Well, It's Been Two Years Now...

[paft.livejournal.com]

Whether this escalates or continues along with the "mere" harassment of Muslims, (maybe a murder or two -- no biggie, right?) or a few more bombings, my point about the exploitation of Islamophobia by the Republicans remains. It's at its current pitch because the bigots are getting validation from people in high places, who consider whipping up this kind of hatred politically expedient.

Hey guys, remember this?

I posted it a couple of years ago in the course of a discussion of the harassment of Muslims in Murfreesbro Tennessee.

Well, it’s been a couple of years, and today Salon has a very interesting piece up. Some of you may have noticed that attacks on places of worship have been in the news lately, what with that guy busting into a Sikh temple and killing several people, the fellow who fired his pellet gun at a Chicago area mosque, narrowly missing a security guard, and shortly after that, not to far away the person who flung a homemade bomb at an Islamic school during prayers. Then there are the ladies who threw pig parts into a Mosque driveway during a service. And of course, there’s the Mosque in Joplin Missouri that was recently burned down entirely:

From Salon: According to FBI data, hate crimes against Muslims might be rising. The rate of anti-Muslim crimes fell from nearly 500 in 2001 to 107 in 2009. But in 2010 (the latest year for which the FBI has data) the total number of hate crimes jumped 50 percent to 160.

A few of you, I recall wanted statistics back in 2010. I predicted that when they were finally compiled, they would show a rather dramatic uptick in anti-Muslim incidents. Apparently, believing one’s own eyes and ears isn’t as unreliable as some would like to believe.

But wait, there’s more! The Salon piece points out the increasingly incendiary use of anti-Islamic rhetoric by authority figures, in particular Illinois’ own Joe Walsh.

“It’s a real threat,” Walsh said at a town hall meeting in Elk Grove Village, Ill. “And it’s a threat that is much more at home now than it was right after 9/11.”

“It’s here,” he continued, referring to “radical Islam” in the suburbs of Chicago. “It’s in Elk Grove, it’s in Addison, it’s in Elgin. It’s here.”

Does anybody here still think that there’s not been a rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes? That rhetoric from people like Joe Walsh, Michelle Bachmann, etc, are not feeding the flames?

Comments

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Of course there's been a rise. US civilization needs an enemy to be against, if it has to be for anything it'll collapse and fall into ashes as it has no positive basis, only a negative one. The (acceptable to US conservatives subcultures of) Jews are off limits now, race riots and lynching are no longer fun for the whole family, posing happily for a postcard beneath a corpse from a tree. The Soviets are gone, China's keeping us afloat with debt, and so the great Communist world conspiracy can no longer unify people against it. So people now cling to the idea of the Muslim threat, for there must always be a threat. Reality and its mundane, harsh, arbitrary nature isn't comforting, the concept of a threat is. The people agitating against the Salafist under the Bed genuinely believe in the threat, but they are simply exemplars of this problem, not the cause of it. The cause of it is as I said that US civilization is a civilization of negatives, knowing what it's not, having nothing where what it is is concerned.

This is why firebombing mosques or flying planes into IRS buildings is not terrorism, but a fanatic shooting up a military base is. It's not rational, it's not about the deed, it's about assuaging a need for certain types to feel satisfied about a black and white world of heroes v. villains for the highest stakes of human destiny.

[notmrgarrison.livejournal.com]

According to the FBIs' statistics, hate crimes against Jews far exceed hate crimes against muslims. In 2009 for example, there were 5 times as many.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

All hate crimes are wrong, but there are also many more Jews in the USA than there are Muslims, as I understood it, given the USA has more Jews than Israel does. However you also said this without any actual links to back up the point, so..........

On the other hand, it's worth noting all those liberals the GOP loves to single out tend to be Jews. Like Soros, Boxer, Feinstein.....

[notmrgarrison.livejournal.com]

What an accurate representative list. But how do you explain all the attacks? Liberals?

Oh, and, the FBIs' statistics?
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2008 (I meant 2008)
Not too hard to find as the article linked to the site.

