This was the most powerful thing I've read from you Khaled. Even as a white facing male in the west, I was never white enough nor black enough for anyone's liking growing up. But the persecution and injustice that Muslims face on a daily basis makes my little issue just that, little. I can't imagine the stress and strain on just your mental wellbeing that this takes. Thank you as always for sharing with us, educating us, and opening our eyes to the changes the world needs for the betterment of human kind!
Professor, the answer is Christian Zionism and evangelism. All roads lead to evangelism.
As a Palestinian-American Muslim who lived his whole life and grew up in the U.S., I relate to every word. Thank you for sharing this.
The driving force behind the demonization of Muslims (at least in America) is evangelism. Islam has been labeled as a “death cult” that is “hellbent on world domination and enforcing its political will on the world through violence.” I never really thought of it this way until now: isn’t this projecting? Is this not exactly what Christian evangelism stands for? What does a White middle-aged man thousands of miles away from my homeland, or as this man will call it, “the holy land”, have to do anything with my home and my people? It is because he is indoctrinated from a very young age that he must aid and enable the effort to help all Jews move into the “holy land” so that the rapture prophecy can be fulfilled and Jesus can finally come down to earth and levitate him and the rest of the believers to heaven, at whatever cost, even at the heavy cost of Palestinian children, who in his view are cannon fodder or collateral damage; just human beings who were unlucky enough to have been born Palestinian. Isn’t this exactly what the Western world has always accused Islam of representing? The only religion, and followers of said religion that are actively enforcing their political will on the entire world based on their stone-age scripture is… yup, you guessed it, evangelical Christianity. So, why is it that evangelical Christians not only have dreams of crusades and the rapture prophecy to be fulfilled in their lifetime, but they are also ACTIVELY WORKING on it and actively traveling to join the Israeli army in its mission to ethnically cleanse Palestinians in Gaza, yet in contrast, Muslims living in these oppressed countries of the Middle East are immediately labeled as terrorists for rising up to defend their homeland, or even if they don't, they are labeled as terrorists by association of the religion? Why is it that the U.S. (and much of the western world) claims, and prides itself, on being secular and inclusive, yet its supreme leaders are fanatical evangelicals who dream of imperialist grandeur, crusades and rapture? When will the world start exposing the extreme and violent, yet taboo, nature of evangelism?
From my observations, Islamophobia stems mainly from the efforts of an evangelical-led propaganda machine that is hellbent on demonizing Muslims. 9/11 certainly made the work of this propaganda machine so much easier. Every single sane Muslim, surely the ones that I knew and grew up with, denounced the terror attacks of 9/11. Terror is never justified and never will be. But we also must not be naive to think that any terror attack happens in a vacuum. The current genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza will surely create ideal conditions for incubating terror cells around the world. And what will the world do then other than blame it again and again on Muslims, instead of finally facing up the hard and naked truth: religious fanaticism is the root of all evil. And no, it’s not Muslims that are waging Jihad, it’s the crusaders all over again.
And how ironic that America is supposedly 'the country of the free', where people fled to to escape persecution for their religious beliefs, to be able to follow their religions safely, and they are now doing the very same thing that they tried to escape from.
"And how ironic that America is supposedly 'the country of the free', where people fled to to escape persecution for their religious beliefs"
Well, that's what we are told. In reality it seems the people who fled were religious fanatics who wanted their own place to be tyrannical over and force their religion on others.
I think it is more hypocritical that Muslims flee to Culturally Christian Countries and yet hold onto the their beliefs not only of Islam but of the Islamic State. Why not raise families in Muslim Theocracies? What rights don't Muslims currently have in America?
People migrate to culturally christian countries mostly for economic reasons, not looking for other religions. After all, these culturally christian countries aren't that religious to beginwith and freedom of religious choice is a thing. When people think of moving to another country for religious reasons it's usually India, Tibet, Bali, someplace with a really strong religious flavor where they go to immerse themselves in various religious practices and experiences. I've never heard of anyone making pilgrimage to say, the United States, because of its spiritual atmosphere. But you do here that a lot about India. You also hear of Muslims making hijra, that is moving to a Muslim majority country to be around other Muslims. I know of Muslim migrants to the US who have done that (returned to a muslim majority country or someplace considered religiously signifcant to them such as Saudi Arabia) and I've known of Americans who converted to Islam in their adulthood, who did that.
The land of USA is actually "sacred" to Native Americans/First Nations Peoples, but that is not mainstream here and the significance is not known globally. I also don't think they want to advertise that and make spiritual tourism out of it the way India, Thailand and Bali does.
I was beginning to think Evangelical Zionism was becoming a thing of the past. For years what is called here "the left" or "liberals" seemed to "side" with Islam and Muslims. Now we see "right wingers" or at least "anti-SJWs" on podcasts saying "Islam is the only religion fighting back the tidal wave of LGBTQ and Woke" or "Islam is right about women", etc. etc. etc. So I would think that Evangelicals would also share these views and seek an alliance with Muslims in the USA. The school board protests in Michigan seemed to point in the direction of conservative non-Muslim and Muslim parents joining forces.
