Geller & Spencer and another sensationalized story about evil Muslims

by Sheila Musaji

Pamela Geller posted an article which is a reposting of a Robert Spencer article,  which is a reposting of an article from The Citizen Muslim clerics warned against hate sermons about an incident that happened in Tanzania.  They both also tweeted about this story using the #MyJihad hashtag and their followers have reposted/retweeted hundreds of times.

What was the story that deserved such urgent attention?

Muslim clerics have been warned against sermons that provoke religious tensions.  The warning was given here yesterday by Ansaar Muslim Youth Centre (AMYC) director Sheikh Salim Barahiyan, when commenting on a Muslim preacher’s sermon on Friday afternoon which annoyed Christians and Muslims after one of the Ansaar’s Sheikh Juma Ali Juma preached at a Makorora mosque.  Sheikh Barahiyan, who is also Mudir of Ansaar, insisted that Islam was a religion which embraced peace and love among its faithful and other non-Muslims. (Paskal Mbunga). 

He said even the holy Qur’an stressed the importance of peaceful coexistence between Muslims and non-Muslims.  He condemned the use of hate sermons, saying the country could not make any stride if there was no stability.  “Supposing you aim at convincing a non-Muslim to join your religion, obviously you are going to speak the good of your religion, but if you are wise enough, you won’t scorn other people’s religions,” he said, adding: “While we call for religious tolerance, we should not entertain hate sermons.”

Last Friday in Saad bin Mwazi mosque, Sheikh Juma was quoted in his sermon as calling on Muslims not to cooperate with Christians because they were infidels. He insisted that Muslims should not take part in Christian festivals like Christmas, Easter and other celebrations, including baptism and confirmation.  The Ansaar Sheikh went further calling on Muslims not to participate in Christian funeral services, saying Christians were supposed to be buried as dogs because they were just infidels.  “Let me tell you if you came from a Christian father or mother, but you got assimilated, consider yourself you are lucky. But if one of your parents is deceased, you shouldn’t burry him or her, but just put him/her in the grave as if you doing it to a dead dog,” he said.

However, when the cleric was called by his boss, Sheikh Barahiyan in the presence of reporters, he agreed to have preached hate sermons, but regretted for offending the non-Muslims, promising not to repeat it.  Since the founding of the Saad bin Mwazi mosque in Makorora half a decade ago, most residents of the area, including Christians and Muslims have been listening to hate sermons uttered in the mosque.

What are the actual facts to be gleaned from this story?

The Citizen is a Tanzanian paper.  The English is obviously not very fluent.  But the basics of the story are that someone named Sheikh Juma gave a sermon at a mosque in a town called Makorora in Tanzania that was inflammatory and bigoted.  He belongs to a group called Ansaar Muslim Youth, and when the organizations director and other clergy heard about what he had said, they publicly condemned him and his sermon, and even called in the press to make it more public.  [A mudir is an administrator]

One man made a hateful statement, it was condemned by Muslim clerics, and yet Geller says “Notice how these daily news stories never get the attention, condemnation and denunciation that we get from Islamic supremacist groups and enemedia just because we report them.”  And Spencer says “Once again we see that the real “hate” doesn’t come from those trying to resist Islamic supremacism, but from those who are propagating it.” 

Why does this “dynamic duo” want to set off a religious war.  Why do they attempt to present such stories as if the words of one man outweigh the words of condemnation?  Why do they feel the need to focus on only Muslim extremists and not on the vast majority of Muslims who oppose that extremism?  Why is the single hateful Muslim more important than the many Muslim clergy who condemned him? 

The reason that slanted coverage such as Geller’s and Spencer’s don’t get attention in any decent media is because that media can see where the “real hate” is coming from.

What do Spencer & Geller think about hateful speech like that of these Jewish Rabbis?:

— Rabbi Manis Friedman, of Chabad of Minnesota said he “doesn’t believe in Western morality” and “The only way to fight a moral war is the Jewish way: Destroy their holy sites. Kill men, women and children (and cattle).” Referring to Biblical verses.

— Rabbi Yitzhak Batzri who said, “The Arabs are donkeys and beasts. They are inferior. What do they want? To take our women. They say we are racist. In reality, they are the wicked and cruel ones. They are imbued with the filth of the snake. There are pure and impure, and they are impure.”

— Rabbi David Batzri who said, “One can’t mix impure and pure. Of course we must stay apart from all the nations. ...  The nation of Israel is pure. The Arabs are a nation of donkeys. They are an affliction, a demon, a pestilence. “Why, one may ask, did God not create them to walk on all fours, since they are donkeys? The reason is that they must build and clean, but must always understand that they are donkeys. There is no room for them in our schools.”

