by Gregg Roman
His claim that the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas are only interested in taking political control, respectively, of Egypt and the Palestinian territories is deeply inaccurate.
Originally published under the title "Celebrity Prof Reza Aslan Bring His 'Islamophobia' Show To Penn."
Reza
Aslan wants people to understand that Islamic extremists are not so
very different from the rest of us, and also to check out this
human-brain-eating 'Hindu' on the pilot of his new TV show.
|
What happens when a professor known for hyping the dangers of "Islamophobia" is accused of perpetuating such a "phobia" himself? Critics of UC Riverside creative writing professor Reza Aslan's new CNN show, Believer, are charging him with "Hinduphobia" for depicting Hindus as cannibals in the opening episode.
An
Iranian-American academic, author, HBO producer, and now television
host, Reza Aslan has become a sought-after speaker on Muslim life in
America. His celebrity profile packed the house at the University of
Pennsylvania last month for the presentation "Fear Inc.: Confronting
Islamophobia in America."
The
crowd of approximately 750 was a diverse mix of students, attentive
adults, and prominent Penn faculty and alumni, most notably NBC's Andrea
Mitchell. The significance of the turnout was clear: fearmongering
about rising "Islamophobia" is trending, and a young, hip
Muslim-American with cable TV producing credentials has the answers.
Fearmongering about rising 'Islamophobia' in the U.S. is trending.
|
Aslan
began by proclaiming American "Islamophobia" a recent phenomenon. An
Iranian immigrant whose arrival in America coincided with the Iran
hostage crisis, he claims to have witnessed little bigotry against
Muslims.
Even
9/11 sparked not a backlash, but a nationwide rallying cry to support
Muslims. "If we are engaged in the war of ideas, we knew that the most
powerful weapon in our arsenal were the three million Muslims that were
here," he proclaimed.
So
where did "Islamophobia" originate? A few fringe groups, or "clowns" as
he put it, supposedly created it in 2014. They allegedly include
authors Robert Spencer, whom Aslan charmingly called a "moron," Pamela
Geller, Frank Gaffney (a "wackjob!"), and Middle East Forum president
Daniel Pipes, whom he called
the thinking man's Islamophobe! He's the guy I worry about the most because his argument is pretty simple: it's not the jihadists and the terrorists that we need to worry about, it's the Muslim who is actually absorbed in American culture.
Pipes never made such a claim and, far from encouraging fear of Muslims, has consistently proclaimed "radical Islam is the problem; moderate Islam is the solution."
Aslan
encouraged the audience to "laugh at these guys" and ostracize them as
"fringe figures, hate group leaders . . . and people who have no
business in the mainstream on any topic, much less Islamism." He even
claimed that Trump doesn't believe Islam is a religion at all.
Reza Aslan's appearance in Philadelphia attracted throngs of anti-Trump protestors.
|
A
student asked about U.S. influence on the rise of Islamism, leading
Aslan to point out that this is neither unique nor surprising. Religious
nationalism is on the rise everywhere, especially in the U.S. and
Israel, he maintained. Aslan brought up a Pew study to back up his
contention that at least one third of the U.S. can be defined as
Christian nationalists, and cited messianic Zionists and current Israeli
Education Minister Naftali Bennet, who he called "the expected next
prime minister," as Israeli examples.
"What's
important to understand is that [Islamism] is not a religious ideology,
it's a political ideology," Aslan stressed. "As an ideology, it has
very defined goals that are nationalistic." The U.S should only be
concerned with those whose goals are "trans-nationalistic," he added.
Islamist ideology is inherently religious and political.
|
But
of course, Islamism is inherently religious, not merely political,
adhering as it does to the traditional tenets of Islam that do not allow
for separation of church and state. Moreover, Aslan erroneously claimed
that the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas are nationalistic, whereas only
al-Qaeda and ISIS are trans-nationalistic.
Aslan
insisted repeatedly that Islamists with nationalistic views are part of
the worldwide trend exemplified by Brexit and the election of Trump,
and should not be feared. That is, only jihadists like ISIS are
distinguished by a "military element" and therefore pose a threat to
Americans.
His
claim that the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas are only interested in
taking political control, respectively, of Egypt and the Palestinian
territories is deeply inaccurate. The Muslim Brotherhood has always
maintained trans-nationalistic goals, while Hamas has forged alliances
with international jihadist groups and Islamist regimes.
Aslan's claim that Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood only seek political power is wrong.
|
In
emphasizing this "important distinction" Aslan sought two goals:
downplaying the number of dangerous Islamist groups, and attacking the
Trump administration for its anticipated plan to label the Muslim
Brotherhood a terrorist organization. "We're in the midst of an
administration that shows no difference between these two orientations,"
Aslan declared to gasps of outrage from the likeminded audience. "We
have to stop jihadists, but to apply the same pressure to Islamists is
disastrous. This is what leads to the kind of radicalization we are
trying to reverse."
To
the untrained, sympathetic ears of the young audience, Aslan's
absolutes about "Islamophobia" in American society appeared rational.
His media and television platform makes him attractive to university
audiences, but revering someone like Aslan is as nonsensical as claiming
that Daniel Pipes and a few others created "Islamophobia."
Aslan
concluded by declaring "The most important thing I can say is that
Islamophobia is really not about Islam. This is about a crisis of
identity we are having in this country."
As
students experience this "crisis of identity," schools like Penn should
be providing them with well-informed, unbiased scholars. Mere celebrity
isn't enough.
Gregg Roman is director of the Middle East Forum, a research center headquartered in Philadelphia.
Source: http://www.meforum.org/6584/reza-aslanislamophobia-show
Follow Middle East and Terrorism on Twitter
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
No comments:
Post a Comment