Interesting piece from Paul Sagar (a blogger from the left I highly recommend), on whether patriotism can combat anti-Muslim bigotry.
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thabet
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thabet
Lenin’s Tomb has a report and pictures of the English Defence League’s march outside a mosque in Harrow.
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johnpi
A Google search on Jamaat ul-Fuqra turns up a solid 15 pages of right-wing blog and news stories on the group before getting to a non-hostile listing – with the exception of my two previous posts here at Talk Islam (and Wikipedia and a few dictionary entries), which shows that the group has become the unofficial Islamic boogyman of the American right. Also of interest, this report from CBS news last month on the new agitprop documentary made about the group by the Christian Action Network:
Officials describe the film to CBS News as “sensationalistic” and without any real foundation. According to one official, it is strictly designed to upset and inflame people and does not present a true picture of any so-called “homegrown Jihad” danger. No current intelligence exists to suggest any threat connected with this group, which officials describe as “wannabes” and not terrorists.
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johnpi
The Christian Action Network released a “documentary” last month titled, “Homegrown Jihad: The Terrorist Camps Around U.S.” which purports to show “crucial footage that exposes 35 terrorist training compounds throughout the U.S. and provides shocking first-hand footage from deep inside the terrorist training camps that will astound the nation.”
The Christianist documentarians exclusively refer to the group that owns these “camps/compounds” as “Muslims of America,” which of course spreads taint of affilation to all Muslims in America. Most people reading this though would probably know them as Jamaat ul-Fuqra.
The fact that the Fuqra have segregated themselves into isolated compounds doesn’t stop the CAN from blurbing the video on its website this way: “They may be living right next door…”
Anyway, here’s the trailer and here’s another bit of agitprop where the producers visit a Fuqra center in Red House, VA, and are accosted by an “angry Muslim,” – there’s even a blank screen with the words, “Camera goes dark after angry Muslim pulls out power cord” and who proceeds to swing a cane at their car as they are speeding away. The 90 seconds of interaction are followed by nearly five minutes of the most dramatic hyperbolic retelling of a confrontation you’ve heard since junior high school.
Personally, I find the Fuqra creepy, and it does have a history of violence [against Muslim minorities] – qualities that make it the perfect foil for impassioned appeals to the prejudices and fears about Muslims in general.
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Fatemeh
Racialicious is undergoing a Muslim invasion!
Jehanzeb writes about Muslim women in comic books (part 1, part 2), which MMW also featured a few months ago.
Shawna shares her experiences growing up as a Muslim in the Bible belt.
