Palestinian civil society stands in solidarity with Norway
The Electronic Intifada – 07/28/2011
The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) released the following statement today in the wake of last week’s horrific attacks in Norway:
Palestinian civil society, as broadly represented within the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC), wishes to express its sincere condolences to and deep solidarity with the people of Norway and to Arbeidernes Ungdomsfylking (AUF), the Norwegian labour youth party, in particular after the massacre of last Friday committed by a far right fanatic.
Palestinians stand with the people of Norway as they mourn the victims, and our hearts go out to the families and friends of those who have died.
This horrendous massacre serves as a grave reminder of the dangers posed by racism, hatred and intolerance. We are confident that Norway’s long tradition of peace loving, respecting diversity and upholding human rights anywhere in the world will stand up to this ugly test of fundamentalism and hate; we trust that the Norwegian people’s determination to fight xenophobia and its resultant disregard for equal human rights will be further strengthened.
These violent and horrific attacks cannot be viewed in isolation. There is a growing wave of officially sanctioned Islamophobia in several western countries, driven by misinformation, intolerance and right-wing Zionism, with strong links to Israel. Tragically, this racist and extreme rhetoric has been put into action with many Norwegians paying the price with their lives. The murderer, by his own admission, drew his motivation for this heinous crime from the by now widespread anti-Arab/Muslim discourse that dwells on a perceived “clash of civilizations” and a blind support for Israel and its crimes against the Palestinian people.
Palestinians deeply empathize and stand with Norwegians as fellow humans and as a people that has its own long experience of pain and grief. In Israel’s Gaza massacre alone, more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, lost their lives. Homes, schools, UN shelters, university buildings, civilian infrastructure, hospitals, ambulances, sewage systems, power stations and more were ruthlessly decimated by Israel’s state terrorism in its assault on Gaza 2008-09. The noble humanitarian work and moving testimonies of the prominent Norwegian physician, Dr. Mads Gilbert, attest to the scale of the crime Israel has committed in Gaza and continues to commit on a daily basis with its illegal and immoral siege of 1.5 million Palestinians. It is often in times of great suffering, however, that human compassion and solidarity shine brightest.
We believe that these despicable crimes in Norway will only strengthen the resolve of all people of conscience around the world to pursue freedom, justice and equality and to join hands in combating racism in all forms.
We appreciate greatly the support for Palestinian rights and, specifically, for the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, as shown by members of the AUF summer camp. We deeply appreciate the support for a boycott of Israel from LO, the Norwegian labor federation, and from close to half the people of Norway, as shown in polls following Israel’s bloody flotilla attack last summer. We salute the Norwegian pension fund for divesting from three Israeli companies implicated in Israel’s occupation and colonization. We are proud of the brave decision taken by Norway to ban testing submarines destined to Israel and to support a military embargo on Israel. We stand by the friends and families of all victims at this difficult time.
We hope to honour their memory by working more closely together with the AUF and other partners in Norwegian civil society towards a more just world where there is no place for racism and hatred.
Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC)
Neo-Cons and Muslim Haters
Rabid Islamophobe Pamela Geller
By Phil Giraldi | CNI | July 27, 2011
There has been considerable commentary over the possibility that the terrorism in Norway will trigger a reaction against “conservative” websites and will stifle legitimate debate over immigration and asylum policies. But the websites in question are not conservative at all but rather neoconservative, and the only immigration they oppose is immigration by Muslims.
Some leading neoconservatives cited by Anders Behring Breivik in his rambling commentary are David Horowitz, Daniel Pipes, Robert Spencer, and Pamela Geller, all of whom have been leaders in the indictment of Islam and each of whom is, not coincidentally, a vocal advocate of Israel and its policies. They are the alligators in the swamp that they have created and are now frantically engaged in distancing themselves from their words and deeds. But sometimes the truth will out.