At any rate, I don't think the majority of American citizens approve of what's happening to Palestinian people right now.
I would be more sympathetic to Palestinians if they can actually show the world they want to live in peace rather than form another Theocratic Islamic State void of Jews.
What makes you think the majority of Palestinians want a theocratic state devoid of Jews? The majority just want to be able to live and not have their homes taken away. Aliya, the right of return, should probably be phased out in favor of promotion of spiritual toursim and special temporary religious visas granted to devout Jews, Christians and Muslims to visit their "holy lands" for maximum 3 months at a time. That way the local populations can balance out and the stress on the citizens, environment and infrastructure can be somewhat alleviated.
Reading this felt like someone gave a voice to my inner dialogue. I was crying the whole time while reading this. To be honest, sometimes all the efforts seem pointless. How?? Why did it become like this?? Why does the world have so much hate for muslims?? Hating to the point of killing. Being a muslim in todays world isn't easy. What keeps me going is that...
This life is a test. We are temporarily here.
We will be rewarded in hereafter for every good deed.
I keep trying to warn my friends and followers that the Biden administration made a mistake by failing to condemn the IDF for all of the civilian men, women, and children they have killed since October. Everytime I see the name "Genocide Joe" pop up on my social media timelines, which is almost daily, I realize that if Trump defeats Biden later this year, it will be because a number of Democrats who know genocide when they see it refuse to get out and vote for a man whose indifference is not much different than Trump's. 😢.
My understanding is that Islam is "having a moment" right now with internet denizens like Andrew Tate and other "anti-Woke" converting to Islam and making it popular among young screen addicted men.
And this is kind of sad because I am told non-Muslims in Middle East generally converted to Islam not based on Ideology but because of Taxation so it is sad to those who grew up Christian and experienced the wealth of freedoms in Cultural Christian Countries to convert to Islam just cause they think Dubai represents the Islamic State.
Which seems odd since, if i recall correctly, jizya paid by non-muslims is actually less than zakat paid by muslims. No they are not converting because of Dubai. They are converting because they think Islam represents anti-feminist values that keep women in their place and activates against LGBTQ.
As a white British woman, I cannot even begin to imagine what life is like for you. I wish people would remember we have more things in common than divide us, but the division seems to be growing.
This was the most powerful thing I've read from you Khaled. Even as a white facing male in the west, I was never white enough nor black enough for anyone's liking growing up. But the persecution and injustice that Muslims face on a daily basis makes my little issue just that, little. I can't imagine the stress and strain on just your mental wellbeing that this takes. Thank you as always for sharing with us, educating us, and opening our eyes to the changes the world needs for the betterment of human kind!
Professor, the answer is Christian Zionism and evangelism. All roads lead to evangelism.
As a Palestinian-American Muslim who lived his whole life and grew up in the U.S., I relate to every word. Thank you for sharing this.
The driving force behind the demonization of Muslims (at least in America) is evangelism. Islam has been labeled as a “death cult” that is “hellbent on world domination and enforcing its political will on the world through violence.” I never really thought of it this way until now: isn’t this projecting? Is this not exactly what Christian evangelism stands for? What does a White middle-aged man thousands of miles away from my homeland, or as this man will call it, “the holy land”, have to do anything with my home and my people? It is because he is indoctrinated from a very young age that he must aid and enable the effort to help all Jews move into the “holy land” so that the rapture prophecy can be fulfilled and Jesus can finally come down to earth and levitate him and the rest of the believers to heaven, at whatever cost, even at the heavy cost of Palestinian children, who in his view are cannon fodder or collateral damage; just human beings who were unlucky enough to have been born Palestinian. Isn’t this exactly what the Western world has always accused Islam of representing? The only religion, and followers of said religion that are actively enforcing their political will on the entire world based on their stone-age scripture is… yup, you guessed it, evangelical Christianity. So, why is it that evangelical Christians not only have dreams of crusades and the rapture prophecy to be fulfilled in their lifetime, but they are also ACTIVELY WORKING on it and actively traveling to join the Israeli army in its mission to ethnically cleanse Palestinians in Gaza, yet in contrast, Muslims living in these oppressed countries of the Middle East are immediately labeled as terrorists for rising up to defend their homeland, or even if they don't, they are labeled as terrorists by association of the religion? Why is it that the U.S. (and much of the western world) claims, and prides itself, on being secular and inclusive, yet its supreme leaders are fanatical evangelicals who dream of imperialist grandeur, crusades and rapture? When will the world start exposing the extreme and violent, yet taboo, nature of evangelism?
From my observations, Islamophobia stems mainly from the efforts of an evangelical-led propaganda machine that is hellbent on demonizing Muslims. 9/11 certainly made the work of this propaganda machine so much easier. Every single sane Muslim, surely the ones that I knew and grew up with, denounced the terror attacks of 9/11. Terror is never justified and never will be. But we also must not be naive to think that any terror attack happens in a vacuum. The current genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza will surely create ideal conditions for incubating terror cells around the world. And what will the world do then other than blame it again and again on Muslims, instead of finally facing up the hard and naked truth: religious fanaticism is the root of all evil. And no, it’s not Muslims that are waging Jihad, it’s the crusaders all over again.
