Fox News is described, in the Center for American Progress' Report, "Fear Inc.," as an "echo chamber" for Islamophobia with its array of guests whose anti-Islamic talking points promote a negative image of Islam which, in turn, promotes fear and hatred of Islam and Muslims. Also mentioned in the report, as part of Islamophobic grass roots organizations, is Brigitte Gabriel, a Fox fave and alleged "expert" on terror, who is the founder of "ACT! for America," a group that seeks to “inform, educate, and mobilize Americans regarding the multiple threats of radical Islam." The SPLC reports that she is "prone to sweeping generalizations and exaggerations as she describes a grand, sophisticated Muslim conspiracy bent on world domination." So it's not surprising that she believes the alleged Boston bombers are part of the conspiracy. And it's not surprising that Fox News gave her a platform from which to espouse her generalizations, yesterday, on Neil Cavuto's show.
On yesterday's "Your World," Gabriel couldn't even wait for Cavuto to finish his opening sentence before offering her opinion as fact. In the middle of his introduction "Brigitte Gabriel joins us know, she's an expert on all things terror and all things terrorist," she interrupted, "they are part of a cell." To Cavuto's question of why she said that, she rambled on about "chatter on Islamic websites" in which the chatterers are claiming that the Boston bombing suspects "couldn't have acted alone and are part of a large group, an army of Islam...acting to bring justice to the Islamic nation." (So that proves it. Case closed!) She proclaimed, as fact, that they have received "professional help." She described them as "implants in the US" like many others who are "jihadists" who are "operating in different cities."
Cavuto pointed out the difference between "empathizing and sympathizing" with the brothers and asked Gabriel if the websites are "taking credit and responsibility for the attacks." She responded that the sites are saying "these guys are just part of the Islamic Ummah [Anti-Islamic types love to use Islamic terms just so you know they're credible!] doing work that they are doing and must be a part of a larger cell not only in America but also overseas."
Rather than ask Gabriel if her information is consistent with what official security is saying, Cavuto quoted a neighbor of one of the men who alleged that the younger man was "upset with America" over its involvement in Afghanistan." He asserted that this is "a partial peg to some rage that, no doubt, a lot of people are going to seize on." Seizing on it, Gabriel described how the men spent much of their youth in the Middle East and how, as such, they "are a part of feeling of the oppressed Islamic world that whether it's Russia or America they are fighting the Islamist world or the Islamic Ummah." She reminded Cavuto that "a lot of Chechens fought against our troops who came to a holy jihad to Iraq and Afghanistan fighting against America as part of the holy jihad."
While non-ideological experts on terror were and continue to say that we still don't know what motivated the alleged Boston bombers and whether they are connected to an international movement, Neil Cavuto lets Brigitte Gabriel establish, as fact, that they are part of an international cell. Looks like the folks at the Center for American Progress were right on the money when they categorized Fox News as an "echo chamber for Islamophobia." Ya think! And btw, if anybody is in need of "professional help," it's Brigitte Gabriel!
Really? Then, perhaps the authorities should be taking a closer look at her.
I mean, you can’t be such an “expert on all things terror and all things terrorist”, without being a participant — right?
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