Boston Jews Condemn Recent Islamophobia, from Right-Wing Extremists to the White House

On February 18, the right-wing Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT) published a full-page ad in the Boston Metro with photos of alleged “Islamic” criminals from the Boston area. This ad – which contains many inaccuracies – is an attack on Boston’s Muslim community, particularly the Islamic Society of Boston, and is designed to fan the flames of Islamophobia. It comes from the same group that unsuccessfully tried to stop the construction of a mosque and community center in Roxbury, because, it falsely claimed, the group building the mosque was led and controlled by “extremists.”

On the same day, notices proclaiming that “All Muslims will be killed in America and Europe and Muhammad the Prophet’s image will be burned unless ISIS surrenders in 72 hours!” were posted in various locations in Revere.

The same week, the U.S. government launched its “Countering Violent Extremism” program, which, despite claims to the contrary, implicitly targets Muslims. Boston has been selected as one of three locations for a pilot program. As the Boston Globe editorial of February 21 says, “…the greatest shortcoming of a new White House plan to prevent radicalization is its narrow focus on Muslim Americans.”

There is no evidence to suggest that Muslims pose a greater threat of violence than any other community. In fact, a report by the Southern Poverty Law Center released last week found that the vast majority of extremist crimes committed in the U.S. between 2009 and 2015 were perpetrated by white supremacist groups.

The singling out of Muslims – whether in the form of a death threat, an alarmist advertisement or a federal surveillance program – only promotes hatred and does nothing to keep US communities safe. It can, itself, trigger extremist violence (like the murders of three young Muslims in North Carolina which many believe to have been a hate crime).

The attempts to link terrorism to Islam are an alarming manifestation of bigotry against an entire religious community that must be condemned by people of all faiths. These attacks, often veiled by claims of fighting anti-Semitism, in fact promote the kind of stereotyping that Jews themselves have resisted for centuries.

As the Jews Against Islamophobia Coalition (which Jewish Voice for Peace co-founded) states, “[we] fully support the Muslim community and others striving to create a country in which all people are respected and safe.” As Jews and non-Jews in JVP, we will not stand silent while government policies single out Muslims, and Islamophobic organizations promote hate speech against Muslims under the guise of “peace and tolerance”. We join with many other Bostonians and Boston faith-based organizations in opposing all forms of Islamophobia, from the fringes to the center.

Jewish Voice for Peace Boston

http://jvp-boston.org/islamophobia/

JVP - Jewish Voices for Peace are a fantastic organisation. bless all of them.

They also fight for the freedom of Palestine, the end to the occupation of the West Bank and genocide in Gaza

http://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/

It's amazing how many Jewish groups there are in America now fighting for the Palestinian cause. They are amazing, those that go to Israel are terrorised by the IDF. They are extremely brave.

holy hell.

shame on the Boston Metro for publishing that. but then again they only see $$$$$ and will hide behind first amendment. I can just see them saying "its not our fault some crazy person decided to firebomb a mosque or kill a Muslim.

I am beyond disgusted. if this was a Muslim organization saying this about Christians there would be hell.


Good job JVP. keep it up.

Absolutely Cass. Fantastic people.