Fear, Inc. The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America

1. Fear, Inc.The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America

2. Fast Facts About The Islamophobia Network The funding -More than $40 million flowed from seven foundations over 10 years. The misinformation experts -Five key experts generate the false facts and materials used by political leaders, grassroots groups, and the media. -These experts travel the country and work with or testify before state legislatures calling for a ban on the nonexisting threat of Sharia law in America and proclaiming that the vast majority of mosques in our country harbor Islamist terrorists or sympathizers. The reach -The movement is moving nationwide in more than 23 states — made possible by a combination of new, single-minded Islamophobiagroups, exemplified by Brigitte Gabriel’s ACT! for America, Pam Geller’s Stop Islamization of America, David Horowitz’s Freedom Center, and existing groups such as the American Family Association and the Eagle Forum. -Experts are broadcast around the country and the world, with their work cited by (among others) confessed Norway terrorist Anders Breivik. -U.S. politicians such as Reps. Peter King (R-NY), Allen West (R-FL), and Michele Bachmann (R-MN) repeat these anti-Muslim attacks give credence to incorrect facts. The impact -This small network is driving the national and global debates that have real consequences on the public dialogue and on American Muslims. -In September 2010, a Washington Post-ABC News poll showed that 49 percent of Americans held an unfavorable view of Islam, a significant increase from 39 percent in October of 2002. Why it matters -These attacks go right to the heart of two critically important national issues: the fabric and strength of our democracy and our national security. Our Constitution upholds freedom of religion for all Americans. Contending that some religions are not part of the promise of American freedoms established by our founders directly challenges who we are as a nation. -One of Al Qaeda’s greatest recruitment and propaganda tool is the assertion that the West is at war with Islam and Muslims—an argument that is strengthened every day by those who suggest all Muslims are terrorists and all those practicing Islam are jeopardizing U.S. security.

3. Definition Of Islamophobia For the report, “Islamophobia” is defined as an exaggerated fear, hatred, and hostility toward Islam and Muslims that is perpetuated by negative stereotypes resulting in bias, discrimination, and the marginalization and exclusion of Muslims from America’s social, political, and civic life.

4. Muslim Americans Report They Have Become Targets According to the Pew Research Center, a quarter of Muslim Americans report that mosques or Islamic centers in their communities have been the target of controversy or outright hostility. While 14 percent report that there has been opposition to the building of a mosque or Islamic center in their community in the past few years, 15 percent say that a mosque or Islamic center in their community has been the target of vandalism or other hostile acts in the past 12 months.

5. Fox News Viewers Have Incorrect Views Of Islamophobia According to a report from the Brookings Institution and PRRI, roughly two-thirds of Republicans, Americans who identify with the Tea Party movement, and Americans who most trust Fox News agree that the values of Islam are at odds with American values. A majority of Democrats, Independents, and those who most trust CNN or public television disagree.

6. Key People In The Islamophobia Network

7. The movement is moving nationwide in more than 23 states.

9. THE FUNDING

10. The Islamophobia Network Reacts To ‘Fear, Inc.’ • Middle East Forum’s Daniel Pipes in The Washington Post: “I am not against the religion of Islam but am very much against the political ideology of Islamism, which I see as the third great totalitarian movement after fascism and communism. This lack of distinction points to the intellectually shoddy premise of the report.” • Jihad Watch’s Robert Spencer wrote on Human Events that the authors are assisting jihadists because the report “ignores jihad activity altogether, portraying Muslims as victims and demonizing all who stand in the way of the misogynistic and unjust agenda of the Islamic jihad, whether advanced by violent or nonviolent means. It thus reveals itself to be just another tool of those same jihadists.” • Center for Security Policy President Frank Gaffney bizarrely, and inaccurately, describes the report as CAP’s “…latest ‘copy and paste’ effort [duplicating] large sections of five nearly identical ‘investigations’ just this year, complaining that millions of concerned Americans are Islamophobes.” • Daniel Pipes’ PipeLineNews.org observed that the report “neatly falls into lockstep with the efforts being exerted by Muslim Brotherhood front groups to incrementally Islamize the West.” • Blogger Pamela Geller calls the report “a predictable misfired missile by Islamic supremacists and leftist useful idiots” and “a pile of dung masquerading as research” that “reads more like a Mein Kampf treatise.” She encourages her readers to “watch [the authors] choke on their own vomit” and concludes “they will never defeat me.” • Fox Business Network’s Eric Bolling, inaccurately attributed an outlandishly anti-Semitic quote to the report, saying, “I’m reading directly from this report: ‘The Obama-allied Center for American Progress has released a report that blames Islamophobia in America on a small group of Jews and Israel supporters in America, whose views are being backed by millions of dollars.’”

11. This “sharia-law business is crap. . .and I’m tired of dealing with the crazies!” – Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (The Nation, August 6, 2011)

12. Available at: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/08/islamophobia.html