— Rabbi Jaacov Perrin who said during his eulogy of the terrorist murderer, Baruch Goldstein “One million Arabs are not worth a Jewish fingernail”

— Rabbi Yitzhak Ginzburg, author of a book ( Baruch the man ) glorifying Hebron terrorist mass murderer Baruch Goldstein who said said “If you saw two people drowning, a Jew and a non-Jew, the Torah says you save the Jewish life first,” - and “If every simple cell in a Jewish body entails divinity, is a part of God, then every strand of DNA is part of God. Therefore, something is special about Jewish DNA … If a Jew needs a liver, can you take the liver of an innocent non-Jew passing by to save him? The Torah would probably permit that. Jewish life has an infinite value.”

— Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the “Lubovitcher Rebbe” who headed the Chabad movement and wielded great influence in Israel as well as in the U.S., who said that, “The difference between a Jewish and a non-Jewish person stems from the common expression: ‘Let us differentiate.’ Thus, we do not have a case of profound change in which a person is merely on a superior level. Rather, we have a case of ‘let us differentiate’ between totally different species. This is what needs to be said about the body: the body of a Jewish person is of a totally different quality from the body of [members] of all nations of the world…A non-Jew’s entire reality is only vanity. It is written, ‘And the strangers shall guard and feed your flocks’ (Isaiah 61:5). The entire creation [of a non-Jew] exists only for the sake of the Jews…”

— Mercaz Harav extremist Yeshiva that teaches that “non-Jews living under Jewish law in Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel) must either be enslaved as water carriers and wood hewers, or banished, or exterminated.”

— Rabbi Itzhak Shapira who was arrested for firebombing a mosque, published a book entitled The King’s Torah in which he claimed that it was permissible under Jewish law for a Jew to kill a non-Jewish civilian (including a child). ** The book, called Torat ha-Melekh (“the Teaching of the King”) deals with the killing of Goyim. It says that in peacetime, Goyim should generally not be killed – not because of the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” which, according to the book, applies to Jews only.

— Rabbi Nachum Shifren who called Muslims “dogs”.

What do they think about these statements by Christian clergy?

—Rev. John Ankerberg who wrote “Allah is not a God of holiness and love.  The Koran presents an evil deity, one who is acknowledged as the author of evil…”

— Rev. David Chilton who said “The god of Judaism is the devil. The Jew will not be recognized by God as one of His chosen people until he abandons his demonic religion and returns to the faith of his fathers—the faith which embraces Jesus Christ and His Gospel.”

— Rev. Jeff Fugate who said ”If you don’t want a Christian nation, then go to one of the many nations that are heathen already, rather than perverting ours. You’re welcome to come, but leave your religions, your bibles, all your other things back where you came from.”

— Rev. J. Don George who said ”Our faith is in Jesus Christ, and the Muslim community does not accept Jesus and God, and therefore we’re at odds with Muslims…. Any religion or ideology that refuses to acknowledge the lordship of Jesus Christ could be typified as a war against Satan.”

— Rev. D. James Kennedy who said ”This is our land. This is our world. This is our heritage, and with God’s help, we shall reclaim this nation for Jesus Christ. And no power on earth can stop us.”

—Rev. Jeff Owens, who said “We need to stop burning flags and start burning fags. We need hunt-a-homo week. We need to take ‘em all out and shoot ‘em with a scatter shotgun.”

There are many more examples in the articles Jewish “Ahavah shel achvah” Brotherly Love is Difficult for Some to Attain and Christian Brotherly Love Difficult For Some To Attain

What do they think about Babu Suseelan, the Hindu face of AFDI/SION who said at one of their gatherings:

“If we do not kill the bacteria, the bacteria will kill us.  Muslims will breed like rats and they will be a majority.  Islam can be stopped! And it can be wiped out.”

What do they think of Ali Sina, (another of their board members) who said

—”We strive for the unity of Mankind through the elimination of Islam, the most insidious doctrine of hate. Islam can’t be reformed, but it can be eradicated. — “there is no such thing as moderate Muslim ... Every “moderate” Muslim is a potential terrorist.”  — “I don’t see Muslims as innocent people. They are all guilty as sin. It is not necessary to be part of al Qaida to be guilty. If you are a Muslim you agree with Muhammad and that is enough evidence against you.” — We love you Muslims because you are humans like us. We are all related to each other. We are all limbs of the body of mankind. But you are diseased. You are infected by a deadly cult that threatens our lives. Your humanity is destroyed. Like a limb infected by flesh eating disease, now you are a threat to the rest of mankind. ... Islam is disease. What does moderate Muslim mean anyway? Does it mean you are moderately diseased?”

