Ilhan Omar… Anti-Semitism or Islamophobia?

by with No Comment CultureFeatured

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s recent remarks about Israel’s involvement in US affairs has sparked outrage in our government. In one of her statements to Congress, she said, “I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country.” Without ever attacking Jews or Judaism itself, she has been labelled as “anti-Semitic.” Pro-Israel lobbying groups quickly went up in arms to attack her, and multiple people have called for her to be removed from the Foreign Affairs Committee. President Trump even tweeted a response in which he called her comments reflective of a “dark day for Israel.” A picture of Omar has gone viral that depicts her in front of the burning buildings from 9/11.

Despite receiving an inordinate amount of criticism, Omar has not retracted her comments or stepped down from her position on the Foreign Affairs Committee. Plenty of Democrats have voiced their opinions against her, despite belonging to the same party. Several days after Omar’s remarks, a resolution was passed to denounce anti-Semitism and overall hate, which includes anti-Muslim rhetoric as well.

I recently spoke to someone who highlighted something I had never thought of before. When someone says something against Jews or Judaism, they are labelled as anti-Semitic. The use of the prefix “anti” indicates that the person who is committing the action is in the wrong. They are against something that they should not be against. When there is anti-Muslim rhetoric; however, it is most often labelled as Islamophobic. The suffix “phobia” implies that it is not necessarily wrong for someone to be against Islam. In fact, the use of this term categorizes Islam as something to be afraid of, like the dark or spiders. A person who is Islamophobic is seen as a good person who is rightly afraid of something, whereas an anti-Semite is a bad person who is against something good. The usage of these terms are not an accident, and it is clear that there are political associations with both words.

Ilhan Omar brought to light an important matter concerning our country’s undying loyalty to a foreign nation, yet she was attacked for doing so. The U.N. recently found that Israel intentionally shot children, journalists, and the disabled during protests in Gaza; yet, we see more outrage when someone questions our national loyalty than the murder of innocent people. It is clear that there is a major issue with the way that the US blindly supports Israel and its policies, and I hope that Ilhan Omar will not be the last one to call attention to this problem.

Similar Read: Ideas Make This Country Great

The Rohingya Massacre: A Crisis the West Rather Not Cover

by with One Comment FeaturedGlobal

The United Nations considers the Rohingya people the “most persecuted minority group in the world.” It’s time we start paying attention. 

[Silent] Genocide: The Rohingya Massacre… We originally published this article on 11 September 2017. The crisis has unfortunately worsened since then. If you haven’t heard about the Rohingya Massacre, likely due to the West and major news orgs choosing not to cover it, please read our short piece below to catch up on a story everyone should know about. 

I was scrolling through my newsfeed last week and noticed some of my friend’s updates and funny videos from Labor-Day weekend. While scrolling, I also saw that one of my friends had posted a link from The Economist talking about the Rohingya genocide that is currently taking place in Burma (Myanmar). In a short blurb above the article, she wrote in capital letters, “WHY ISN’T ANYONE TALKING ABOUT THIS!”

I’ve known about this conflict prior to seeing her post, but she made a good point – why isn’t this being discussed on major news networks? I have read time and time again about the intensity and cruelty that is taking place at this moment across the world in Burma, and it sickens me to know that just this year alone 1,000 Rohingya have been killed in a new crackdown by the Myanmar state. 

Here is a breakdown of what started this conflict and why this is happening…

The Rohingya are Muslims. They are indigenous to Burma’s Rakhine province in the North-West Region that borders the South Asian country, Bangladesh. There are approximately 2 million Rohingya, of which, 1 million are currently living in Burma today.

Despite having historic ties to the land of Burma that have lasted for centuries, the Rohingya people were rendered stateless in 1982 by a highly controversial citizenship law that deliberately excluded them as one of Burma’s natural, and thereby legitimate, ethnicities. Because of this, the Rohingya people have been falsely and cruelly classified as foreigners in their own homeland.