Pamela Geller, who is one of a network of groups and individuals funded by elements within the pro-Israel lobby who are pushing Islamophobia on behalf of Israel, posted the following rambling message from a Norwegian admirer back in 2007. Could it have been Breivik? Possibly. He speaks of stockpiling weapons and violence.
Did Geller alert the Norwegian authorities? No, but she did make sure the Norwegian message was read by her thousands of supporters. Geller has removed the posting from her website but it can still be found through Google.
“I am running an email I received from an Atlas reader in Norway. It is devastating in its matter-of-factness:
‘Well, yes, the situation is worsening. Stepping up from 29,000 immigrants every year, in 2007 we will be getting a total of 35,000 immigrants from Somalia, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. The nation’s capital is already 50% Muslim, and they ALL go there after entering Norway. Adding the 1.2 births per woman per year from Muslim women, there will be 300,000+ Muslims out of the then 480,000 inhabitants of that city.
Orders from Libya and Iran say that Oslo will be known as Medina at the latest in 2010, although I consider this a PR-stunt nevertheless it is their plan.
From Israel the hordes clawing at the walls of Jerusalem proclaim cheerfully that next year there will be no more Israel, and I know Israel shrugs this off as do I, and will mount a strike during the summer against all of its enemies in the Middle East. This will make the Muslims worldwide go into a frenzy, attacking everyone around them.
Before, I thought about emigrating to Britain, Israel, USA, South Africa, etc. for taxes and politics, but instead (although I believe we are the very last generation on earth before the return of God) I will stay and fight for the right to this country and indeed the entire peninsula, for the God-fearing people, just in case this isn’t the end of the world after all. Doesn’t hurt to have a backup plan.
It’s far from impossible to achieve, after all my people has done it every time before, in feats that match the ancient Greek, Hebrew and British “legends”.
Oslo and the southeast may fall easily, but there are other lines than “state”-borders drawn across this country since long before there was even a single Muslim in the world, and we have held them this long, against everyone else too. We are entering a new golden age for my people, and those of a handful other countries, but only through struggle.
Breivik was reportedly also a regular poster on a similar blog run by Hans Rustad, a former left-wing, Jewish journalist who, like Geller, is extremely pro-Israel and, coincidentally, warns against ‘Islam-isation.’
As John Sugg, Max Blumenthal and others have exposed, pro-Israel neocons such as Geller are closely related to the growing hostility toward Muslims. We hope, but doubt, that the recent tragedy in Norway will cause them to re-think their actions, not simply try to hide them.
We also hope that others will not be taken in by their despicable manipulation.
*
Philip Giraldi, Executive Director of CNI, is a former CIA counter-terrorism specialist and military intelligence officer who served 18 years in Turkey, Italy, Germany, and Spain. He was Chief of Base in Barcelona from 1989 to 1992, and designated as the Agency’s senior officer for Olympic Games support. Dr. Giraldi holds an MA and PhD from the University of London. He speaks Spanish, Italian, German, and Turkish.
Anti-Muslim law enforcement trainer cited by Norway killer rakes in U.S. taxpayer cash
By Alex Kane | July 26, 2011
The U.S. government has strongly denounced the recent massacre by a right-wing extremist in Norway, which killed at least 76 people. But at the same time, sectors of the U.S. government have paid an anti-Muslim activist who helped fuel Anders Behring Breivik’s twisted ideology. Breivik has admitted to being behind the massacre in Norway.
The American Prospect’s Adam Serwer writes:
Walid Shoebat, a “terrorism expert” with a dubious background who was paid by the U.S. government to train law enforcement in counterterrorism, is frequently cited in the manifesto of Anders Behring Breivik, the alleged right-wing terrorist who is accused of killing more than 90 people in Oslo last week. Brevik cites Shoebat more than 15 times.
Brevik cites Shoebat to support his arguments that immigration from Muslim countries threatens the West. “This is why the face of Islamic fundamentalism in the West has a façade that Islam is a peaceful religion,” Brevik cites Shoebat as saying, “Because they are waiting to have more Islamic immigrants, they are waiting to increase in number, waiting to increase their political power.”
