Not Just Islamophobia

Dubbed an ‘anti-Muslim bigot’ Frank Gaffney alleges that the Muslim Brotherhood is running an influence operation in Washington, D.C. by accusing Muslim Republican Suhail Khan – about whom Gaffney has been writing since  2003 – of representing radical Islamists. In his defence Khan insists the whole thing is simply anti-Muslim hysteria coming from a man who has been politically marginalized and is looking for attention and will stop at nothing to incriminate the Islamic Sharia.

Right-wing activist, Gaffney, is also feeding off the fear that there is a growing cross-section of American conservatives that are really secret Muslims bent on destroying Western civilization. Despite the ludicrous nature of the assertions, Gaffney insists on targeting Suhail Khan, former Bush staffer, of infiltrating the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) which is hosted by the oldest lobbying organization in the country – The American Conservative Union (ACU).

According to Gaffney, Khan is linked to radicals and raises money for terrorist groups. Khan says this is nonsense and denies having links with the Muslim Brotherhood or any other Islamic group, adding that the allegations show nothing but bigotry.

Gaffney claims Khan and others are involved in a ‘stealthy effort to bring Sharia’ to the US, adding that this is an operation that is contributing materially to bring defeat to the US. Gaffney has branded the Muslim Brotherhood as a ‘radical’ Muslim group trying to ‘Islamize’ America. Khan, now a senior fellow for Christian-Muslim Understanding at the Institute for Global Engagement, laughs at Gaffney’s allegations.

Feeding on the fear that has been generated since 9/11, Gaffney is taking every opportunity to swing public opinion against Islam and Muslims by associating it with a sinister atmosphere of stealth, secrecy, and mystery; an alien way of life creeping up on the American public.

Khan is head of a conservative Muslim group – Muslims for America which, ironically, promotes Muslim integration into American society. Yet, Gaffney used words like ‘infiltrated’ when he describes Khan’s participation in legitimate American organizations, in an attempt to sully his reputation and maintain a high level of fear when discussing anything concerned with Islam.

Further highlighting his paranoia about all things ‘Islamic’, Gaffney made wild unsubstantiated claims in 2009 that President Barak Obama ‘not only identifies with Muslims but actually may still be one.’