People are people

[nancylebov]

Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are structurally the same.

“Are the polemicists anti-Semites?” the ADL report asks, and answers, quite rightly, “by and large, yes” (they are clearly leaving themselves some wiggle room on the issue of Israel Shahak, who is cited in the report but is almost certainly not vulnerable to such an accusation). It cites as tell-tale signs of bigotry and malevolence, their systematic distortions of the ancient texts, always in the direction of portraying Judaism negatively, their lack of interest in good-faith efforts to understand contemporary Judaism from contemporary Jews, and their dismissal of any voices opposing their own, [which] suggests that their goal in reading ancient rabbinic literature is to produce the Frankenstein version of Judaism that they invariably claim to have uncovered.

In just this manner, Islamophobes dismiss what contemporary and mainstream Muslims say their faith means to them and systematically misrepresent the common understanding of complex ancient texts written in both a language and a style very foreign to the present-day American manner of expression. They too dismiss any voices other than their own, such as renowned academic experts on Islam, even non-Muslims scholars and experts, and denounce them as “apologists” and supporters of extremism. In these cases too, it is clear to any impartial observer that the goal is in no way a good-faith effort to examine honestly what Muslims believe but rather to create “the Frankenstein version of Islam.”

Link thanks to David Schraub at Alas, a Blog.

Comments

[osewalrus.livejournal.com]

Unsurprising, as all such people-phobias are essentially the same in structure.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

This structure is optimized for attacking groups which have extensive religious texts-- not everyone does.

[osewalrus.livejournal.com]

True.

[richardthinks.livejournal.com]

Apologist!

There's a vehement and vocal Islamophobe who reads my lj. I'd direct him here, but I don't think he'd see the parallel: each case is always just particular enough that if you wish to be blind, you can defend that blindness.

I'd also like to see an informed discussion of the ways in which political and cultural norms are brought together in the cause of Islamophobia. It seems to me that a great many Christian fundamentalist patriarchs (and perhaps those of other religions too) have discovered themselves outraged by Muslims' mistreatment of women, while being oddly quiet about mistreatment of women by other folks, including some Christian sects.

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

I think he's hit on the reason why Islamophobia feels, not just wrong to me, but often like a personal threat. The target seems arbitrary, and I have no guarantee that someone who reasons that way about one group won't turn around and reason that way about me.

It's also why I love the ACLU--one of the few groups to acknowledge that a problem involves a way of treating people, not just one group of people.

[avram]

I realized this when I heard people making be-afraid remarks about the prospect of secular western liberal democracies making accommodations for sharia, of the sort that are already made for halakha.

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

so why should it beeee, you and i should get along so awfully!

But seriously...

Arabs are semites, so duh, of course. OTOH English use of anti-Semite excludes non-Hebreic semites, silly language.

The excerpt you quoted speaks truth.