Official Navy Recommended Reading List Promotes Books by Rabid Islamophobes
By Chris Rodda
Senior Research Director
Military Religious Freedom Foundation
An official U.S. Navy publication, issued this month, contains a recommended reading list for junior enlisted sailors (E1, E2, E3) that includes among its other books three books by blatantly Islamophobic authors.
The Navy publication, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician (EOD), is basically an instructional manual for how to rise through the ranks in the Navy’s EOD community, which apparently includes being indoctrinated with Islamophobic propaganda.
The three Islamophobic books on the reading list are The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam by Robert Spencer, War of Ideas: Jihadism against Democracy by Walid Phares, known among other things for advancing the conspiracy theory that radical Islamist cells are posing as mainstream Muslim civil rights organizations, and Because They Hate by Brigitte Gabriel, founder of the anti-Muslim group Act For America.
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) has a long history of dealing with the military’s promotion of Islamophobic speakers and authors, in a little over a decade countering a speaking engagement at the U.S. Air Force Academy by the the “3 ex-terrorists,” a trio of self-proclaimed former Islamic terrorists turned fundamentalist Christians who were proven to be frauds, getting Franklin Graham disinvited as the keynote speaker for a National Day of Prayer event at the Pentagon, getting Jerry “my god is bigger than your god” Boykin disinvited from speaking at a Fort Riley prayer breakfast and assisting in getting him to back out of a speaking engagement at West Point, and most recently assisting in getting the U.S. Army War College to pull the plug on a speaking engagement by Raymond Ibrahim.
But the one who first brought the problem to MRFF’s attention was Brigitte Gabriel. In 2007, Gabriel spoke at the Joint Forces Staff College (JFSC), giving a lecture on her book Because They Hate, which was broadcast on C-Span’s Book TV.
The following quotes are all from the question and answer segment of Brigitte Gabriel’s lecture at the JFSC. (MRFF got Gabriel disinvited from speaking at the Air Force Academy after this.)
In answer to the question, “Should we resist Muslims who want to seek political office in this nation?,” Gabriel replied:
“Absolutely. If a Muslim who has — who is — a practicing Muslim who believes the word of the Koran to be the word of Allah, who abides by Islam, 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 to the United States of America.”
As part of her answer to this same question, Gabriel asserted that a Muslim’s oath of office is meaningless, giving the following reason:
“A Muslim is allowed to lie under any situation to make Islam, or for the benefit of Islam in the long run. A Muslm sworn to office can lay his hand on the Koran and say ‘I swear that I’m telling the truth and nothing but the truth,’ fully knowing that he is lying because the same Koran that he is swearing on justifies his lying in order to advance the cause of Islam. What is worrisome about that is when we are faced with war and a Muslim political official in office has to make a decision either in the interest of the United States, which is considered infidel according to the teachings of Islam, and our Constitution is uncompatible [sic] with Islam — not compatible — that Muslim in office will always have his loyalty to Islam.”
The next question came from a soldier who introduced himself as Muslim who has been serving in the U.S. Army for the past 19 years. He asked Gabriel if she was a member of Hasbara Fellowship. Gabriel not only answered that she was not a member, but asked, “What’s Hasbara Fellowship?” Gabriel is currently listed as a speaker on the official website of Hasbara Fellowships as a member of the organization’s Speakers Bureau, and has been since 2005.
Here’s what Gabriel had to say about terrorists entering the U.S. from Mexico:
“Those Al Qaeda members and Hezbollah members who are coming into the United States, they are immediately going from the Mexican border into the major cities where there is large Islamic concentration in the United States, such as ‘Dearbornistan’ Michigan…”
And, on the Islamic community in the U.S. and racial profiling:
“We need to see more patriotism and less terrorism, and especially on the part of the Islamic community in this country, who are good at nothing but complaining about every single thing instead of standing up and working with us in fighting the enemy in our country.”
And, finally, Gabriel’s advice to Americans who see a mosque being built in their community:
“I tell them, if you see a mosque being built in your community, and you are worried about suspicious activities happening in the mosque, go down to city hall. Find out who owns the deed to that mosque. Is it a Saudi foundation? Is it names of some Islamic sheik outside of the United States of America? Write those names down. It’s public information — for free. Write the information down. Come home. Call the F.B.I. in your local community. Turn the names to the F.B.I. and the F.B.I. can start checking. Are these people on the most wanted list? Do they have links to terrorism? This is how we can help our government as citizens…”
Yes, these blatantly Islamophobic comments were all made by Brigitte Gabriel at a lecture on her book Because They Hate — the very same book that now appears on a recommended reading list put out this month by the U.S. Navy.
