Pamela Geller’s Muslim mind reading scam
Posted Apr 3, 2013

Pamela Geller’s Muslim mind reading scam

by Sheila Musaji


What gall!  Pamela Geller makes the following claim about Bassem Yousef, and claims about “Muslims” with no supporting evidence at all.  She says:

Egyptian Satirist Bassem Youssuf Attacks MB Rule in Egypt: “They Are Driving People Away from Islam” (thanks to Ygalg)

Youssuf and his family voted for the Muslim Brotherhood. What did they expect? Sheik Qaradawi was banned from Egypt with good reason. They felt sorry for the Muslim Brotherhood? Who’s sorry now?

Here’s where the soon-to-be-arrested satirist gets it wrong—that is Islam. What he describes as driving people away from Islam is ....... Islam. Youssuf cites Muslims in the West as the example for Egyptian Muslims to “live and let live.” But live and let live is a Western concept, and Muslims in the West are living under Western law (not sharia law), so they are free to build mosques and practice their religion, because that is a basic tenet of Western civilization. But as the Muslim population grows in Western countries, so does the demand for Islamic supremacist accommodation. Jew-hatred spikes, sharia zones (no-go zones) pop up, and demands for sharia—enforcement of blasphemy laws, for example (do not offend Islam)—become a rallying cry.

Bassem Youssuf has it ass backwards. The goal for Islamic supremacists and jihadists in the West is exactly what is happening in Egypt, Gaza, Lebanon, Tunisia, Libya, the UK, Bangladesh, Morocco, et al. Secular Muslims have no say in this. They have no theological leg to stand on, which is why there is a warrant out for the arrest of Bassem Youssuf.

How does Pamela Geller have any idea who Bassem Youssuf (or his family) voted for, or if he voted at all, or why?  How dare Geller continuously tell Muslims what is normative Islam, and what they should believe, or who has a correct understanding of Islam?  How dare Geller get on her soapbox and claim moral superiority?  How dare Geller claim that “Western civilization” is somehow totally separate from and has never been influenced by other civilizations?  How dare Geller insinuate that all Muslims are a foreign presence in “Western countries” or that they are just biding their time to show their true bigoted nature?  How dare Geller tell Muslims that those opposing extremism “have no theological leg to stand on”?  How can one bigoted individual pack so much venom into so few paragraphs? 

As H.A. Hellyer (who actually knows Bassem Yussuf) wrote in one of his many excellent articles on this travesty of justice of charging Youssuf with anything Egypt’s public relations disaster:

“During Egypt’s presidential election, I traveled with Bassem and his crew around the United States for a month as subject matter expert for his new show, “America in Arabic.” Bassem unscripted and improvised has the same effect as days of preparation—and as he arrived at Cairo’s High Court on Sunday morning, he displayed more of that, tweeting away messages that instantly went viral. With audiences of expatriate Arabs and Egyptians in the United States, he had a consistent message—one that was hard to deliver at a time when Egyptians were depressed that the two top frontrunners for the Egyptian presidency were one man who was part of the former regime and the other who represented a group that embodied less than a revolutionary, to say the least.

Bassem Youssef openly declared he could never vote for Ahmed Shafiq, ousted President Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister—but while he never said he’d vote for Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, he did confirm that regardless of the victor, one thing would continue. The revolution. The irony is: all of the charges he is now being investigated for are challenges to that revolution and its spirit. Yet, when I spoke to him the night before he presented himself before the court (from which he was eventually released on bail a few hours later), his reaction to those charges remained the same: a stubborn commitment to the ideals of the revolution.”

Pamela Geller does not have some magical ability to read the minds of Muslims, and in fact, Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, her partner in the AFDI hate group, have been caught in so many lies, and attempts to conceal the evidence of those lies — that you would think they would just slink away in shame.  Instead, they continue to carry on this bigoted scam. 

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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. 

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 )


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SEE ALSO:

Type a search term, e.g. Jews - Pamela Geller - AFDI - anti semitism - sharia - constitution - into the TAM search engine for hundreds of articles.  Here are just a few relating to issues raised in this particular post by Geller.

