it appears that the same accusations that have been made against "semites" in the past by the west are the self same rehashed and regurgitated ones which are used today to justify policies.
defining Islam as a religion of domination, conspiracy, repression, backward-ness, etc. bears similar hallmarks to the accusations made against the Jewish people in the West.
"Runnymede Trust
This graph from the Runnymede Trust attempts to visually summarize all aspects of Islamophobia.In the United Kingdom, the term “Islamophobia” was not used in government policy until 1997, when the UK race relations think tank Runnymede Trust published the report Islamophobia: A Challenge For Us All.[13] In a section entitled The Nature of Islamophobia, the report itemizes eight features that Runnymede attributed to Islamophobia:
"Islam is seen as a monolithic bloc, static and unresponsive to change.
Islam is seen as separate and “other”. It does not have values in common with other cultures, is not affected by them and does not influence them.
Islam is seen as inferior to the West. It is seen as barbaric, irrational, primitive, and sexist.
Islam is seen as violent, aggressive, threatening, supportive of terrorism, and engaged in a Clash of Civilizations.
Islam is seen as a political ideology, used for political or military advantage.
Criticisms made of 'the West' by Islam are rejected out of hand.
Hostility towards Islam is used to justify discriminatory practices towards Muslims and exclusion of Muslims from mainstream society.
Anti-Muslim hostility is seen as natural and normal."source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Muslim In a similar light, Jews are seen the same way. The top story today on one of the leading "alternative" news source, Rense.com is "Ancient Racism Fuels Israel's Air Strikes." Among the subtitles in the article:
"War against the Gentiles "
"Refusal to Change"
"No Remorse"
"Israel Serves a Different God"source:
http://rense.com/general73/racism.htmThe accusations that Jewish texts(e.g. the Talmud) expose the dirty little secrets of Judaism and that this is proof positive of an immoral people is the same as the current anti-Islamic propaganda which is propagated in the media which states that the Koran encourages terrorism and that the values of Islam are contrary to the West.
The idea that Jews stand as one monolithic group, unified behind the policies of Israel is a dangerous public image that only serves the elite while scapegoating an entire group of people.
"This one-sided U.S. policy is the result of a combination of factors, but it thrives on the myth that all American Jews stand uncritically behind the Israeli government. Many believe that American Jews unanimously and unconditionally support the Israeli government. That what we learned from the Holocaust is to shoot first and ask questions later. That our commitment to justice and equal rights is a quaint feature of our past . . . Jewish American leaders work tirelessly to promote the myth of Jewish consensus. Their tactics include refusing to rent space to dissenters, threatening funding cuts when Jewish institutions question Israel's actions and canceling meetings when they suspect debate might occur. Their most ubiquitous weapon is the hurtful charge of anti-Semitism, hurled at both dissenting Jews and Gentiles.
Many Jews question Israel's policies, but are afraid to speak out in their congregations or even to their families."source:
http://rense.com/general73/timefor.htm It is important for us to have good information to dissect the media propagated discourse which intends to frame a picture which dictates our perception of reality. Hatred is an easy road to come by in this time, scapegoats always keep the heat off of the real perpetrators.
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