New site takes on the Looniness of Islamophobia

Any conscious Muslim who was following the 2008 presidential election couldn’t help but notice the discourse revolving around Islam and Muslims. It was a discourse plagued with negative portrayals, stereotypes and outright degradation of Islam and Muslims.

The Republican candidates with the exception of Ron Paul vied with one another to be the toughest against “our enemies” which inevitably came to mean Islam and Muslims. Labels such as “Islamo-fascism” were regularly bandied about by Mitt Romney and Rudolph Giuliani. Tom Tancredo called for the nuking of Mecca and Medina while campaign staff for Giuliani demonized Muslims by stating “there are too many Mosques in America” and that it was necessary to “chase them back to their caves.”

The Democrats weren’t any better, cloaked in a veneer of liberalism they failed to effectively and equivocally counter the claims that Barack Obama was a Muslim. Instead of saying that “he isn’t Muslim and it shouldn’t matter if he were” they resorted to stating that it was a “smear” to be associated with Islam, and Obama called on his supporters to “combat this smear.”

The bigotry on display in the 2008 election wasn’t created in a vacuum but was a reflection of sentiment and perception in wider culture. After 9/11 America became a Petri dish for all sorts of inconceivable bigotry and prejudice directed at Muslims. This bigotry is fueled by what Rachel Maddow termed a “cottage industry of Muslim bashers.”

One current in this evolving cottage industry is very old, highlighted and challenged by Edward Said in his ground breaking work Orientalism. Orientalism is in effect an academic movement which specializes in studying Islam and Muslim cultures. Invariably as Edward Said documented Orientalists were either co-opted by Imperialists or in the name of Christianity and Empire were active agents of Colonialism. Recent well known Orientalists such as Bernard Lewis continue this tradition and are tied intimately with American power while at the same time whitewashing Israeli crimes.

Orientalism is best confronted and challenged through academic rigor and it is the duty of Muslim scholars and intellectuals to expose their arguments and what really lies behind their work.

The other more visible current in this anti-Muslim industry is that of the self-proclaimed Islam experts some who are accepted in the mainstream media, radio personalities, writers, bloggers, and others.

Observing this group one sees many absurd and strange pronouncement that leave themselves open to satire: calling for the nuking of Mecca, blaming every conceivable atrocity on Muslims however unrelated, contradictions, hypocrisy and internecine warfare amongst egotistical and childish Islamophobes.

In this vein there is a new website, Loon Watch that takes on this current of Islam haters and Muslim bashers. It takes them on in a unique way by combining satire and humor with well researched evidence based commentary.

I would encourage all to support this site, favorite it, link to it, subscribe to and also to contribute by writing articles or sending tips.

Here is a description posted in the About section on Loon Watch:

Loonwatch.com is a blogzine run by a motley group of hate-allergic bloggers to monitor and expose the web’s plethora of anti-Muslim loons, wackos, and conspiracy theorists.

While we find the sheer stupidity and outrageousness of the loons to be a source of invaluable comedy, we also recognize the seriousness of the danger they represent as dedicated hatemongers. And so, while our style reflects our bemusement, our content is fact checked and our sources well vetted making sure loonwatch.com is a reliable educational – if entertaining – resource on the rambunctious underworld of Muslim-bashing.

The folks featured on Loonwatch fit two or more of the following definitions:

Loon noun

1. a worthless lazy fellow
2. a person with confused ideas; incapable of serious thought [syn: addle-head]
3. large somewhat primitive fish-eating diving bird of the northern hemisphere having webbed feet placed far back; related to the grebes

Source: WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.

And so, grab a cup of coffee and join us, won’t you, as we expose the trials and travails of the hatemongers in our midst: loons in the mist.

www.loonwatch.com