Bigotry Awareness Week: On the so-called "Islamofascist" Awareness week
Mon Oct 22, 2007 at 08:36:41 PM PDT
Promoted to the front page by pastordan, who thinks the folks at Little Green Footballs linked to it because they recognized some kindred spirits in the story...
MuslimMatters's Ruth Nasrullah, describes her feelings as the shameful week of bigotry hits America's campuses (cross-posted with some great comments on MM here):
When I read about Islamo-Fascism Awareness week I was reminded of an interview I did while in graduate school studying journalism. I was assigned to cover an anti-war protest in Boston Commons, and while looking for people to interview I was intrigued to come across two Neo-Nazis who were there to protest the protest - or maybe just to take advantage of the day to express their disapproval of the diverse world they found themselves in. I recall that one of them was wearing a t-shirt that applauded the effects of Zyklon B gas.
I asked them for an interview because the assignment was boring and I thought they would be interesting. (I should note that back then I didn’t wear hijab, so as far as they were concerned I was an ordinary blue-eyed white girl). I no longer have my notes, but as I recall the interview was kind of stupid. They were skinheads and I was a journalism student proudly honing my skills at unbiased interviewing.
Q: Why are you here?
A: To support the war and promote white power.
Q: Oh, you believe in white power? What does that mean?
A: It means we believe the Aryan race is superior and America needs to go back to its white roots.
Q: Okay, thanks for your time. Have a nice day.
As a reporter, it was a big yawn. What I saw is what I got.
I thought about my interview with the Neo-Nazis in the park when I read about Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week. Not because the week’s organizers are as evil as Nazis, but rather because I was struck by the difference between the two. The Neo-Nazis were quite up front about their ideology of hate. The IFAW organizers cloak their agenda with the spectacular promise that "the nation will be rocked by the biggest conservative campus protest ever – Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, a wake-up call for Americans on 200 university and college campuses." Rocked? Biggest ever? Wake-up call? How silly. Get over yourselves.
Their attempt to intellectualize their bigotry doesn’t legitimize it.
David Horowitz, the genius behind this project, is an anti-Muslim propagandist who, along with colleagues Robert Spencer and Daniel Pipes, claims to support academic integrity in higher education. In fact their goal is to vilify all Muslims by mish-mashing together historical and political issues with the faith - as though Ahmadinejad is my voice and Hamas is my religion.
Horowitz’ FrontPage Magazine hosts a propaganda film (replete with the menacing sound of staccato violins) equating Muslims with Nazis. To me that’s particularly ironic because the IFAW brought to mind those guys I met in the park in Boston.
Anyone who bothers to educate himself about Islam will realize how nonsensical - and how dangerous - the "Islamo-Fascism Awareness" campaign is, and will begin to wonder about the real motivation of its organizers. The IFAW troops could take a lesson from the Neo-Nazis and just tell the truth. Instead of expending resources falsely claiming to defend freedom and support women’s rights, perhaps they could save us all time and just wear a t-shirt.