As I reported here, Shoebat, the subject of a recent CNN report that debunks his purported life story as a former Palestinian terrorist, rakes in U.S. taxpayer cash.
Two months ago, Shoebat delivered a keynote address to law enforcement officers attending a South Dakota conference on homeland security. Shoebat was paid $5,000 for the appearance by the South Dakota Office of Homeland Security–the money coming a federal grant administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
At a similar counter-terrorism event held last year in Las Vegas, Shoebat reportedly told the audience that the way to solve the threat of Islamic extremism was to “kill them…including the children.”
Shoebat is one of many anti-Muslim activists from the United States cited in Breivik’s online manifesto. It’s a disturbing reality that Shoebat’s views on Islam are being funded with federal grants and listened to by law enforcement agencies in the U.S. The revelation that Breivik’s manifesto is laced with citations of Shoebat should be a wake-up call to the U.S. government that Shoebat, and others like him, have no place training law enforcement officers, and should certainly not be taking money from U.S. taxpayers.
Dutch Islamophobe Geert Wilders reaffirms Norway killer’s goals but rejects methods
By Ali Abunimah – The Electronic Intifada – 07/26/2011
Dutch politician, and leading European Islamophobe Geert Wilders says Anders Breivik, who perpetrated the massacre of dozens of people in Norway is actually inspired by Al Qaeda.
And, while rejecting the massacre of innocents in Norway, Wilders affirms his support for the “anti-Islamization” to which the killer was committed.
Wilders says the Norway massacre must not be allowed to discredit the broader anti-Muslim campaign in Europe, which the “Freedom Party” Wilders leads has spearheaded.
The Dutch politician, whose party supports his country’s ruling coalition in parliament, has been in the spotlight as a result of the attack. The perpetrator of the Norway massacre, Anders Breivik cited Wilders’ anti-Muslim views extensively and approvingly in his manifesto explaining that he carried out the massacre to spark a “civil war” to rid Europe of Muslims.
In a Dutch-language statement on the website of the Freedom Party (known by its Dutch initials PVV), Wilders wrote:
The brutal murders a few days ago of dozens of innocent Norwegian citizens has deeply shocked the PVV. We mourn and stand with the Norwegian people who have have been struck with this enormous blow.
Wilders forcefully rejected any responsibility that his hate-filled anti-Muslim propaganda could have inspired the killer and instead sought to cast the blame back on Muslims, writing:
The manifesto of the perpetrator makes clear that this is a madman. He wants to work with Al Qaeda (which he cherishes great admiration for)…
He then goes on to state that Breivik’s act must not be allowed to discredit his anti-Muslim campaign:
Neither the PVV nor I are responsible for a lone idiot who twisted and violently abused freedom-loving anti-Islamization ideals, no matter how much some people would like that. We are democrats at heart. The PVV has never, ever called for violence and will never do. We believe in the power of the ballot box and the wisdom of the voter. Not bombs and guns. We fight for a democratic and nonviolent means against the further Islamisation of society and will continue to do so. The preservation of our freedom and security is our only goal.
It seems impossible to imagine a politician in any European democracy speaking openly of “freedom-loving anti-Semitic ideals” or “freedom-loving anti-Jewish ideals” yet Wilders’ words indicate just how acceptable this kind of sentiment has become when directed at Muslims.
And, despite his affirmations that he doesn’t support violence, Wilders has been the leading European supporter of violent Israeli settlers, bent on expelling Palestinians from the occupied West Bank by any means necessary. Last year Wilders spoke at a conference of Israeli settler leaders who advocate following Israel’s violent colonization of Palestinian land in violation of international law with formal annexation of the territory.
Along with becoming an iconic figure for European and American Islamophobes, Wilders has been a leading force in the Dutch government’s shift to embrace Israel’s extreme right-wing government.
