From Al Jazeera English, Muslims fear increase in Islamophobia after San Bernardino shooting; and US Muslim forced off plane cites Islamophobia: Being told to get off plane in front of passengers was “humiliating”, says Kameelah Rasheed, who alleges discrimination. Bilal Rana, president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA’s Youth Association, detained on a flight: “I’m your biggest ally”. Severed pig’s head thrown at Philadelphia mosque door. Muslim sixth grader allegedly attacked by schoolmates who called her ISIS, tore at her hijab. Sohaib Sultan, the Imam and Muslim Life Coordinator in the Office of Religious Life at Princeton University, on 5 reasons mainstream Muslims reject ISIS. Muslims in America condemn extremists and fear anew for their lives. Anti-Muslim rhetoric has gone from fringe to mainstream, report says. Christopher Bail on how fringe attacks on American Muslims became mainstream. Omar Mouallem on 5 women quashing preconceptions about Islam on social media.
Donald Trump first says racially profiling Muslims should be the country’s response to San Bernardino; then he calls for barring all Muslims from entering U.S. (and more) GOP candidates respond: Trump’s plan “unhinged”, “downright dangerous”, “not my policy”. From Vox, German Lopez on how Donald Trump’s Islamophobic rhetoric resonates with many Republicans; Donald Trump has a base: 76% of Republicans think Islam is un-American; and it’s not just Trump: Islamophobia in America is spiraling out of control. Nevada GOP Assemblywoman Michele Fiore says of Syrian refugees: “I’m about to fly to Paris and shoot ‘em in the head myself”. Fox News analyst Ralph Peters called the President “such a total pussy, it’s stunning” and Fox talk show contributor Stacey Dash says the president “could give a shit” about the threat posed by the Islamic State. Arianna Huffington on on Trump: We are no longer entertained. Dear Islamophobes: Your racism is putting us all in danger.
Republicans react like silly children to the San Bernardino massacre, showing why we need grown-ups like Obama in charge. With his speech on San Bernardino, Obama is confronting a problem he’s long feared; the hardest problem in counterterrorism is how to prevent an overreaction (and more). Whether he intended it or not, President Obama implied in his address on ISIS that the country should brace for a new normal of small-scale, periodic terrorist attacks. Jack Jenkins on why it matters that the president rejected Islamophobia and why more politicians should. On the President’s speech on Sunday: Is it really responsible to be so responsible that it does nothing to check demagogic and Islamophobic responses?
