The Myth of the "Muslim Terrorist"

by Tammy Obeidallah

According to the majority of Americans, the “War on Terror” began September 11, 2001 when 19 Muslims hijacked four planes, crashing them into the World Trade Center, Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania. While this official version of the story, fueled by policymakers and mainstream media, ignores concrete evidence of other—distinctly non-Muslim—fingerprints on the tragedy, let us assume for the time being that these men were Islamic radicals aiming to destroy prominent American symbols and inflict mass casualties.

One of those killed in the World Trade Center was a young man named James Gadiel whose hometown of Kent, Connecticut wanted to commemorate a plaque in his honor. Since Gadiel’s father demanded the words “killed by Muslim terrorists” be engraved on the plaque, it was rejected by town council members. Ruth Epstein, one of the town leaders who voted it down, correctly pointed out that such language is disparaging, detrimental to the town’s image and hurtful to its Muslim residents.

However, “killed by Muslim terrorists” is not so offensive in that it is insensitive or promotes a negative stereotype: it is just plain inaccurate. A “Muslim terrorist,” is a myth, a fictional character based in part on the hypocritical definition of terrorism that Western policymakers and the media have used to promote their own agenda and partly due to territorial and political conflicts being erroneously framed in a religious context. Most of the “terrorist groups” and “state sponsors of terrorism,” so named by the US State Department are reactive, formed as organized resistance in the face of oppression.

During her recent visit to Pakistan, Secretary of State Clinton condemned marketplace bombings as terrorism, while stating in a town hall meeting that US drone attacks on villages were not, even though such attacks have resulted in civilian casualties and the destruction of madrasas, religious schools for children.

Throughout the world, Muslims have had no choice but to form organized resistance to the myriad injustices committed against their communities and institutions. The 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran was a reaction to the Shah’s bloody regime and the CIA’s now admitted role in the coup which overthrew democratically elected (and secular) Mossadegh to put him in power. The Abu Sayyaf movement in the Philippines formed as a result of the government’s policy to encourage Catholic settlers to move from the north to Mindanao, which was richer in natural resources. Poorer Muslim communities were subsequently displaced and marginalized. Abu Sayyaf’s desire for an independent state in the southern Philippines has more to do with historical injustice (along with Spanish and American colonial influence) than religion.

The same false religious context is ascribed to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as a fight between Muslims and Jews. In reality, Zionism begin as a secular movement, later establishing a state atop the mass graves of Deir Yassin, Ramleh, Acre and countless other villages decimated by the western-backed Irgun, Stern and Israeli military. In the 61 years following that disaster, the United States—founded on the principles of religious equality and freedom—has become the greatest ally of a state who has co-opted religion to justify the wholesale slaughter of Palestinians, both Muslim and Christian, while turning survivors into the world’s largest refugee population.

Recent weeks have seen Islam’s third holiest shrine, Al-Aqsa Mosque, fall under a siege by the Israeli police, attacking worshippers therein with tear gas grenades and rubber bullets. If we really lived in the alternate universe of FOX News and AM talk radio, Muslims would be carrying out daily spectacular attacks to avenge this desecration; instead Al-Aqsa is defended by a band of youths with rocks while there is silence from Islamic countries, most of whom boast corrupt western puppets as heads of government.

The assault on Al-Aqsa is the latest outrage Muslims have endured; from genocide and strangulation by the Israeli assault on Gaza to the humiliating maltreatment suffered in Guantanamo Bay, Bagram and elsewhere. According to Newsweek, tactics used in US military prisons in Iraq include the use of loud music during interrogations; one of the most frequently played songs is entitled “F-k Your God” by Deicide, attacking their very faith itself.

However, the persecution of Muslims does not just take place overseas. On October 28, FBI agents shot Detroit imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah during a botched arrest in which they loosed a police canine on him. Abdullah fired at the dog and was subsequently shot 18 times, dying at the scene. The dog was airlifted to a medical facility where it was pronounced dead. According to the FBI, Abdullah was allegedly dealing in stolen goods and was “anti-government.”

Now as the latest violent incident involving a Muslim unfolds, Arab and Islamic advocacy groups are tripping over each other to condemn the Ft. Hood shootings. Koreans did not feel such urgency when Seung-Hui Cho murdered 32 people at Virginia Tech in 2007. The difference is, Koreans have not been the victims of a sustained media campaign to define alleged criminals on the basis of their religion or nationality. Muslims have.

