Anti-Islam provocateurs make pilgrimages to Dearborn to bait Muslims at public festivals

Evidence

A pilgrimage to Dearborn has become a rite of passage for opponents of Islam in America. They descend, like seasonal birds, on the annual Dearborn Arab International Festival, where they wander among tens of thousands of Arab and Muslim revelers, passing out proselytizing leaflets, engaging passersby in religious dispute, and occasionally being arrested for disturbance of the peace. In recent years, the city has provided a fenced off space from which these visitors can shout anti-Muslim slogans through their bullhorns … Police and festival security try to keep things under control, and if the exchanges threaten to become physical, the instigators are arrested or convinced to leave. It is important to remember that all of this is happening at a street fair, where families wait in line for their children to buy cotton candy and take rides on Ferris wheels. — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 671

Categorization

• SHARE: The image of anti-Muslim bullhorns facing off across a family street fair with Ferris wheels would interest anyone covering Islamophobia or public spectacle.