An unchallenged false mosque statistic legitimized McCarthy-style Muslim monitoring

Evidence

The upshot of this propaganda is that few in the media challenged the King hearings, giving credence to the notion that Muslims are in fact being “radicalized” and need to be questioned and monitored in ways similar to the “reds” in the Cold War era. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 559 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

That was the justification espoused by Congressman Peter King when he held two high-profile hearings in 2011, “The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community’s Response” and “Homegrown Threat of Violent Islamic Extremist Terrorism.” As early as 2004, King proclaimed that most Muslim leaders are “enemies living amongst us.” He alleged that 80 percent to 85 percent of mosques in the United States are run by Islamic fundamentalists, a thinly veiled accusation of terrorism. The implication is obvious: mosques are not houses of worship under the purview of religious freedom protections. Rather, they are nefarious places that breed terrorists. Hence Religious Racial Muslims are legitimate targets of law enforcement scrutiny. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 818 (#expands, via linked claim)

This chapter sets out to disprove this claim. As the entire book has argued, Islamophobia, better understood as anti-Muslim racism, emerges from the bowels of empire and goes far beyond fringe right-wing elements. … In his book The Great Fear, historian David Caute showed that McCarthyism wasn’t simply about one out-of-control senator, but a political system (including both Democrats and Republicans) that allowed a figure like Joseph McCarthy to set the political agenda. McCarthy was a useful tool in prosecuting the Cold War—particularly in creating a climate of fear where dissent could be punished and neutralized. The right-wing Islamophobic warriors play a similar role during the era of the war on terror. They are not “alien outsiders” but emerge from within the political establishment, the security apparatus, the academy, think tanks, and the mainstream media. Thus, far from “infiltrating” an otherwise sound democratic system, the “new McCarthyites,” as I call them, are a product of, and sit comfortably within, the structures of US empire; their role is to elevate and legitimize overt racism. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 652 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: An unfounded claim about mosques spread across media for years unchallenged; A false 80 percent mosque statistic powered the anti-Sharia legislative campaign. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 680; Islamophobic propaganda about mosques seeded hearings and counterterror surveilling of Muslim communities — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 697 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Unchallenged propaganda legitimized monitoring Muslims like Cold War reds #corroborates (0.90) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 559
• The framing of mosques as terror nest legitimated surveillance of religious practice #expands (0.85) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 818
• Right-wing Islamophobes mirror McCarthy as system-insiders servicing empire, not fringe outsiders #expands (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 652
• Islamophobic warriors function like McCarthy as useful tools of empire #corroborates (0.85)
• Federally funded anti-Muslim training normalized mass surveillance of Muslim communities. #expands (0.75)
• Suspicion of Muslims is based on association rather than evidence #expands (0.72)