For far too long, our politicians and the media have preyed on an uneducated public, attempting to turn us all into Islamophobes, fearing a Muslim takeover that will turn the United States into a caliphate. For those misguided individuals, rest easy: Muslims worldwide are too busy fighting for their very existence in a war the West declared long ago.

Once upon a time in a place called Palestine
There was a man who had a home so fine
He had rolling hills, all lush and green
Olive and orange trees as far as the eye had seen
His family was proud of their life and their land
Because they worked to build it up by their hands
Everything in their life was going great
Till one fateful day in '48
Along came a soldier dressed in green and gray
And these words he had to say
"Excuse me sir you must leave at once
It's years you've overstayed
See this land God gave to us
So you must be on your way"
The man heard this, he was much confused
He didn't know how to feel
He handed his deed to his land
To prove his claims were real
But the soldier said to him, much to his chagrin
"This deed is not legit, it was given by a man
Our deed was gifted by God, now do you understand?
Your kind are no longer welcome here, we need need the room to grow
Please now be on your way sir, let it now be so
Do not let your heart be weary
If you're willing to sell, we are willing to pay
We will give you cash, we will give you gold
If only you claim this plot sold
But if you refuse, much you will lose
And we will take it anyway"
The man stood there and said to the soldier
"This day I do declare, that I will remain steadfast
We will not go away from our homes
We will fight until the last
So now please be on your way
My deed is truly legit
This visit you pay is come to an end
Khalas, that is it."
The soldier left, but returned the next day
With many more comrades this time
They drew their guns and forced them all out
And they left their lives behind
The man embarked on a long lonely journey
Across deserts, and unwelcome terrain
Night and day, week and month,
Through the sun, and through the rain
He searched for a place to live
He tried every place he could find
He tried the jungle, he tried the desert,
Neither seemed to be so kind
He tried Antarctica, near the South Pole
His neighbours were penguins, but it was so cold
He tried an old castle, but so lonely there
He tried outer space, but not so much air!
Under a waterfall, it's so original
But unfortunately also so damp
And so he finally settled down
in a local refugee camp
His friends and his neighbors were scattered about
On every continent around
They built communities where they settled
And slowly tried to rebound
But a fire burned in their hearts
A desire for their own nation
And it burned ever hotter
With each passing generation
As the occupation ensued, and more land was consumed
A resistance was growing fast
The goal they held was for liberation
They would fight no matter how long it last
The man took up arms, and vowed to fight
He knew it was just, he knew it was right
He marched back to his homeland
And the sight he seen before his eyes
Was enough to make the man cry
His home had been transformed
It no longer flew his flag high
In it's place was a blue and white one
"The symbol of the occupier", he said with a sigh
He marched onward with a new fire in his heart
He reached the top of a hill and as he looked down
He eyed the occupation's wall built all around
He waited on the hill to be joined by his friends
They had vowed to fight until the end
So to this day the resistance continues
Until the glorious day of our liberation
Then we can return in peace
And finally become, again, our own nation

You know what really grinds my gears?

