Can someone explain Islamophobia to me?

[BaMamma]

I don't think I have an irrational fear of Muslims, but I think I have a reasonable concern about radical Islam, does that make me Islamophobic?

@Ellen2shoes a quick look at Google shows many different opinions regarding using the term Islamism.

For example, the co author of the governments counter extremist programme (Prevent) has rejected calls to remove the word “Islamism” amid fears from Labour politicians that Muslims find the word offensive.

Haras Rafiq told Times Radio it was “important we actually name” the ideology “that has underpinned most, if not all” the recent terrorist entities.

He continues that, “you can’t deal with an ideological threat without naming it, without understanding it. Islamism is differed to Islam in the same way that socialism is different to social”.

If 'Islamist' is offensive how to we refer to the small but unfortunately highly visible subset of Muslims who use their religion to justify violence against others?

It's not offensive. It's been taken up by a saviour, who is using specific sources to confirm her bias.

Also in the context of the middle East we have to be open to the views of many Muslims about British and it's role in history. Many Muslims although resident in this country view its history as an anathema with its colonial involvement in the middle East historically including its involvement (partially and in a complicated manner) of the formation of the state of Israel as a fear wrong we should be ashamed of. A Muslim at my daughter's school said Churchill was as bad as Hitler really and WW2 was a war of colonial empires with the middle East used as a apwn. The book just in this boy's views was a mass exaggeration to somehow give support for the foundational a Jewish homeland. These view are prevalent.

The Muslim community view our owned armed forces with sense of distant disdain accompanied by a view of anything our armed forces should be bombing the IDF. The foreign policy view of a lot of Muslims is scarily anti Semitic and at odds with established world view of a lot of native white British. Hence the rise of eight wing parties like Reform.....they have hit a core with some of the public.

Sorry holocaust for book above

Whilst obviously Churchill / Hitler comparison is utter horseshit, the rest is actually correct.... WW2 was a colonial war of empires and the ME was indeed used as a pawn, no?
Whilst I believe the hand the UK had in the formation of Israel was one of the few positives I don't believe it was done out of love for Jewish people... I think we more or less washed our hands of an impossible situation, that no longer served our national interests, and f'ed off and left them to it.

No
Islamaphobia is used as a way of shutting down free speech.
See grooming gangs , Batley, etc etc etc
It should be possible to question (or even mock) Mohammed in public without having to go into hiding afterwards.

We should never have got to that position in this country. It's absolutely disgraceful and worrying that it was allowed to escalate but our governments have done this to us. Are you glad you were born when you were, because I know I am.

I think most people here know that the vast majority of Muslims are good people.
We are not irrationally “fearful “ of those good people. We are rationally afraid of the extreme version of Islam which oppresses Muslims and non Muslims through fear tactics .

Shutting down criticism of things like full face covering by calling it islamaphobic adds to the sense that this is a religion that we must not criticise in any way. And that is worrying.

💯

This background is not the issue.
Loads of cultures/ religions/ races share a history of oppression from colonialism. Including mine (Irish Catholic) None more so than black Africans who were enslaved by White Europeans AND Muslims from north an Africa.

This background of injustice does not explain the aggression of Islamism - a movement that oppresses its own people even more than others. Salman Rushdie was in hiding for years because of an Iranian fatwa.

Freedom of speech is precious. Accusations of Islamaphobia are used to shut down freedom of speech

Well we know which late commentator made a spot on observation about the term Islamoobia. A very smart man was Chris Hitchens.

Totally agree that the background issues don't justify extremism, oppression and violence today.

I do think it's important to own the truth of what colonialism did to people though.

I don't blame Islamist violence on colonialism at all, but I do think we should speak truthfully about what was done, if only so we can understand each other better, and that none of us are perfect.

Are you trying to imply that I am offensively misinterpreting Zionism on a thread discussing Islamophobia where I have not mentioned Zionism?

Quite a stretch.

I do think we should be critical about Islam for the oppression of women. We have to be honest about the reasons Muslim women dress as they do. It's not about comfort or modesty but being brought up in a culture where they are viewed as second to men and no man should be able to gaze upon a woman in a sexual way to the extent that any contour hugging clothing is not allowed. The extreme version is the full face veil and is the manifestation of keeping women separate from male society apart from close relatives and the husband. It seems women are viewed as chattels.

We have a Muslim woman home Secretary that does not wear a hijab and shouldn't that form maybe a basis to how Muslim women should wear hair coverings ......perhaps just for religious ceremony e.g.prayer? As said earlier the human about the misogynist connection does immediately 'other: Muslim women as a group when not necessary.

No it wouldn’t.

So far on here complaints about Muslims have included: not eating pork, not dancing or singing, wearing hair/ face coverings, grooming gangs, death threats, Muslim members of the public decrying the decadence of modern UK.

Posters are then denying the existence of Islamophobia as the recognised definition and say they should be able ‘criticise the Muslim community’.

Do you see how the conflation and consequent stereotyping works?

This thread has become an example of the kind of bullying and denigration of the Muslim community sold by Farage and Trump, and all in the pretext that it is contributing to the understanding of the definition of ‘ Islamophobia.’

Islamophobia in action!

That is quite a stretch you've made yourself. If we are sensitive around misinterpretation of ethno religious references, surely we agree that applies to all religions. Zionism and Judaism are as relevant here as Islamism. We are on the CITME board.

No idea why you are talking about Zionism suddenly?

Are you a Muslim?

Many different opinions - is right, hence ambiguities in defining the term

Why do you need to know my religion?

Is that an convenient topic, given that zionism is represented in the conflict as well as Islam.

Read the title of the thread?

Do you feel the same way about Haredi Jewish customs which have much overlap with some of the points in your post?