Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Islamophobia Is The Predictable Response To More Terror, And Who Benefits From That?


All the predictable things happened after Friday the 13th's acts of terror and violence. France declared a state of emergency, closed its borders, and imposed a curfew. A refugee camp called the Jungle in Calais was set ablaze. 

Vast numbers in the U.S. and Europe "stood with Paris" by changing the color scheme of their avatar or profile picture. Small numbers in the U.S. and Europe wondered why those same folks didn't stand with Beirut, Baghdad or Garissa University in Kenya.
Source: Shafiur Rahman, YouTube video of the Calais "Jungle" refugee camp burning
Politicians in the U.S. jumped on the occasion to denounce Islam -- some demanded apologies from Muslims -- and vilify immigrants, notably refugees who are fleeing from the very violence being denounced. Maine's infamously thuggish governor joined other governors from a Republican Party increasingly defined by overt racism to announce that his state would not accept refugees from Syria

No one in my state was surprised that the governor would not know the difference between Algeria and Syria (or be able to find either on an unlabeled map, I suspect). That governors do not have this power wouldn't trouble him in the least. His compatriots in the U.S. Congress were already busy drafting legislation to say the same. 

That would be legal. Immoral and wrong, but legal. So was everything the Nazis did in Germany once they had gained control of the executive and legislative branches of government in that republic.

Besides, the U.S. has a long history of denying entry to persecuted people who aren't the right color or religion.
Jewish refugees on the infamous S.S.St. Louis were denied entry to the U.S. and turned back to Europe in 1939.
Many died in Nazi concentration camps as a result.

Media pundits and others on the right called for more violence to quell the violence. Because the "war on terror" has been such a success in reducing terror. Not. Nor was it because most were aware that Syria was on the list of regimes to topple even before the staged events of 9/11 in the U.S.

Hate crimes against Muslims broke out all over the U.S. Mosques were vandalized. Muslims in France became even more afraid than they have been since the Charlie Hebdo massacre.
Source:  [Santi Palacios/AP]
Over 4 million refugees from the war in Syria continued searching for a safe place to bring their children.

And, as reported by Glenn Greenwald in The Intercept, "Stock Prices Of Weapons Manufacturers Soaring Since Paris Attack." 

Who profits from violence that feeds violence? I think we know.

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