Here’s something that really grinds my gears---why the hell do they let ultra-neo-conservatives walk around and spew the shit they spew? It shouldn’t be legal, and frankly, they should be locked in a mental hospital for the world’s safety, along with the rest of the nuts.
Take March 2nd for instance. I was headed to the mall for my birthday, and as usual, I board the bus headed downtown to catch the one going to the mall. As I arrive downtown, it’s an especially chilly day, so I go to the courtesy van in the front to warm up a little. I see a guy I know inside, so I chat him up while waiting for the 10:15 bus to the mall to arrive. A few minutes into the conversation, it turns into my favorite subject--politics. We get to chewing the fat about society, the new president, and foreign policy. Somehow the conversation took a turn into shady dealings, and I brought up that many of my close associates believe that September 11th was an inside job. I had stated I felt like it may have been an Israeli false-flag operation, and I started to continue about why I felt this way when a couple standing behind us chimed in their opinion. The female stated that it was for sure al-Qaida, and she added that Muslims in general are not peaceful people. I attempted to warn her she was venturing into forbidden territory, citing that I myself was of Muslim background and that I did not appreciate her generalizing the way she was, but she continued on about how she had supposedly spoken to people from that part of the world, as she referred to it, and they had told her that they, meaning Muslims I guess, were “coming, and there’s no stopping us” she claimed they had said. Then, if that wasn’t bad enough, she really broke the rail by stating that one of these so-called individuals she supposedly conversated with stated to her that in Islam, it is not considered rape to have sexual intercourse with a 7 year old child without her consent. That sent me over the edge. I told her it was very disrespectful of her to make statements like that without basis in fact, especially after she had been notified that the person she was making these statements to was in fact herself a Muslim, and that she just needs to keep her opinions to herself if she has nothing constructive to say. The guy who I had been speaking with earlier had also chided in, stating that her claims were in fact false, and she had no place making these outlandish claims without first checking the facts. But as always, the crazies never listen, and she kept on droning, as if we didn’t even exist. It’s as if she actually drowned us out of her thoughts, her words flowing uninterrupted by our shouts and eventually my brutally honest statement that she should go back to the Klan meeting where she got her information. The man then told her to be quiet, and she ignored him, keeping on, and so they left the van and on to the bus. By that time, my 10:15 had arrived, so I headed off to board, praying that those kooks weren’t taking the same bus as I. To my chagrin, I seen them sitting at the front as I handed over my transfer card to the driver. I sat down, pretending not to hear them as she started up again with her inflammatory remarks. Things like Muslims were plotting to assassinate US leaders, and take over the country with Shari’a law, and that we were breeding an army to take over the world, and all that megalomaniacal bullshit that the neocons accuse us of harboring in our evil minds. 15 minutes into the ride, it became too much for me to bear, she just wouldn’t fucking shut up. Instead of doing my trademark smashing-face-in-window-routine, I instead took my grievances to the driver, who promptly pulled over the bus and notified a road supervisor to come quell the situation. We waited for several minutes, and I got impatient, so I told her to never mind, but she told me she could not, and to wait for the supervisor. We waited several more minutes, and I finally decided I should just get off because there were other people headed off to work and stuff and I didn’t want to make them late, so I asked for a refund on my transfer and told her I’d wait for the 10:45 bus instead. She handed it to me, and I headed off the bus, across the street back to the stop to wait for the 10:45, all the time my hands shaking from the rage built up inside me from that stupid bitch’s remarks. I let off a lot of steam that day, but not enough. I really feel an aching to knock the last three of that bitch’s teeth down her throat, and frankly, I won’t let it go till I do.
However until that time comes, I will settle it like this. I hope you get the chance to read this, Skanky Lady With 3 Teeth and Severe Halitosis.


Where the fuck do you get off saying the fucking bullshit you say? If you could just record yourself, and play it back maybe you would hear how fucking idiotic you sound! Your voice sounds like a drill being bored into rock that is too hard to penetrate, and your breath smells like you ate a shit biscuit for breakfast. You look like one of those Garbage Pail Kids that got all growed up but never lost their ugly. That guy Gollum from Lord of the Rings looks better than you!
And what’s this about talking to Muslims??? WTF? I don’t think so! There is no self-respecting Muslim or Arab that would even give your ugly ass the time of day, let alone take the time to actually attempt a civilized conversation with you. You’re fucking delusional! Stop lying and get your head out of your ass. No Arab would talk to your ugly filthy ass-looking face, because they actually have dignity and standards! Our people don’t talk to the filth of the streets, because we know what you think, and you’re too goddamn stupid to think otherwise. We don’t waste our time with losers. If anyone said they’re coming so get ready, they were probably warning you to brace yourself while they gave you a forceful teeth-brushing. Your opinions stink as bad as your breath. I wish I could take my foot and shove it so far into your ass that you couldn’t tell where I ended and you began. I wish I could smash your face through a plate-glass window and give you an Extreme Makeover--Intifada style. You are the shit of society. You are the feces that is produced when shame eats too much stupidity. You are a real piece of work. You’re not worth the time it took your mommy to fuck your daddy. Get a clue, bitch. The only thing that’s coming when you meet back up with this Arab is a world of pain. I hope you do the world a favor and take that alcohol you bought with your government check and mix it with some painkillers. Put yourself out of your misery. We don’t need you, you’re in the fucking way. Shut the fuck up and do what crazy people do best--take a swan dive from the San Francisco bridge.
And the next time you call Muslims pedophiles, be ready for a hospital trip and 6 weeks of silence because they’ll have to wire your jaw shut after I’m through with you.
I’m done, and it felt fucking goooooood!

The most ignorant goddamn fuck ever!!!

A retired U.S. diplomat was sentenced on Friday to one year in prison and fined $10,000 for sending racist, threatening messages to an Arab-American group, the Justice Department said.

The diplomat, Patrick Syring of Arlington, Virginia, sent abusive and intimidating e-mails and voice mails to employees of the Arab American Institute, a Washington group.

He was sentenced in federal court in the U.S. capital after pleading guilty to federal civil rights charges, the Justice Department said in a statement.

