Organized funding sustains professional anti-Muslim propaganda networks in the US

Evidence

A recent report by People for the American Way has documented the menu of tactics that is often used by anti-Muslim extremists. In addition to claiming that Islam is not a religion and that Muslims have no First Amendment rights, these ideologues use misinformation to argue that all Muslims are dangerous, and that liberty must be defended by taking freedoms away from Muslims. The political angle is evident in attacks on Islam that are also linked with criticism of President Obama, but the enemies list is often expanded to include “leftist radicals” as alleged Muslim allies. … Another report, by the Center for American Progress, draws attention to seven right-wing foundations that have provided over US$40 million to support Islamophobia between 2001 and 2009, particularly through five dedicated anti-Islamic think tanks headed by Frank Gaffney, David Yerushalmi, Daniel Pipes, Robert Spencer, and Steven Emerson. — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 29

Categorization

• SEED: An essay angle: ‘liberty must be defended by taking freedoms away from Muslims’ as a precise formula for how security rhetoric inverts itself — could pair with similar logics in surveillance states.
• XREF: connects to: Post-truth politics in the US has reinforced European distrust of media institutions — Jürgen Habermas, A New Structural Transformation of the…, 38; State propagandists, bots, and amateur conspiracy theorists form reinforcing alliances. — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 396; Seven foundations gave $43 million to anti-Muslim groups from 2001 to 2009 — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 697 (+2 more)