deliberately unspecific about whether it refers to a religion, a belief system or its faithful adherents around the world.

‘IS AMERICA Islamophobic?’ When that provocative question appeared on the cover of Time in August, the accompanying story strained to imply, on the basis of some anecdotal evidence, that the answer might be yes. The FBI’s latest compendium of US hate-crimes data suggests far more plausibly that the answer is no. .......And whenever naked anti-Islamic bigotry has appeared, “it has been denounced by many Christian, Jewish, and secular groups.’’ America is many things, but “Islamophobic’’ plainly isn’t one of them. As Time itself acknowledged: “Polls have shown that most Muslims feel safer and freer in the US than anywhere else...

When that provocative question appeared on the cover of Time in August, the accompanying story strained to imply, on the basis of some anecdotal evidence, that the answer might be yes. The FBI’s latest compendium of US hate-crimes data suggests far more plausibly that the answer is no. “Where ordinary Americans meet Islam, there is evidence that suspicion and hostility are growing,’’ the Time article said. “To be a Muslim in America now is to endure slings and arrows against your faith — not just in the schoolyard and the office but also outside your place of worship and in...

Check out Andrew Klavan shedding light on the Left’s new cause. Klavan is satirizing a Time Magazine article called "Is America Satanophobic?" and the lefts obsession with Islamophobia in the ground Zero Mosque debate. Klavan on the culture is very humorous as usual.

Chicago-area Muslims gathered Sunday to combat Islamophobia with a host of workshops geared toward challenging hateful stereotypes and finding solutions. Speakers encouraged roughly 250 attendees at a conference in Rosemont to speak to their neighbors, join community groups and engage their public officials to counter fear spreading about Islam.

I come to defend Elizabeth Moon. Not because she really needs help—the lady is perfectly capable of standing on her own. Not because I’m a fan of hers. I have a couple of her books in the stack, but haven’t had time to read recreationally in years. Not because she’s a fellow vet, though that would be a good enough reason. Not because we agree politically. As I understand, she’s quite liberal, and I’m a militant anarchist. I come to defend her because she’s right. In dumbed-down America, being right is a social crime. Please note that the below blog...

(Oct. 21) -- NPR has fired longtime news analyst Juan Williams after he told the Fox News Channel that he gets nervous when he sees Muslims on airplanes. Williams appeared on "The O'Reilly Factor" on Monday, and host Bill O'Reilly asked him what he thought about the idea that America is facing a "Muslim dilemma." The Fox News personality caused a stir recently on ABC's "The View," when co-hosts Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg walked off the set to protest his comments blaming Muslims for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. NPR Fires Analyst For Saying He's Scared of Muslims Brendan...

Tuesday, October 12, 2010 By Patrick Goodenough (CNSNews.com) – Spurred by the controversies over Quran-burning and the planned Ground Zero mosque, the most visible Islamic advocacy organization in the United States says it is launching a department to deal with “Islamophobia.” In doing so, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is following the example of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the 57-member bloc of Islamic states. The OIC set up an “observatory” five years ago to monitor and report on incidents and trends around the world it regards as amounting to “Islamophobia.” CAIR, which calls itself “America’s largest...

CAIR Launches Islamophobia Dept. at Sold-Out BanquetMon Oct 11, 11:40 am ET WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A prominent national Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization has announced the launch of a department devoted to addressing the alarming rise of Islamophobic sentiment in American society. The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) made that announcement at its 16th annual banquet on Saturday in Arlington, Va. Some 900 Muslim community members and activists, interfaith leaders and diplomats attended the sold-out banquet. CAIR said it exceeded its goals for fundraising at the banquet. Almost 300 Muslims from around the nation also attended...

A warning against Islamophobia A threat to burn the Koran by a fringe American religious denomination, controversy over a proposed mosque near the scene of the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and assaults on Islamic symbols in European countries have been a major talking point for Muslim nations. Normally strong allies of the West have spoken out at the UN against the growing religious tensions. Many were embarrassed by comments by Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad linking the US government to 9/11, diplomats said. But Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, emir of Qatar, who has launched Western-backed diplomatic...