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Scapegoats: How Islamophobia Helps Our Enemies and Threatens Our Freedoms
Scapegoats: How Islamophobia Helps Our Enemies and Threatens Our Freedoms | Arsalan Iftikhar
32 posts | 4 read | 56 to read
"Scapegoats" is an important book that shows Islamophobia must be addressed urgently."PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER When a murderous psychopath goes on a killing spree, law enforcement officials and the media never make his religion the central issueunless he happens to be a Muslim. Then it sets off another frenzied wave of commentary about the inherent evils that lurk within the Muslim faith. From Fox News talking heads, who regularly smear Muslim leaders as secret terrorists, to Bill Maher, who has made Islam a routine target, it has become widely acceptable to libel a religion with a following of over 1.5 billion peoplenearly one-quarter of the world s population. Now popular commentator Arsalan Iftikharbetter known as The Muslim Guy offers a spirited defense of his faith that is certain to win him wide acclaimand yes, another round of overheated scolding from the usual media quarters. Iftikhar's spirited defense of his faith is certain to hit a chord during the 2016 campaign season, as politicians and pundits vie to be the toughest on the block when it comes to escalating the hostilities in the Middle East, often demonizing Islam in the process. With his witty and levelheaded demeanor, the author will cut through all the sound and fury as a voice of sanity and reason."
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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Pickpick

A short but very timely read, I breezed through this book and by all the quotes I posted you should be able to tell that I found most of it very useful & quite interesting, even if disheartening at times. Definitely a must read for our current times....although sadly it most likely won't be read by the portion of the population that could benefit from it. 😕

#ManyStoriesMonday #MulticulturalMonday #DiversityMonday #Islamophobia #Nonfiction2017

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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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"This is not a clash of civilizations … because every civilization contains the clash within itself.”

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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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Suet624 Yes. And our tax dollars support it. 8y
Laura317 It is much more complicated than that. The radical Islamic follower does not care if we want to understand them or not. Just like other radical groups, they want their way only. We are infidels. It's their way or death. I would like to think MOST Americans would gladly welcome believers of all faiths. To say it's because we are not tolerant of their beliefs is not really a fair statement in my opinion. 8y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @Laura317 This book is about the majority of believers of Islam who are being viewed and labeled as if they are all the radical believers. And the policing programs we utilize to treat them all as if they were all radicals. It's about treating the whole group like one radical subsection. Unfortunately there is a huge segment of the American population that does lump them all in together...which includes those calling for Muslim registries, ... 8y
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa ...immigration bans, etc. I don't think he's arguing that those groups don't exist, but that they are no more typically Muslim than Dylan Ruff is a typical Christian and all Christians should be suspect. (edited) 8y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @Laura317 I hope that makes sense, it's hard to explain from just a few quotes pulled out of the larger text, but the main point of his book is that most Muslims are as much a victim of the radicals as most other people, but we are painting the whole group with one brush and spending tons of time and money, and fear looking at the wrong group. 8y
Laura317 I understand. It's hard to tell that from just the things you posted. Taken in that context, I totally agree. I've added to my stack. 8y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @Laura317 I hope you read it and then we can talk about it more. He's definitely not defending radicalization....he's defending the average Muslim person who has been swept up in a backlash of fear created by those radicals and basically agreeing that all of us average joes need to be joining forces instead of blacklisting whole segments of the population. 8y
Laura317 👍🏼👍🏼 8y
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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... "We will always be subjected to these us-versus-them hysteria campaigns as long as people in power seek to divide Americans for their own cynical political purposes—whether it‘s to whip up war fever, split apart working people, or simply keep the citizenry fearful and easier to manipulate."

Sace Yup. I just bought my own copy. I have to read this. 8y
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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"This is the way a civilized society begins to devour itself. By allowing our political leaders and law enforcement officials to scapegoat one segment of our population—to turn innocent people into targets of suspicion, into the enemy—we demean all that is good and decent about our nation."

youngreadrshelf Okay. You've convinced me. I have to read it. 8y
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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And again, the NYPD‘s Demographics Unit, "Despite its more than six years of spying on Muslim neighborhoods, mosques, and college activities, the NYPD‘s secretive Demographics Unit “never generated a [single] lead or triggered a terrorism investigation,” according to departmental court testimony in August 2012."

