In her September 19, 2010, column in the Saudi daily Arab News, titled "'Plot by Muslims to Kill Pope' Another Islamophobic Ploy," Shabana Syed viciously attacked the West for its alleged deeply rooted hatred of Muslims. She enumerated ways in which Western public figures demonize Muslims, explained how Israel is "working to create hatred against Muslims" to benefit its own expansionist plans, and discussed Zionist control of the media. Calling Western accusations against American-Yemeni cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki unsubstantiated, she noted alleged Israeli involvement in terror attacks in the West, and stated, "The West may have hated Nazi Germany – but it has certainly learned" from it.
The following is her column, in the original English:[1]
Pope Assassination Plot "An Opportunity Once Again To Perpetuate the Myth That All Muslims Are Terrorists"
"Six Algerian street cleaners arrested for planning to kill Pope Benedict [XVI] were pronounced innocent and released without any charges.
"The six were arrested in London by British police on the basis of a conversation overhead. According to those critical of the police, if the pope had been under any threat it might have come from the gay right groups, or the hundreds of victims who had suffered sexual abuse by Catholic priests.
"Or was this, as critics have claimed, just another opportunity to play the Muslim card again by the authorities and media, as the tabloids went to town with blaring headlines like 'Muslim Terrorists Plot to Kill Pope'?
"[This was] an opportunity once again to perpetuate the myth that all Muslims are terrorists, something they have been doing successfully for over a decade."
"The situation is just as bad or even worse in America as recent events revealed. The hysteria and outpouring of hate for Islam and Muslims had never been more evident than by the incidence of Koran burning and the debacle over the building of a Muslim community center near Ground Zero.
"If one wonders how and why Islamophobia has spread its poisonous tentacles taking root in Western society, one has to realize that the 'seeds of hatred had been sown decades ago and today those who sowed the seeds are reaping the benefits.'
"To mark 9/11, racist anti-Muslim graffiti was daubed on Islamic centers, mosques and houses, Muslims were attacked and abused. In one horrific incident, a cab driver was stabbed several times.
"Islamophobia in America has reached a level where magazine editor Martin Peretz felt confident enough to declare Muslims not 'worthy of First Amendment rights…'"
"Israel Has Been Working to Create Hatred Against Muslims" – To Further Its Own Expansionist Plans
[The] anti-Muslim sentiments [of these two] were further energized through support from a number of prominent neoconservative and Zionists groups, such as the Center for Security Policy (CSP). [The CSP] itself is funded by major U.S. defense contractors and several wealthy Jewish donors who also support radical Jewish settlers in the West Bank.
"The rally organized against the Islamic center also featured Geert Wilders, the racist Dutch politician whose anti-Islam stance received little support in Europe but was welcomed with open arms from pro-Israel groups in America, and named 'the most important European alive' by the vehemently anti-Muslim and pro-Israel Daniel Pipes.
"If that was not enough for a 'hatefest,' the final icing on this poisonous cake was to bring over members of the English Defense League – a British far-right group whose thuggish methods involve violence to prevent 'the Islamization of Britain.' Investigations by Spinwatch have revealed the close collaboration between EDL and American neocons and Zionists.
"Maybe now we can understand Jonathon Cooke's book 'Israel and the Clash of Civilizations,' in which he states how Israel has been working to create hatred against Muslims in the hope that there will be conflict and wars that will benefit Israel's future expansionist plans.
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"He explains further, saying Israel continues to suppress and kill Palestinians, knowing it is fueling Muslim anger and hoping it encourages extremism. He states, 'The injustices that Muslims are watching will be imprinted on their psyches and extremist ideologies will flourish, further feeding the theory that there will be a clash of civilizations since Muslims and Islam are violent.'"
"Investigations Reveal That More Than 96% of the Mainstream Media is Owned By Zionists"
"The whole incidence would never have gotten out of control if the media had ignored the deranged pastor with less than 40 people in his congregation, who had never read the Koran and didn't even know how to say imam and ended up saying 'inam.'
"Investigations reveal that more than 96% of the mainstream media is owned by Zionists. Whether this is true or not, their pro-Israel bias is clearly evident.
"We see the similarities in the mainstream media's narrative, which as Robert Fisk has pointed out is a 'parasitic-osmotic relationship between supposedly honorable reporters and the nexus of power that runs between White House and State Department and Pentagon, between Downing Street and the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defense.'
"If we are constantly fed the same narrative, the logical question asked is how do we know that the information we are presented with is the truth or fabricated?
