In the piercing aftermath of 9/11, Fareed Zakaria pointed out that "there are billions of poor and weak and oppressed people around the world. They don't turn planes into bombs. They don't blow themselves up to kill thousands of civilians... There is something stronger at work here than deprivation and jealousy. Something that can move men to kill but also to die". Zakaria did not blame Islam per se; his scorn was focused on its Arab heartland....

The mainstream political rhetoric concerning Islam in Norway has undoubtedly changed for the better in the past year. The number of ordinary citizens willing to contest Islamophobic discourse publicly has risen. But popular attitudes often remain stubbornly unchanged. A 2012 survey indicates that Norwegians hold more negative attitudes towards Muslims than towards any other minority group, except the Roma. Such negative attitudes are more prevalent among Norwegians who profess adherence to rightwing political parties.

A hybrid-theocracy is known for a minute liberal space, accompanied with a huge space where Sharia is informally implemented or not resisted. After all, with all the fascination that a lot of people have about revolutionary Iran, Pakistan may end up becoming a theocracy through a slow and gradual process. The liberal-secular population, which can now be counted on finger tips, was upset by what it considered as the government’s capitulation....

Calling the US gurdwara attack an instance of Islamophobia masks a deeper reality. It restricts the larger phenomenon of White Racism to anti-Muslim bigotry, which can be explained away by 9/11 and other acts of Islamist extremism. Islamophobia, while deplorable, can be shown to be the result of political causes, a manifestation of “zealots seeking revenge”. The charge of White Racism strikes deeper into the heart of Western civilisation. It tears down the façade of ‘Enlightenment’ that the West prides itself in, which in fact loops back to feed the racial supremacism that drives people like Page.

In political terms, the affair can be analyzed from two angles: from the tactical perspective as an anti-U.S. manipulation; or from a strategic one, as an anti-Muslim psychological attack. The film was produced by a Zionist group composed of Jews of double Israeli-American nationality and by an Egyptian Copt. It was completed several months ago but was released at a calculated moment to provoke riots targeting the United States....

He likely thought he was targeting American Muslims. He operated in an atmosphere of virulent hate speech against American Muslims. A discourse of Islamophobia has plagued the United States in the past decade, pushed by unscrupulous bigots in public life and by entire media organizations such as Fox Cable News....

I hope our party leaders wake up now, and rescue the party by purging the gratuitous allegations and gossip from the party. These men and women have no shame in denigrating Muslims.  Let these guys say similar things to Jews and the African Americans; they will be hounded and chased down like wild pigs. Shamelessly, they feel that they have a free ride on Muslims, Mexicans, Gays and Lesbians.  That is not only unpatriotic, but downright immoral to treat a fellow Americans in that fashion. They are an embarrassment to our civil society. In fact, they are not tearing Muslims, they are tearing America apart; shame on them. No group of Americans need to be targeted, we should always nail the bad guys and not their affiliations, consider the following scenario;...

There's a call to dialogue, from a small Muslim community to law enforcement officials, echoing across Florida. It's a call for understanding, tolerance and education, to cross cultural boundary lines and request leaders on both sides to ask questions, share a meal and discuss concerns. Teaching cops to get inside the mind of a terrorist has become his full-time job....

It's a standard debating technique. Your opponent offers a counter-argument. You respond with a smile, saying, "You make my point for me." It often works but only rarely is it completely true. One of those rare occasions has arisen right here on Comment is Free – via the thread below Mehdi Hasan's valedictory piece for this site....

Even in polite society, fear-mongering, negative stereotyping and abuse are now out of control – as I know from bitter experience.  Have you ever been called an Islamist? How about a jihadist or a terrorist? Extremist, maybe? Every morning, I take a deep breath and then go online to discover what new insult or smear has been thrown in my direction. Whether it's tweets, blog posts or comment threads, the abuse is as relentless as it is vicious. "Get out of my country, goatfucker." How many other political columnists have to deal with such "feedback"?...

What is it about Muslim beard that pricks non-Muslims where it hurts the most? Psychologists call it “conditioning”. People learn from their experiences and behave on that basis. And “Muslims with beards” have, over the past few decades, given some rather rude lessons to non-Muslims. Virtually every terrorist attack, be it in New York, Bali, Madrid or London, has been carried out by bearded Muslims. The most prominent faces of Islamist extremism, from Osama bin Laden to Omar Bakri Mohammad, sport long, flowing beards. This has “conditioned” non-Muslims to link bearded Muslims, if not all Muslims, with terror. …

Demographics Unit dispatched “mosque crawlers” (informants) and “rakers” (undercover police officers) to engage in the “human mapping” of mosques, cafes, bookstores and other hangouts within “communities of interest.” These communities consisted—or still consist, as officials have not denied that the program is ongoing—of people with roots in twenty-eight predominantly Muslim countries  as well as those designated “American Black Muslim.” Imams—including those reputed to be close to law enforcement Cabdrivers, food-cart vendors and college students were all fair game, and not a single detail of their lives seemed too small to record….

Mitt Romney declared that Park51 had “the potential for extremists to use the mosque for global recruiting and propaganda.” Rudy Giuliani called it “a desecration.” And Sarah Palin famously tweeted, “Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn’t it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate [sic].” A month later, a cabdriver in New York was asked, “Are you Muslim?” When he said yes, he was stabbed in the neck....

Let me state quite directly: Islamophobia and those who promote it are a greater threat to the United States of America than Anwar al Awlaqi and his rag-tag team of terrorists. On one level, al Awlaqi, from his cave hide-out in Yemen, can only prey off of alienation where it exists. Adopting the persona of a latter-day Malcolm X, he appears street-smart, brash, self-assured and assertive - all of the assets needed to attract lost or wounded souls looking for certainty and an outlet for their rage....

A colleague from Hyderabad office came to meet me. He said he has come to Mumbai for his wife’s treatment. She is to be operated in a few days. Blood will be needed for the operation. I told him there is a list of blood donors in the office. ... He nodded but said that the blood should be that of a Muslim. ... We, the Muslims, are busy proving that all the Islamophobic propaganda and misunderstandings created after 9/11 are true. Because of our foolish actions people get excuses to propagate that Islam is not fit for a pluralistic society and that it treats every religion with hatred. And that Islam wishes its followers to be detached from all others. All this is only because of our stupidity. On the other hand, enemies of Islam wish to separate it from all other religions under a pre-planned scheme. ...