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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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"Despite its more than six years of spying on Muslim neighborhoods, mosques, and college activities, the NYPD‘s secretive Demographics Unit “never generated a [single] lead or triggered a terrorism investigation,” according to departmental court testimony in August 2012."

Suet624 Ugh. 8y
Nebklvr Imagine that 8y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @Nebklvr I know, right! Think of all the money (tax payer money) wasted... not to mention time, energy, community good will. 8y
minkyb I am reading all these quotes back to back and it is quite depressing. 8y
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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Isn't that the truth! I remember thinking something very similar after Dylan Roof shot a bunch of church members during services for obviously white-supremist reasons and he was "disturbed", but not a "terrorist"

Laura317 He should have been labeled a terrorist. He is in my opinion. Evil is evil no matter the race, belief etc. 8y
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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LauraBrook All of these blurbs you're posting make me think I need this book like yesterday. 8y
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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Well now....that explains recent political discussions and the Trump Presidency more than anything else I've heard.

Laura317 I think the left is mistaken in the belief that it was all race-related. Much of the conservative right (from my understanding) was against the more liberal policies and not so much against a black man in the White House. Of course, there are always those radical few that are. 8y
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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☹️ Once again I say... imagine if we put that money into something productive for our whole society, like education...instead of into hate mongering and hate speech. Once again I find myself wondering how humans have survived so long and conquered the planet. ☹️

Laura317 Mmmm, yes! More $$ into the sciences, arts, and infrastructure of our country would be wonderful! 8y
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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Literally witch hunts, I'm sure those labeled witches (and every minority scapegoated since then) will be relieved to hear that it's just a phase we go though every few decades....

And a part of history we obviously haven't learned from yet, so we repeat it cyclically. ?

And that we "always come through it stronger in the end" so no hard feelings about those burning, hangings, drownings, internment camps, church burnings, shootings, etc etc

kspenmoll 😡😫 8y
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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OMG 😲! 😱😱😂😱😱😱

Poor Jasmine and Aladdin! Even the genie can't save them from Islamophobia!

thegirlwiththelibrarybag Hopefully those in charge of the bombs do their homework 8y
Laura317 😳😳😳I would laugh, but it's really too scary. 8y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @Laura317 Exactly.... you know it's bad when a decent percentage of the population is willing to bomb anywhere, even if they don't even know where that place is or a thing about it. 8y
Suet624 This is so disheartening. 8y
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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Thank you Colin Powell

kspenmoll 😍 8y
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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Well that's just very sad and amazingly dumb to keep his name off. Sometimes I'm still amazed at the craziness we decide is ok in this country.🙄

kspenmoll Thx for posting these excerpts. 8y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @kspenmoll You are very welcome. It's a good book, and a pretty quick read. 8y
Libby1 😢 8y
minkyb These blurbs are very unsettling and sad. 8y
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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"these are all acts of American terrorism. The perpetrators in all three cases were Americans and their innocent victims represented the rainbow diversity of America (...) The killers were driven to act not just by their own damaged psyches, but out of some warped response to the tensions within American society. And they all were able to commit mass murder because of America‘s fatal addiction to guns."

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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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"that was the exact moment in time when my country was attacked by people who simultaneously also hijacked my religion"

Erinreadsthebooks Powerful 💜 8y
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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Up next! Thank you Hoopla!

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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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From the Forward by Reza Aslan...sounds like it's good my to be a good book...

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Hooked_on_books
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I thought everyone's goodreads charts were *so cool* today that I had to load all my reads for the year (I think I got them all) to make my own! What a cool idea! I'm just bummed that my least popular book is so unread, since it's a good, important book.

