Just two weeks after a white supremacist went on an anti-Muslim tirade in Portland that ended with him stabbing three men in the neck, anti-Muslim hate rallies are being organized in over 25 cities across the country this Saturday, June 10th. All are organized by ACT for America, an organization designated as both a hate group and an extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. At a time when many ask why there is an alarming rise of hate crimes in the United States, such rallies continue to fan the flames of hatred and mistrust that give fertile soil to hate crimes and violence.
Dubbed as “Anti Sharia Rallies,” tomorrow’s events are very clearly anti-Islam and anti-Muslim – based on the words of the event organizers themselves. Do not be mistaken into thinking this is about freedoms or human rights; rather, it is a calculated effort by ACT for America to manufacture division and hatred between Americans. The Founder of this group, Brigitte Gabriel, has explicitly stated that any “practicing Muslim … who goes to mosque and prays every Friday, who prays five times a day — this practicing Muslim, who believes in the teachings of the Koran, cannot be a loyal citizen of the United States.”
This is not a fight against terrorism. This is a coordinated effort to vilify and demonize Muslims and their faith to pit Americans against one another. Gabriel has confirmed this time and again, stating that terrorists are simply “doing exactly what the Koran teaches,” alleging that Islam’s holy scripture mandates a “sacred obligation” to impose Islam on the entire world by force. She has defined “authentic Islam” as an “ ideology of bigotry and intolerance” that preaches “violence and the slaughter of thousands.” When explaining the roots of terrorism, she has concluded: “It’s not radical Islam. It’s what Islam is at its core.”
