The exploitation of fear fuels Islamophobia and drives reactionary activists to promote propaganda and messaging to keep the narrative alive. A network of bloggers, think tanks and propaganda mills have raised and spent hundreds of millions of dollars since 2001 to propagate misinformation about muslims and Islam.

Islamophobia manifests in this country in the form of:

• police-state surveillance, infiltration and entrapment;

• a Clinton crime-bill statute criminalizing 'material support of terrorism' used to prosecute and incarcerate a volunteer board seeking to send humanitarian relief to the people of occupied Palestine;

• a chilling impact on political discourse to rival COINTELPRO, the Red Scare, the HUAC, the Palmer Raids;

• hate crimes including assaults, murders, mass shootings, graffiti, vandalism and arson targeting mosques and community centers, muslims and those mistaken for muslims;

• the promotion of mis-information and false narratives which justify the dehumanization and the othering of a quarter of our global neighbors and 1-2% of our neighbors here in the United States;

• public fear and public policy shaped by folks whose Arabic vocabulary seems limited to the pejorative misuse of two words expressing key concepts of the Islamic faith: jihad and sharia. 

As Green Party candidates and activists, we have a role as an opposition party to educate ourselves and our communities on issues related to Islamophobia, racism, sexism and gender-identity and to prioritize work to support the struggles of the most vulnerable and marginalized in our communities. We must make an active contribution to the work of defending the human rights of our neighbors. We can build enduring alliances by engaging with the political crisis now present in this country.

On this page we will collect resources useful to our work to engage effectively in challenging the Islamophobia we encounter in the world around us.

Green Party Resources

Islamophobia: Another Social Construction of Racism
Imperialism Justified, Fear Manufactured, Fascism Enabled
A Briefing Paper for Green Party Activists, published April 15, 2017 (13 pages)

Islamophobia: Another Social Construction of Racism
Imperialism Justified, Fear Manufactured, Fascism Enabled
Excerpts from a Green Party Briefing Paper, published April 15, 2017 (trifold)

Other resources 

Kundnani Deconstructs US Anti-Terrorism Policy, video 82 minutes, author of the Muslims are Coming speaks at Charis Books and More, Atlanta Georgia, March 31, 2017.

Watch this page for additional resources of use to Green Party candidates and activists.

The Nakba — the expulsion of the majority native Christians and Muslims from historic Palestine from 1947-1949, a dispossession that continues to this day — is the core of the conflict, not the military occupation. For a sustainable and just peace, Palestinian refugees’ international human right to return to their homes in Israel must be honored. And the only plausible way that can happen is if Israel-Palestine becomes one democratic state with equality before the law, the national homes of two peoples.

Justin McCabe
May 15, 2019

The March of Return is a scream for life so that we may leave the walls of our prison. These are the words repeated by Ahmed Abu Artema in his many lectures and interviews. Abu Artema is the brain behind the most powerful expression of unarmed Palestinian resistance, The March of Return, which began on March 30, 2018, and has become a weekly occurrence in the Gaza Strip for close to a year.

"Why would we die here in silence? We want our message to reach the world. We want to say to the world ‘here there is a people. A people searching for a life of dignity, human rights and freedom.'"

I applaud your publishing Michael Galant's excellent (Nov. 18) essay, "Chris Murphy wants a new foreign policy." As Murphy's constituent, so do I.

Still, I couldn't agree more with Galant about Murphy's bellicose attitude toward Palestinians and apparent veneration of a Zionist Israel. Consider a 2015 press release issued on Murphy's becoming a ranking member of the Mideast Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in which he says:

In recent weeks, racism against Palestinian people and the expansion of apartheid-Jim Crow policies have escalated. The Israeli lobby and its supporters attacked freedom of speech in the United States, showing how far they will go to prevent the US public from being aware of their behavior.

If more people in the US become aware of the truth about Israel’s genocidal policies, the economic lifeline and political protection of the United States will disappear. Israel could be forced to make significant changes that recognize the human rights and self-determination of Palestinians.

New York City – On Monday, May 14, Israeli forces killed at least 58 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded thousands. Today's march is the response to the near-culmination of the historic #GreatReturnMarch, where for six weeks, tens of thousands of Palestinians — families, children, elders — have been gathering along the fence that keeps 2 million people penned in in an open air prison.

In grief and rage, we will mourn those who have been killed. With respect and inspiration, we will amplify the demands of Palestinians: the right to live in freedom and dignity, and the right to return home.

During riots and uprising in Ferguson in 2014 many activists and crowds protested against the shooting that led to the death of Michael Brown by police. Brown was unarmed. During these protests military styled policing teams fired rubber bullets drenched and bombed people with tear gas. It was then that Palestine showed and expressed global solidarity by tweeting advice as how to survive the attack.

The Green Party of the United States Black Caucus stands with Palestine and condemns Israeli state violence and the use of United States supplied weapons to murder, tear gas unarmed Palestinians. We also recognize that this atrocity could not have occurred without the U.S. Senator Bill Nelson’s tweet of support and celebratory comment outlines that both parties have no problem with ethnic cleansing, genocide, execution, rape, and theft of land.

MAY 15, 2018 — While a delegation from the Trump administration and leaders from various parts of the world gathered in Jerusalem to witness the illegal and immoral move of the United States embassy from Tel Aviv to the beleaguered and contested city, Israeli soldiers slaughtered unarmed Palestinians in Gaza. The latest count reports more than 50 dead and 2,700 wounded.

The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) demands the United States condemn Israeli state violence and the use of U.S.-supplied weapons to murder unarmed Palestinians, a violation of U.S. law. Guidelines for the sale and transfer of military equipment stipulates U.S.-supplied arms cannot be used to violate human rights.

Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate for Governor, called on Governor Andrew Cuomo to cancel what the governor announced last Friday as a "security and solidarity" trip to Israel.

"The live ammo shooting of unarmed Palestinian demonstrators by Israeli soldiers, killing scores and wounding hundreds, should be condemned by all. Cuomo should cancel his trip to Israel to demonstrate his rejection of this unjustifiable massacre," Hawkins said.

Thoughts on today's Israeli attack on Palestinians, as well as a recap of the Green Party platform on Palestine. Additional articles on the Green Party position on Palestine and Israel are located here.

Andrea E. Merida, Co-Chair, Green Party of the United States.