On March 15, as worshippers in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, were preparing to offer Friday Jumu’ah – congregational prayers – a terrorist stormed their sanctuaries and massacred 50 Muslims.
Later, unbowed and unrepentant during his first court appearance, the terrorist smiled, smirked and flashed to his global audience what appeared to be a white power sign.
Prior to the attack, he had posted on 8chan – a web forum that welcomes hackers, trolls, bigots, white supremacists and other societal misfits – a 74-page manifesto inspired by, it appears, among others, British fascist Oswald Mosley and Norwegian mass murderer and terrorist Anders Breivik; he even gave a shout-out to President Trump for being a “renewed symbol of white identity.”
His manifesto, filled with rage and bigotry and entitled “The Great Replacement” after an anti-immigrant book published in 2012 by French author Renaud Camus, spoke of forcing the New Zealand government to stop an “invasion of Muslims.”
Such hysterical narratives have power, especially when they target minorities and communities of color as being existential threats – in this case Muslims – to white Christian dominance and authority.
Such hysterical narratives have power, especially when seemingly endorsed by an American president who, since 2011, has embraced the most vile tropes about Islam and Muslims in America, who since becoming president has considered neo-Nazis and white supremacists as being among “very fine people.”
A man who makes repeated Islamophobic attacks at rallies and declares, “I think Islam hates us,” who posts unsubstantiated tweets about “prayer rugs” being found along our southern border, and who retweets vile racist messages from British hate-sites, feeds the beasts lurking in our darkest corners.
Within 24 hours after the Christchurch mosque attacks, Trump – in spite of the finding of his own intelligence agencies – denied that white nationalism is a growing danger both domestically and abroad, thus further normalizing white supremacy and legitimizing anti-Muslim sentiment.
Such dog-whistling and fear-mongering is working. In 2016, a survey showed that Americans believe 17 percent of the country is Muslim; it’s really closer to 3 percent (in New Zealand it’s barely 1 percent) and, as I discovered in a library talk this week, others have fearfully embraced the false meme that the Muslim Brotherhood is conspiring to overthrow the U.S. government and impose Shari’ah law.
Such Islamophobia beliefs openly flourish in America, infect our daily lives and fester, often in plain view – often unchallenged – to delegitimize not only Muslims but all minority communities.
Such misperceptions are embraced in order to support such un-American actions as the Muslim ban, which is now in its second year and is responsible for denying tens of thousands of people visas – for amnesty, for refugee status, for family unification – to enter the United States.
Such discrimination succeeds because news coverage of Muslims is overwhelmingly negative, with most depicting Islam and Muslims as sources of violence and being non-American.
When Fox News host Jeanine Pirro questions Rep. Ilhan Omar’s loyalty as an American because of her religious beliefs, “Think about it: Omar wears a hijab. Is her adherence to this Islamic doctrine indicative of her adherence to sharia law, which in itself is antithetical to the United States Constitution?” she’s perpetrating anti-Muslim sentiments under the guise of intellectual debate.
When Sam Harris, neuroscientist and public intellectual, opposes the construction of a mosque near the World Trade Center site because it would be “a sign that the liberal values of the West are synonymous with decadence and cowardice,” he’s perpetuating anti-Muslim sentiments under the guise of intellectual debate.
When Bill Maher says, “Not only does the Muslim world have something in common with ISIS, it has too much in common with ISIS,” he’s perpetuating anti-Muslim sentiments under the guise of intellectual debate.
Such sentiments are neither exclusively left or right wing. They are today so normalized in Public Square discourse – encouraged by a political leadership that profits of discord and dissension – that few have the power to challenge them.
This week New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that the victims “have chosen to make New Zealand their home, and it is their home. They are us.”
“They are us.”
That is today’s challenge, and we must rise to embrace it.
“Behold, We have created you all out of a male and a female … and have made you into nations and tribes, so that you might come to know one another…” (Quran 49:13)
Tragedies like Christchurch lead to outpourings of grief and affirmations of support and solidarity; I got several calls from strangers and friends last week, which are much welcomed and appreciated.
Most importantly, I received an email that moved me to tears. It was from a N.H. resident who has often written critical, at times, I think, hateful, personal emails to me: “Just wanted to drop you a note … I know you’re Muslim and wanted to let you know I think it’s sick what that man in New Zealand did to attack people at anytime let alone in their place of worship to me is disgusting and extremely evil. My thoughts and prayers are for those Muslim families attacked by that coward. I also wanted you to know that even though I don’t usually agree with you I truly believe you have to right to express your feelings.”
“God bless and peace to you and your family.”
Thank you so much.
May God bless and bring peace to all of us.
They are us.
(Robert Azzi, a photographer and writer who lives in Exeter, can be reached at theother.azzi@gmail.com. His columns are archived at theotherazzi.wordpress.com.)