US politicians creating environment of hate: Activist
Press TV has interviewed Massoud Shadjareh, a member of the Islamic Human Rights Commission in London, to discuss the recent remarks of US politicians which promote Islamophobia across America.
The following is a rough transcription of the interview.
Press TV: As if these US politicians especially these presidential hopefuls needed an incentive to lash out against Muslims, well they found it and that is like throwing gasoline into fire. Obviously this is dangerous and Muslims in America should feel threatened. Do you think that this takes Islamophobia to another level in the US?
Shadjareh: Definitely. I think we are seeing Islamophobia being taken to different level not just in the US but elsewhere. We are no longer talking about a phobia, we are talking about creation of environments of hate and it is being perpetrated by the politicians and media and it is really becoming … to a level which is unprecedented. I mean sort of fascist politicians are like they are fascist politicians of yesteryears, are actually talking about identifying and registering in the way that Nazis registered the Jewish community in Germany. And what makes it really unacceptable is the silence from everyone else. I mean really for someone to get away with this sort of rhetoric is outrageous and we have seen both in Britain and United States, the research that we have done, the level of promotion of hate and creation of that environment of hate where this sort of rhetoric becomes legitimate and acceptable, it is really creating a huge problem.
Our research in California showed that 25 percent of Muslims in California have been victims of physical attack. That is a huge number especially for a state like California which is one of the most liberal states in the United States and similarly we are seeing the same direction now in Britain in our recent report and what we really need to understand that this creation of level of hatred and environment of hate is not something that comes out of bunch of hooligans and extreme right. It has actually become legitimized through mainstream politicians and media.
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