David Horowitz’ problem with Norway
David Horowitz recently carried an incendiary article by Joseph Klein in his Front Page magazine, entitled The Quislings of Norway, excerpts below:
“The infamous Norwegian Vidkun Quisling, who assisted Nazi Germany as it conquered his own country, must be applauding in his grave…In the latest example of Norwegian collaboration with the enemies of the Jews, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere declared during a press conference this week, alongside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, that “Norway believes it is perfectly legitimate for the Palestinian president to turn to the United Nations” to seek recognition of an independent Palestinian state.”
“During the Nazi occupation of Norway, nearly all Jews were either deported to death camps or fled to Sweden and beyond. Today, Norway is effectively under the occupation of anti-Semitic leftists and radical Muslims, and appears willing to help enable the destruction of the Jewish state of Israel.”
“Norway’s Labor Party lawmaker Anders Mathisen has gone even further and publicly denied the Holocaust. He said that Jews “exaggerated their stories” and “there is no evidence the gas chambers and or mass graves existed.” While the Norwegian political establishment and opinion-maker elite may not have reached that point of lunacy just yet, they do tend to treat Muslims as the victims of Israeli oppression – as if today’s Muslims are filling the shoes of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust and today’s Nazis are the Israelis.”
“Socialist leader Kristin Halvorsen has been leading the boycott Israel campaign. While serving as Norway’s finance minister, she was amongst the demonstrators at an anti-Israel protest, in which a poster read (translated): “The greatest axis of evil: USA and Israel.” Among the slogans repeatedly shouted at the demonstration was (as translated) “Death to the Jews!”
“Last year, the Norwegian government decided to divest from two Israeli entities working in the West Bank. Norway’s sovereign wealth fund divested from the Israeli company Elbit, because it has worked on the Israeli security fence that keeps out Palestinian suicide bombers. Israel has also been blocked from bidding for Norwegian defense contracts.”
“Part of the motivation for this anti-Semitism is the influx into Norway in recent decades of masses of Muslims from Pakistan, Iraq, Somalia and elsewhere. Multiculturalism has taught Norway’s cultural elite to take an uncritical, even obsequious, posture toward every aspect of Muslim culture and belief. When Muslim leaders rant against Israel and the Jews, the reflexive response of the multiculturalist elite is to join them in their rantings. This is called solidarity.”
The threshold for a terrorism expert must be very low
By Benjamin Doherty – The Electronic Intifada – 07/23/2011
Immediately after news of the bombing of government buildings in Norway’s capital Oslo, the Internet buzzed with speculation about who might have done it and why. Most speculation focused on so-called Islamist militancy and Muslims. The urge to speculate after grave events is understandable, but the focus of speculation, its amplification through social media, its legitimization in mainstream media, and the privilege granted to so-called experts is a common pattern…
From the “experts” to The New York Times
The New York Times originally reported:
A terror group, Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami, or the Helpers of the Global Jihad, issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, according to Will McCants, a terrorism analyst at C.N.A., a research institute that studies terrorism.
In later editions, the story was revised to read:
Initial reports focused on the possibility of Islamic militants, in particular Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami, or Helpers of the Global Jihad, cited by some analysts as claiming responsibility for the attacks. American officials said the group was previously unknown and might not even exist.
The source is Will McCants, adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins University. On his website he describes himself as formerly “Senior Adviser for Countering Violent Extremism at the U.S. Department of State, program manager of the Minerva Initiative at the Department of Defense, and fellow at West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center.” This morning, he posted “Alleged Claim for Oslo Attacks” on his blog Jihadica:
This was posted by Abu Sulayman al-Nasir to the Arabic jihadi forum, Shmukh, around 10:30am EST (thread 118187). Shmukh is the main forum for Arabic-speaking jihadis who support al-Qaeda. Since the thread is now inaccessible (either locked or taken down), I am posting it here. I don’t have time at the moment to translate the whole thing but I translated the most important bits on twitter.
