Ben Shapiro: The Lie of Islamophobia

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This past month has seen the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust.

It has also seen the worst global rise in anti-Semitism since the Holocaust. According to Reuters, “In countries where figures are available from police or civil society groups, such as the United States, Britain, France, Germany and South Africa, the pattern is clear: the number of anti-Semitic incidents has increased since October 7 by several hundred percent compared to the same period last year.”

But there is something peculiar about all the media reports on the extravagant rise in anti-Semitism: they all carry notes about a supposedly concomitant rise in “Islamophobia”.

This is strange, to say the least.

What the hell does Islamophobia have to do with anti-Semitism?

The answer is: precisely nothing.

Precisely nothing, that is, unless you want to suggest that the response to anti-Semitism is related to Islamophobia, that if you want to oppose radical Muslim anti-Semitism, that is an aspect of Islamophobia.

This, of course, is precisely what anti-Semites are suggesting these days. Take, for example, Corey Saylor of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. CAIR is the most cited group on “rising Islamophobia.” CAIR is a group that, by the way, was an unindicted co-conspirator in the trial of the Hamas front charity, the Holy Land Foundation. Saylor refuses to condemn boycotts of Jewish businesses; told the Washington Post that “it is 100% on the table to criticize supporters of Israeli apartheid.”

CAIR itself accuses Israel of “textbook ethnic cleansing” and a “war crime” for defending itself, dismisses anti-Semite extraordinaire Linda Sarsour, and promotes the Hamas lie that Israel bombed a hospital (it was Islamic Jihad Palestine). On October 7, the date of the Hamas massacre, CAIR National tweeted: “We join @USCMO and the American Muslim community in reaffirming our support for the right to freedom of the Palestinian people and calling for an end to the “Israeli occupation, which kills hundreds of Palestinian civilians every year, subjects millions of Palestinians to racist oppression and causes the deadly violence we see time and time again, even today.” On October 7 before any Israeli response, they also called for an end to US aid to Israel and the Abraham Accords.

The group has not been offered a single word condemning Hamas.

CAIR is, by any stretch of the imagination, a fomenter of anti-Semitism.

But that’s the point of focusing on alleged Islamophobia: the point is to treat the response to anti-Semitism as a form of Islamophobia. Thus, Saylor claims that it is Islamophobic to release the names of students who sign petitions on the side of Hamas, while claiming that it is not anti-Semitism to boycott Jewish businesses.

fascinating

Legacy media feel the same way. Precisely for this reason, since October 7, the media has been quick to link anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, as if the two phenomena were part of a “cycle of hate”.

This is a disgusting and misguided take that excuses anti-Semitism through false accusations of Islamophobia. But it is extraordinarily common on the left these days. A variation on the theme comes from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has become one of the country’s leading anti-Semites. Now he accuses the American Israel Public Affairs Committee of being an “extremist group” trying to undermine American democracy and target “members of color.”

The Biden administration is falling into the trap of linking anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, a link that has the stated goal of demonizing opposition to Hamas. Afraid of its own base, the Biden administration yesterday announced a national White House strategy to combat Islamophobia. Karine Jean-Pierre explained: “For too long, Muslims in the United States and those who identify as Muslims, such as Arabs and Sikhs, have suffered a disproportionate number of hate-fueled attacks and other discriminatory incidents “.

Why does the White House play this game? Because they are trying to win back the support of Muslims in the United States who are furious that the White House has sided with Israel over Hamas. The latest polls show that nearly six in 10 American Muslims agree that “Hamas was justified in attacking Israel as part of its fight for a Palestinian state.” The White House is trying to buy off Hamas supporters by talking about the alleged victimization they are subjected to.

It’s perverse. It continues to generate a false narrative that opposition to Hamas is opposition to Muslims, a proposition that Muslims themselves should reject, though very few have done so publicly. It is not Islamophobic to oppose Hamas and its supporters. It is anti-Semitic to push this lie.

Ben Shapiro, 39, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show” and co-founder of Daily Wire+. He is a three-time New York Times bestselling author; his latest book is “The Authoritarian Moment: How the Left Weaponized American Institutions Against Dissent.” To learn more about Ben Shapiro and read features from other Creators Syndicate writers and artists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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Ben Shapiro, 36, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show” and editor-in-chief of DailyWire.com. He is the New York Times bestselling author of How to Destroy America in Three Easy Steps, The Right Side of History, and Bullies.

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