Among his comments in a series of e-mails, Syring wrote that "the only good Arab is a dead Arab."

Of particular target was the institute's president, James Zogby, "and his wicked Hezbollah brothers."

"They will burn in hellfire on this earth and in the hereafter," said Syring, 50, in an e-mail that was included in the indictment last year.

Syring was a U.S. diplomat in the Middle East and had worked more recently in the Human Resources division at the State Department.

"Threats of violent hate crimes have an impact far greater than the impact on the individual victim," said Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.

"These are crimes against the fundamental ideals on which America was founded," she added.

Syring, who retired from the State Department last year, was ordered to serve 100 hours of community service and have three years of post-release supervision, the Justice Department said.

"There is no room in our society for the intolerance of other races or national origins, particularly by those who hold positions within the government," said Jeffrey Taylor, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.

The State Department had no immediate comment, but when Syring retired last year, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said utterances such as those made by the ex-diplomat were unacceptable to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

-------------------------------------------------

OK here's my fucking 2 cents. This goddamn idiot should be subjected to intense sessions of electro-shock therapy until his brain is good and gelatinous in state. This man is the bane of all the existence of our people--after all, he is attacking Arab-Americans--a peaceful, hard-working, moral group of individuals who have contributed measurable amounts of positive influences on the American culture. I mean, we're fucking TAXPAYING citizens, the lot of our youth are not walking the streets getting pregnant, doing drugs, and throwing our babies in the trash can, our older citizens are business owners whose work ethic is 100 times that of the average American, if we do get on the welfare system, we stay on it only until we no longer need it, not draining it like some, who think free money comes from the sky, and sits on their asses punching out bastard brats right and left, and justifying their leeching lifestyle by bringing up the past strife of their ancestors, which is NOT an excuse, not to mention this fucking idiot came from Virginia....OHHHHH....the jewel of the fucking South!!! Shit the only thing more notable than him to come out of this shit of a state was that 3 headed retarded inbred dog-kid-pig thing with it's parents being brother and sister. He's a real piece of work I tell you! This is pretty much the opinion of the entire South, and frankly if the US wants to nuke something...dont turn to Iran...do us all a favor and hit the South. Our literacy levels would skyrocket, as well as our test levels. The only thing good to ever come out of this wretched cesspool of the US was that...oh wait...oops can't think of anything because there is nothing!!!

Now that my rant is over, I can honestly say that my rant ISN'T OVER!!! It's just beginning! I can name at least 50 ways that Arabs are superior to your pig-eating race and I'll start by saying this--

WE DON'T GET DRUNK AND WASTED AND PUKE IN PUBLIC

WE WORK HARD FOR OUR MONEY AND WE DONT LEECH OFF THE GOVERNMENT

OUR KIDS ARE VIRGINS TILL THEY GET MARRIED

MOST OF US HAVE COLLEGE DEGREES

WHEN ARABS FLOCK TO YOUR SCHOOLS, THE TEST SCORES GO UP!!!

WE'RE SMARTER

WE'RE BETTER LOOKING

WE'RE CLEANER

WE'RE NOT A BUNCH OF RAVING DRUGGIES

WE INVENTED MATHEMATICAL FORMULAS THAT MADE THE INVENTION OF SO MANY OTHER THINGS YOU USE EVERY DAY POSSIBLE

WHAT DID YOU INVENT? A NEW WAY TO MAKE THE WORLD HATE YOU!!!

WE EAT HEALTHY FOODS NOT DROWNED IN TRANS FAT AND GARBAGE

OUR WOMEN HAVE STATUS IN HONOR, NOT IN HOW MANY MEN WE FUCK

WE DONT SIT ON OUR FAT ASSES ALL DAY LONG AND WATCH SPORTS

AND WE LIVE WITHIN OUR MEANS

OK that's only 14 but you get the drift---we're better than you!!! You're nothing more than a scum-sucking piece of filth whose only purpose on this earth was squandered years before in a horrible masturbation accident. Maybe you need to do the world a favor and KILL YOURSELF. It's idiots like you that make the practice of euthanasia necessary. Let's put your lame-ass to sleep you fucking white ass mongrel! If you represent the opinion of the USA, no wonder Al-Qaida is fucking blowing the US up! You fucking deserve it you white motherfucker! Too long have you sat at the helm of history, pushing your culture onto everyone else, and re-writing history so that you look like the good guys and everyone else looks like barbarians!!! The fact is, that White-Western culture is so depraved that you can barely reproduce!!! In 100 years there will be no whites because here's the facts---TWO MEN FUCKING EACH OTHER IN THE ASS DOES NOT PRODUCE OFFSPRING!!! Same goes for the females---licking pussies does not conceive! Get your shit together and wake up---your days are OVER!!! You are not better than us--you're just richer!!! White people have started more wars and occupied more lands than any other race in history. Hell you came in and occupied over 95% of Arab lands till we fucking got a goddamn clue and KICKED YOUR ASSES ALL THE WAY BACK TO EUROPE! And now we are occupying your lands and you're pissed. Guess what Syring---KARMA'S A BITCH!

