[We were recently interviewed by Panjereh on the phenomenon of Islamophobia. Here are the questions and answers:
Q- What are the main aims of the US and West from Islamophobia?
A. Islamophobia is not an official strategy of the U.S. government nor, I believe, of Western governments in general, even though it has been effective in influencing government policies. It is a tool wielded by a small number of pseudo-“experts” on Islam funded by several wealthy organizations to advance the cause of  the neoconservative political movement to increase the power of the central governments of Western nations at the expense of the civil liberties of their citizens and to advance an imperialist foreign policy.
Q. – Which actions they have done in this matter?
A. A number of books, videos, articles, op0ed pieces and many blogs have been published promoting falsehood and distortions about Islam, misrepresenting the nature and objectives of Sharia and conflating it with particular or imagined schools of fiqh. Interviews are frequently given to the media in which unfounded speculation is paraded as fact, individuals with disreputable histories are presented as converts to Christianity from Islam and/or as reformed terrorists, and people with poor scholarly credentials and heavy political agendas are provided platforms to demonize Islam and Muslims.
Q.- What are the internal and external consequence of this process?
A. Western foreign policy in general and American foreign policy in particular have been skewed in favor of support of a foreign interventionism that has more often than not aided and abetted dictators in the Muslim world, destabilized American allies, provided excuses for authoritarian regimes to suppress democracy, civil society institutions, and rule-of-law movements within their own countries as fronts for American intervention, and enabled the continuation of the policies of apartheid, occupation, and aggression of the Israeli government against the Palestinians and of warfare against its neighbors. Domestically, the policy has enabled the institution of unwholesome laws and policies that have permitted unprecedented government intrusion in to the personal lives of its citizens, imprisonment of Muslims and those who defend them on flimsy or no charges and under harsh conditions, a wave of “anti-Shariah” legislation that jeopardizes the free exercise of religion, and contributes to the explosion of government spending that threatens the credit rating of the U.S. government and the economic future of both the nation and the other countries whose economic futures have become interdependent with it.
Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad, Ph.D.
Minaret of Freedom Institute
www.minaret.org
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