“Muslim cannibalism”: How a blood libel is born and spread - update 1/6/2014
Posted Jan 6, 2014

“Muslim cannibalism”: How a blood libel is born and spread

by Sheila Musaji


This article appeared on WND Mobile Students taught cannibalism allowed: University where Obama spoke instructs in ‘this type of violence’ .  The source of the information in the WND article is an article published on Walid Shoebat’s website and written by Walid & Theodore Shoebat.  That article is titled Islam and Cannibalism.  You can read about Walid Shoebat in the TAM article Shoebat, Saleem, and Anani - Three Arab Villages Are Missing Their Idiots

The Shoebat’s claim in their article that

In a recent video interview, one Egyptian scholar exposed the high school curriculum coming from Al-Azhar university, the most reputable of all Islamic schools, showing that it condoned cannibalizing non-Muslims:

We allowed the eating of the flesh of dead humans… under necessary conditions. It [dead human flesh] must not be cooked or grilled to avoid Haram (wrongdoing) …and he can kill a murtadd (apostate) and eat him.

The interviewer commented:

The book that is being taught to general high-school students mentions that those who don’t pray can be grilled & then eaten

They post an unsourced video of an interview on some television program somewhere in Arabic where some person (the unidentified “Egyptian scholar” is making these claims on the unidentified program to an unidentified interviewer.  There is no way to know whether the program is a serious news program, or a satire, or anything at all.

The Shoebat’s then go on to make all sorts of incredible claims about this supposed “Islamic” practice of cannibalism including this:

“If one thinks that the Muslims have evolved into a modern mindset, one must remember what took place in Ramallah in which two Israeli soldiers were beaten and tortured to death, their bodies thrown down a window to the sounds of ‘Allahu Akbar,’ and their flesh then chewed by the crowd.  Muslims in Ramallah held body parts of [an] Israeli while they cried out, ‘I eat the flesh of my occupier!’”

They include a disturbing photograph of a group of people holding up body parts and wailing and screaming.  The Shoebats are referring to a 2000 incident in Ramallah. 

Here is an article on Haaretz about this Ramallah incident in which two Israeli soldiers were beaten to death by Palestinians when they entered Ramallah during the intifada.  In August of 2012 one of the men responsible for the killings was found guilty.  Two other men are under arrest and will be tried for their part in the murder of the soldiers.

Two Israeli soldiers were beaten to death in Ramallah in 2000.  That much is true.

What about the photograph which the Shoebat’s claim shows Palestinians eating the flesh of these soldiers. 

This photo has turned up before and was discussed on View from the right the first time this “Muslim cannibalism” claim was raised in 2008.  That article by Lawrence Auster notes “According to John-Paul Pagano, whose comment is below, the extremely disturbing photo in this entry is not of the lynching and savaging of the two Israeli soldiers in Ramallah, but of another event, possibly when Palestinians in Gaza were hit an by Israeli rocket and the survivors held up the entrails of the dead. I have been unable to confirm this.”  Auster also notes that the photograph claiming to be of Palestinians cannibalizing the bodies of the dead Israeli soldiers in Ramallah can be found online at faithfreedom.org, with this caption:

Palestinian crowd waves entrails of butchered Israeli victims. in Ramallah. The expression on their faces show they are orgasmic. This level of hate is only possible in Islam.

John Paul Pagano wrote to Auster saying: “The lynch mob at Ramallah savaged, but did not dismember or disembowel the bodies of IDF reservists Nurzhitz and Avrahami. No eyewitness account or credible news source claimed this, and you can see it’s not true from easily located photos of the victims, to which I linked in my piece. ... Finally, after you spend enough time sifting through the compost of the Internet, you’ll learn better to identify goreporn. That picture you sent is not of the Ramallah lynching, as the real pictures from that event attest (see above—no disembowelment). It most likely depicts the aftermath of an Israeli missile strike on Palestinian terrorists, after which Palestinians have been known to comb the blast site for body parts, hold them aloft and alternately wail and promise revenge. You’re right that confusing that photo with the Ramallah lynching could bolster false reports of cannibalism.”