Well it's no secret that me and my husband have divorced. It's a sad reality but he was a whiny crybaby that couldn't make up his own mind. I told him dozens of times after his ex wife wanted to come back into the picture that he needed to choose either me or her. Evidently he made his choice. It's his loss really. He's pathetic. I'm on to bigger and better things.

another blah day in stinkessee

Once again, on yet another business venture in Tennessee, I find myself bored, and unfulfilled. Tennesseeans have some of the worst hygeine issues on record, and quite frankly, their education levels match their hygiene levels. In layman's terms, stupid and smelly is the legacy they leave for their bastard children who will grow up eventually, even stupider and smellier than the generation before. Can't we just leave well enough alone and fall in with the rest of society? Apparently not, these idiots hold a beer in one hand and a taco in the other, and shout "Nuke the Middle East into a solid sheet of glass" right after they cheer for yet another college football game, which it seems is the only time the city of Knoxville awakens from it's trans-fat-induced slumber and descends on the town like a pack of ravenous wolves. Behold the lowly tourist, she is alone and unescorted, into the lot of insidious no-gooders who attempt to grope her chest or buttocks in a drunken display, or ask her if she's ever had sex with a Southerner. Nasty people these are, and I'll be jolly glad when I can put them once again in my rearview mirror. Till then, I must fall in with the masses. Not so fast, for I have scruples!

A conversation from Gaza

[14:07] Zainab: salam
[14:07] atef (F): هلااا
[14:07] atef (F): كيفك؟

[14:08] Zainab: me fine...you?

14:09] Zainab: are you ok!!
[14:10] Zainab: my 2 cousin there they hurt bad

14:19] Meebo Message: atef (F) is offline
[15:39] Meebo Message: atef (F) is online

15:39] atef (F): Cut off the electricity supply

[15:40] Zainab: well we all must take a stand

[15:40] atef (F): like Laila khaled
[15:40] Zainab: omg yes
[15:40] Zainab: she is my hero
[15:41] atef (F): me to . i like this woman so much
[15:41] atef (F): and all womans

[15:42] atef (F): like Dalal el maghraby

15:42] Zainab: i think i have heard of dalal
[15:42] atef (F): I like the struggle of women and the struggle for identity
[15:43] Zainab: yes

[15:43] Meebo Message: atef (F) is offline
[15:59] Meebo Message: atef (F) is online
[16:00] atef (F): hi.. sorry

[16:03] Zainab: hi
[16:03] atef (F): Cut off the electricity supply

16:03] Zainab: yea i figured

[16:03] Zainab: my cousin went blank too
[16:08] atef (F): oh. nice pic for Laila
[16:09] atef (F): The same ur image
[16:11] Zainab: thanks

[16:15] atef (F): The bad night

[16:17] atef (F): Bad situation
[16:17] Zainab: yes i hear
[16:20] atef (F): now planes in the sky
[16:21] Zainab: oh fuck 
[16:21] Zainab: go hide!!!!
[16:24] atef (F): no
[16:24] atef (F): am at home
[16:24] Zainab: please stay safe
[16:24] Zainab: i don't want you to be hurt
[16:25] atef (F): ok . thank
[16:26] Zainab: please i pray for you
[16:26] atef (F): thanks
[16:26] atef (F): ur so honey
[16:26] atef (F): (K)
[16:28] Zainab: i invited a relative to talk with us
[16:29] atef (F): ok
[16:31] atef (F): Where is he?
[16:31] Zainab: it won't connect
[16:31] atef (F): ok
[16:33] Zainab: do you hear anything now
[16:34] atef (F): now I hear the voice of helicopters

[16:35] atef (F): and rafah Rocket hit a mosque

Palestinian Tears

These tears I cry are for my beloved Palestine. 

The land I never knew.

I feel her presence yet cannot see her

But I know she is there.

Someday I pray I will return.

And our children can live in peace.