Do Ali Sina and Babu Suseelan’s statements accurately reflect their organizations AFDI/SIOA/SION?  If not, then why have they not condemned them, and why are they on their boards?  To expect American Muslims to condemn each and every statement by any Muslim anywhere on the planet, and yet ignore even statements by individuals you have selected to sit on the board of your own organization is reprehensible.  The leaders of the group the Muslim preacher in Tanzania belongs to immediately condemned his hateful speech.  Will the leaders of AFDI/SIOA/SION do the same?

Are there individuals, including clergy in the Muslim community who say hateful things?  Yes, and they should be condemned.  Are there individuals, including clergy in the Christian and Jewish (and every religious) communities who say hateful things?  Yes, and they should also be condemned.  As long as Geller and Spencer and the rest of the Islamophobia network continue to focus on only one communities hate-mongers as if they are exceptional they will have proven the fact that they really are Islamophobes.

If you go to Muslim sites (TAM is only one example) you will find many condemnations of such individuals and groups.  In fact type lunatic fringe in the TAM search engine and 124 articles will come up. 

There is no such condemnation for Christian, Jewish or any other members of any religions lunatic fringe on the sites of Islamophobes like Spencer and Geller - except for “reporting” on the Muslim lunatic fringe.

Spencer and Geller are engaged in a vicious anti-Muslim propaganda campaign.  They comb news reports for any mention of a Muslim saying something hateful, and then draw attention to that negative article.  They reprint, their networks reprint, they tweet and ask their follower to retweet.  Each incident is magnified a thousand times. 

The American Muslim community could easily retaliate by using the same tactics and endlessly recycling every statement like those listed above each in individual articles and tweets with sensational headlines pointing to the religion of the particular culprit.  We haven’t, and we won’t because we are fully aware that such individuals do not represent “Judaism” or “Christianity” or “Hinduism” or “American values”. 

We are also aware that while there is always a ready audience for hateful propaganda, that same audience is fickle and the hatred generated cannot be contained to only one minority.

If these individuals had any decency or shame they would seriously reconsider their hate-mongering.

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See the full article Resources for dealing with Islamophobes for much more information about and links to responses to many claims, including critical reports on the Islamophobia Industry.  Here is a summary:

The Islamophobia Industry exists and is engaged in an anti-Muslim Crusade.  They have a manifesto for spreading their propaganda, and which states their goal of “destroying Islam — as a culture, a political ideology, and a religion.” They produce anti-Muslim films.  They are forming new organizations and coalitions of organizations at a dizzying speed, not only nationally, but also internationally.   They have formed an International Leadership Team “which will function as a mobile, proactive, reactive on-the-ground team developing and executing confidential action plans that strike at the heart of the global anti-freedom agenda.”

Sadly, the Islamophobic echo chamber has been aided by some in the Jewish and Christian clergy, and even by some of our elected representatives, particularly in the GOP.

These individuals and organizations consistently promote the false what everyone “knows” lies about Islam and Muslims (including distorting the meaning of Qur’anic verses, and distorting the meaning of Islamic terms such as taqiyya, jihad, sharia, Abrogation (Naskh) in the Qur’an, etc.

Islamophobes falsely claim to see “JIHAD” PLOTS everywhere, particularly where they don’t exist.   They, like Muslim extremists, don’t understand the true meaning of the term jihad.  The Islamophobes have uncovered countless examples of “shocking”, non-existent Muslim jihad plots. 

Islamophobes generalize specific incidents to reflect on all Muslims or all of Islam.    Islamophobes consistently push demonstrably false memes such as:  - we are in danger from creeping Sharia, - the Muslim population is increasing at an alarming rate, - 80% of American Mosques are radicalized,  -  There have been 270 million victims of “jihad”  -  There have been 17,000+ “Islamic terrorist” attacks since 9/11   - Muslims in government are accused of being Muslim Brotherhood plants, stealth jihadists, and creeping Sharia proponents and should be MARGINALIZED or excluded.  Muslim and Arab organizations and individuals are connected to the infamous Muslim Brotherhood document or the unindicted co-conspirator label, or accused of not condemning Hamas.  When Islamophobes are caught in the act of making up or distorting claims they engage in devious methods to attempt to conceal the evidence. 

