Bigotry, Racism and American Media

As an American Muslim I am both saddened and frustrated at what is going on in our media. We are seeing blatant racist and bigoted slurs used by many pro-Israel commentators to incite anger and hatred while responding to the current crisis in the Middle East. Congressional candidates and syndicated columnists have portrayed Islam as "Murderous" and Palestinians as "lower than pond scum" or rag heads", "pieces of S--t" and "turds."

The "Murderous" claim came from Los Angeles Times syndicated columnist Cal Thomas who also stated that Islam is "the threat of the present and immediate future." He also stated that American Muslims are a threat to this country, warning that "the killing of racial minorities" will be "emulated…not just over "there but in this country." Is he trying to incite violence against American Muslim minority? Are Muslims in America a fair game for bigots and racists such as Cal Thomas?

Ric Keller, Republican candidate for Florida's 8th District, said at an October 12 event: "I fully support the forceful and swift response of the Israelis to the brutal attack of two soldiers who were killed by the Palestinian mob. I think the Palestinians are lower than pond scum for what they've done." Does he remember that over a 125 Palestinians have been killed by the Israelis including children as young as 18 months? Are Jewish lives somehow better than the Palestinian lives?

On October 14, columnist Scott Shuger in Microsoft's online publication Slate.com called one of the Palestinians who had participated in the killing of two Israeli soldiers "a piece of s--t posing as a human being" and other Palestinians as "turds."

MSNBC's Don Imus called Yasser Arafat a "dish rag head" in an October 17 broadcast. (Accuracy in Media) In a speech on October 13, former Secretary of Education William said "there is no moral equality between Israel and the Palestinians, one is a nation of violence and terrorism and the other is one of democracy and peace." (The Virginian-Pilot) How did this man with such a biased mind become the secretary of Education in America?

These attacks on Islam, Islamic Civilization and the Palestinian people appear to be part of a desperate attempt by the pro-Israel lobby to deflect attention away from that state's brutal and extremely excessive attacks on Palestinian civilians with automatic machine guns, helicopter gunships and tanks. The current cycle of violence and indiscriminate and excessive use of force by the Israeli Army and armed fanatical settlers has cost the lives of over 135 people; All but eight have been Muslim Palestinians. These Israeli apologists are using tactics of dehumanization and demonization similar to what Hitler did to Jews before and during WWII, supporters of Jim Crow in the 60s, and of Apartheid in the 70s and 80s. It didn't stop the march of freedom then, and it will not do so now.

Israel is the only so called democracy in that part of the world that treats its Arab citizens like the South Africans treated blacks during the apartheid era. Israelis have kidnapped people and have been holding them illegally against all international laws. Some of these people whose only crime is that they are Muslim have never seen the sun in years because they are kept alone in windowless dark cells. Yet Jewish settlers can murder Palestinians and get away with it or serve a few years in jail where they get to go home for weekends. Every year their sentences are reduced and eventually freed after serving a few years in the so-called jails. Why do you think the Jewish butcher who killed a child in New Jersey and dismembered his body with a chain saw fled to Israel? He will be out in a few years when things calm down.

Amnesty International reported as all of us have vividly seen that Israeli security forces consistently breached all international human rights standards and their own rules of engagement, which allow the use of lethal force and firearms only when life is in imminent danger. In trying to crush demonstrations since Sept. 29, Israeli military forces have repeatedly resorted to excessive use of lethal force in circumstances in which neither their lives nor the lives of others were in imminent danger, resulting in murder and unlawful killings.

We saw much hysteria after the bombing of the Oklahoma Federal Building. Jewish supporters saw an opportunity there and took full advantage of it. People like Don Imus, Cal Thomas, Steven Emerson, and countless others rushed to blame Muslims. Don Imus claimed on his national radio that this was the work of a well-trained Muslim organization stretching from Florida to Seattle and Maine to San Diego. As a result this caused a wave of hate crimes against Muslims. There were over 200-reported hate crime incidents against Muslims and many more went unreported. We all now know who the real killers were.

Ariel Sharon the man responsible for many Muslim deaths has gotten away with his crimes and may be further rewarded with a position in the Israeli government. He has managed to wreck the Middle East Peace Process, what little was left of it after the previous Israeli hard-line leader Mr. Netanyahu was done with it. He knew exactly what to do to attract attention and pressed the right buttons. He went to the Al-Aqsa Mosque not as he claims "in peace" but to show the Israeli's, Palestinians and the world who really is in charge of Haram-Al Sheriff. This is the man known in the Muslim world as the Butcher of Lebanon. His own country's commission found him guilty of the massacre of over 5,000 Palestinian men, women, and children in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. He has managed to display and completely get away with his hatred for the Muslims once again. This man should be indicted for war crimes and put in prison where he belongs, not in the Israeli Government.

Because of some bigoted people we are seeing new laws in our country that are violating our own constitution. Muslims are targets of racial profiles, discriminated against, and imprisoned using the so-called "Secret Evidence". This is where you don't know what you are charged with, you can't see the accusations against you, you can't see the evidence against you and you can't face your accusers. Does this sound like a democracy? As Candidate Mr. George Bush stated in the second Presidential Debate, Muslims are the targets of this little known law that allows immigration authorities to imprison people indefinitely. Most of the people in jail under this farce of a law are, you guessed it, Muslim.

Any violence stemming from this media tirade against Muslims will fall squarely on the shoulders of people who somehow have managed to ignore every wrong by Israel and have convinced themselves and now are trying to convince us that the aggressor is somehow the victim. So please let us at least try to be fair and show some spine while dealing with the very delicate question of Palestinian rights within the Mid-East Peace Process.