NEW YORK, NY Dec. 14 (DPI) – The NYT reported that young Muslims are getting cold stares and newfound hostility from fellow Americans following the recent terrorist attacks, which prompted nearly 1,000 readers to say that personal anxiety runs both ways.
Curiously, on comment boards today the subject of tension among citizens focused on a fashion detail, as readers declared that Muslim women’s headscarves – hijabs – only encouraged separatism, non-assimilation – and a degree of mistrust, especially after the San Bernardino shootings. The recent reporting – and reader responses – suggest that the backlash against Islam and Muslims in America may be more severe than after 9/11 fourteen years ago.
And notably, comments culled as favorites by NYT editors largely differed from those regarded as “readers picks.” Among the highest recommended readers picks:
There is no concept of separation of church and state in Islamic doctrine; indeed most if not all majority Muslim nations are ruled by religious law. As a result observant Muslims will always be uncomfortable, and be made to feel uncomfortable, in a nation like the United States.
Assimilation starts with appearance. The head scarf uniform is confrontational all by itself. If they get rid of the “club”, designation no one would even know they were muslim and they could still practice their faith as much as they wanted. Of course, the men have had that freedom all along.
Seeing this woman with her head covered who lives in New York gives me the chills. This is not the America I want to live in. I hate these pieces where NYT presents these covered women in New York as normal. Is this supposed to be the new normal? Not for me. If Jamal want to be happy in the US she should try to assimilate fast, and if she hates the US secular culture she should go to live in an Islamic country with her parents.
Any minority identified in public by clothing has a big problem.
Muslims may “feel the strain of suspicion,” but the rest of us feel the strain of being the target of a terrorist attack by people like the California couple–co-workers, people you give a baby shower to, people you are respectful of, people who are middle class. More, Jews are worried about being killed just for being Jews, not merely ‘suspected.’ In our nation, in the last 10 years, Jews experienced 66% of all the religious hate crimes though they are a small minority of the population. Muslims experienced 12%. Much of the rising violence directed against Jews in Europe is by Muslims, far disproportionate to their population. In surveys, large proportions harbor classically racist biases against Jews. Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a best seller in Muslim nations & Muslim leaders codify extremist Jew-hatred including denial of the Holocaust & calls to kill all Jews. Amongst world Muslims a very high percentage agree that a Muslim who blasphemes deserves death, agrees that gays deserve death, agrees that freedom of speech is wrong when pitted against Islam. I am certainly appalled by cruel acts & words against Muslims. Not ok. But I am troubled by the narrative that the problem is largely “Islamophobia” while ignoring actual hate-filled actions & words of 100s of millions of Muslims. There are also millions of progressive & kind Muslims.But this article is talking about hate. That hate arises also from Muslims.This needs to be addressed rather than ignored