The Shmukh [no kidding] web site is not accessible to just anyone, so he is the primary source for this claim. McCants stated from the beginning that the claim had been removed or hidden, and on Twitter he even cast doubt on whether it was a claim of responsibility at all.
@will_mccants
Will McCants This is not necessarily a claim of responsibility. Could just be forum user blowing hot air. forum members also confused abt who this guy is
Jul 22 via webFavoriteRetweetReply
Will McCants For those asking, the “claim” from the Helpers of the Global Jihad was posted to Shmukh, the most elite jihadi forum (it’s in Arabic)
Jul 22 via webFavoriteRetweetReply
Will McCants @leialya it is a password protected forum. you won’t be able to access it without password. www.shamikh1.info
Jul 22 via webFavoriteRetweetReply
McCants later reported that the claim of responsibility was retracted by the author “Abu Sulayman al-Nasir.” Furthermore, according to McCants, the moderator of this forum declared that speculation about the attack would be prohibited because the contents of the forum were appearing in mainstream media. It does seem more than a little bit odd that genuine “jihadis” would post on a closed forum that a former US official and “counterterrorism expert” openly writes about infiltrating.
It’s too bad McCants didn’t exercise the caution and restraint that he says the forum moderator did.
All of this comes only from Will McCants. In his original post, he named the source and identified the organization (in Arabic) but provided no context. Did he know who the author Abu Sulayman al-Nasir was? Had he heard of this group Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami before? These are the kinds of answers a “terrorism expert” should provide.
How media amplified a false claim
The media also failed. They reported on the claims McCants disseminated because his position and perceived expertise gave these claims credibility. Would The New York Times have required multiple sources and independent confirmation of the existence of the posting and its contents if it had not come from someone with McCants’ supposedly solid credentials?
For hours after McCants posted the update that the claim of responsibility was retracted, BBC, the New York Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post were still promoting information originally sourced from him. The news was carried around the world and became the main story line in much of the initial coverage.
The threshold for a terrorism expert must be very low…
Speculation hurts real people
A crucial absence in everyone’s concept of “terrorism expertise” is insight into the functioning of this knowledge in a sensationalistic, reckless media and political environment where Islamophobia is the norm. Even the Christian President of the United States is routinely suspected of being Muslim as if it were a crime, and accused of sympathy with Islamist “radicals” and “terrorists.”
Disseminating false, unverifiable information should be a blemish on McCants’ credibility, but what is more likely is that his failure will harm other communities elsewhere before it harms his career.
As the scale of the catastrophe to strike Norway was revealed, we also learned that Anders Behring Breivik, the only suspect to be arrested in the attack, had a history of disseminating anti-Muslim and xenophobic ideas on the Internet, and cited approvingly none other than Daniel Pipes, a notorious Islamophobe, Bush administration appointee to the United States Institute of Peace and self-described “terrorism expert.”
Mohammad Mahjoub: The life of a security certificate detainee
By sara falconer | Rabble | June 1, 2011
It’s a fresh spring day in Toronto, and Mohammad Mahjoub is experiencing something for the first time in over a year: the simple pleasure of small talk.
Since March 2010, Mahjoub, a security certificate detainee, was forbidden to speak to anyone he encountered in the few hours he was allowed outside. That one condition has now been lifted, but it’s a small comfort against the daily deprivation he continues to endure, under the harshest house arrest conditions in Canadian history.
And the kicker? He hasn’t been charged with a crime.
In 1995, Mahjoub fled political persecution in Egypt, where he had been tortured and imprisoned without trial. He was granted refugee status by Canada in 1996, and settled in Toronto, where he married Mona el Fouli and later had two sons, Ibrahim and Yusuf.
In June 2000, Mahjoub was arrested on a security certificate, a controversial measure of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act that was used to indefinitely detain five Muslim men, without charges or trial, on secret evidence. They became known as the Secret Trial Five.
