"Islamophobia is a fake concept"

We've all heard the meme... so succinctly expressed by Pamela Taylor at The Washington Post:

As we all struggle to make sense of the terrible events at Fort Hood, it is all too easy to blame a particular religion or a particular ethnic background. No doubt, certain pundits will have a field day, using this tragedy to proclaim yet again that Islam is a terrorist religion and Muslims or Arabs are violent and not to be trusted. Those who have more a favorable view of Islam and Muslims will realize that the shootings do not reflect Islamic teachings and that the vast majority of American Muslims are appalled at such violence.

Until we know more about Maj. Nidal's motives we should not jump to conclusions, and certainly we should not declare that he had religious/political motivations simply because he was Muslim.

The shootings at Fort Hood raise many questions. Major Nidal complained of being treated poorly by fellow soldiers because he was Muslim. It got bad enough, according to a New York Times article, that he hired a lawyer to seek to end his military career early. This request was denied, and he remained in the military. How severely did Islamophobic treatment by the very people he was trying to serve impact Maj. Hasan? How did the army's refusal to let him end his service early, even though he agreed to pay off the cost of his education, affect his feelings about the army? What kind of stresses are Muslim soldiers placed under when they are deployed to areas where they are killing fellow Muslims, and perhaps people of similar ethnic background? Is the army taking extra precautions to deal with the additional stresses these soldiers are under?

Unsurprisingly, her mindset is shared by Barack Hussein Obama.... and many, many other Leftists, to our detriment and the detriment of  all of Western society.

Phyllis Chesler at PajamasMedia has cogent and relevant and brilliant things to say about it all:

We had all better learn this, beginning with the U.S. Army. The army must become free of political correctness; otherwise, there will be more Ft. Hoods, more single-cell operatives. There is a difference between “jumping to conclusions” and making a rational, reasoned judgment based on fact and experience. The Army should mandate the reporting of jihadic or Islamist statements by its soldiers. No one should be penalized for making such reports.

Islamophobia is a fake concept; there is no anti-Muslim backlash

Fake phrases and fake concepts like “Islamophobia” gave Major Hasan all the cover he needed. Even soldiers and other psychiatrists in the American Army were afraid of reporting Hasan’s Islamist (not Islamic) rants lest they be seen as “racists” or as “Islamophobic,” lest they be written up, demoted, even dishonorably discharged.

The politically correct concept of “Islamophobia” was as much behind the trigger as Major Hasan was.

Americans have been propagandized: The Islamophobia narrative as propaganda

Islamists are very clever and have launched a successful campaign to treat a totalitarian and apartheid system as a persecuted race, as a victim. The terrorist jihadist is always the victim. There is no anti-Muslim backlash. Hell no! The fact that Major Hasan was not ejected from the army because his colleagues feared death by lawsuit/loss of their careers is perfect proof of that.

Deliberate confusion
The term “Islamophobia” is a deliberate attempt to combine criticism of a belief system with hatred of a people because of the color of their skin. Thus “Islamophobia” is wrongfully allied with the real horrors of racism.

“Islamophobia” is a nonsense term. A “phobia” is an “irrational fear.” “Claustrophobia” is irrational because enclosed spaces do not tend to kill you. But given the permanent intifada against Israel; a high level of Muslim-on-Muslim crime, including terrorism and honor killings; a fearfully mounting death toll; and the realities of Islamic (not Islamist) gender and religious apartheid, we actually have many reasons to be fearful of some – certainly not all – aspects of Islam. Women, gay men and Jews have particular reason to be fearful. As do civilian commuters in major European cities, tourists in Asia and Africa, and American soldiers on military bases.

It’s not “phobic” to be worried about Islam/Islamism. It is eminently rational, given that since 9/11, there have been more than 14,000 jihadic attacks against civilians around the world. This does not include battlefront statistics.

Do not demonize the truth teller, deal with the issues

But to think that the answer to any criticism of Islam or Muslims is to demonize its critics and to indulge in exaggerated self-pity is to make the world more dangerous for us all.

The truth
America is fighting back in a war that radical, jihadic Islamists have declared against Israel and the West, especially against America. The Islamists have managed to persuade western leftists, academics, politicians, and the media that America and Israel are waging a war on Islam. It’s what Osama bin Laden thinks.

Brainwashed People believe that the attacker is really the victim

The jihadist is always the victim. Men have been forced into becoming terrorists, forced to hijack planes and fly them into the World Trade Center, forced to shoot down soldiers at Ft. Hood or blow up civilians, both Muslims and infidels, in Israel and all across the Middle East because the jihadist’s land was being “occupied” by infidels or because they were being forced to fight an American war against other Muslims. (By the way, Muslim-on-Muslim crime, including terrorist crime, is the real, hidden story here). Finally, the jihadist is always the victim because, poor guy, he is “mentally ill” and needs our help and understanding.

Ms. Chesler makes the point, time and again, on separating Islam from Islamists, the Muslim faith from the faith practiced by Jihadists... and it's a point I believe to be flawed, a topic for another day perhaps... but her points excerpted here are pointed and true and should be read and passed on.

It truly is a life and death issue.

Crossposted(*).

Comments

[chuck aka xtnyoda]

Let's see now... during WW2... in Europe... the enemy was white Christians... and white Christian Americans went and killed the hell out of them... and rightly so.

[Mommynator]

Phyllis Chesler is one of the few writers on Pajamas Media that I go out of my way to read. It's not just that she knows things, she's lived them.

[tim aka The Godless Heathen]

I love how Taylor says “Until we know more about Maj. Nidal's motives we should not jump to conclusions” but them immediately…jumps to her own conclusions –

“Major Nidal complained of being treated poorly by fellow soldiers because he was Muslim. It got bad enough, according to a New York Times article, that he hired a lawyer to seek to end his military career early.”

No, he was conflicted about going to war against Muslims because he empathized with them rather than with the oath he took to wear the uniform..

“How severely did Islamophobic treatment by the very people he was trying to serve impact Maj. Hasan?”

Who said there was any? Glad she didn’t jump to any conclusions. There simply is no proof to support this cockamamie BS. Major Nidal didn’t submit any complaints that we know of but ironically many people had a problem with him, but we shouldn’t jump to nay conclusions, I forgot.

Nicely done though Taylor, throw it out there in a form of a question and it makes it OK. Like, how long have you been beating your kids, Mrs. Taylor? It’s just a question; I’m not jumping to nay conclusions here.

“What kind of stresses are Muslim soldiers placed under when they are deployed to areas where they are killing fellow Muslims, and perhaps people of similar ethnic background? Is the army taking extra precautions to deal with the additional stresses these soldiers are under?”

Ah yes, the ole “stress” can’t be emphasized enough in defending a Muslim. How many soldiers/marines with ACTUAL combat experience have returned here and NOT shot and killed 13 people?

If tomorrow, people of Irish/Swedish/Dutch decent started blowing up innocent people, I wouldn’t hesitate to call for their death. Strange how Taylor thinks Muslims have a legitimate excuse to NOT want to kill their fellow Muslims who are committing the most heinous murder, mayhem and terrorism around the globe including, most importantly, against their fellow Muslims.

But let’s take her premise at face value, that killing fellow Muslims disproportionately “stresses out” Muslims, then let’s get rid of ALL Muslims in the military. Works for me.