Islamophobia, Strange Bedfellows, and Missed Opportunities

”Islamophobia is 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…” [Fear Inc., Center for American Progress, 2011]

Why is it so hard for us to work together when it comes to dealing with Islamophobia?

Another round of Muslim-hate ads appeared along the metro train line in Westchester County, New York, this week. Within days community groups mobilized to respond to the ads.

In an attempt to neutralize this latest round of anti-Islam propaganda, local social action groups discussed various responses including public vigils, counter ad campaigns, and speaking engagements.

Also speculated upon by some groups were the reasons behind these latest anti-Islam ads.

This recent campaign, which is paid for by Pam Geller’s American Freedom Defense Initiative, appears to be in response to anti-Israel ads that ran on buses in San Francisco, paid for by a group called Muslims for Palestine.

But it’s not as if Islamophobe poster child Geller needs a reason to spew lies or demonstrate her viciousness. We’ve seen that almost anything is fodder for her twisted agenda.

Less understandable, though, are local organizations’ responses that purport to challenge Geller’s hate message. I was alarmed, although sadly not surprised, to find a bullet point from one group’s meeting notes that read, “The role of Israel/Palestine.”

What?

Islamophobia isn’t about the Middle East. If a peace agreement was signed in the Middle East tomorrow, would anti-Muslim sentiment stop?

Why do we respond to bigotry with the same tactics used by the bigot? Since when do we let an extremist like Geller define our responses to anything?

With the best of intentions, local social action groups are climbing the ladder of inference to an unhelpful conclusion: anti-Islamic activity is connected to geo-political events in the Middle East. Never mind contributory factors of fear of the Other and ignorance about the religion of Islam. Geller taps into our deepest emotions (and her supporters’ checkbooks) when she connects Islam to Israel and Palestine. We plug into her agenda when we make Islamophobia about anything other than bigotry and intolerance.

Unfortunately, the negative endgame, and this works well for Geller and her ilk, is that grassroots peace and co-existence efforts become fragmented when they should be jointly coordinated. When we focus on Palestinians and Israelis, instead of on educating people about Islam, our efforts become undermined by extraneous topics like BDS and foreign aid.

I’m a liberal Jew, often critical of my own community’s reluctance to step forward and denounce anti-Islam rhetoric. But I sympathize with the dilemma that confronts Jews and Jewish agencies when social action groups approach anti-Islam incidents from an Israeli/Palestinian lens that is, for many, a thinly veiled attempt to criticize Israel.

Whenever I can, I express solidarity with American Muslims. For the most part, I have done this individually even though I would prefer to stand with others, combining forces to maximize the impact of our collective outrage.

In fact, I would join with Jewish Voice for Peace, WESPAC [a local activist organization], and other left-leaning groups with whom I have serious differences of opinion on matters of the Middle East, if it meant our working together would increase the chances of delivering a blow to anti-Muslim bigotry.

But so far I have found it unproductive, to say nothing of uncomfortable, to work with groups that insist on bringing Israel and Palestine into the conversation.

Islamophobia is hateful discrimination.

Islamophobia is stereotyping. Scapegoating. Ignorance.

It separates neighbor from neighbor and creates fear and suspicion.

Islamophobia diminishes all of us because it offends our core values of compassion, justice, and fairness.

I urge community leaders to take the Middle East out of these conversations. We don’t need to make Islamophobia any tougher to deal with than it already is.