“Islamophobia”

BEIRUT (AP) — For journalist Amer Matar, a decade-long search for his younger brother has defined him and changed the course of his life, now dedicated to researching and documenting crimes committed by the Islamic State group in Syria.

His brother, Mohammed Nour Matar, vanished in Syria’s northern city of Raqqa in 2013 while reporting on an explosion that hit the headquarters of an insurgent group. His burnt camera was found at the scene of the blast, and his family soon after got word he was in an IS prison. But there has been no other sign of him since.

The popular Egyptian daily newspaper and website al-Masry al-Youm (“the Egyptian Today”) recently published a fatwa titled “What Is the Ruling on Selling Food to Infidels during the Daylight [Hours] of Ramadan?” The fatwa concluded that, no, it is not permissible for Muslims to sell food, even if the purchaser and consumer is a non-Muslim.

Right now, in Europe, mobs of people are rioting. They’re hurling rocks and stones at police officers and setting fire to cars. Several cities have been shaken to their core by this riotous fury. A police chief says they are the most violent street disturbances he has ever known. Worse, this is an entirely regressive riot. It is not an angry uprising for democracy or liberty, but its polar opposite – it’s a screech of religious rage against the expression of certain ‘blasphemous’ ideas; it’s a fiery effort to suppress ‘offensive’ speech. Some of the worst riots in a country’s living memory, all to the end of defending archaic religious beliefs from challenge or criticism… why aren’t we talking about this?

The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) on Thursday offered a £10,000 ($13,000) reward for information that could lead to the conviction of a knife-wielding man who attacked a Jewish man in London during Chanukah last December. Details of the attack strongly suggest that the attacker is a Muslim who is knowledgeable about Islamic theology and scripture, including the notorious hadith in which Muhammad is depicted as saying that the end times will not come until Muslims kill Jews. David Horowitz and I warned you about this tradition, and its impact upon Muslim behavior, years ago, and for our pains were denounced as “Islamophobes.” The London attack demonstrates what we were warning about.