Islamophobia in Britain: the products, the names, the faces
British online retailer peddles racist, Islamophobic and pro-Jewish wares
Gilad Atzmon views the curious case of the British online retailer cafepress.co.uk which openly sells Islamophobic, anti-Arab, pro-Jewish, pro-Israel and pro-war products such as t-shirts, caps and babysuits.
“I ask myself where in Britain can one hang around with a t-shirt carrying an image of the Koran being stepped upon? Where in Britain one can go around with a t-shirt saying ‘bomb Iran’?”
Islamophobia has made it to the market place. Openly and shamelessly, Cafepress offers hundreds of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab products, including t-shirts, caps and babysuits.
But make no mistake, Cafepress is not an ordinary xenophobic retailer driven by some crude, general bigotry. Although the site offers very many pro-Jewish, pro-Israeli, pro-war, anti-Arab and anti-Muslim wares, it doesn’t offer a single anti-Jewish, anti-Semitic, anti-black, anti-Polish or anti-immigrant commodity. This is indeed very good news. Yet, the multitude of anti-Muslim and pro-Jewish products is staggering, especially in the context of the absence of any other hate-driven products.
I suppose the “pro-Jewish”, “pro-war” and “anti-Muslim” products appeal to more or less the same crowd. I guess you know who they may be.
And, yet, I am still slightly puzzled. I ask myself where in Britain can one hang around with a t-shirt carrying an image of the Koran being stepped upon? Where in Britain one can go around with a t-shirt saying “bomb Iran”?
When I immigrated to Britain 15 years ago it was a very tolerant place. The university I landed in was submerged in “post-colonial discourse”. Students and professors spent hours mourning Britain’s past crimes. To a certain extent, Britain is still a very tolerant place. The British public is still very open. Moreover, being a white foreigner here is a very pleasant experience. Yet, looking at Cafepress’s anti-Muslim collection, I assume that being Muslim, Arab or Asian in Britain must be a complicated experience, at least for some. As it happens the Zio-centric ideological amalgam of moral interventionism, pro-war, anti-Muslim feelings and Israeli lobbying have planted some disastrous seeds of bigotry in British culture.
I think that it is our humanist duty to identify the proponent of pro-war, pro-Jewish and anti-Muslim ideologies within our discourse. In order to do so, I will let some of our leading British Zionist and neo-cons model Cafepress’s latest designs.
Look for instance at the Jewish Chronicle writer Nick Cohen, a man who advocated the war on Iraq, a pro-war, moral interventionist, a man who supported the criminal Israeli assault on Gaza, Operation Cast Lead, but more than anything, Cohen doesn’t really like Islam. He can do well with Cafepress’s latest designs.
Jack Straw supported the war in Iraq. He told the Chilcot inquiry that he could have stopped the invasion if he wanted to. Seemingly, he didn’t want to. More than 1.5 million Iraqis died. Straw also doesn’t like Muslim women wearing veils. Cafepress supports Straw's line of thinking with a new line of anti-veil products.
By the way, Jack Straw is not a Jew, he is just partially Jewish.
Cafepress, made a shirt for half Jews, just to make sure these “half-breeds” do not drift away and start to “hate themselves”.
David Miliband was listed by an Israeli propaganda site as an Israeli Hasbara (propaganda) author. He was trying to restrict the application of universal jurisdiction in Britain just to help Israeli war criminals visiting the UK. Do not worry, the Conservative Friend of Israel seem to have succeeded where Miliband failed. Just a few days before Israel launched its lethal genocidal Operation Cast Lead, Milband visited Sderot and suggested to Israelis that “above all”, Israel should “seek to protect its own citizens”. David Miliband is also a moral interventionist. He would kill in the name of democracy. Thank God he is not in the government anymore.
David Aaronovitch is a Jewish Chronicle writer, a defiant fighter against anti-Semitism and yet a very enthusiastic opponent of Islam. As you might have guessed, he was an advocate of the Iraq war. He also thinks that we had better do something with Iran before it is “too late”.
The list of pro-war, pro-Israel and anti-Muslim supporters is pretty long. I think that we had better identify them all. Now that we can fit them into t-shirts and babysuits, we had better move fast before the stock runs out.
To read more about Cafepress. Follow Nahida the exiled Palestinian.I suppose the “pro-Jewish”, “pro-war” and “anti-Muslim” products appeal to more or less the same crowd. I guess you know who they may be.
