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Islamophobia - A Weapon to Silence Our Freedom of Speech
(Jerusalem Post) Adam Milstein - Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are often framed as equivalent phenomena and equal dangers. But these are two very different phenomena and should not be lumped together. A phobia is a strong, irrational fear of something that poses no real danger. Judeophobia is an irrational fear of Jews. Islamophobia is an irrational fear of the Islamic religion or Muslims generally. Anti-Semitism is a race-based ideology rooted in stereotypes - not based on fear, but ancient hatred. Islamophobia became prominent in 1989 when Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, following the publication of Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses, which imposed a death penalty on Rushdie and also criminalized all the publishers and translators of the book. Since then, the Islamophobic label has been used increasingly to deter any scrutiny of any groups or individuals who happen to be Muslim, even when they are advancing radical or harmful ideas. The sword of Islamophobia is wielded to deliberately chill discourse and narrow the public marketplace of ideas. Today, the unfortunate reality is that any time somebody is brave enough to critique a dangerous ideology, the government of a Muslim country or even a terrorist network, they're silenced, shut down and stigmatized for engaging in Islamophobia.