Raheel Raza on the Ground Zero mosque
Raheel Raza, author of Their Jihad, Not My Jihad: a Muslim Canadian Woman Speaks Out, gives her view on the Ground Zero mosque question. Be warned, she says she has no time for ‘bleeding heart white liberals’ or ‘political correctness’.
And here she is on ‘Islamophobia’:
Let’s take a moment to debunk Islamophobia. The term was first coined in the 1980s but gained momentum after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
In 1997, Britain’s Runnymede Trust think tank defined Islamophobia as the “dread or hatred of Islam and therefore … the fear and dislike of all Muslims.” It also refers, said the trust, to the practice of discriminating against Muslims by excluding them from the economic, social and public life of a nation.
But many Muslims in the West use Islamophobia as a penalty card against free speech whenever there is criticism of Muslims. This reactionary response is stifling dialogue, debate and discussion — all signs of a healthy thriving democracy.