[merig00.livejournal.com]

"...the USA has more Jews than Israel does."

Where did you get that from?

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Cool change of tactics. (http://talk-politics.livejournal.com/1517886.html?thread=122315838#t122315838)

[notmrgarrison.livejournal.com]

I was replying to Underlankers comment, not some post from last week.

[paft.livejournal.com]

That probably has a lot to do with there being more Jews in this country than there are Muslims. And I've not noticed elected officials announcing Jewish plots to infiltrate Chicago suburbs and bring this country down. Have you?

Those hate crime statistics from the FBI show a staggering spike in anti-Muslim hate crimes post 9/11. There is not a similar dramatic rise in anti-Jewish hate crimes.

[notmrgarrison.livejournal.com]

And I've not noticed elected officials announcing Jewish plots to infiltrate Chicago suburbs and bring this country down.

And yet the synagogues are attacked. Maybe such attacks don't require politicians rhetoric?

[dwer.livejournal.com]

this is Jack's complete lack of surprise.

[notmrgarrison.livejournal.com]

http://www.usatoday.com/USCP/PNI/Valley%20&%20State/2012-07-07-PNI0707met-church-firePNIBrd_ST_U.htm

http://www.christianpost.com/news/church-destroyed-in-arson-attack-pastor-describes-spiritual-attack-77922/

In fact, church burnings are common. The nation sees 15 to 20 church arsons a month, scattered from Florida to California. (http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0208/p02s01-ussc.html)

The list goes on and on.


For the increase?

in 2005 there were 146 attacks
in 2006 there were 192 attacks
in 2007 there were 142 attacks
In 2008 there were 108 attacks
in 2009 there were 107 (though I can't find this on the FBI website)
in 2010 there were 160 attacks (though from the FBI's site it seems to be 1409*.132 = 186)

[kylinrouge.livejournal.com]

I would agree that we do not need to pay special attention to Muslim hate crimes, and instead should focus on hate crimes in general. It's all the same motive anyway.

However, it doesn't hurt to call out politicians on their double standards.

[paft.livejournal.com]

k: I would agree that we do not need to pay special attention to Muslim hate crimes..

Why not, given that they have risen pretty dramatically?

[kylinrouge.livejournal.com]

Small sample size is small. You need more than two data points for a trend.

[paft.livejournal.com]

nmg: http://www.usatoday.com/USCP/PNI/Valley%20&%20State/2012-07-07-PNI0707met-church-firePNIBrd_ST_U.htm

Has there been a rash of anti-Mormon hate crimes? Have there been numerous cases of Mormons being denied even the right to build places of worship on the grounds that their religion is somehow anti-American? Have prominent politicians been positing a Mormon terrorist underground intent on destroying America? Have well known elected officials been calling to investigations into Mormons in Washington DC?

nmg: http://www.christianpost.com/news/church-destroyed-in-arson-attack-pastor-describes-spiritual-attack-77922/

Has there been a rash of anti-Protestant hate crimes? Have there been numerous cases of Protestants being denied even the right to build places of worship on the grounds that their religion is somehow anti-American? Have prominent politicians been positing a Protestant terrorist underground intent on destroying America? Have well known elected officials been calling to investigations into Protestants in Washington DC?

"the top reasons for torching a church include the coverup of a burglary, vandalism, and revenge."

Throwing a bomb while people are present and praying, organizing committees to prevent a place of worship from being built, and deliberately desecrating a place during services goes way beyond the usual church arson. And I've not seen many people in Congress telling their constituents that churches are hotbeds of incipient terrorism, where worshippers plot to kill Americans.

nmg: in 2005 there were 146 attacks...