If this was not difficult enough the Citizenship Law of 1982 has since become the staging grounds for the rising tide of Islamophobia in Burma. Biased government led initiatives are being fueled by a strategically planted hatred for Muslims and are designed to alienate the native Rohingya from Burmese Buddhist life.

One of the main initiatives involves the denial of the title “Rohingya” from public discourse. Instead, the incorrect term “Benjali” is being pushed on the Rohingya people to make them seem like foreigners and Muslims to the Burmese people. 

Because of this, the Rohingya people have been pushed to the literal fringes of Burmese society where they are extremely vulnerable, and where human rights abuses are mounting up and becoming quite difficult to document.

Since the violence has started the Rohingya people have been forced to flee to neighboring states, such as Bangladesh, Thailand, and Malaysia. They’ve unfortunately been met with further hostility. Those governments have rejected them and relegated them to a life of complete neglect in refugee camps, which inevitably increases the very real threat of human trafficking. 

In 1967, Martin Luther King Jr said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” These words should ring loud and true for anyone who considers themselves a citizen of the world, and they cannot be ignored just because what you see makes you uncomfortable or helpless. We all belong to this planet and when anyone tries to force one person or a group of us to disappear via genocide, we ALL need to come together and say it loud and clear – that it is NOT OK, and that IT WILL NOT BE IGNORED. I too at times feel that my voice is lost in the multitude of noise that is generated in this busy world we live in; however, that will not stop me from yelling, writing, and talking about issues like the Rohingya genocide because they deserve our attention. The people of Rohingya need and deserve justice, and they’ll never get it if the people who know about the issue refuse to discuss it and bring it to other peoples attention. 

The United Nations considers the Rohingya people the “most persecuted minority group in the world.” It’s time we start paying attention. 

Last year we shared a similar story about 8,000 Muslims who were killed in a designated U.N. “safe haven.” Read about it here: Unknown Genocide

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“Attack ISIS, Not Linda Sarsour”

by with No Comment FeaturedGen Z

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0tr0CFik2k&feature=youtu.be

Over the weekend, Linda Sarsour, the Palestinian Muslim-American organizer of the women’s march, gave a speech in which she used the word ‘Jihad’. And the Internet exploded.

Right-wing media outlets seized the opportunity to make it seem as if her speech was proof of Muslim-Americans attempting to foment ‘Jihad’ against the US and Donald Trump. Even prominent liberal figures attempted to distance themselves from Linda. However, anyone who took the time to actually read the text or listen to her speech could clearly see that her use of the word ‘Jihad’ was being completely and sometimes purposely misconstrued. It is clear that what she was talking about had nothing to do with the use of violence. She was giving a speech about speaking truth to power.

This type of reaction to the simple use of a word is absolutely ridiculous and blatantly Islamophobia. Such a reaction is essentially saying that Muslims cannot use a certain term in their religion because it makes people uncomfortable. Some pundits defended Sarsour; yet, they still criticized her word choice.

There are two important points that need to be made. First, she was quoting a hadith- a prophetic saying. So those asking her to “think about her word choice” are essentially asking her to change the wording of her religion to suit the needs of others. Second, Western analysts are continuously saying that moderate Muslims should “take back Islam” from extremists. I’m not even sure what that means, because when a moderate Muslim who is an outspoken civil rights activist like Linda uses the word ‘Jihad’, those same analysts turn against her.

Saying Muslims should stay away from words like ‘Jihad’ is to suggest that Muslims should stay away from all controversial topics. The word ‘Jihad’ means to struggle and is most often used to denote an internal moral struggle. It’s a word that has been appropriated by extremists and bigots. It’s also important to note that the only group that interprets the word ‘Jihad’ to exclusively mean terrorism is ISIS and their affiliates. That does not mean its meaning has changed nor does it mean that Muslims should shy away from using the word. Any argument to the contrary plays right into the hands of bigots and extremists, and further perpetuates Islamophobia.