A 2007 Supreme Court ruling abolished the process, calling it unconstitutional. Eight months later, the Conservatives created Bill C-3, re-introducing security certificates with few substantial changes. Bill C-3 also failed to address what many view as a fundamental issue with the process: that matters of national security have no place being legislated in immigration policy, but should instead be dealt with under the Criminal Code. But the bill passed, and no time flat, secret trials were back in business.
For over a decade, Mahjoub has attempted to contest the certificate, fearing torture or worse if he is deported to Egypt. Throughout the process, he has denounced the conditions of his detention, resorting to a 76-day hunger strike in 2005 and losing 110 pounds before he was hospitalized. In 2006, he and three other members of the Secret Trial Five were transferred to a specially constructed, multi-million dollar facility in Kingston dubbed “Guantanamo North.” Mahjoub went on another hunger strike, this time lasting for 93 days before the Federal Court ordered him released in Feb. 2007.
But the conditions of his release were so severe that he described his home as a prison, and his family as reluctant guards. “His family were forced to act as his sureties,” says his lawyer, Yavar Hameed. “When they reported information to the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), that information was not taken at face value. The CBSA would try to find ways to find them in violation… It was a very adversarial process with Canada Border Services, making it impossible for anyone to lead a normal life.”
In March 2009, Mahjoub asked to be returned to Guantanamo North, rather than continuing to subject his family to the constant surveillance and pressure from the CBSA and Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). In early 2010, following yet another hunger strike, he was again released on house arrest. This time, he opted to protect his family from his conditions by moving into a small basement apartment on St. Clair West in Toronto.
“There is no liberty by any means under these severe conditions,” Mahjoub said in a recent recording. “It has massive mental, physical and psychological impact on me and my family… I don’t know what to do after 11 years.”
One of his infrequent visitors is Murray Lumley, who first became aware of Mahjoub’s case through a small group called Toronto Action for Social Change. He attended rallies at CSIS headquarters and wrote letters to his MP and government ministers, and eventually became one of Mahjoub’s court-approved “supervisors.” Lumley helps accompany him when he needs something outside of his authorized area, such as a lawyer visit or a new fax machine. “I would like people to know what an honourable man Mohammad is,” he says.
Despite a recent detention review that relaxed his conditions slightly, Mahjoub is still held under surveillance that is completely unprecedented in the judicial system in Canada. He wears a GPS tracking bracelet at all times. A camera outside his door monitors his every move, and he is only permitted to leave the house for four hours a day, and only within a few blocks of his apartment. CSIS monitors every phone call — in fact, they were caught listening to protected solicitor-client phone calls between Mahjoub and his lawyer, contrary to a court order.
He has limited contact with his wife and young sons, which Lumley says has been very difficult. “It is quite amazing to me that they have been so resilient in the face of such abuse — that seems to go on and on… While they do complain of the length of time taken from their lives, they still live with some hope that this may one day end.”
If it all sounds a bit Orwellian… it is, says Hameed, who specializes in immigration and refugee law work as well as national security cases. He has been representing Mahjoub since last August, and is deeply familiar with the security certificate process, having assisted Adil Charkaoui’s legal team with their Supreme Court appeals. Charkaoui won his case against a security certificate in 2009.
A series of public hearings to determine the “reasonableness” of the certificate against Mahjoub are expected to continue until mid-July, when the in camera part of the process begins. Hameed’s job is complicated by the fact that he is only given access to a small portion of the evidence against his client for reasons of “national security.” “There’s an understanding of what the basic allegation is, but what we don’t know… is the source of the information,” he explains. “It’s kind of like a puzzle trying to put it together.”