Here's the picture in its entirety:

In 1998 there were were 21
In 1999 there were 32
In 2000 there were 28
And in 2001 there were 481
And in 2002 there were 155
And in 2003 there were 149
And in 2004 there were 156
n 2005 there were 146 attacks
in 2006 there were 192 attacks
in 2007 there were 142 attacks
In 2008 there were 108 attacks
in 2009 there were 107 (I had no trouble finding this on the website)
in 2010 there were 160 attacks

In the original OP back in 2010, "Ignoring the Elephant" I included the point that while there was a spike in anti-Muslim hate crimes after 9/11, (one helluva spike -- from 28 to 481!) they leveled off afterwards, though they remained high. The Bush family, after all, were close friends with the house of Saud and the GOP had no interest in whipping up anti-Islam hatred -- what would be in it for them? The spike took place in 2010, when anti-Islam rhetoric, much of it in the form of claims that President Obama was a secret Muslim, really began picking up steam again.

I noticed no comparable dramatic jump in anti-Jewish hate crimes post 9/11.

It takes an act of wilfull blindness to not see a rise in anti-Muslim hate.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

It takes an act of wilfull blindness to not see a rise in anti-Muslim hate.

It's all over the right wing blogs and conservative commentators (the worst one is Jonah Goldberg), and you're seeing it rehashed here.

[notmrgarrison.livejournal.com]

The spike took place in 2010,

Seems like there was a spike in 2006 as well.

The spike took place in 2010, when anti-Islam rhetoric, much of it in the form of claims that President Obama was a secret Muslim, really began picking up steam again.

That was 2008-2009.


It takes an act of wilfull blindness to not see a rise in anti-Muslim hate.

Since 911, sure. But your evidence for 2010 isn't all that great, and you have no data for 2011.

And I've not seen many people in Congress telling their constituents that churches are hotbeds of incipient terrorism, where worshippers plot to kill Americans.

Which is to say these attacks can very well occur without politicians having anything to do with it.

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

Accuse all Muslims of being terrorists

Deploy acts of terrorism against them.

This has been another "advice dog" moment.

[eracerhead.livejournal.com]

Everybody please just stop with the 9/11 justifies hate speech. Here's an analogy:

Muslim is to blowing up buildings as Christian is to blowing up buildings.

If you are going to blame Muslims for 9/11 then you need to also blame Christians for Oklahoma City. The only reason why this doesn't happen is cultural bias.

[notmrgarrison.livejournal.com]

It could also have something to do with McVeigh not doing it for religious reasons, no follow ups like 3-11, the London bombings, the Bali bombings, the bombings in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Khomeni and others calling us the Great Satan, ... the shoe bomber attempt, the Christmas bombing attempt, the Times Square attempt, the Fort Hood shooting, ...

[paft.livejournal.com]

nmg: It could also have something to do with McVeigh not doing it for religious reasons, no follow ups like 3-11,

You've missed all those clinic bombings? The violence associated with the militia movement in the '90s?

Oh, and by the way, here's something I remember pretty clearly about the Oklahoma City bombing.

The rumor immediately began to spread in the hour after it that two "middle-eastern looking men" had been seen fleeing the scene. So instantly, people assumed it was an example of Arab terrorism. A group of big, brave, all-American men descended upon the house of some Iraqi immigrants and frightened an Iraqi woman into a miscarriage.

So middle easterners get victimized by hate crimes even when the actual perps are blonde, blue-eyed Americans.

[kylinrouge.livejournal.com]

To add on, this is also true for Muslims. McVeigh did it first and foremost because he was a terrorist, and the same goes for 9/11. Their being Muslim was secondary to them being terrorists.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

But people fly planes into IRS buildings and this has nothing to do with anything. A guy shoots up a theater calling himself the Joker, this has nothing to do with the nature of superhero comics glorifying violent douchebaggery. Gay men are beaten to death and Congresscritters publicly denounce those murders as Gay-Librul hoaxes.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Members of al-Qaeda cited the incendiary assaults on Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a rationalization for their use of suicide bombs. They say that what is good for goose is good for the gander.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Um, how do the atomic bombings work as a rationalization for suicide bombers? Did you mean Kamikaze attacks? The atomic bombings are a rationale for strategic bombing, which is something completely different.