A Disturbing Anti-Muslim Trend

Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 there has been a relatively high level of anti-Muslim sentiment among the American and European populations. There is of course good reason to oppose terrorists and those who support them, however recent trends have seen anti-Muslim sentiment reaching far beyond reasonable opposition to violent extremist Muslims.

Consider for example the recent op-ed piece in the respectable Washington Institute, written by Martin Kramer and titled "Islam's Coming Crusade" (link here). In the article, Kramer claims that the general Muslim population is so extremist that a "Clash of Civilizations" a la Samuel Huntington (who Kramer calls a "prophet") will most probably be initiated by Muslims in an attempt to conquer all of the Western world. As evidence of the threat Muslims pose, Kramer cites the "cartoon riots", in which he claims millions of Muslims showed their real love of violence and hatred of the West. He says that while 9/11 could be attributed to an extremist minority, the large protests were evidence that a large majority of Muslims are violent and virulently anti-Western.

What Kramer fails to recognize, which is well explained here, is that out of one billion Muslims in the world, only a tiny minority of uneducated, poor Muslims in third world countries actually rioted. To take this as evidence of the evil intentions of every Muslim or even a majority of Muslims is nothing but pure anti-Muslim prejudice, on par in its ridiculousness with the virulent anti-Semitism that still plagues the world. Lets hope more rational voices will prevail and the growing trend of anti-Muslim sentiment won't become strong enough to become as destructive as anti-Semitism became in the 20th century.