A Jewish Problem: Anti-Muslim Hate-Mongers, Rabbi Bruce Warshal http://zainabchaudry.wordpress.com/2013/01/09/a-jewish-problem-anti-muslim-hate-mongers/

The absurd notion of Jewish ‘refugees’ from Arab lands, Khalid Amayreh http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContentP/4/56725/Opinion/The-absurd-notion-of-Jewish-refugees-from-Arab-lan.aspx

American Jews Are Speaking Out Against AFDI Anti-Muslim Ads, Sheila Musaji http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/american-jews-are-speaking-out-against-anti-muslim-ads

Anti-Semitism Through the Lens of Islamophobia, Sumbul Ali-Karamali http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/anti_semitism_through_the_lens_of_islamophobia
Antisemitism and Islamophobia, Chip Berlet http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chip-berlet/antisemitism-islamophobia_b_184904.html

Antisemitism = Islamophobia, Leslie Hazleton http://accidentaltheologist.com/2011/03/08/anti-semitism-islamophobia/

The Anti-Shariah Movement and Jewish Law, Jacob Bender http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/the-anti-shariah-movement-and-jewish-law

Anti-Sharia Movements’ Unintended Consquences For Jews, Native Americans, and Others, Sheila Musaji (with an extensive article collection on Sharia and anti-Sharia movement) http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/anti-sharia-movements-unintended-consquences

Pamela Geller and the “outrageous” “supremacist” Muslims and Jews, Sheila Musaji http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/pamela-geller1

Pamela Geller’s False Claim that Muslims Curse Christians and Jews in Their Daily Prayers http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/islamophobes-claim-that-muslims-curse-christians-and-jews

Pamela Geller backgrounder, Sheila Musaji http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/pamela_geller_attempts_to_make_a_point/
The Great Fear, Max Blumenthal http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175334/tomgram:_max_blumenthal,_the_great_fear_

Instructive Parallels between Christian anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, Paul Williams http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/instructive_parallels_between_christian_anti-semitism_and_islamophobia

The great Islamophobic crusade, Max Blumenthal http://maxblumenthal.com/2010/12/the-great-islamophobic-crusade/

Islamic Sharia and Jewish Halakha Arbitration Courts (with extensive article collection) http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/islamic_sharia_and_jewish_halakha_arbitration_courts

Islamophobes Spencer, Geller, Yerushalmi, Gaffney et al: Attempt to Conceal Evidence of “Truth-Telling”, Sheila Musaji http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/robert_spencer_pamela_geller_and

Islamophobia: Bad For The Jews, Daniel Luban http://www.lobelog.com/islamophobia-bad-for-the-jews/

Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism: Mechanisms of Exclusion and Discrimination, Claudia Mende http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/islamophobia-and-anti-semitism-mechanisms-of-exclusion-and-discrimination

Jewish “Ahavah shel achvah” Brotherly Love is Difficult for Some to Attain http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/jewish_ahavah_shel_achvah_brotherly_love_is_difficult_for_some_to_atta

Kosher and Halal: Halakha and Sharia Requirements, Yasir Qadhi http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/kosher-and-halal-halakha-and-sharia-requirements

Love thy neighbor, unless that neighbor is a Muslim, Sheila Musaji http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/it-takes-courage-for-non-muslims-to-speak-out-against-islamophobia

Muslim, Jews and Christians - Relations and Interactions , Dr. Gordon Newby http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/muslim-jews-and-christians-relations-and-interactions

Muslims Who Fought Against the ‘Real’ Fascists & Nazis, Sheila Musaji (with a large collection on Islam and anti-Semitism) http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/muslims_who_fought_against_the_real_fascists

Never again (after just one more time), Sheila Musaji http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/never-again-after-just-one-more-time

Religion and violence: another look at Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, Hussein Ibish http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/religion_and_violence_another_look_at_islamophobia_and_anti-semitism/0018146

Religion’s most urgent problem, Shai Held http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/religions-most-urgent-problem

Religious Accomodation or Creeping Sharia?, Sheila Musaji http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/religious_accomodation_or_creeping_sharia

So, what did the Muslims do for the Jews? by David J Wasserstein http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/so-what-did-the-muslims-do-for-the-jews

The truth about the expulsion of Jews from Arab Countries, Esther Meir-Glitzenstein http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/must-read-the-truth-about-the-expulsion-of-jews-from-arab-countries

Unholy Prayer: “Jews” Are Not Our Enemy, Ahmed Rehab http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/unholy-prayer-jews-are-not-our-enemy

A Who’s Who of the Anti-Muslim/Anti-Arab/Islamophobia Industry http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/a_whos_who_of_the_anti-muslimanti-arabislamophobia_industry

Why Jews Can’t Criticize Sharia Law, Marshall Breger http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/why-jews-cant-criticize-sharia-law