"This Islamophobic Conspiracy Theorist Lectured Police Officers About Islamic Extremism", a Huffington Post headline shrieks. Underneath is an article by HuffPo's Christopher Mathias which suggests that counterterrorism expert Ryan Mauro is an "an anti-Muslim extremist".
What's the basis for the accusation? Mathias appears to concede that Mauro is no opponent of Muslims. Instead he hangs his Islamophobia charge on Mauro's statement that CAIR has "ties to terrorism".
As Mathias explains, accusing CAIR of having ties to terrorism "highlights his role in a multimillion-dollar network of hate groups, think tanks, politicians and talking heads who regularly spread fear and misinformation about Islam."
Is Islam equivalent to CAIR? According to Christopher Mathias it is.
The case against CAIR is quite clear. And always has been. We are of course talking about an Unindicted Co-Conspirator here.
Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich sent the letter last month to four members of Congress who asked for details last fall on how CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the terror-finance trial against the Holy Land Foundation and its former officials.
He included trial transcripts and exhibits "which demonstrated a relationship among CAIR, individual CAIR founders, and the Palestine Committee. Evidence was also introduced that demonstrated a relationship between the Palestine Committee and HAMAS, which was designated as a terrorist organization in 1995."
But the interesting thing here is not rehashing the CAIR story yet again. It's the contention that opposition to Islamist organizations is Islamophobia. In pursuit of that charge, groups such as CAP have accused Muslims of Islamophobia, in much the same way that the Muslim Brotherhood accuses Muslims who don't support its agenda of Islamophobia.
The distinction is both significant and revealing.
This use of Islamophobia is not about bigotry against Muslims. It's not even about opposition to Islam as a religion. Instead this usage of Islamophobia, whether by the Brotherhood or its Western political allies, means opposition to Islamist theocracy.
When Christopher Mathias claims that mentioning CAIR's terror ties is "Islamophobia", that's a charge of bigotry being used to cover a purely political agenda. It's the equivalent of shouting Republiphobia or Democraphobia.