According to Wikipedia, “Islamophobia (i.e. Islam+phobia, "fear") is prejudice against, or an irrational fear of Islam or Muslims. The term seems to date back to the "late" 1980s, but came into common usage after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. In 1997, the British Runnymede Trust defined Islamophobia as the "dread or hatred of Islam and therefore, to the fear and dislike of all Muslims," stating that it also refers to the practice of discriminating against Muslims by excluding them from the economic, social, and public life of the nation. It includes the perception that Islam has no values in common with other cultures, is inferior to the West and is a violent political ideology rather than a religion. Professor Anne Sophie Roald writes that steps were taken toward official acceptance of the term in January 2001 at the "Stockholm International Forum on Combating Intolerance", where Islamophobia was recognized as a form of intolerance alongside Xenophobia and Anti-Semitism.” Definitions of Islamophobia from Wikipedia: “A number of individuals and organizations have attempted to define the concept. Kofi Annan told a UN conference on Islamophobia in 2004: "When the world is compelled to coin a new term to take account of increasingly widespread bigotry, that is a sad and troubling development. Such is the case with Islamophobia." Perceptions • Islam is seen as a monolithic bloc, motionless and indifferent to change. • It does not have values in common with other cultures, is not affected by them and does not influence them. • It is seen as inferior to the West. It is seen as barbaric, irrational, primitive, and sexist. • It is seen as violent, aggressive, threatening, supportive of terrorism, and engaged in a clash of civilizations. • It is seen as a political ideology, used for political or military advantage. • Anti-Muslim hostility is seen as natural and normal. I would like to recall Americans first President George Washington famous quote in 1790- “For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection, should demean themselves as good citizens”. “May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants; while everyone shall sit under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.” It is altogether worthy that Americas 44th president has echoed the first one: “To bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance. There is no doubt that Islamophobia is this century’s anti-Semitism, and must be stopped by every means available”. Example of “Islamophobia” A shootings at Fort Hood army base in Texas -- which have left at least 13 people dead and 30 others wounded. However, because a soldier identified as the gunman had a name that led to the presumption that he was Muslim; the incident inspired an all-too-predictable outbreak of Islamophobia. Limitations of the theory “Islamophobia” Islam is an ideology. Rejection of an ideology cannot be classified as phobia. To call the opponent of an ideology phobic is a fallacy. All ideologies have their critics and challengers but we do not hear Christians calling the critics of Christianity Christianophobe, communists calling their critics communitophobe or Hindus calling theirs Hinduphobe. The term "Islamophobia" is both technically and logically incorrect and misleading. American views of Muslims are probably more a function of present-day politics and strategic interests than of images in the media. During the cold war, Muslims were often seen as friends and allies of the United States. Even jihad was viewed as a good thing when it was understood as motivating the fight against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Nevertheless, most Americans today view Arabs and Muslims through the aching prism of 9/11, just as most Arabs and Muslims see America through their own prisms of pain: the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and, more recently, the war in Iraq. These prisms are inevitably distorting; people see primarily those aspects of the other that relate to their pain and ignore most else. The greater the pain, the more the bend. There is obvious anxiety about Islam in America today. Conversely, the thousands of Muslims held in preventive detention, not a single individual has been convicted of a terrorist crime…..their family must have suffers from an intense anxiety. We cannot defeat terrorism if we cannot discuss some issues that may be central to it. Moreover, calling someone an Islamophobe is an attempt to stop legitimate questions about the role Islamic doctrines play in Islamic terrorism. Boiling the discussion seems obviously counterproductive to the goal of defeating terrorism. Mystery always attracts attention, as do the conspiracy theories revolving around it. Be it religion, science, politics, war or economy, conspiracy theories have consistently emerged throughout recent and ancient history, persisting to this very day.