He knows, for instance that Mahjoub is accused of being a high-ranking member of the Vanguards of Conquest, a militant Islamic group that seeks to overthrow the Egyptian government. What’s missing is the source of the “intelligence” that led to the accusation. Much of the secret evidence being used against security certificate detainees is believed to have been obtained using torture by foreign agencies. Last summer, in a significant court victory, the Federal Court ruled that part of the evidence against Mahjoub was probably obtained using torture, and could not be accepted.
“Based on the evidence we see publicly, there is a flimsy case against Mr. Mahjoub. It’s supported by innuendo; it’s weak,” Hameed says. Some of the “sources” in the case include Internet articles from foreign news services. “We’re not actually talking about things that have been investigated… The kind of information that passes for evidence in the public case is what we call hearsay.”
Hameed is also skeptical of any claims that Mahjoub poses a potential future threat to Canadian security. “The argument is that [Mahjoub’s] liberty, the fact of his liberty, would act as sort of a beacon of radicalization for persons who would be interested in supporting terrorist or Islamic extremist views,” Hameed scoffs. “We were quite shocked to learn that that’s what the case is against him, going forward. The absurdity of this process… That is so offensive to the character of what it means to live in a free and democratic society.”
You can sign a petition calling for an end to security certificates at www.justiceforharkat.com.
Sara Falconer is a Toronto-based freelance journalist.
Dressing Like a Terrorist
By Steven Salaita / Dissident Voice / May 19th, 2011
Like many others, I was dismayed to learn of the two imams wearing traditional Muslim garb who were forcibly removed from an airplane that was to carry them to a conference on Islamophobia. The passengers who were removed from a Delta/ASA flight in Memphis, Masudur Rahman and Mohamed Zaghloul, apparently frightened other passengers and upset one of the pilots, who refused to fly with them on board. Not everybody was dismayed, however. The Delta/ASA pilot and the frightened passengers have received support from numerous voices among the American commentariat.
The situation was a clear-cut case of ethnic profiling. On this everybody should agree. Some of those who support the pilot’s action want to disclaim their support of profiling, but such a desire is dishonest. People need to accept the realities of the positions they express, even if those positions attach to descriptors that have negative connotations. If you support the pilot, you are supporting an instance of ethnic profiling. Either accept that fact or develop a different opinion.
I have been reading commentaries about the case with much interest. One argument in particular keeps arising: the notion that Rahman and Zaghloul deserve what happened to them because they dressed like terrorists. The reasoning goes like this: Muslims commit terrorism; Muslims look a certain way; a certain look thus portends the possibility of terrorism. In short, those who appear to be Muslim are worthy of extra scrutiny because they are more likely to be terrorists than other people.
I want to leave aside the fact that the belief that Muslims are more likely than others to commit terrorism is a myth with no basis in factual evidence. I also do not have the space to illustrate that there are thousands of variations of traditional Muslim dress. Even Rahman and Zaghloul wore different types of clothing on the day they were profiled.
I’d like instead to focus on this notion of “dressing like a terrorist,” a phrase that has the peculiar intimation of a fashion statement. There is no quantifiable evidence to show that dress is a predictor of any sort of behavior, especially the behavior of terrorism. What we’re dealing with in the Rahman and Zaghloul case is an overexerted imagination that associates political violence with what I call the terrorist costume.
The terrorist costume is a simulated reality, circulated in Hollywood and countless news broadcasts, that evokes a causal relation between appearance and action. The terrorist costume is familiar to nearly all Americans: a thick beard, an ashen robe, brown skin, sandals holding dirty feet, and some sort of headgear, usually a Sikh-style turban. The terrorist wearing this costume often sports a Qu’ran, so the audience can be certain that he is a Muslim.
Yet the acts of terrorism that have been committed by Muslims involved perpetrators, like Mohamed Atta, who didn’t at all resemble the image of the Hollywood terrorist. Rahman and Zaghloul unfortunately resembled a racist simulation that could define them to an American audience. But that simulation has never actually been implicated in a real crime.