The Islamophobia of these folks is very real, it is also strikingly similar to a previous generations’ anti-Semitism, and it has predictable consequences. 

You would never know from listening to any of the members of the Islamophobia Industry that Muslims have defended  freedom of speech, participated in interfaith dialogue, defended freedom of faith against apostasy laws,  condemned blasphemy laws, condemned holocaust denial and anti-Semitism, promoted non-violent solutions to the many problems we face, called for protecting all houses of worship and condemned any attacks on churches or synagogues anywhere, condemned violent responses to numerous incidents including the response to the Innocence of Muslims film, spoken out against child marriage, are working to stop domestic violence in our community, etc.  Type condemn into the TAM search engine and 145 statements of condemnation come up in addition to the collections in our lengthy section Muslim voices against extremism terrorism and violence  Muslims speak out loudly and clearly condemning our own extremists, and their extremist statements and actions.  Type “lunatic fringe” into the TAM search engine for many such articles condemning particular extremists and extremist groups and activities.

You would never know that Muslims are decent, hardworking, productive citizens, making a positive contribution to this society.  Muslims haven’t just spoken out against abuses carried out anywhere in the world that dishonor Islam, but also worked doing positive things. 

The claim that the Islamophobes are “truth-tellers” and “defenders of freedom” who actually “love Muslims” and have never engaged in “broadbrush demonization” or “advocated violence”, or that nothing that they say could have had anything to do with any act of violence are nonsense.  The claim that they are falsely being accused of Islamophobia for no reason other than their legitimate concerns about real issues and that in fact there is not even such a thing as Islamophobia, or their claim that the fact that there are fewer hate crimes against Muslims than against Jews or that some Muslims have fabricated such crimes “proves” that Islamophobia doesn’t exist,  or that the term Islamophobia was made up by Muslims in order to stifle their freedom of speech, or that anti-Muslim bigotry is “not Islamophobia but Islamorealism” are all nonsense. 

The reason that this is so obvious to so many is that rational people can tell the difference between legitimate concerns and bigoted stereotypes.   There is a reason that many, even outside of the Muslim community see such demonization of Muslims as Islamophobic.  There is a reason that the ADL has stated that Brigitte Gabriel’s Act for America, Pamela Geller & Robert Spencer’s Stop the Islamization of America (SIOA), David Yerushalmi’s Society of Americans for National Existence (SANE)  are “groups that promote an extreme anti-Muslim agenda”.  There is a reason that The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has designated SIOA as a hate group, and that these individuals are featured in the SPLC reports Jihad Against Islam and The Anti-Muslim Inner Circle. , and that the SPLC calls Pamela Geller “the anti-Muslim movement’s most visible and flamboyant figurehead. She’s relentlessly shrill and coarse in her broad-brush denunciations of Islam. There is a reason that these individuals and organizations are featured prominently in: — the Center for American Progress reports “Fear Inc.” on the Islamophobia network in America and Understanding Sharia Law: Conservatives skewed interpretation needs debunking. — the People for the American Way Right Wing Playbook on Anti-Muslim Extremism.  — the NYCLU report Religious Freedom Under Attack:  The Rise of Anti-Mosque Activities in New York State.  — the Political Research Associates report Manufacturing the Muslim menace: Private firms, public servants, and the threat to rights and security.  — The ACLU report Nothing to Fear: Debunking the Mythical “Sharia Threat” to Our Judicial System — in The American Muslim TAM Who’s Who of the Anti-Muslim/Anti-Arab/Islamophobia Industry.   There is a reason that the SIOA’s trademark patent was denied by the U.S. government due to its anti-Muslim nature.   There is a reason that these individuals and organizations are featured in just about every legitimate report on Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred. 

Click on the logo “Muslims denounce extremism and terrorism” on the front page of TAM for an extensive resource listing not only Muslim responses to extremism, but also resources for countering Islamophobia. 

Sheila Musaji is the founding editor of The American Muslim (TAM).  Sheila received the Council on American-Islamic Relations 2007 Islamic Community Service Award for Journalism,  and the Loonwatch Anti-Loons of 2011: Profiles in Courage Award for her work in fighting Islamophobia.  Sheila was selected for inclusion in the 2012 edition of The Muslim 500: The World’s 500 Most Influential Muslims published since 2009 by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in Amman, Jordan.   Biography  You can follow her on twitter @sheilamusaji ( https://twitter.com/SheilaMusaji )