CAIR documents Islamophobia growth

“Same Hate, New Target: Islamophobia and Its Impact in the United States 2009-2010,” was released June 23 and was based on existing data and interviews with experts. In addition to showing a rise in Islamophobia in the United States, the report offers recommendations on how to confront the growing issue.

The report also addresses specific instances, including the controversy over the Park 51 Islamic community center near New York’s Ground Zero, the 2010 Oklahoma ballot initiative targeting Sharia Law, and Islam-ophobia in the 2010 elections.

CAIR National Legislative Director Corey Saylor, one of the report’s co-authors, said: “This report shows that Americans who embrace pluralism must act together to prevent Islamophobia from being accepted in mainstream society. Islamophobia is the new face of an old hate that has targeted minorities throughout our nation’s history.”

The report lists the “worst” Islamophobes and the “best” individuals who are fighting against growing anti-Muslim sentiment in American society.

On the “worst” side, the report named: Pamela Geller and Robert Spence, the co-founders of the anti-Muslim hate group Stop the Islamization of America (SIOA); Act! for America leader Brigitte Gabriel; GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich and New York Representative Peter King. King, who is hosting the controversial hearings about the radicalization of American Muslims, responded by saying: “Being attacked by CAIR is a compliment.”

The reported also named Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda as sources of Islamophobia.

On the “best” side, the report commended individuals including: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart, and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow.

The report also laid out recommendations for how Muslim-Americans can help decrease Islamophobia; the recommendations include: being an example to others of the “Islamic traditions of patience and reason;” being active in community and political activities; promoting volunteerism; and strengthening outreach to law enforcement authorities.

CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said, “This groundbreaking report creates a benchmark for examining the troubling growth of anti-Muslim sentiment in our society and offers a who’s who of those promoting or challenging Islamophobia. As the recent GOP presidential debate demonstrated, Islamophobia is moving toward the mainstream and therefore must be challenged by all Americans who learned from those periods in our nation’s history when other minorities were similarly targeted.”

The full report is available at: http://crg.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/islamophobiareport2009-2010.pdf