If you click on the Faith Freedom link that Auster provides the article and photo is no longer there.  Here is the link and you can see from the url that something was once at that link http://www.news.faithfreedom.org/gallery2/v/ffi_gallery/lynching/bodyparts.jpg.html  Faith Freedom is the site of Ali Sina who goes beyond Islamophobia and into the realm of pure hatred towards Islam and Muslims. You can read about him and his views in our TAM backgrounder Ali Sina and Faith Freedom International

What we have is a group of Islamophobes taking a photograph, claiming that it is something other than what it is, connecting it with another incident and creating a blood libel against all Muslims.  The Islamophobes have used photographs in such a way before and created entire false stories out of thin air. 

There was the Nigerian Christians Burnt Alive Photo which was actually a photo of the tragic aftermath of a tanker explosion in the Congo that Pamela Galler and other Islamophobes identified as a “mass slaughter of Christians in Nigeria”. 

There was the photo of some unidentified young men in Ghana holding up a cat they crucified because they thought it was a demon, which was identified by Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller as “Musims crucifying a cat to protest Muhammad Video” and “Muslims in Nigeria Crucify a Cat on the Cross to Protest Freedom of Speech”.  Read the TAM article on this incident Geller & Spencer Create “Muslim Cat Crucifixion” Lie to Inflame Hatred for details about this particular photo incident.  In this case they also attempted to delete the articles and cover up evidence of their infamy after being called out.

There was the fake Hamas child bride photo.  There were all sorts of other fake stories around such photographs.

This is insanity! Pure and simple blood libel insanity just like the anti-Semitic blood libel that “Jews kill non-Jewish children and use their blood to make matzohs” that was propagated against the Jews in the past.


UPDATE 1/6/2014

Another year, another re-run of this fake story about the Ramallah incident.  Pamela Geller published MONSTROUS INFO ON MUSLIM SAVAGES’ LYNCHING OF JEWISH SOLDIERS: THEY WERE HANGED, THEIR BODIES WERE TOSSED TO A PACK OF BLOODTHIRSTY RIOTERS, WHO PROCEEDED TO TEAR THEIR BODIES APART WITH THEIR BARE HANDS AND EAT THEIR ORGANS.  That really is the title, and it is in all caps and blood red.

There is no amount of debunking that will stop Islamophobes like Geller from endlessly repeating the same propaganda. 


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RESOURCES FOR DEALING WITH ISLAMOPHOBIA 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.”

Currently, the Islamophobia Industry is engaged in a full-scale, coordinated,  demonization campaign against American Muslims and Arabs. In just the past few months we have seen a series of inflammatory provocations:    There was the Innocence of Muslims film Titanic, a German satire magazine plans an “Islam” cover article to be published later this month.   Charlie Hebdo, a French satire magazine published an issue with inflammatory cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.   Newsweek published their ‘Muslim Rage’ cover.  Terry Jones held a “trial of Prophet Muhammad”.  SION held a “global” gathering in NYC to plan propaganda strategy.  A group in Toronto publicized a “walk your dog at the mosque” day.   AFDI/SIOA has run a series of anti-Muslim ads on public transportation across the country.   AFDI/SIOA are planning to run 8 more anti-Muslim ads.  There are three more films on Prophet Muhammad in the works by Ali Sina, Mosab Hassan Yousef and Imran Farasat.   They are even bringing their hate messages into public schools.

Daniel Pipes is encouraging publication of “A Muhammad cartoon a day”, and says “So, this is my plea to all Western editors and producers: Display the Muhammad cartoon daily, until the Islamists become accustomed to the fact that we turn sacred cows into hamburger.”.  Pipes joins Daniel Greenfield (aka Sultan Knish) who published an appeal on David Horowitz’ Front Page Magazine Is It Time for ‘Make Your Own Mohammed Movie Month’?.  And, both are following in the footsteps of such luminaries as Pamela Geller, who promoted just such a plan back in 2010 with her promotion of Draw Muhammad Day, even after the cartoonist who drew the first cartoon and suggested the idea, Molly Norris apologized to Muslims and asked for the day to be called off, and American Muslims had issued a defense of free speech.    None of this is surprising as one of the Islamophobes laid out their strategy as “The Muslims themselves have shown us their most vulnerable spot, which is the questionable (though unquestioned) character of the ‘Prophet’ himself. We need to satirise and ridicule baby-bonking Mo until the Muslims fly into uncontrollable tantrums, then ridicule them even more for their tantrums, and repeat the process until they froth at the mouth and steam comes out of their ears.”

