Confronting Islamophobia
- 06/20/2016 by Linda Perry (WBAI News)


Corey Saylor with the Council on American-Islamic Relations
— Confronting fear Islamophobia and its impact in the U.S. is a new study by CAIR the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the center for Islamic relations at UC Berkeley. It exposes a well oiled, well coordinated, and well funded machine  which spreads islamophobia to push political and religious anti muslim agendas. Corey Saylor is with the council of American Islamic Relations
 

Saylor: Our report identifies the organizations that use islamophobic sentiment in the united states and their impact. So the organizations we identified 33 separate groups who exist almost solely to vilify Islam and muslims and when you look at their funding by examining IRS tax returns between 2008-2013 those groups had available to them at least 205 million in total revenue.
 

To ID these groups CAIR and the center for race and gender reviewed reports, press releases, websites and the type of work they were doing which vilified muslims and the identified a group which is being used by the presumptive Republican Presidential nominee and his hate speech wanting to ban muslims from entering the US.

Saylor: One of the major groups we’re pointing to this election cycle is the center for security policy. They are quoted in Donald Trump’s press release when he proposed banning muslims from the United States. Three of their staff people were on Ted Cruz’s national security advisory council and they’re the ones that are behind the template piece of legislation that’s been passed in 8 states across the nation that is intended to vilify Islam.  

And The Center for Security Policy is not the only group people should be aware of according to the center of american islamic relations.

Saylor: When I go down the list Act for America is another group who consistently comes up as an effective anti muslim institution. American Freedom Defense Initiative which is an organization run by a woman named Pamela Geller is one of the more visible org they do banners on the side of buses that in many areas has been deemed as hateful but the 1st amendment protects them and allows them to be put up. If i had to sort of pick a top three those would be the top.

The intent of the report is to look at impact it finds that 10 states have passed anti Islam legislation.

Anti Islamic websites:

http://afdi.us/

http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/

http://www.actforamerica.org/

Thanks to Manny Reid for help with this story. 

Watch video