"President Bush and Prime Minister Blair lied, backed up by the media, and went to war with Iraq leading not only to the deaths of over a million Iraqis but also the deaths of Western soldiers."
"Islamophobia Has Been Building for More Than a Decade... The Continual Demonization [of Muslims], the Situation in Palestine, [and] the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan Will Radicalize" Muslims
"Islamophobia has been building for more than a decade now, and many a government official and political analysts have warned that the continual demonization [of Muslims], the situation in Palestine, [and] the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will radicalize and marginalize Muslims.
"There is no concrete evidence that Muslims are now 'radicals'; however scant attention has been paid to what the Muslims are feeling [as a result of] living under this barrage of hatred, as they watch American and British troops bombing Muslim countries, killing thousands of innocent people and calling it collateral damage; the abuses in prisons like Abu Ghraib, where hundreds are locked up without evidence or trial."
The Media Use "Misleading Narratives... To Cover the Footprints of Terror"
"All this continues against a background of misleading narratives that are used by media to cover the footprints of terror – and the Muslims' feelings are of no concern to them as long as they don't express 'radical opinions,' and if they do it is not because they are angry at what is happening but because Islam is teaching them.
"Debate in the Muslim communities is suppressed, university campuses are monitored, and spying on fellow students is encouraged. There is heavy surveillance of mosques and imams."
"The Latest Radical Imam Is Supposed To Be A Western-Educated Yemeni [i.e. Anwar Al-Awlaki]... The West May Have Hated Nazi Germany – But It Has Certainly Learned" From It
"When Muslims voice their opinions against foreign policies, they are seen as extremists indoctrinated by 'radical Islam' or by radical imams. The latest radical imam is supposed to be a Western-educated Yemeni [i.e. cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki] who has lived in the U.S. for over 20 years. He is being blamed for every terror plot from 9/11 to 7/7 to the Fort Dix shooting [sic] to the Christmas bomber.
"The U.S. is adamant that it's the 'radical' imams' fault and nothing to do with its foreign policies. Therefore, in the tradition of Bush's Wild West tactics, the CIA has been sent to 'get their man,' and without any substantial evidence, to kill him.
"The West may have hated Nazi Germany, but has certainly learned from Goebbels' motto: 'If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it people will eventually come to believe it.'"
"Those Questioning the Holes [in the Official 9/11 Narrative] Are Labeled Conspiracy Theorists"
"However, some of the 'truths' that have been put out, especially those concerning terror plots have glaring holes in them, and those questioning the holes are labeled conspiracy theorists.
"The demand for an independent investigation by the 9/11 Truth Movement is beginning to gain ground.
"The most credible demand has come from members of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth. Richard Gage, who has been an architect for over 20 years, has delivered over 150 presentations of evidence that the World Trade Center skyscrapers were explosively demolished on September 11."
"The Israeli Security Company That Allowed the 'Underwear Bomber' To Catch the Flight At Amsterdam Airport Was the Same [One] That Allowed Some of the 9/11 Hijackers On – And Let Shoe Bomber Richard Reid Board His Miami Flight In 2001"
"The terror plot last Christmas was never investigated in detail. A young Nigerian known for having terrorist sympathies was escorted on to the plane without a passport or any security checks. Also witnesses have said that this young Nigerian who appeared to be looking like he is in a trance was filmed by an anonymous man from the minute the young man sat in his plane seat.
"Other facts the media have ignored is that the Israeli security company that allowed the 'Underwear Bomber' to catch the flight at Amsterdam airport was the same security company that allowed some of the 9/11 hijackers on – and the same company that let shoe bomber Richard Reid board his Miami flight in 2001.
"The uncovering of terror plots has only led to further introduction of draconian legislation that curbs civil liberties, and fueled hatred toward Muslims."
"We Should Remember These Important Words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: 'In the End, We Will Remember Not the Words of Our Enemies – But the Silence of Our Friends'"
"As people like [former British prime minister Tony] Blair continue to perpetuate fear against Islam by repeating the same old mantra about 'radical Islam being a threat to world peace,' one should also be aware that this mantra has made him a very rich man who now works in the interests of Israel as a Middle East Peace Envoy.
"In a fight against good and evil, Blair, and those perpetuating lies, should also remember that history has shown that oppression and injustice cannot survive and truth will finally prevail.
"However, truth and justice need a little help sometimes – and with this is mind perhaps we should remember these important words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr: 'In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies – but the silence of our friends.'"
[1] The text has been lightly edited for clarity.
