What is Islamaphobia?

Here is your handy guide to the latest craze, muslim-hating:

http://muslimsafetyforum.org/islamophobia/what-is-islamophobia.html

'The term 'Islamophobia' has only very recently been coined, as recent as the mid-1990s. It is one of a whole range of expressions that has grown out of the 'politically correct' ethos of the 1990s. The spirit of multiculturalism and pluralism was the climate that enabled the birth and circulation of the term. But unlike other terms born at this time it has not become household currency; Muslim organisations alert to discrimination against Muslims appear to be the only users of the term, and there has been no shortage of occasions to use it.'

Truly, truly weird. Multiculturalism caused the creation of the word Islamaphobia? How is that?

'But it is not merely another in the range of fashionable words made up in the West during this period - such as PC or 'politically correct' itself. The wholly negative attitude towards Islam in the West has a very long history and has a palpable feel more than ever at the moment. Islamophobia is alive and well.'

I hate to blog long quotes, but theres a reason for this one -

'However, the term 'Islamophobia' does not adequately express the full range and depth of antipathy towards Islam and Muslims in the West today. It is an inadequate term. 'Phobia' is Greek for dread or horror. In the light of the present discussion, the term xenophobia - the original word on which Islamophobia is based - simply means fear of foreigners or dread of strangers. Attitudes and policies towards Muslims in Britain and Europe have a mixture of dread (phobia) and outright racism. Thus attitudes towards Muslims combine fear and active hostility. Islamophobia does not capture this marriage of fear and hostility, of dread and discrimination, of horror and harassment.
A more accurate expression would be 'anti-Islamic racism' for it combines the elements of dislike of a religion and active discrimination against the people belonging to that religion. The discrimination is racist because it is based on the belief that no matter what such a person does s/he will never be an acceptable to or in the West. But if there is still little awareness of and sensitivity to 'Islamophobia' then 'anti-Islamic racism' stands even less of a chance of widespread usage and acceptance in the mainstream media and among politicians. But the struggle is as much over discourse as over actual experience and therefore no effort should be spared to focus on every aspect of what some may call Islamophobia and others anti-Islamic racism.'

There is no mention of WHY people might not like muslims or islam AT ALL. Al Maktabi, the author, hints that its an extension of Xenophobia, pure and simple. Good one.

For as long as muslims and conspicuously muslims who involve themselves in these high profile, often virulently wahhabist pressure groups, deny the most obvious reason why people don't like them, nobody is going to take them remotely seriously. From my very first experience with the Wahhabists, I felt palpably their hostile intent and their vigorous antipathy towards mainstream Britain. Since they started blowing up tube trains and buses, and planning to blow up planeloads of people, most other British people have followed a similar path. I now very often read in the comments people leave on websites how they feel a deep unease about islam and muslims. Most of this is new, and is a complete own-goal for the islamic community.

Before 9/11, most Britons thought of islam (if they thought of it at all) as just another quaintly foreign religion of little interest or note. Muslims wore funny clothes and they seemed more fanatical about their religion than most, but who really cared. That all changed when Usama Bin Laden declared war on us and our way of life. The response of the muslims in Britain was not "Stand up for Britain and its way of life!" but "...well I agree with him about foreign policy". Thats not how to win friends and influence people. Ever since then, they have continued their utterly disastrous recipe of planning attacks on us while accusing us of racism and intolerance when we take steps to protect ourselves from them. There is only so far down that road you can go before you hit a brick wall.