Tariq Nelson

Samuel Freedman does a good job defending Debbie Almontaser from the vicious and relentless smear campaign against her (hat tip to Umm Zaid) and explaining the bigots’ turning Arabic words like “madressa” into pejoratives in order to invoke fear. These people take advantage of the fact that most people will not look that deep and take these pejoratives, slogans and sound bites at face value. They are very good at innuendo…

For anyone who bothered to look for it, Ms. Almontaser left a clear, public record of interfaith activism and outreach across the boundaries of race, ethnicity and religion. Her efforts, especially after the Sept. 11 attacks, earned her honors, grants and fellowships. She has collaborated so often with Jewish organizations that an Arab-American newspaper, Aramica, castigated her earlier this summer for being too close to a “Zionist organization,” meaning the Anti-Defamation League [Entire Article]

None of that mattered to the bigots. All that mattered was to smear and throw out accusations because the environment is such that it was so easy for people to believe their lies and dehumanization