Islamophobia - Alarming Statements 1 - 2000 and before
compiled by Sheila Musaji
1899 Winston Churchill ““How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity.” Sir Winston Churchill (The River War, first edition, Vol. II, pages248-50 (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1899).
1985 Rev. Jimmy Swaggart, on his TV program attacked the Qur’an saying it contained “absurdities, contradictions and outright foolishness”.
1990 ( Daniel Pipes, 1990) Our society is “unprepared for the massive immigration of brown-skinned peoples cooking strange foods and not exactly maintaining Germanic standards of hygiene.” in article “The Muslims are Coming”
1991 Pat Robertson on The 700 Club Program, Christian Broadcasting Network. And “When I said during my presidential bid that I would only bring Christians and Jews into the government, I hit a firestorm. What do you mean? the media challenged me. ‘You’re not going to bring atheists into the government? How dare you maintain that those who believe the Judeo-Christian values are better qualified to govern America than Hindus and Muslims?’ My simple answer is, Yes, they are.” The New World Order, (Word Publishing, Dallas, Texas) 1991, p. 218
1995 Bishop J. Delano Ellis Islam is “at best false” and at worst “bloody and dangerous.”
1995 Steven Emerson “The level of vitriol against Jews and Christianity within contemporary Islam [Note he did not say “radical Islamic fundamentalism.”], unfortunately, is something that we are not totally cognizant of…We don’t want to accept it because to do so would be to acknowledge that (Islam)…sanctions genocide, planned genocide, as part of its religious doctrine.” In The Jewish Monthly
1997 - Richard John Neuhaus in the October issue of First Things journal, the Editor-in-Chief portrayed Islam as a permanent threat to Western society, used racial and ethnic slurs against Arabs, suggested the American Muslim community could pose a threat to the “identity” of society, offered inaccurate and offensive information about the spread of Islam and the nature of Islamic civilization, seemed to agree with those who say Muslim immigration is a “low-level jihad,” and suggested Christian-Muslim dialogue might be a “delusion.”
1997 - Daniel Pipes in The Jewish Exponent OCTOBER 16, 1997 said: “... the institutional preponderance of fundamentalists in the United States makes it extremely difficult for American Jewish organizations to build constructive relations with Muslim counterparts, for all of the main Islamic groups are fundamentalist, with the possible exception of W. Deen Mohammed’s movement. Faced with a choice of dealing with fundamentalists or no one, the Jewish organizations should choose the latter course. Otherwise, they run the risk of legitimating their own worst enemies.”
1997 - Dr. Henry Jordan, South Carolina Board of Education member “Screw the Buddhists and kill the Muslims.” The remarks were made during a board discussion of whether the Ten Commandments should be posted in public buildings.
1998 - WORLD CUP SOCCER FINALS During the broadcast of this game between Iran and the United States, the commentary had nothing to do with sports. Even the pre-game show included comments about “holy war” and interviews with former American hostages held in Iran. Post-game analysis included a ““joke”” by Brent Musberger that Iranian newspapers would probably headline their stories about the match “Great Satan Gets a Soccer Lesson.”
1999 - The Anti Defamation League, ADL agreed to pay $25,000 to a community relations fund and said it would not spy on other organizations as part of a settlement with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and other groups. The settlement resolved a class-action lawsuit filed in 1993 that accused the ADL of spying on Arab-American, pro-Palestinian and anti-apartheid groups and individuals. (Associated Press, 9/28/1999
2000 - Rep. Rick Lazio Eight national American Muslim and Arab-American organizations today condemned what they say is “anti-Muslim bigotry” coming from the campaign of New York Republican Senate candidate Rick Lazio. Group leaders say Lazio used deceptive campaign tactics aimed at inciting hatred and hostility towards American Muslims. Those tactics included conducting a “deceptively-worded” phone campaign seeking to link First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, Muslim groups and individual Muslim contributors to the tragic bombing of the USS Cole.
2000 - Congressman James Rogan’s campaign for Congress in California’’s 27th District issued public statements attacking opponent Adam Schiff because of Schiff’s attendance at an event co-sponsored by Mr. Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. According to the Los Angeles Times, Rogan’s campaign manager Jason Roe stated that Mr. Al-Marayti “seems to be an apologist for Muslim terrorists.” Roe went on to question why Adam Schiff “would feel comfortable, especially as a Jew, to be participating in this event.” Rev. Gaddy, Executive Director of Interfaith Alliance issued a statement saying “It is unfortunate that Congressman James Rogan’s re-election campaign issued false allegations against Mr. Al-Marayati, perpetuating negative stereotypes against Muslims in an attempt to gain political favor. We regret that such an incident occurred, particularly since Rep. Rogan agreed to abide by the principles of The Interfaith Alliance’s Framework for Civility for Political Candidates - www.civility.net . However, we commend his campaign for recognizing their lack of judgment and issuing a public apology to Mr. Al-Marayati,” In response to these published allegations, local interfaith leaders in Glendale, California held a press conference calling on Rep. Rogan’s re-election campaign to issue an apology to Mr. Al-Marayati and to meet with faith leaders in the community. “The Glendale interfaith community’s reaction to the use of religion as a political weapon stems from the unfortunate reality that Muslims in America continue to be stereotyped as terrorists or sympathizers to religious violence. Unfounded accusations against Muslims or an American Muslim organization not only perpetuate prejudice against the religion of Islam and its followers, they undermine the civic voice and contributions that American Muslims make to our political process and communities. For too long, American Muslims have been excluded from participating in civil dialogue on public policy matters because of negative and erroneous stereotypes. Indeed, if working with Muslims makes one vulnerable to the allegation of working with terrorist sympathizers, civic leaders will be less likely to engage members of the Muslim faith community.” On June 23rd, Rep. Rogan met with Mr. Al-Marayati and leaders of the Muslim Public Affairs Council and presented them with a letter stating the lawmaker had seen no statements “indicating you encourage or support terrorism.” On June 26th, Rogan’s campaign manager issued a public letter apologizing to Mr. Al-Marayati.
