"nearest among them in love to the believers wilt thou find those who say: "We are Christians:" because amongst these are men devoted to learning and men who have renounced the world and they are not arrogant"[Extract, Quran:5:82]
"[But] they are not all alike: among the followers of earlier revelation there are upright people, who recite God's messages throughout the night, and prostrate themselves [before Him]. They believe in [One] God and the Last Day, and enjoin the doing of what is right and forbid the doing of what is wrong, and vie with one another in doing good works: and these are among the righteous. And whatever good they do, they shall never be denied the reward thereof:[Qura'n:3:113-115 ]
Anti- Loon of The Year 2010
From Molly Norris, one of the Anti-Loons of the Year
We reviewed the Year in Islamophobia, and it was a crazy year. However, we noted that at the end of the day there was “hope.” There were those willing to stand up, take a stand firmly against hate directed towards Muslims and Islam. Here we recount some of the best anti-loons of 2010. There are many more whom we may have omitted and who deserve equal attention and recognition.
Glenn Greenwald published countless articles on Salon.com in which he took to task the complicity of the media in regard to Islamophobia, the double standards that exist when Muslims commit crimes as opposed to when non-Muslims do and the stark difference in coverage. He was outspoken on the root causes of terrorism and the willful neglect and negligence of our government and politicians when it comes to honestly discussing the causes of terrorism, namely — occupation. Greenwald’s colleagues Justin Elliot and Alex Pareene also contributed significantly to the discussion and had great coverage of the tidal wave of Islamophobiapalooza.
The Daily Show brought us plenty of laughs but also penetrating analysis and insight into the state of affairs in America today. Stewart’s mock news show was hailed for bringing more news to us than mainstream media. He was all over the coverage of the Park51 mosque controversy, and even before then he was seminal in covering and satirizing the rhetoric on Fox News, amongst Tea Partiers, as well hate crimes that were rising all over the country. His seminal “Rally to restore Sanity” which he co-hosted with Stephen Colbert was a watershed moment and though its detractors tried to minimize its importance, it frankly eclipsed Glenn Beck’s ghoulish “Rally to restore Honor.” His show also coined the word of the year, “Islamophboiapalooza.”
The Colbert Report is a show that many are in love with, the host’s over the top adulation of himself combined with the incisive satire and biting sarcasm that no doubt turns Bill O’ Reilly and others in the Right-wing into a heaping pile of anger during the weekdays beamed onto our screens and left a residue of warmth and compassion. Colbert was everywhere, Capitol Hill for hearings on immigration, on the Mall for his “Rally to Restore Sanity and or March to Keep Fear Alive.” His commitment to justice led him to take on the pervasive atmosphere of anti-Muslim hysteria and in doing so he contributed to restoring sanity and dispelling fear.
Aslan is the man that Islamophobes love to hate. They can’t stand him. Robert Spencer published dozens of blog posts on him alone. Aslan has been vocal in the mainstream media about the anti-Muslim Islamophobia that swept America in 2010 and its main progenitors. He has delivered speeches, engaged in debates, written articles and books all towards attempting to foster understanding, and his implicit nod to Loonwatch on the Colbert Report was much appreciated.
Max Blumenthal’s pieces on Pamela Geller, SIOA, video footage of rabid anti-Muslim rallies, and coverage of the Great Islamophobic crusade bring him into the spotlight as one of the leading anti-Loons of 2010. Blumenthal is also notable for being one of the first investigative journalists to quote and link to Loonwatch.
Sheriff Lee Baca is a tough as nails LA County Sheriff who went toe-to-toe with a right-wing republican Representative over the politicians attempts to intimidate Muslims and cast Muslim leaders as affiliated with terrorist organizations.
Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) impugned Baca during a House Homeland Security subcommittee meeting, saying the sheriff had allied himself with a Muslim American group that engaged in “radical” speech by going to its fundraisers. Baca not only attacked that description of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, but he also told Souder he would be fine with going to more fundraisers for the group.
“If he thinks I’m afraid of what he said, I will go to 10 fundraisers because he said it,” Baca declared Tuesday afternoon, just a few hours before a town hall meeting with the Muslim American community.
Actually, Baca said, he’s been to only two fundraisers for the organization in four years, but that, he added, is not the point. What rankled Baca — aside from what he took as Souder personally challenging the sheriff’s patriotism — was what he saw as the congressman’s inaccurate assessment of the group.
“In other words, he’s an amateur intelligence officer,” Baca said.
Several times a year, the Muslim American Homeland Security Congress — an independent group set up to advise Baca and forge a partnership between the department and Muslim Americans — and the Sheriff’s Department’s Muslim Community Affairs Unit hold forums to discuss issues. The one Tuesday night was scheduled before the dust-up in Washington offered a charged topic for discussion.
When Baca spoke at the Tuesday event, he was given a standing ovation by the 75 or so people at the Omar ibn Al-Khattab Foundation near USC.
Mayor Bloomberg stood up at a crucial moment during the Park51 (Ground Zero Mosque) controversy and didn’t back down. He gave an impassioned defense of religious liberty and freedom in a historic speech during the firestorm and took a lot of heat for it from people in his party.
Honorable Mentions:
-Richard Silverstein
-Keith Olbermann
-Rachel Maddow
-Molly Norris
-Cenk Uygur
-Lesley Hazelton
18 Comments For This Post
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- World of Islam » Blog Archive » CAIR must register as Foreign Agent of Saudi Arabia and IranSays:
January 4th, 2011 at 4:02 pm[...] Anti-Loons of a Year:2010 | loonwatch.com [...]