To impugn Rahman and Zaghloul for their dress, then, is to engage in highly troublesome judgment, one that not only contravenes their Constitutional rights, but also the rules of basic logic. The United States has long been a place where appearance is believed to foreground attitude or behavior (vis-à-vis skin color, clothes, physiognomy, ethnic typology, gender, sexuality, possessions, and so forth). Yet judgment by appearance is a terribly ineffective indicator of either attitude or behavior, not to mention being highly unethical and often illegal.
Those who believe that Rahman and Zaghloul brought their unjust treatment on themselves ought to think about what their lives would be like if their own logic were applied to them. In the end, if we are to let fanciful stereotypes dictate access to basic rights of citizenship, then none of us will ever live up to the grandiose promise of our own worthiness.
~
Steven Salaita’s two latest books are Israel’s Dead Soul and Modern Arab American Fiction: A Reader’s Guide.
Three Muslim clerics forced off US plane
Press TV – May 7, 2011
Three Muslim clerics traveling to a religious conference in the United States have been forced to get off a Delta flight because the pilot refused to fly with them on board.
The imams were heading to a conference on Islamphobia in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Imam al-Amin Abdul-Latif was barred from boarding a flight from New York to Charlotte late on Friday.
The other two clerics were traveling from Memphis, Tennessee to Charlotte.
Masudur Rahman and Mohamed Zaghloul of the Islamic Association of Greater Memphis were pulled from a connecting flight from Memphis to Charlotte on Friday, The Daily Mail reported.
“It’s racism and bias because of our religion and appearance and because of misinformation about our religion,” Rahman said. “If they understood Islam, they wouldn’t do this.”
The aircraft had pulled away from the gate when the pilot announced that the plane had to return. The two men, who were wearing tradition Indian and Arab clothing, were then asked to go back to the boarding gate for “additional screening.”
The two clerics — who had already cleared a Transportation Security Administration check — went through the additional screening only to be told by a Delta supervisor that the pilot was refusing to let them board the plane.
Rahman said they were told that the pilot thought “some passengers might be uncomfortable” with their presence on the plane. They were booked on another flight later that day.
Jarek Beem, a spokesman for Atlantic Southeast Airlines, which operates the Delta Connection flight, said, “We take security and safety very seriously, and the event is currently under investigation.”
“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused,” he added.
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TV Drama Review
Japanese drama projects Japan’s wartime atrocities onto Chinese characters
Global Times | October 25, 2026
By portraying Chinese characters as perpetrators of ruthless violence while casting Japanese Self-Defense Forces (SDF) intelligence operatives as defenders, the season 2 of the Japanese drama Vivant has recently drawn criticism from Chinese netizens, who argue that its depiction turns historical reality on its head while ignoring Japan’s wartime atrocities.
The TBS drama series – a spy suspense story in which an alleged unofficial intelligence unit of the SDF operates across the globe — has attracted a passionate fanbase. Its currently airing season 2 opened with a household rating of 18.8 percent, the highest for a TV drama this year, according toa commentary article by Japanese media Toyo Keizai.
What draws attention is the portrayal of the enemies in the series, the article noted. Scenes in which the Chinese organization subjects kidnapped members of the SDF unit to brutal torture are repeated with unrelenting intensity.
It is rare for Japanese TV dramas to explicitly portray a real-life country as the enemy, the article noted.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi also made a reference to the drama, saying that she has been recording Vivant and hopes to binge-watch it over the year-end and New Year holidays, according to Japanese media outlets.
China’s CCTV News report on Sunday revealed that the drama features scenes in which Chinese personnel cut off the fingers of and stab Japanese intelligence operatives in the abdomen. Such acts bear striking similarities to the torture inflicted on Chinese nationals by invading Japanese troops during the World War II.
The drama distorts the truth by attributing these atrocities to modern Chinese characters. Beneath the surface, it subtly glorifies Japan’s cross-border overseas operations, blurs the functional boundaries of the SDF and implicitly promotes an expansionist narrative, per CCTV News. … continue
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