Well-ReadNeck Glad to hear your recommendation of Scapegoats. It's on my #TrumpedupReadingList 8y
Cinfhen Yay! 125🙌🏻📚❤️️🎉 8y
AlexandraGriffin This is so cool! what site is this from? 8y
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AlexandraGriffin HA just kidding you said it in your caption, goodreads. lol 8y
WordWaller What!? Ahh, how did you do this!? 8y
Hooked_on_books @WordWaller If you have all your books read loaded into goodreads, there's a yellow banner saying something like "your 2016 in books." You click on it and get this! It's on the desktop version--I couldn't find it on the app. 8y
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Erin01
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this is such an essential book for today's times & it's also fairly short (under 200 pages) + is both a good starting place for those who are just learning about Islamophobia & also great for those who know more about the subject as well - while most of this information was not new to me, I really appreciated seeing it all presented here & actually quite enjoyed reading this 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
#nonfictionnovember #favsof2016

Riveted_Reader_Melissa I added this to my list recently too, and in the current climate it's getting bumped right to the top of the list! 8y
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Erin01
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Erin01
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Hooked_on_books
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Pickpick

I've always been aware that people tend to look for an "other" to point the finger at and that violence begets violence. I also consider myself a fairly informed person, but this book nearly makes me feel as though my head has been in the sand regarding Islamophobia. I would love for every member of the media and every public figure to read this with an open mind, as I fear this problem will continue to worsen.

Kathrin I know, this was a real eye opener for me. 8y
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queerbookreader
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Ooooookay. What we have here from top to bottom by subject: islamophobia, growing up Asian-American, bisexuality, transgender girl's memoir, transgender boy's memoir, white supremacist hate groups in America, LGBTQIA Muslim voices, indigenous urban life, atlas of women worldwide, and a photo book celebrating dark skin black girls. Keep your reading diverse; fight the rhetoric of our president elect. Books tagged in comments. ⬇️ #overthis

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Owlizabeth Thank you for blowing up my SJW TBR ✊🏼 8y
Broke_Girl_Reads Bi is fantastic!! I look forward to seeing your review 8y
InLibrisVeritas Yes! Thank you!! 8y
ReadingEnvy Thanks! I'm requesting Scapegoats, Bi, and American Swastika from the library. 8y
queerbookreader @Owlizabeth It's my pleasure 😍 8y
queerbookreader @Broke_Girl_Reads I've been meaning to check it out for about forever so I finally grabbed it today in my "ALL THE DIVERSE BOOKZ" frenzy 8y
queerbookreader @InLibrisVeritas I hope you enjoy and get enlightened and empowered as fuck 👊🏽 8y
queerbookreader @ReadingEnvy Awesome. I was like 😕 about getting American Swastika but I came back to it after a few minutes and grabbed it. Won't be pleasant reading, but we need to know about the kind of people who terrorize innocent groups of people so we can figure out how to shut them the fuck down 8y
ReadingEnvy @lemonlime799 particularly where I live, within five miles of a store called "Dixie Outpost" and people drive around with confederate flags in their truckbeds... better to know what they're up to, especially now. 8y
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BarbaraTheBibliophage
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#Booktober #diversereads from my Kindle collection. Some fiction, some nonfiction.

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KrisConstantReader
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This book just came out in May, I had it on my to read list, Ebook is on sale today for $1.99

BarbaraTheBibliophage Thanks. Got myself a copy! 8y
KrisConstantReader @BarbaraTheBibliophage great! I got one as well. 8y
BarbaraTheBibliophage Looking forward to your review. I have a couple of short books lined up and will add this one to the TBR. 8y
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Kathrin
Pickpick

This is a must read, if you need some ammunition for the islamophobic in your life. The book is very structured and so very current. It really describes well the political climate that Muslims in the USA have to deal with these days and that Muslim bashing is very PC right now.

Sometime the book read a little like interview and speech transcripts. Nevertheless, I still recommend to pick it up!

Riveted_Reader_Melissa So glad to hear you liked it! I'm going to look for this one! 8y
Megabooks Sold! Definitely going to try this out. #ebc 8y
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Kathrin
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Beer almost gone, book almost done... I love it when things work out! 🍺👍🏻📖😆

britt_brooke Perfect, cheers! 🍻 8y
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Kathrin
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I am going highlighter crazy with this one! 🖍

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Kathrin
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Pretty interesting so far!

Husband is watching Supergirl... Wow, that's some bad acting.

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Kathrin
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Playing TBR pile lottery. And the winner is....

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