“Islamophobia can create radicalisation,” says Zogby. No, Einstein, “radicalization” creates “Islamophobia.” In other words, the only reason why any non-Muslim looks critically at Islam at all is because Muslims keep performing acts of violence and subversion, and making threats, while justifying them with reference to Islamic texts and teachings. Muslims and non-Muslim useful idiots like Zogby characterize any such critical examination as “Islamophobia,” but this is just a manipulative coinage designed to stifle any such criticism, which would have the effect of letting the jihadists proceed unchallenged.
“Islamophobia can create radicalisation,” by James Zogby in The Nation (Pakistan), March 7:
Let me state quite directly: Islamophobia and those who promote it are a greater threat to the United States of America than Anwar al-Awlaqi and his ragtag team of terrorists.
Did you catch that? “Islamophobia,” by which Zogby means a critical look at how jihadists use the texts and teachings of Islam to justify violence and supremacism, is worse than repeatedly inciting to mass murder, as al-Awlaki has done.
On one level, al-Awlaqi, from his cave hideout in Yemen, can only prey off of alienation where it exists. Adopting the persona of a latter-day Malcolm X (though he seems not to have read the last chapters of the “Autobiography” or learned the lessons of Malcolm’s ultimate conversion), he appears street smart, brash, self-assured and assertive – all of the assets needed to attract the lost or wounded souls looking for certainty and an outlet for their rage. Like some parasites, al-Awlaqi cannot create his own prey. He must wait for others to create his opportunities, which until now have been isolated and limited – a disturbed young man here, an increasingly deranged soldier there.
Islamophobia, on the other hand, if left unchecked, may serve to erect barriers to Muslim inclusion in America, increasing alienation, especially among young Muslims. Not only would such a situation do grave damage to one of the fundamental cornerstones of America’s unique democracy, it would also simultaneously rapidly expand the pool of recruits for future radicalisation….
Note that Zogby is writing this in a Pakistani paper. Pakistan is almost entirely Muslim. There is no “Islamophobia” there, and Muslims experience no alienation. And yet jihad activity is quite common there. Now, why is that?