The rise of Islamophobia in the United States can be traced to a small group of people and organizations who are well financed by about half a dozen foundations, according to the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

 

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2011, President George W. Bush made a point of reminding Americans that the terrorist did not represent Islam. “Islam is a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world, he said. “It’s a faith that has made brothers and sisters of every race. It’s a faith based upon love, not hate.”

 

However, a report from the progressive group says $42.6 million has been allocated by seven foundations to support an anti-Muslim industry across the country. The foundations are: Donors Capital Fund; Richard Mellon Scaife Foundation; Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation; Newton and Rochelle Becker Foundation and Newton and Rochelle Becker Charitable Trust; Russell Berrie Foundation; Anchorage Charitable Fund and William Rosenwald Family Fund; and Fairbrook Foundation.

 

The money has largely gone towards financing the work of five “experts” who have generated everything from false facts to model legislation designed to ban the use of Islamic Sharia law in state government.

 

The brains behind Islamophobia are identified as: Frank Gaffney at the Center for Security Policy; David Yerushalmi at the Society of Americans for National Existence; Daniel Pipes at the Middle East Forum; Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch and Stop Islamization of America; and Steven Emerson of the Investigative Project on Terrorism.

 

All of the work and money poured into the “movement is arguably directed at a problem more imagined than real,” noted Andrea Elliott in The New York Times. In November, Oklahoma voters overwhelmingly approved a law that would forbid judges from considering Islamic law in deciding cases…despite the fact even the bill’s sponsors admitted that there was no evidence whatsoever that there was a movement to do so.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

Report: Fear, Inc. (Center for American Progress) (pdf)

The Man Behind the Anti-Shariah Movement (by Andrea Elliott, New York Times)

Fear, Inc. (by Wajahat Ali, Eli Clifton, Matthew Duss, Lee Fang , Scott Keyes, Faiz Shakir, Center for American Progress)

The Americans Who Inspired the Norwegian Mass Murderer (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)