The Islamophobia of these folks is very real, it is also strikingly similar to a previous generations’ anti-Semitism, and it has predictable consequences.   The reason that this is so obvious to so many is that rational people can tell the difference between legitimate concerns and bigoted stereotypes.

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.

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

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, etc.).

The most commonly repeated false claims about Muslims and Islam are that:

Everyone “knows” that most or all terrorists are Muslims, and there are no Christian and no Jewish terrorists (or terrorists of any other religious stripe), and that Muslims are all militant,  inherently violent, more likely to engage in violence against civilians, and more likely than other Americans to be radicalized. 

Everyone “knows” that Muslims are not interested in dialogue.  That Muslims don’t help Christians in need.  That Muslims can’t have Christians as friends, and are anti-Semites, Holocaust deniers, and intolerant of other faiths. 

Everyone “knows” that Muslims don’t unequivocally denounce terrorism, that American Muslim leaders have not responded to radicalization in their community,  that mosques are the source of radicalization, that 85% of mosques are run by radicals, that Muslims don’t cooperate with law enforcement.

Everyone “knows” that Muslims are not equivalent to real Americans, that they are the enemy within, and a fifth column,  that good Muslims can’t be good Americans, that Muslims are not loyal to America, that they are not a part of our American heritage,

Everyone “knows” that Islam itself is the problem and makes Muslims “backward”, that Muslims have made no contribution to the West, that Islam is “of the devil”, a Crescent menace, a “green peril”, that was spread by the sword,  an “evil encroaching on the United States”, and not a religion.  

Everyone “knows” that this is a Christian nation, which the Muslims are trying to take over, starting with getting an Eid stamp which is the first step towards shariah law which is a threat to America, and a threat to our judicial system, by purposefully having more children than others to increase their numbers, and they will be the majority in this country in 20 years.  Muslims are a threat to America

Everyone “knows” that Muslims have no respect for the Constitution, they don’t obey the laws of the United States,  that they are opposed to freedom of speech, don’t allow and freedom of religion.   

Everyone “knows” that Muslims are given a pass by the elite media.  It’s “us versus them”. 

Everyone “knows” that the Muslims’ goal is world domination under a Caliphate, and the proposed Cordoba House in NYC is a demonstration of supremacism and triumphalism, and that Muslims planned to open it on the anniversary of 9/11.   

Everyone “knows” that Muslims don’t speak out against extremism or terrorism, and even those Muslims who do speak up or seem moderate are simply lying or practicing taqiyyah

Everyone “knows” that the Qur’an is uniquely violent, that the Islamic concept of God doesn’t include God’s love, and does not include the concept of a Golden Rule,  that Allah is a moon god. 

Everyone “knows” that Islam is a monolith and all Muslims are the same, like the “Borg”.  This means that every act committed by an individual who is a Muslim is directly attributable to Islam, and never because the individual is crazy, criminal, or perverted. 

Everyone “knows” that Muslims don’t have a sense of humor

Everyone “knows” that Muslims are like the Fascists and Nazis and that in fact they supported those movements.

The problem is that what “everyone knows” is wrong.  These self-righteous and incorrect statements are usually followed by a demand that the Muslim community do something about whatever is the false flag of the day or face the inevitable consequences.

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, telling American Muslims not to talk to the FBI, of being “Jew haters”, etc.

When Islamophobes are caught in the act of making up or distorting claims they engage in devious methods to attempt to conceal the evidence. 

When Islamophobes are caught in the act of making up or distorting claims they engage in devious methods to attempt to conceal the evidence. 

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 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.  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. 

See Resources for dealing with Islamophobes for many more reasons that these people cannot be trusted.



Sheila Musaji is the founding editor of The American Muslim (TAM), published since 1989.  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 )


Originally published 1/31/2013