And, yet, I am still slightly puzzled. I ask myself where in Britain can one hang around with a t-shirt carrying an image of the Koran being stepped upon? Where in Britain one can go around with a t-shirt saying “bomb Iran”?
When I immigrated to Britain 15 years ago it was a very tolerant place. The university I landed in was submerged in “post-colonial discourse”. Students and professors spent hours mourning Britain’s past crimes. To a certain extent, Britain is still a very tolerant place. The British public is still very open. Moreover, being a white foreigner here is a very pleasant experience. Yet, looking at Cafepress’s anti-Muslim collection, I assume that being Muslim, Arab or Asian in Britain must be a complicated experience, at least for some. As it happens the Zio-centric ideological amalgam of moral interventionism, pro-war, anti-Muslim feelings and Israeli lobbying have planted some disastrous seeds of bigotry in British culture.
I think that it is our humanist duty to identify the proponent of pro-war, pro-Jewish and anti-Muslim ideologies within our discourse. In order to do so, I will let some of our leading British Zionist and neo-cons model Cafepress’s latest designs.
Look for instance at the Jewish Chronicle writer Nick Cohen, a man who advocated the war on Iraq, a pro-war, moral interventionist, a man who supported the criminal Israeli assault on Gaza, Operation Cast Lead, but more than anything, Cohen doesn’t really like Islam. He can do well with Cafepress’s latest designs.
Jack Straw supported the war in Iraq. He told the Chilcot inquiry that he could have stopped the invasion if he wanted to. Seemingly, he didn’t want to. More than 1.5 million Iraqis died. Straw also doesn’t like Muslim women wearing veils. Cafepress supports Straw's line of thinking with a new line of anti-veil products.
By the way, Jack Straw is not a Jew, he is just partially Jewish.
Cafepress, made a shirt for half Jews, just to make sure these “half-breeds” do not drift away and start to “hate themselves”.
David Miliband was listed by an Israeli propaganda site as an Israeli Hasbara (propaganda) author. He was trying to restrict the application of universal jurisdiction in Britain just to help Israeli war criminals visiting the UK. Do not worry, the Conservative Friend of Israel seem to have succeeded where Miliband failed. Just a few days before Israel launched its lethal genocidal Operation Cast Lead, Milband visited Sderot and suggested to Israelis that “above all”, Israel should “seek to protect its own citizens”. David Miliband is also a moral interventionist. He would kill in the name of democracy. Thank God he is not in the government anymore.
David Aaronovitch is a Jewish Chronicle writer, a defiant fighter against anti-Semitism and yet a very enthusiastic opponent of Islam. As you might have guessed, he was an advocate of the Iraq war. He also thinks that we had better do something with Iran before it is “too late”.
The list of pro-war, pro-Israel and anti-Muslim supporters is pretty long. I think that we had better identify them all. Now that we can fit them into t-shirts and babysuits, we had better move fast before the stock runs out.
To read more about Cafepress. Follow Nahida the exiled Palestinian.
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Gilad Atzmon was born in Israel in 1963 and had his musical training at the Rubin Academy of Music, Jerusalem (Composition and Jazz). As a multi-instrumentalist he plays Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Baritone Saxes, Clarinet and Flutes. His album Exile was the BBC jazz album of the year in 2003. He has been described by John Lewis on the Guardian as the “hardest-gigging man in British jazz". His albums, of which he has recorded nine to date, often explore political themes and the music of the Middle East.
Until 1994 he was a producer-arranger for various Israeli Dance & Rock Projects, performing in Europe and the USA playing ethnic music as well as R&R and Jazz.
Coming to the UK in 1994, Atzmon recovered an interest in playing the music of the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe that had been in the back of his mind for years. In 2000 he founded the Orient House Ensemble in London and started re-defining his own roots in the light of his emerging political awareness. Since then the Orient House Ensemble has toured all over the world. The Ensemble includes Eddie Hick on Drums, Yaron Stavi on Bass and Frank Harrison on piano & electronics.
Also, being a prolific writer, Atzmon's essays are widely published. His novels 'Guide to the perplexed' and 'My One And Only Love' have been translated into 24 languages.
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Sources: http://gilad.squarespace.com/writings/gilad-atzmon-islamophobia-in-britain-the-products-the-names.html + http://www.redress.cc/global/gatzmon20100801 URL: http://www.a-w-i-p.com/index.php/2010/08/02/title-47 URL: http://www.a-w-i-p.com/index.php/2010/08/02/title-47
