To be Islamophobic or Islamosceptic, that is the Question

A View in Cairo - David Roberts

"[To] protect themselves against criticism, Islamists have invented the formula of 'Islamophobia' to defame their critics" -- Bassam Tibi

Islamists have pulled a doublethink on the West and many people (usually the most influential ones) have fallen for it. This means that an individual cannot criticise an Islamist without being called an Islamophobe - i.e. a racist.

I do admit that they were smart enough in coining such an expression given the fact that many black people (in America and in South Africa, for instance) have taught many how to victimise themselves and capitalise on the dark past of nations (instead of just moving on and showing that although many tried to put them down, they survived and are as competent and intelligent as any capable individual without having to resort to quotas or any other demeaning social measure). Result: if a non-black addresses a black person in the "wrong way" it is racism; but if a black person is offensive towards a non-black, it is justified due to past repression.

Yet, we have a problem in hands: Islamists, often sponsored by countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar (through Islamic cultural centres, Madrasahs etc), are trying to push us into the abyss of devolution; and our politicians, in addition to many in the civil society, are trying to sweep that problem under the rug.

The predicament got so big that in Birmingham, in the UK, several schools have been hijacked by Islamists who imposed gender segregation and tried to alter the academic curriculum to focus on Islamic teachings. The goverment is tackling the issue after having received anonymous letters denouncing the educational hijack.

PM Cameron, last month, wrote "In recent years we have been in danger of sending out a worrying message: that if you don’t want to believe in democracy, that’s fine; that if equality isn’t your bag, don’t worry about it; that if you’re completely intolerant of others, we will still tolerate you. As I’ve said before, this has not just led to division, it has also allowed extremism – of both the violent and non-violent kind – to flourish." - Premier Cameron, unfortunately the whole of Europe has already sent out that message and now the Gremlin grew bigger and uglier. A state's behaviour can be influenced by perceptions and right now David Cameron seems to be the spearhead of the fight for the preservation of, not only the British identity but also, the European values.

The EU elections, last May, resulted in the rise of far-right parties whose focus is the Islamisation of Europe. Are they being Islamophobic; paranoid? Perhaps, but I'd say they are taking advantage of a bubbling problem among the European citizens who have been perceiving the identity & value crisis for quite some time, only to watch their political representatives being too cautious to do anything about it. By voting for the far-right, they are sending out a warning to their leaders, before it is too late.

Politics is not an easy game: too many interests, too much money flowing around, too much ego involved, too much danger. Many of us can certainly understand that. But can the weary people?

I enjoy my freedom of speech. Such human right grants me the liberty to criticise what I believe to be an attack against western values and acquired rights. For instance, women fought to vote, they fought for the freedom of rejecting the corset if they so wished, they fought for the right to actively participate in the designs of our society, they contributed to our development, and they worked beside men to build the world as we know and love it; therefore, I don't think we should accept to take orders from Islamists when it comes to women's freedom on Western Land. If Muslim ladies wish to wear their niqab, burqa and any piece of garment that offends the memory of the Women who fought for female emancipation they are very much welcome to do so in anachronistic Islamic lands.

Am I Islamophobic? No, because I am not afraid of Islamists nor do I find them repugnant. However, I am an Islamosceptic.

I am sceptic of the sort of Muslims who do not abide by the motto "live and let live" and wish to impose their beliefs, their values, their views of the world, on others. I am sceptic of those Muslims who reject integration in our society. I am sceptic of those Muslims who pervert Islam and Islamic history for political purposes. I am sceptic of those Muslims who hate and incite to hatred.

I am an Islamosceptic because I doubt, I question and disagree with the sort of Muslims who corrupt Life and Peace.

Are you Islamophobic or Islamosceptic?