This is such an interesting observation!
And how ironic that America is supposedly 'the country of the free', where people fled to to escape persecution for their religious beliefs, to be able to follow their religions safely, and they are now doing the very same thing that they tried to escape from.
So hypocritical and they can't even see it.
"And how ironic that America is supposedly 'the country of the free', where people fled to to escape persecution for their religious beliefs"
Well, that's what we are told. In reality it seems the people who fled were religious fanatics who wanted their own place to be tyrannical over and force their religion on others.
I think it is more hypocritical that Muslims flee to Culturally Christian Countries and yet hold onto the their beliefs not only of Islam but of the Islamic State. Why not raise families in Muslim Theocracies? What rights don't Muslims currently have in America?
People migrate to culturally christian countries mostly for economic reasons, not looking for other religions. After all, these culturally christian countries aren't that religious to beginwith and freedom of religious choice is a thing. When people think of moving to another country for religious reasons it's usually India, Tibet, Bali, someplace with a really strong religious flavor where they go to immerse themselves in various religious practices and experiences. I've never heard of anyone making pilgrimage to say, the United States, because of its spiritual atmosphere. But you do here that a lot about India. You also hear of Muslims making hijra, that is moving to a Muslim majority country to be around other Muslims. I know of Muslim migrants to the US who have done that (returned to a muslim majority country or someplace considered religiously signifcant to them such as Saudi Arabia) and I've known of Americans who converted to Islam in their adulthood, who did that.
The land of USA is actually "sacred" to Native Americans/First Nations Peoples, but that is not mainstream here and the significance is not known globally. I also don't think they want to advertise that and make spiritual tourism out of it the way India, Thailand and Bali does.
I was beginning to think Evangelical Zionism was becoming a thing of the past. For years what is called here "the left" or "liberals" seemed to "side" with Islam and Muslims. Now we see "right wingers" or at least "anti-SJWs" on podcasts saying "Islam is the only religion fighting back the tidal wave of LGBTQ and Woke" or "Islam is right about women", etc. etc. etc. So I would think that Evangelicals would also share these views and seek an alliance with Muslims in the USA. The school board protests in Michigan seemed to point in the direction of conservative non-Muslim and Muslim parents joining forces.
At any rate, I don't think the majority of American citizens approve of what's happening to Palestinian people right now.
I would be more sympathetic to Palestinians if they can actually show the world they want to live in peace rather than form another Theocratic Islamic State void of Jews.
What makes you think the majority of Palestinians want a theocratic state devoid of Jews? The majority just want to be able to live and not have their homes taken away. Aliya, the right of return, should probably be phased out in favor of promotion of spiritual toursim and special temporary religious visas granted to devout Jews, Christians and Muslims to visit their "holy lands" for maximum 3 months at a time. That way the local populations can balance out and the stress on the citizens, environment and infrastructure can be somewhat alleviated.
Reading this felt like someone gave a voice to my inner dialogue. I was crying the whole time while reading this. To be honest, sometimes all the efforts seem pointless. How?? Why did it become like this?? Why does the world have so much hate for muslims?? Hating to the point of killing. Being a muslim in todays world isn't easy. What keeps me going is that...
This life is a test. We are temporarily here.
We will be rewarded in hereafter for every good deed.
🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉
Thank you Khaled. Your intellect and bravery is truly inspiring.
Keep the faith. Even in the darkest of times. 🙏🙏🙏🕊️🕊️🕊️
I keep trying to warn my friends and followers that the Biden administration made a mistake by failing to condemn the IDF for all of the civilian men, women, and children they have killed since October. Everytime I see the name "Genocide Joe" pop up on my social media timelines, which is almost daily, I realize that if Trump defeats Biden later this year, it will be because a number of Democrats who know genocide when they see it refuse to get out and vote for a man whose indifference is not much different than Trump's. 😢.
What do you think Trump would do for Palestine if he were president right now?
My understanding is that Islam is "having a moment" right now with internet denizens like Andrew Tate and other "anti-Woke" converting to Islam and making it popular among young screen addicted men.
And this is kind of sad because I am told non-Muslims in Middle East generally converted to Islam not based on Ideology but because of Taxation so it is sad to those who grew up Christian and experienced the wealth of freedoms in Cultural Christian Countries to convert to Islam just cause they think Dubai represents the Islamic State.
Which seems odd since, if i recall correctly, jizya paid by non-muslims is actually less than zakat paid by muslims. No they are not converting because of Dubai. They are converting because they think Islam represents anti-feminist values that keep women in their place and activates against LGBTQ.
Such a powerful piece!
As a white British woman, I cannot even begin to imagine what life is like for you. I wish people would remember we have more things in common than divide us, but the division seems to be growing.