- Tweets that mention Anti-Loons of the Year: 2010 | loonwatch.com -- Topsy.com Says:
January 4th, 2011 at 4:49 pm[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Gareth Winchester and Captain™, LoonWatch. LoonWatch said: Anti-Loons of 2010: http://tinyurl.com/2er9y46 They deserve a hurrah! [...]
- Anti-Loons of the Year: 2010 | Islamophobia Today eNewspaper Says:
January 4th, 2011 at 6:42 pm[...] Anti-Loons of the Year: 2010 [...]
Full story from :http://www.loonwatch.com/2011/01/anti-loons-of-the-year2010/
Comments:
“Say: "O Jews and Christians [people of the Book]! come to common terms As between us and you: that we worship none but [one] God that we associate no partners with Him; that we erect not, from among ourselves, Lords and patrons other than God [Allah]." if then They turn back, say: "Bear witness that we (at least) are bowing to the Will of God [Islam]” [Qur’an;3:64]
January 4th, 2011 at 2:23 pm
Thank God for these people! I wish I could have been at the “Rally to Restore Sanity!” I’m sure it was amazing.
January 4th, 2011 at 2:27 pm
I think we need some horrible perspex thingys with the little guy from the top of the page on them to give out
January 4th, 2011 at 2:35 pm
Thank you all anti Loons, we are blessed to have these fine characters defending us, with no strings attached, and not expecting anything in return.
Unconditional support for the right reasons is a blessing.
Greenwald, Blumenthal, Bloomberg, Aslan, Colbert, Stewart, Baca and all others who have not been mentioned above, but who do fine job on our behalf:
God bless you all,
January 4th, 2011 at 3:02 pm
Still doesn’t stop Anwar al-Awlaki and his delusional followers from wanting Molly Norris dead.
January 4th, 2011 at 3:07 pm
Heres to another year of them making Islamaphobes howl with anger and frustration
January 4th, 2011 at 3:16 pm
Crow
I second that motion.
January 4th, 2011 at 3:29 pm
I don’t consider Molly Norris to be an anti-loon. She’s the reason why we have this “Everybody draw Muhammad day” debacle. Because of her stupidity, I fear that this vile event will be celebrated every year. Sure, it may start out with a handful of Islamophobes expressing their orgasmic hatred of Islam while hiding behind their computers, but what if it becomes mainstream?
January 4th, 2011 at 3:30 pm
And for the record, I am NOT a supporter of Al Awlaki.
January 4th, 2011 at 3:37 pm
Good people, all of them. I wish I could have gone to the rally, it looked great
January 4th, 2011 at 5:11 pm
“Still doesn’t stop Anwar al-Awlaki and his delusional followers from wanting Molly Norris dead.”
Was it suppose to?
January 4th, 2011 at 5:47 pm
Apparently, once you offend an extremist Muslim, they won’t forgive you, even if you repent. Friends come and go but “Fatwas are for life”, as they say. “They” being extremist Muslims.
Ayatollah Khomenei said that “Even if Salman Rushdie repents and becomes the most pious man of all time”, the death fatwa still stands so I don’t think they’ll be letting Molly Norris off any time soon.
January 4th, 2011 at 8:13 pm
Anderson Cooper deserves a nod too for going against Loser Renee Elmers.
January 4th, 2011 at 11:34 pm
A well deserved Kudos to the anti-loon heroes. On an interesting note, four out of the seven anti-loons have a Jewish heritage.
January 4th, 2011 at 11:38 pm
“Ayatollah Khomenei said that “Even if Salman Rushdie repents and becomes the most pious man of all time”, the death fatwa still stands so I don’t think they’ll be letting Molly Norris off any time soon.”
And yet the late Alija Izetbegovic, a man who was ironically jailed for his Islamic teachings by Tito in the former Yugoslavia during the 1980s, stated that while he may not have agreed with the book Rushdie wrote, it would certainly be wrong for anyone to kill him over it.
January 4th, 2011 at 11:39 pm
“I don’t consider Molly Norris to be an anti-loon. She’s the reason why we have this “Everybody draw Muhammad day” debacle. Because of her stupidity, I fear that this vile event will be celebrated every year.”
So you blame her, and not the idiots behind RevolutionMuslim who originally started the entire brouhaha in the first place?
Sounds like someone isn’t man enough to condemn fellow Muslims for the trouble they begin, and instead look for convenient scapegoats.
January 4th, 2011 at 11:51 pm
Ah yes, the four morons of Revolution Muslim. If I remember correctly, most Muslims refered to them as fakes, phonies, or something along those lines.
It was a nontroversy stirred up by loons, much like the “Ground Zero Mosque” thing.
http://www.loonwatch.com/2010/04/south-park-controversy/
January 5th, 2011 at 12:09 am
Maybe now WikiLeaks will understand my point, now that LW has only listed one Muslim it considers to be one of the anti-loons of of 2010
Allahu A’lam
January 5th, 2011 at 12:17 am
Sometimes I do feel that Muslims who could take down Robert Spencer et al, such as Hamza Yusuf and Zaid Shakir, aren’t even trying to combat Islamophobia. They need to start taking the loons a little more seriously.